THE 



SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



DEVOTED TO 



Agriculture, 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., 
Peof. WILLIAM GILHAM. 



Editors. 



AUGUST & WILLIAMS, 

Proprietors. 



Vol. XXI. 



RICHMOND, VA., MAY, 1861. 



No. 5. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Grazing Cattle. 

Most persons are, doubtless, inclined to the opinion that "but little skill is re- 
quired to fatten cattle upon grass; the only thing supposed to be necessary to 
this end, being to turn the animals into the fields and let them attain to a state 
of obesity at their leisure. 

But when it is remembered that some farmers invariably have their cattle in 
high condition and thoroughly fat at market day, whilst others as constantly pre- 
sent theirs in that twilight state of dubiety, between " stock and beef," known 
as " half fat," there would seem to be something more requisite than simply 
giving the herd the range of the pastures. 

In order to successful and profitable grazing, it is important that the stock 
should have been well wintered. When "gentle Spring" comes with its "deep 
green earth" it should find them in a healthy and vigorous condition, ready to 
improve, as well as enjoy, the luxury of being " turned out to grass." Animals 
which have been kept during the winter upon an insufficient allowance of proven- 
der, and are by Spring so reduced in flesh and exhausted in strength, that the 
vital organs scarcely perform their appropriate functions, require much time to 
attain the point, at which their more fortunate brethren, who have fared bounti- 
fully, if not " sumptuously every day," would commence that luxurious career, 
whose end is the shambles. Stock in good condition in the Fall, are much more 
easily wintered than those commencing that season of trial to the whole bovine 
race, as rivals to their " ill-favored" cousins seen by the dreaming monarch of 
Egypt upon the rich banks of the Nile. But I am straying from my subject. 
It being no part of my intention to discourse, either upon the principles that 
should govern the buyer, or the best mode of wintering cattle purchased. 
17 



258 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

As the grasses constitute the natural and appropriate food of cattle, and is 
that upon which they thrive most rapidly, in order that they may derive the 
greatest advantage and highest enjoyment from it during the season, they should 
be turned into the pastures as early in the Spring as the condition of vegetation 
will permit; which is just as soon as the grass has attained snch growth as to 
enable the animal to crop it readily. I have known cattle lose more flesh by 
being confined to the barn-yard in the month of April, than they had done 
during the entire Winter. And this loss of flesh sustained by thex, was not 
compensated for to the owner by the increased growth of the grass. 

When stock are turned upon the pastures, whilst the grass is yet young, it 
springs up so rapidly after being cropped, that they not only have their food 
during most of the Summer, in the fresh, sweet and nutritious condition of 
early Spring, but the land actually yields a larger amount than it would other- 
wise do; for if everything is excluded from the pastures until the grass gets a 
" good start," that is, until it has attained considerable size and age, it not only 
grows up much more slowly after being eaten off, but is less acceptable to the 
animals. It is well known to every observant farmer that those spots where 
the grass is tallest and most luxuriant, are just those rejected by the discrimi- 
nating palate of the fastidious quadruped, whilst the short and less flourishing 
are re-cropped daily with unalloyed appetite. 

It is the practice of some successful graziers to winter their stock in the fields 
upon which they are to be grazed the next Summer, never removing them even 
for a day. in order to let the grass get ahead. This method is practicable when 
the farmer has a large quantity of close and heavy " old sod." 

I am well satisfied that the same area of pasture-land will make more beef in 
a season, by turning the cattle upon it early in the Spring, than by the opposite 
method. 

When cattle are turned to grass they should at once be given the entire range 
of pastures intended for them. To be changing them from field to field during 
the Summer, induces a discontented and unquiet disposition, in the highest de- 
gree unfavorable to the regular and rapid improvement in their condition. So 
essential is it to the fattening process, that the animal should be permitted to en- 
joy, in undisturbed repose, the calm pleasures of rumination ; the farmer should 
be careful, as far as practicable, to remove every cause tending to disturb and 
agitate his herd. Colts and idle horses should therefore never be allowed to run 
with the fattening cattle. 

During the Summer, stock should be salted regularly and abundantly. At 
this season they seem to require more than at any other period of the year. It 
would, perhaps, be the best plan to keep a supply constantly by them, but, as 
this is rarely practicable, it ought to be given to them frequently and at regular 
intervals. It is my practice to salt each alternate day in the Summer. Under 
this practice, cattle consume but a small quantity at a time, and it has the effect 
of promoting their quiet and contentment. The time of the day at which cat- 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 259 

tie are salted is, I think, a matter of little consequence, although some persons 
attach importance to it. But as cattle are very regular and methodical in their 
habits whilst grazing, passing over the entire enclosure allotted to them, in near- 
ly the same order every day, it is well to salt always at the same place, and so 
arrange the time as to reach the spot simultaneously with the cattle in the pro- 
gress of their regular rounds. 

I much prefer an abundant supply of running water in the pastures, yet those 
farmers who have to depend upon ponds, insist that cattle do just as well when 
compelled to allay their thirst from a green, slimy and filthy pool, as when drink- 
ing from the coolest spring or most sparkling brook. This comfortable faith in 
the virtues of stagnant water, I have no disposition to unsettle. 

There is nothing more grateful to the panting herd on a hot and sultry day in 
July, than the cool and refreshing shade thrown over the parched earth, by the 
wide spread and leaf covered branches of a noble oak or beautiful ash ; no hu- 
mane farmer, therefore, who entertains a just regard for the comfort of his 
horned dependants, or who recognises the golden rule of " doing unto cattle as 
you would have them do unto you," will fail to preserve an ample supply of 
shade trees in his pasture grounds. Anything that adds to the comfort, likewise 
promotes the thrift of the animals, so that the pecuniary interests of the farmer 
combine with the voice of humanity and good taste, in demanding the preserva- 
tion of shade trees. 

The number of cattle that can be profitably grazed upon a given area of land 
depends upon such a variety of circumstances, that it is impossible to give any 
precise and definite rule in reference to that subject. The farmer, however, 
ought to be careful not to overstock his lands, if he wishes to enjoy the pleasure 
of seeing his cattle in a condition creditable to his care and skill as a grazier. 
Pastures of such long standing as to have formed a close, compact, and heavy 
sod, of the indigenous grasses, will fatten a larger number of cattle than the 
same extent of similar lands recently laid down in grass. The size of the cattle 
is likewise another consideration to be taken into the account; as the same 
fields will pasture well a greater number of small cattle than of large ones. 

The excellence of "old sod" for the purpose of grazing is due rather, I am 
inclined to think, to the greater quantity and better condition of the grass it 
furnishes, than to any intrinsic superiority in its nutritive qualities over similar 
grasses recently set. Upon rich land, which has long remained undisturbed by 
the plough, the artificial will, in a great measure, have given place to the natural 
grasses, and these rarely attain such size and rankness of growth as to render 
them distasteful to the cattle. Again owing to the number and vigor of the 
roots of these indigenous grasses, they are able daily to furnish a fresh supply of 
food, however closely they may be grazed. 

The relative fattening qualities of different pastures, however, seem t© depend 
more upon the character of the soil upon which they grow, than upon the kind 
of grasses composing them or their age. In this county, the best grazing farms are 



260 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

composed of what is popularly denominated Slate lands. They are a heavy clay 
loam, generally underlaid by a stratum of soap-stone. Of course the richer 
these lands are, the greater number of animals will they sustain to a given area; 
yet the nutritive qualities of the grass they yield, seem to be independent of the 
fertility of the soil. I know some lands of this class, which are by no means rich, 
yet they fatten cattle admirably. 

As this article is intended to be suggestive rather than exhaustive of the sub- 
ject, I shall trespass no farther upon your columns or the patience of your read- 
ers- T. 

Augusta County, April. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Manures. 

There are so many manures now being used, without proper discrimination, by 
many of the Farmers of Virginia, — with detriment, often, both to the land and 
the pocket — that it appears to me, if any suggestion can be thrown out that may 
serve to arrest the tide of extravagant expenditures for the many "nostrums " 
which are now being vended to an unsuspecting community, it will be an act of 
true beneficence, and prove a profitable service to the agriculture of the countrj'. 

In presenting some reflections on the subject, I shall dwell only upon such 
manures as are known by actual experiment to contribute to the fertility of the 
soil. 

The first and great improver — the basis of all permanent improvement — is 
lime or other calcareous earth. These have been attended with the most satis- 
factory results in every instance in which they have been judiciously applied. 
These results have varied only with the variations in the condition of the soil. 
Upon light lands the action of calcarious matter has been much quicker than 
upon stiff clay soils ; yet, upon both, beneficial results have been certain to ap- 
pear. It is generally regarded as a most essential element in the improvement 
of worn-out lands, since, without it, in some form or other, all attempts to resus- 
citate them have been fruitless. So powerfully has it acted upon acid soils — i. e., 
soils abounding in sorrel and other acid grasses — that the effects of its applica- 
tion can generally be traced even in the first crop. Upon soils which are close 
and compact, its mechanical operation has been to make them much more pul- 
verable, and render their cultivation easier and more agreeable. It is a cheap 
and ready agent, not only for renovating our worn-out soils and barren hills, but 
of improving, still further, lands which are considered already in a comparatively 
good condition. It tends, as has been seen above, not only to break the tenacity 
of stiff clay and improve their friability, but also prepares them to be acted on 
by the atmosphere; while on the other hand, it increases the tenacity of light 
soils and improves their power of retaining manures, by preventing the exhala- 
tion of their nutritive gases. It converts inert vegetable matter remaining in 
the soil into plant-food by its solvent power. It is not only a solvent of organic 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 261 

remains, but of many inorganic constituents of the soil also, setting them free 
to minister to vegetable growth and development. This may well be regarded as 
one of the most important properties of calcareous earth. It has also the power 
of attracting moisture from the atmosphere, thus enabling the crops to withstand 
the effects of our summer droughts, with little comparative injury. 

Assuming, as we have done, that lime and marl constitute the basis of all per- 
manent improvement, and knowing their action in decomposing vegetable 
and mineral substances in the soil, we need only recommend their use as pre- 
liminary to the application of other manures — as auxiliaries in the improvement 
of our lands. Soils may abound with calcareous matter, but if most of the other 
elements of fertility are not present in them, it is not to be expected that the 
presence of lime or marl will supply the dificiency. 

As lime has been shown to be of so great importance in any well ordered sys- 
tem of improvement, it is a matter of primary importance to inquire : In what 
quantity and in what manner it should be applied ? In determining this ques- 
tion as it relates to the first branch of the inquiry, reference should be had both 
to the quality and the condition of the soil. If it is capable of producing a 
heavy vegetable growth, and is, moreover, full of insect life, then it should be 
applied in larger measure, — say from 20 to 30 bushels per acre, (enough for a 
first application to almost any land,) once in the course of an ordinary rotation 
of crops, if followed up through successive rotations until the maximum of about 
100 bushels per acre shall be reached, which is as much, I think, as any land 
requires; but if the soil is thin and barren, a smaller quantity would be required, 
at first, which might be gradually increased through successive rotations until the 
same maximum is attained. 

With respect to the condition of the land for receiving lime, it is best used I 
think as a top-dressing, to be repeated at intervals, as above intimated. I am in- 
duced to believe, after careful observation, that where there is grass or a sod to 
be treated, it is best to apply the lime some months, or I may even say, a year or 
more before it is ploughed in. I know that in making this assertion I am in di- 
rect opposition to the usual practice of our farmers. As to the time of applying 
it to crops — especially the corn crop — it seems to be the prevailing opinion 
among nine-tenths of the farming community, that it should be scattered over 
1 the land after it is ploughed. I have, on several occasions, followed this method, 
and after thoroughly raking the land, planted corn, but, in every instance, I have 
found the results less satisfactory than when the lime was scattered over the 
grass and ploughed in together with the sod. It is with diffidence that I dissent 
from a practice so general among intelligent farmers, but believing it to be erro- 
neous, I must adduce some of the reasons upon which this contrariety of my 
opinion to theirs is founded. 

We have seen that lime, acting in conjunction with the atmosphere, decom- 
poses the vegetable substances contained in the soil and converts them into food 
for the crops. In order then to the performance of thiR important function, it 



262 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

is necessary that it should be brought into direct contact, or at least, in juxtapo- 
sition with the vegetable matter to be affected by its action. This cannot be so 
successfully done by a surface application after the land is ploughed, especially 
if ploughed according to the practice of the best farmers, namely : to the depth 
of ten or twelve inches as it would be by ploughing in the lime and sod together. 
The chief objection urged against my practice is, that lime being heavier than 
earth, has a tendency to sink, and should, therefore, be applied to the surface 
after the land is ploughed. This is the very reason why I prefer to plough it in 
with the vegetable covering of the soil, especially when applied sometime before, 
because its action is more immediate, when so ploughed in, and it is retained in 
a favorable position to be soon again brought to the surface, that is, by the next 
ploughing. Whereas, if applied upon ploughed land as a top-dressing, there is 
reason to fear that, meeting with so little obstruction to its descent, it may sink 
too far below the ordinary range of the plough to be ever again brought to the 
surface when the soil is afterwards subverted. I am aware of my seeming te- 
merity in attacking a practice of such long-standing and general acceptation as 
to have attained the authority of an established axiom; yet, after fifteen years 
experience in the various modes of applying lime, I am constrained to dissent for 
the reasons briefly set forth above. 

There is another mode of applying lime, which is growing in favor, namely: 
to scatter in the months of February or March about ten bushels broadcast over 
the growing crop of wheat. I have known instances of great advantage to the 
wheat crop derived from such application, and it has this additional recommenda- 
tion, that it always promotes the growth of the vegetation which appears in the 
wheat field after harvest. 

As to the best mode of distribution of lime, a few words will suffice. 

Some farmers may prefer using a machine called the lime-spreader, others to 
distribute it from the cart in the act of unloading, while a third class prefer to 
have it disposed in piles at regular distances, and in prescribed quantity on the 
field, and then distribute with the spade or shovel. I have adopted the latter 
mode as decidedly preferrable to either of the others. I check my land each 
way with single ploughs, using stakes 27 feet long, then, with cart or wagon, I 
deposit in the centre of each square, having cleared the surface by scraping it, a 
half bushel of lime, which is then scattered evenly over the surface. I have 
generally reserved this operation for the month of August, but it may be deter- 
mined, as to time, by the selection of an opportunity which least conflicts with 
the application of the forces of the farm to other employments. 

What has been here said of lime is intended to have equal application to the 
calcareous earths of Virginia, especially of those of Pamunkey and James rivers, 
which are better than lime; as in addition to that substance, they contain gyp- 
sum, potash, soda and animal and vegetable remains, which constitute them a 
mine of wealth to the proprietors, and the adjacent districts enjoying the advan- 
tage of water transportation. It is this marl which has given such celebrity and 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 203 

high value to the farms bordering the James and Pamunkey rivers. As there 
are two varieties of* marl — the Mioeine and Eocine; the one combined with clay 
and the other with sand; their application not only supplies the lime necessary 
for a productive soil to possess, but adds clay or sand as the one or the other may 
be used to meet the requirements of a stiff or light soil. 

I have already occupied more time and space with this branch of our general 
subject than I intended, but if I can succeed in arresting the tide that flows so 
strongly in favor of bought manures, and direct it into the right channel by in- 
ducing a more general use of lime, plaster, clover and peas, I may claim that I 
have not labored in vain, but have done the State some service. 

To follow the application of lime, in whichever of the forms indicated, with 
artificial grasses is, as I conceive, the first step in any well arranged system of 
improvement. Among the grasses, my preference has long been given to clover 
as the best of all grasses, not only for the purpose of improving the soil, but also 
as affording an abundance of good and nutritious food for stock. The turning 
in of green crops after an application of lime or marl is practised by many of 
our farmers, and on light river flats the pea more than any other green crop is 
used, because they grow much more luxuriantly, and thus afford more vegetable 
matter to serve as manure. The mode usually adopted in their cultivation, is to 
fallow the land in the month of June or July, then sow the peas and harrow 
them in. I have known them, in a few exceptional cases, to produce heavy 
growth even when sown as late as August, but as a general rule it is best not to 
defer sowing later than the middle of July. The best time for turning the pea 
fallow under is early in the month of October. 

Another mode of cultivation, with those who practice on the three field sys- 
tem, with a standing pasture, is to sow the peas in the field of growing corn at 
the last working, and cover them with the cultivator or rake. This process of 
laying by the corn is a good one for the crop, but does nob always secure a heavy 
growth of vine for the enrichment of the soil. It, nevertheless, is a good pre- 
paration for the following crop of wheat. 

I will proceed now to consider Guano and other bought manures. 

These have been extensively used in this section of Virginia, and I believe guano 
was used in this county as early as in any part of the State. I do not know the 
first individual who has made a fortune by it, but I do know several who are 
some thousands of dollars behind hand in consequence of its use. I happened 
to be in Baltimore in the fall of 1845 or '46 when I purchased half a ton, which 
then cost me, delivered at my landing, nineteen dollars. I applied it to about 
three acres of land — nearly 400 lbs. to the acre — which was scattered over very 
good land, and the result was not over three or four bushels of wheat to the acre 
more than the surrounding land yielded. I afterwards used it some four or 
five times, never having purchased more than five tons at any one time. I have 
since abandoned its use altogether, and can truly say that my original outlay has 



264 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [Mat 

never been repaid. I must, however, say that I am greatly indebted to the ad- 
vice of an esteemed friend for having entirely abandoned its use. 

On my way to Richmond, in crossing the Pamunkey river, at the Pipentree, I 
was delayed, and my friend in the course of our conversation on the subject of 
guano, informed me that most of the surplus of his crops of corn and wheat, 
were loaned out to farmers to purchase guano with, and that he did not believe 
that they had realized one cent irom the use of guano, besides owing the money 
for the guano. The expectation of making large returns from its use had engen- 
dered speculation amongst farmers, and that they really were worse off then than 
if they had never purchased a ton of guano. My friend, however, had been, 
and is now, constantly using the green sand marl, found along the Pamunkey, 
has not only a fine farm, but makes large crops, entirely by the use of marl, 
clover and peas. He is, what is rarely to be found in this section of Virginia, a 
thrifty farmer. Now that the fact is notorious that guano, and all the va- 
rieties of manipulated manures, are in the hands of speculators and their agents, 
it becomes us, as farmers, feeling a mutual interest to rescue it from their hands 
and place it under the control of those who have won our confidence. Never 
has any class, in any community, suffered so much as the farmer, by speculators; 
his lands, his crops, and his manures are now under their controlling influence, 
so that, in many instances, he is not really purchasing what he supposes; espe- 
cially is this the case with guano, as I hear that frequently our native dirt, with 
here and there a sprinkle of guano, has been imposed upon an unsuspecting pur- 
chaser. Ashes and bone dust are certainly of great value, and if they could 
be obtained at any thing like a reasonable cost, and could be warranted genu- 
ine, they would be great improvers, and I believe, they would pay in using 
them ; but the same objection is here met with as in the case of all bought ma- 
nures. There are other compounded manures, such as " Manipulated Guanoes," 
" Salts," " Renovators," &c, &c, (their name will, I am sure, be legion in a few 
years,) all made by different Chemists and Doctors, and the manipulators them- 
selves differing in their compounds, and deprecating the use of the particular nos- 
trum of their opponent, is a sufficient guaranty that they all will not answer the 
same purpose ; and, added to the fact that they have not improved or benefitted 
our lands and crops, is sufficient to warrant us in recommending other cheaper 
and better manures. Such all will agree, are barn-yard and stable ma- 
nure. 

Since the introduction of bought manures very little attention has been given to 
this most important branch of all improved agriculture. This is the valuable and 
prolific source from which the farmer is, by his own efforts and economy, to im- 
prove his land. It is the great reservoir from which he is, by his own industry 
and management, to draw supplies for the improvement of his land, as well as, 
in a measure, to derive his wealth, and he should husband his resources in such 
a manner as to have a constant eye to the accumulation of, not only all the ex- 
crementitious matter from his stock, but all the decaying vegetable matter from 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 265 

his farm. The greatest negligence now prevails among many farmers, in rela- 
tion to proper attention to their barn yard and stable manures, and the voidings 
from cattle. The evaporation of the nutritive portions of these manures, would, 
if properly guarded against, improve more land than what is effected by the 
little they carry out upon them. There is nothing which a farmer can more 
judiciously use than plaster, in absorbing and fixing the valuable properties of 
manure, which are constantly escaping in the form of gases. I would then 
advise the liberal use of it, also, in all the vegetable manures raised upon the 
farm. It is essential in all well regulated and ventilated stables and cow sheds, 
in preserving the health as well as the eyes of the animals, from the noxious ex- 
halations of the pungent, if not poisonous gases, which are constantly escaping 
from the manures. Plaster repays the farmer who uses it, ten-fold. I conclude 
this subject by strenuously advising a more careful and constant attention to the 
accumulation and preservation of barn yard and stable manures. 

In conclusion, whether you have the stiff clays or sandy loams to contend 
with on your farms, if you desire to restore them to fertility, you must give 
them the advantages of Lime, Clover and Plaster, with a regular rotation of 
crops. You must lend all your energies to the accumulation of manures — 
animal, vegetable and mineral ; you cannot expect your lands to yield remunera- 
ting crops unless you continue to keep up their fertility by liberal applications 
of manure. Should your barn yard and stables fail to afford you a sufficient 
supply, you should go to your marshes, woods, and ditch banks, and there find 
the materials for manure. We know the chief element of all manure is vegeta- 
ble matter, and its production being necessarily slow and laborious on exhausted 
soils, we should take advantage of every assistant, in increasing and applying it 
to the soil. 

Wm. D. Gkesham. 

King & Queen County, Ya. 



From the British Agricultural Magazine. Plough and Farmers Journal. 

Chippenham Hundred Farmers' Club. 

What has Science done for Agriculture? 

Mr. Scott read the following paper : — 

In endeavouring to answer the question, " What has science done for agricul- 
ture V I must ask — as I feel confident I shall obtain — your indulgence, from a 
deep sense of my inability to do justice to the subject, and from the fact of my 
not having had many days to prepare myself to bring it forward. I must claim 
your special attention to the remarks I shall make, as it is difficult to bring the 
facte and arguments of the case into a focus, to enable them to be easily seen 
and clearly comprehended by the general body of members of club3 such as 
this, who, however prompt and ready in their practice to avail themselves of the 
results of scientific discoveries, are not likely to be in the habit of discussing 
the processes by which they are arrived at. And here I would observe that it 



266 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

can never be reasonably expected that farmers in general should become scien- 
tific scholars by studying the abstruse principles of chemistry, or by learning 
the botanical names of 50,000 plants, that they may cultivate a dozen. All 
experience is opposed to this, or to their turning aside from that course and from 
those processes which have been confirmed by the experience of centuries, and 
in which alone lies their safety. But when farmers know the principles on 
which their successful practice depends, agriculture then becomes a science, and 
remains no longer only an art ; and you will all, no doubt, admit that one far- 
mer with a knowledge of science must possess advantages over another without 
it, both being equal in practical ability. Take as an instance that both parties 
farm a thin soil, composed of inert vegetable matter, resting on what is called a 
moor-band pan, which is bound together by sulphate of iron, and discharges 
that yellow sediment so often seen by you in your ditches, called oxide of iron, 
so poisonous to vegetable life. Suppose this land to be managed exactly alike, 
until it came to be fallowed for green crop ; then the one applies dung, because 
he knows it is usual to do so at this stage ; but the other — the man of science — 
applies lime, and ploughs it in, that it may come in contact with the pan below, 
knowing, as he does, that the lime will liberate the potash and decompose the 
sulphate of iron, and, by taking up the sulphate, become sulphate of lime or 
gypsum, thereby affording suitable food turnips, wheat, and clover. The result 
in the former case will be almost an entire waste of the manure and a stunted 
crop of roots. 

Until very recently science has been so little recognized as a handmaid to 
agriculture, and has met with so many rebuffs in its advances, that its progress 
has no doubt been retarded ; so much so, indeed, that though it is many years 
since " Tull" wrote and " Davy" lectured, it would be much more easy even now 
to say what science proposes to do 7 than what it has actually accomplished for 
our profession. Fortunately, it is now recognised by agriculturalists as a body, 
and those farmers who endeavor to engraft it on their practice are no longer 
designated " mere theorists." Science nevet claimed the power to enrich indi- 
viduals any more than our Club does — but only to improve our general prac- 
tice and elevate our profession ; and therefore it ought to be encouraged, or, at 
least, treated with that degree of forbearance necessary to enable it gradually to 
develop its resources. The facts of science generally, if properly tested by care- 
ful experiments and brought before us on high and reliable authority, are not to 
be put lightly aside, like many of the extravagant theories that start up around 
us from day to day. But, nevertheless, when we find men, as we too often do, 
of note and intelligence, propagating doctrines of practical value, such as that 
lightning and electricity stimulate production, and inducing sanguine farmers to 
surround their fields with wires to catch it — when we see such men as Prof. 
Liebig giving forth that plants require only an imperceptible amount of mineral 
food from the soil, the rest being supplied by the atmosphere — and publishing 
that one of the best manures for land is burnt straw or ground glass, and encour- 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 267 

aging farmers to hope that the time had almost arrived when, in place of the 
cumbrous apparatus of farm yards and dung carts, they would have a laboratory 
in their fields to manufacture silicates and phosphates — when we find, I say, 
scientific men giving the weight of their authority to such doctrines as these, we 
need not much wonder that practical farmers so frequently turn their backs on 
science, and that its progress amongst them has been so materially retarded. An 
injurious effect, in the same direction, has, I think, been unfortunately produced 
by the expressed views of so many of our great agricultural authorities — such as 
Arthur Young, Dr. Coventry, Prof. Low, and all others — all of whom have dis- 
couraged the farmer from bestowing much study or placing almost any reliance 
upon the results of science. I will just read to you Prof. Low's remarks bearing 
upon this point, as he is undoubtedly the soundest instructor in practical farming 
we have ever had, and the greatest living authority.* " It is in Germany and 
France," he says, '•' that chemistry and vegetable physiology have been cultivated 
for the longest period as a branch of agriculture. But when we inquire in what 
manner these researches have improved the practical art in either country, we 
have only to consider the nature of the subjects themselves to be assured they 
cannot have done so in any sensible degree. They are seen to be the mere 
opinions of learned men, formed, for the most part, in the laboratory and closet, 
without a due knowledge of the business of the fields, and the modes by which 
agriculture can be cultivated as a branch of industry. Let us turn again to 
countries where theories of vegetation have been unheard of, and we shall yet 
find the art of husbandry in a high state of advancement. In the Netherlands 
the surface of the country is like a garden, and every available resource has been 
resorted to for rendering it fertile by the industrious inhabitants. In the North 
of England, and a part of Scotland, a system of agriculture has been established 
which has multiplied the resources of the country in a great degree; yet in the 
forming and perfecting of this system physiology and chemistry have had no 
share. If we turn to the sister art of gardening, which is the child of experi- 
ment in every country, we shall find that it has been perfected without the aid 
of those theories and researches which many hold to be necessary." 

Notwithstanding this, I think the many scientific truths which have been float- 
ing in the atmosphere around us, are now beginning to stick to the agricultural 
mind, and as the soil is good, I have no doubt they will soon germinate and bear 
good fruit. 

As a proof of their gradual progression, we find the Royal Agricultural Society 
of England at its formation, about 12 years ago, adopting the motto, " Practice 
with Science." Liebig soon after published his " Treatise on Agricultural 
Chemistry," by which he obtained an European reputation. This was followed 
by the farmers of Scotland subscribing upwards of £2,000 to establish a chemi- 
cal association in that country, and support a professor at £500 per annum. The 
Cirencester College did the same, and its professor, Mr. Way, has repeatedly 
* Prof. Low has since died. 



268 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

been invited by tbe Royal- Agricultural Society to deliver lectures at its annual 
meetings, which he has done with great effect. Prof. Johnston has also pub- 
lished his popular lectures, and a branch of agricultural chemistry has been 
established in several common day-schools, and its importance has been recognised 
in many other ways. 

Agricultural chemistry, however, although so prominently put forward, and 
undoubtedly deserving the first place, must not be supposed to constitute the only 
physical science bearing upon the interest of agriculture. Geology, botany, 
meteorology, physiology, etymology, natural history, and medicine, all, more or 
less, seek to connect themselves with its principles and practice. So, likewise, 
may mechanical science claim some credit for its many inventions in aid of the 
business of farming. 

The distinction between science and art I need not define. You are all aware 
that science explains the cause of results by a course of reasoning from fixed 
principles; nay, it takes a higher sphere, and by the same process it predicts, 
foretells, and guides. Art, on the contrary, only executes the edicts and decrees 
of science. The art must, therefore, in a certain sense, be subordinate to the 
science of farming. A Watts may have the genius to invent a steam-engine 
without the practical ability to construct it; so a Napier may have the talent to 
construct one, without a knowledge of its principles. Again, a Liebig may 
know what will produce a certain crop, without the necessary skill to grow it; 
and a farmer may possess the necessary skill to raise the crop without being 
aware of the causes which produce such a result. Thus a chemist may be a 
good philosopher without possessing a knowledge of farming; and a farmer may 
be a good agriculturist without possessing a knowledge of the theory of produc- 
tion. The one, you will perceive, partakes more of an intellectual and reasoning 
operation ; the other more of a mechanical. 

Roth physical and mechanical science have advanced manufactures; and why, 

let me ask, should their aid not be equally beneficial to agriculture? Until of 

late years farming operations were guided in a great measure by local experience, 

acquired by long and expensive courses of practical experiments ; and there 

certainly can be nothing more valuable than the results of experience in farming; 

but with the aid of science you will be enabled to acquire the same knowledge 

in less time, and be prevented from taking those false steps which you are apt to 

do when trusting to experience alone, and refusing the assistance of well ascer- 

; tained principles. Had Davy or Liebig lived as contemporaries of Tull. to 

' explain the sound principles which he promulgated but could not defend, those 

> great principles (applicable to all soils and in all climates) would not have lain 

dormant for upwards of a hundred years, only now to be revived by men whose 

scientific minds have enabled them to penetrate that theory, which ought to have 

been yielding incalculable wealth to the country a century ago. 

t Again, take the case of land drainage, and I think your personal experience 

and observation will bear me out in saying that nine-tenths of all the drainage 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 269 



done in this country previously to the last fifteen years, or until Parkes eluci- 
dated the true scientific principles of draining, has been most imperfectly executed, 
and that the expenditure was almost entirely thrown away. And here let me 
remark, incidentally, that though we willingly accord to Mr. Parkes the merit of 
laying down in his writings the true principles of an efficient land drainage, yet 
he has unfortunately proved himself to be but an indifferent practical operator 
when called upon (in consequence of his able writings) to put his principles into 
practice. 

If I may claim your attention for a few minutes longer, I would venture to 
state a few of the results of chemical investigation. In the first place, it has 
been shewn by analysis that we can ascertain (with sufficient correctness for 
practical purposes) what different soils are composed of; as also the elements of 
plants, and the constituents of manures. We are, therefore, now enabled in our 
daily practice to supply the soil with those substances in which it is deficient, 
thus furnishing suitable food to such plants as we may choose to grow upon it. 
You are all aware that artificial manures are now successfully made through the 
aid of science, and many of us can adduce cases in which our respected fellow- 
member, Mr. Proctor, has administered successfully to all varieties of crops on 
totally different soils. Look to what guano has done, whose value and uses 
chemists so correctly told before practical trials could be made. As an instance 
of the value of chemical analysis, take the case of an intelligent and enterprising 
Lothian farmer, that of Mr. John Dickson, of Saughton, near Edinburgh, who 
lately purchased from a respectable merchant in Leith several hundred pounds' 
worth of guano, and had it analyzed by Dr. Anderson, the farmers' agricultural 
chemist in Scotland, who found it to consist of 

Croprolites, worth 

Gypsum .... 

Genuine guano ... 



£3 








1 


5 








15 





£5 








9 


10 


per ton. 



In all 

And for which Mr. Dickson had paid 

Thus showing a loss of £4 10 per ton, 

which he detected by means of this analysis, and recovered from the seller 
upwards of £100. 
1 The process of dissolving bones with sulphuric acid is also due directly to the\ 
inductive principles of chemistry, and was first tried by Liebig, because he 
knew from scientific principles that (his process would produce the desired result ! 
of liberating the phosphates in bone and making it fit for the food of plants. 
Having had much experience in the use of bones, I can confidently assert that 
for general purposes, either as a top dressing or for underground manure, 5 cwt. 
of dissolved bones, called " superphosphate of lime," costing (in Bristol) 40s., j 
, is to be preferred to a ton of raw bones, costing £6. / 

X Again, chemistry has shown that a small brown stone, called a coprolite, which 



270 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

is found in abundance in several parts of England and in Spain, and also, I 
believe, in America, and is said by geologists to be the fossil dung of an ante- 
diluvian lizard, is a good inorganic manure, and I have seen it used with success 
at the Cirencester College Farm. 

Chemistry also explains the ingredients which both cattle and crops remove 
from the soil, and what is required to replace them. Thus milch cows, we know, 
impoverish the land they pasture on, and analysis shows that the milk they yield 
contains a large quantity of the phosphates, which is the principal food of 
grasses and clovers; and when the excrements of dairy cows is examined, it is 
found to be thus much poorer. From this cause the farmers in Cheshire — the 
greatest dairy county in England — are constantly restoring those "phosphates to 
the soil by top dressing their pastures with bone dust. Young stock, on the 
contrary, only remove the quantities of phosphates and other ingredients required 
to form their bones and flesh, and their dung is so much the richer than 
dairy cows. 

It is now also pretty well ascertained what materials particular crops remove 
from the soil, and one curious fact is, that from an acre of land 10 inches deep 
and weighing 1,000 tons, 20 crops of wheat, at 35 bushels of grain and 2 tons 
of straw per acre, only remove of minerals of all sorts 0.248 ; and it was sup- 
posed by Jethro Tull, and now by many even practical men, that nearly all the 
other elements of wheat may be derived from the atmosphere, by stirring the 
soil and allowing it to have free access to the plants. 

It has now been clearly established by Prof. Liebig, that the heat of the 
body, both of man and animals, is the same in all climates and temperatures — 
that the chief source of animal heat is carbon — and that our food is the great 
source of carbon. In cold weather, therefore, when the body gives off an 
an increased amount of heat, a proportionate quantity of food will be necessary 
for our stock, in order to keep up the due temperature of the body. Hence the 
advantage, nay, necessity, of keeping ouV feeding animals always moderately 
warm and beyond the reach of cold currents of air, not mere y to save food, 
which the most of us know it will do, but to conduce to their general health. A 
beautiful fact in connection with this circumstance is, that the oxygen gas which 
animals are constantly wasting by respiration is again supplied by what is given 
off from growing plants, which extract carbonic acid gas from the air, retain the 
carbon, and set the oxygen free, thus maintaining a beautiful law of compen- 
sation. 

Again, how marvellous the fact that it is within the individual power of any 
of us to carry to the field sufficient manure, in the shape of superphosphate of 
lime or guano, for an acre; but it would require an Atlas to bring back the crop 
that such manures would produce. 

See, then, in these facts, the realization of what science predicted fifty years 
before such things were thought possible. And had Lord Kames lived in our 
day, his memorable remark that the time would come when a farmer might carry 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 271 

as much manure in his hat as would suffice for an acre of land, would not have 
subjected him to the witty and sarcastic retort, that he would be able to bring- 
home the crop in his waistcoat pocket ! For the rapid strides that science has 
made within the last ten years — the extraordinary discoveries that have taken 
place — the increasing mastery of mind over matter, making nature reveal, as it 
were, her inmost secrets — leave no man at liberty to dogmatize of the future. It 
looks, indeed, as if we had, at last, found a key to unlock the boundless store- 
house of nature; and he only, who from time to time heaves the log into the 
deep, can fully appreciate the strength of that vast intellectual current that is 
sweeping along with such irresistible power. 

I have dwelt so long on chemistry that I will only add that geology indicates 
the kinds of crops and stocks most suitable to a district; botany — the plants, 
their sexes and habits. And here let me remark on the beauty and peaceful 
influence of that science whose votaries are to be found in all parts of the 
habitable globe, in the deserts of Africa, in the wilds of America, and amongst 
the distant islands of the Pacific, the pioneers of peace and good will amongst 
nations, and constantly returning to enrich their native land with their newly 
discovered treasures. 

Meteorology has given us the barometer and thermometer, and taught the 
signs of the weather, and the effects on climate, of draining, planting, and 
cultivation. 

Physiology teaches us the structure of animals and plants. 

Entomology the habits of insects, by which we may sometimes ward off their 
destructive depredations, or destroy them. 

On the continent this subject commands the attention of governments. In 
France, Germany and Belgium, local laws are from time to time enacted for the 
destruction of insects; and commissioners are appointed to investigate their 
economy, and to suggest plans to arrest the evils arising from them, and in many 
cases efficient means have been devised to stay the mischief. The ready manner 
in which insects may be imported from foreign countries with our grain, and 
naturalised here, and the fact that such has been the case in many instances, 
ought to make us more alive to this subject, and induce us to be more attentive 
in keeping our barns, storehouses, and granaries clean and well aired. 

Natural history enables us to know the habits of the birds and animals that 
frequent our fields, and their goad or evil propensities, and may sometimes induce 
us to mitigate our unqualified condemnation of the persecuted, but nevertheless 
useful rook. 

31edicine can give us enough skill to enable us, in emergencies, to administer 
to the ailments of our dependent animals. 

And lastly, mechanical science has conferred upon us inestimable boons ; for who 
can reflect on the improved ploughs now in use without thinking on James 
Small, the working blacksmith ? or on the thrashing machine, without a feeling 
of gratitude to the humble Scotch mechanic, Andrew Meikle ? or on the now all 



272 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 



but perfect reaping machine, without esteem for the labours of the Rev. Patrick 
Bell, and acknowledging that we owe something to mechanical ingenuity and 
science ? So, also, has it given us the steam engine, to thrash and winnow our 
corn, and then to carry it to market and bring back the master-farmer manure. 
And its most recent production, Fowler's draining plough, is not unlikely to work 
a great change in draining, in cultivation, and in climate; for I can confidently 
say, from a personal knowledge of its construction and practical operation, that 
it is not a mere rude machine to be dragged along by brute force, but one con- 
structed on strictly scientific principles to reduce the power of draught and 
resistance, and to produce the desired action on the soil. 
' A liberal knowledge of science, then, must make a farmer a more unpreju- 
diced man. It will connect the every-day business of life with a higher class of 
thoughts and feelings; it will enable him more clearly to comprehend the details 
of his farm, and so bring the whole into that more perfect harmony by which 
every operation shall conduce to one common end, with the least expenditure of 
power and the greatest produce of result; and therein, I conceive, consists the 
the true art of scientific farming. 

A discussion followed, in which the chairman, Mr. Schneider, of Slaughter- 
ford, Mr. Pabter the secretary, Mr. E. Little, and others took part; and we are 
happy to be able to add, that although those present were unanimous in consider- 
ing practical experience as the safest guide, they were equally so in showing a 
due appreciation of the principles of science. 

The following was the resolution come to: — 

Resolved, That physical and mechanical science have rendered, and continue 
to render, valuable services to practical farming; and that, though a knowledge of 
science is not considered indispensable to a farmer, yet such an acquaintance with 
chemistry, geology, botany, meteorology, and mechanics, as can be acquired by 
the ordinary habit of reading and observation, is desirable, and would be found 
a valuable addition to practical experience. 



Liquid Manure for Gardens. — Every man who has a sink spout has « 
fountain of wealth at his back door. You laugh at the idea, for you have never 
tried it. Make the experiment and you will laugh at your own simplicity for 
overlooking a stream that abounds with gold dust, as really as Pactolus. The ap- 
plication of liquid manure to meadows, on farms may be at some distance in the 
future, but for its use in gardens the time has already come. 

If you have nothing better, sink a half hogshead a foot or two in your garden, 
in the most convenient place, and run a leader from your sink spout into it. A 
watering pot is the best thing to put it on with, but not at all essential. An old 
pail and dipper, kept for the purpose, will answer. When the plants are well 
up and begin to grow nicely, apply the liquid two or three times a week, just at 
night. It is excellent for vegetables and small fruits, and for grapes and pears 
until they begin to approach maturity. It not only increases their size, but 
improves their flavor. — American Agriculturist. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 273 

For the Southern Planter. 

The Grasses best adapted to Virginia— The Mode of Culture, and Manner 

of Curing 1 , &c. 

In this day of progress in the science and practice of Agriculture, the future 
is full of promise to the farmer. With every step of our progress in improve- 
ment, in the processes of husbandry, we should see to it that we advance, also, in 
the great business and chief aim of life, that is, not to add field to field, to pull 
down barns and build up greater, but to improve our minds, our hearts and our 
lives, so as thereby to benefit the world in which we live. Keeping this superior 
object and end distinctly in view, I propose to take the privilege of submitting 
a few thoughts which have occurred to my mind upon the subject which heads 
this article. 

The ages of Fable, although long since passed away, have been fairly outstrip- 
ped by these days of Fact. The dreams of Poets, and the speculations of Phi- 
losophers, are more than realized in the achievements of modern husbandry — and 
the deed is none the less wonderful because it has not been instantaneously per- 
formed. But however satisfactory the practical results already realized, by the 
application of mind to Agriculture may be, the subject is still open for investi- 
gation, and presents the highest encouragement for further research. There are 
secrets yet locked up in the soil, which, discovered, will enable us to double the 
certainty, and the measure of reward for labour and every fact carefully noted, 
tends to open the pathway to their attainment. 

The husbandman may never be able, even if he so desired, to " sow Dragon's 
teeth and see armed men rise up from the soil, to desolate the Earth, but he. can 
do a greater deed, he can stamp on the ground, and see lowing herds, white 
fleeced flocks, and neighing steeds, rise at his bidding. Animals more perfect in 
form, more profitable in their yield and labour, than any of the natioas of anti- 
quity ever saw." 

To fertilize and improve the farm, ought to be the prime temporal object of 
every proprietor. Agriculture may be legitimately considered as not only the 
stimulus to industry, but also the source of abundance, comfort and health. In 
perfect harmony with these, it also subserves the higher purposes of promoting 
good morals and acts beneficially even upon religion itself. All national aggran- 
dizement, power and wealth, may be traced to Agriculture as their ultimate 
source. The American Farmer, then, equipped for his employment, and tilling 
his grounds may justly be regarded as belonging to the order of real noblemen. 

Without further preliminary remarks, I come directly to my subject, which is, 
of itself, sufficiently fruitful to occupy the few pages, I propose devoting to this 
article. The subject is one about which more is said, considerably more' done, 
and doubtless more thought upon, than perhaps any other affecting the interests 
of the farmer. It is, in truth, a subject of absorbing interest, and of primary 
importance. Indeed, taking the whole country into the account, the single item 
of fjrum 19 far more valuable than any other product of the soil. It far outstrips 
18 r 



274 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

corn, cotton and wheat, which generally attract mere attention, because they are 
more generally sold, and therefore affect more sensibly the commercial exchan- 
ges of the country. 

But the lowly grasses, that our cattle graze during the summer, and which 
when dried, form their principal food in winter, are of more importance to the 
prosperity of the country, than any other single crop. 

Of the various grasses that have been to a greater or less extent cultivated in 
Virginia, I will mention only those that by actual experiment and observation, 
have been found adapted to the soil of the State. These, I think, are sufficient 
to meet all the wants of Agriculturists, for whatever purpose they may desire to 
appropriate them. There are others, however, that I might mention, in proof of 
whose merit, I might give quotation after quotation, from authorities above re- 
proach ; still, they have not been sufficiently tested by experiment, and hence, 
we must, as yet, regard their adoption of doubtful expediency. Those grasses to 
which I particularly refer, as being of established adaptation to the soil of our 
State, are orchard grass, blue grass, Herd's grass, timothy and clover. 

The($rchard g rass , sometimes called "Rough Cock's Foot," and known Botan- 
ically as " Dadylis Glomerata," though regarded by many, as being very valua- 
ble, is not so generally popular among cultivators as some of the other grasses. 
' It has in its favour, however, qualities that ought to cause it to rank with the 
[best grasses of our State — such as its rapidity of growth, ability to endure 
drought, large yield of fodder and seed, and also its permanence. To which we 
may add, it bears shade well, and is thus adapted to orchards, its popular name 
being derived from this characteristic. It is a coarser and harsher grass than 
timothy or herd's grass, is less nourishing, and grows in tufts instead of covering 
the surface evenly. There is a diversity of opinion, as to the relish with which 
it is eaten by stock, some affirming that they prefer it to all other grasses, while 
others say, it is neglected, where other kinds are at hand. All agree, that for 
summer grazing it should be kept cropped short. My own opinion, based upon 
personal experience, with regard to orchard grass, for grazing purposes, is that 
for winter or early spring, it is preferable to all others, from the fact that it is 
more hardy, and remains green, rich and juicy through the winter. It is a well 
known fact, that the quality of all the grasses depends much upon the location, 
character and management of soils, and to this fact, undoubtedly, is due the differ- 
ence of opinion respecting the value of orchard grass. Experience has shown, 
that in many sections, it is inferior to timothy, particularly for meadow. Still, 
under other circumstances, it may be preferable. When intended for mowing, 
it should be sown with clover, from the fact, that it blossoms about the same 
time, end is thus fit to cut belore becoming too rank. One bushel of seed to the 
acre, when sown with clover, or two, when sown alone, is the usual quantity. A 
very light brushing, to cover it, is sufficient. Experiment has proved, that the 
greatest number of seed germinate at a depth of from one-fourth of an inch to 
no covering at all — but merely lying on the surface. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 275 

In speaking of Ulue grass, to which I next call attention, I shall refer to it 
simply as a grazing grass. As to seed, it may be considered prolific ; but for 
hay, whilst it may be, perhaps, as nutritious as any, yet it affords a very light 
swarth. It will grow on almost any soil of ordinary fertility, but succeeds best 
on limestone lands. Where such soils predominate, it has obtained a world-wide 
celebrity; but even here, in our free-stone lands, amid the "red hills" of old 
Virginia, on soils of other character though not indigenous — it succeeds 
most admirably, and is being extensively cultivated. It sods deeply and heavily, 
makes an even surface, and grows most luxuriantly to the height of eight or ten 
inches, scattering stems shooting out, and springing up a few inches above the gene- 
ral height on which the seed is borne. From ten to sixteen pounds should be sown 
to the acre, on a smoothly harrowed surface and brushed over in the usual way. 

Herd's grass is the next variety which presents itself in my catalogue of grasses 
adapted to the soil of Virginia. It stands among the best variety of grasses ac- 
cording to chemists, and some cultivators contend that it commands the decided 
preference of cattle, when put in competition with other kinds. Analysis does 
not always agree with instinct, but when animal tastes verify the decisions of 
the Laboratory, doubt is no longer admissable. Upon this subject, so far as my 
individual opinion, based upon personal experience, is concerned, I am very slow 
to acknowledge any grass as superior to timothy for hay. This much I do con- 
cede, that there is as much difference in the nutritive properties of the different 
grasses as there is in grains or fruits. Analysis shows this, and the instinct of 
cattle indicates as much. Herd's grass is very popular and is destined 
to become more and more so, as acquaintance with it increases. Indeed, some of 
its characteristics will ever recommend it above all other kinds, so long as there 
are worn outknds to reclaim, gullies to fill, or galls to heal. Its adaptedness to 
these purposes is universally acknowledged. I consider it inferior to blue grass 
for grazing, but for hay, greatly superior, and scarcely inferior to any other kind. 
It has a soft delicate stalk, seeds well, and rarely fails to make a crop. It may 
be sown alone, or with other grasses, either in Spring or Fall. If alone, at the 
rate of from ten to fifteen quarts per acre. I now call attention to Slniothy — the J 
fourth variety laid down in my catalogue. This is universally a favorite grass 
with every modern agriculturist- who has the energy and enterprise to fertilize his 
soil sufficiently for its cultivation. It will not grow to perfection upon poor land, 
hence the preference over it, given to so many other grasses of far less merit. 
The prevailing opinion, however, that timothy will only grow upon rich, moist, 
bottom land is erroneous. It is true that lands naturally moist, such as reclaimed 
swamps, or that are susceptible of irrigation, are better suited to its cultivation. 
But I have this year, mowed upon my own farm — on upland — timothy of as good 
quality and yield as I have ever seen upon any land of whatever character. Upon 
lands of suitable fertility, it sods well, grows luxuriantly and seeds and fodders 
abundantly. I think it advisable in seeding with timothy, to mix it with clover, 
from the fact that they are a mutual support to each other, and the clover affords 



276 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [Mat 

a handsome swarth, whilst the timothy sod is being formed. It is the usual cus- 
tom to sow timothy with other crops, either in Winter or Spring, but I have al- 
Iways succeeded better to sow it alone or with clover, from the twentieth of 
August to the middle of September. From eight to twelve quarts should be 
sown to the acre. 

Ot'tflover, and its adaptedness to the soil of Virginia, enough has already 
been said, written and experienced, and it would seem a work of supererogation 
to lug into this article, already too long, anything upon the subject, hence, I will 
only remark, as a vegetable fertilizer, it is without an equal, for grazing purposes 
very superior, and for hay, when fed from the mow, equal to the best. About 
ten pounds, or one sixth of a bushel, per acre, is the quantity usually sown. As 
it regards the quantity of grass seed to be sown to the acre, the question can 
only be answered approximately. Where, for any reason, it is difficult to make 
seed take, it may require an addition of as much as twenty-five per cent, or one 
peck to the acre. Again, on very rich land, where seed would tiller exuberantly, 
it is the practice to diminish the amount sown. A table giving a fixed, invaria- 
ble quantity, would often mislead, for the reason, that quality of soil, method of 
cultivation, climate and location, all, vary the certainty and manner of growth. 
f In this, as well as in almost every other operation on the farm, individual judg- 
; ment must be exercised. For the successful cultivation of the grasses, much 
depends upon the preparation of the land. First, examine the premises in every 
part to see if draining is needed. It there are any wet, spungy places, — any 
spots covered with sorrel moss or coarse wiry grasses, — there, of course, ditching 
is a necessity. 

This being done, unless the land has sufficient fertility, give the surface a 
thorough coat of manuroj from the farm-pen or stable — not with a view of mak- 
in°- the soil rich only, but of making it warm and porous. 

Next in order, comes a thorough breaking up of the soil — by subsoil ploughing, 
and I wish to be understood when I say, thrust down your plough-point into the 
yellow soil, with a strong arm, if you would have your meadow luxuriant, and 
your swai'd to hold its freshness throughout the heats of Summer. This being 
accomplished, harrow and re-harrow, until it is thoroughly pulierizedj then sow 
down your seed, and run it over with a roller, or brush, the roller_is_ pr eferable ; 

When your grass is from two to four inches high, give it a heavy coat of 
plaster, and in early Spring repeat the application, and my word for it, you will 
have a meadow that you will look upon with pride and pleasure. 
\ Haying should commence with the proper maturity of the grass, which is 
about the time the bloom passes away, and the seed begins to form. After this, 
the stalk changes to woody fibre, thereby losing much of its sweet and nutri- 
tious properties. 

The question of mowing, though not embraced in my subject, yet, in approach- 
in g the next proposition, my memory involuntarily runs back into the dim vista 
of Time, even to the days of " Old Fogyism," where, in imagination, I see the 



1861.] THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 277 

mower, as he bends to his work, from the early morn to high noon; while I 
remember there used to be poetry in his work, before I knew anything better, 
and thought him a "fitting type of the Great Destroyer," but the poetry is 
transferred from the scythe to the "mounted ear," and "there is music, too, in 
the sharp clatter of its triumphant march." I see smooth, evenly spread grass, 
as it lies in the track of the mower, as I never saw it in the roughly-piled swarth 
made by the scythe. It suggests no painful posture, no strain of the muscles, 
no "sweat of the brow." Invention is at length consolidated into an effective 
machine, that puts the once much-dreaded hay harvest completely under the 
control of the husbandman. But enough about machinery: The harvest 
waves impatient for the reaper, and the hay must be secured. Then let 
us be astir with the earliest light, and lead the mowers to the field, and when 
the heat becomes oppressive, we will seek the shade until the air is tempered by 
the evening breeze, when we will at it again with renewed vigor, after the long 
mid-day rest. 

The grass being cut, now for hay-making — one of the most useful and pleasant 
occupations on the farm. It is a treat to labor among the new-mown grass, 
whilst the atmosphere is redolent with its grateful perfume. Nothing is more 
refreshing than the air which the gentle breeze of Summer wafts from the 
fields and meadows, when the grass is in preparation for its Winter deposit. 

The horse-rake should follow this reaper or scythe, drawing the hay into wind 
rows, which should be cocked up, when sufficiently dry not to ferment. Hay, 
cured in bulk, is much better than when left exposed to the sun until perfectly 
dry. If possible, no dew should be allowed to fall upon hay in the swarth, 
except that which is cut late in the day. So soon as the hay is sufficiently 
seasoned, barns, sheds, and other preparations for its reception being complete, 
store it away, occasionally sprinkling it with salt. This not only assists in keep- 
ing it in good condition, but renders it more palatable, especially if of inferior 
grass, or not in good order when stored. The common practice of stacking hay 
in the field is not to be commended, but may be resorted to when impracticable 
to find shelter, or room to stack it in the farm-yard. The stock must necessarily 
be exposed while feeding (unless temporary sheds are erected, which is seldom 
done); much manure is wasted, and an unsightly spot is left in the meadow. 
Shelter for hay, however rude, is greatly preferable to stacking, and no good 
manager will attempt to dispense with them. 

My argument is before you. I may have been tedious — but I trust my mani- \ 
fest zeal will be a sufficient apology. In conclusion, let me say, to fertilize is 
t he Alpha and Omega of all profitable farming. Feed the soil, and The blades 
of grass will spring up, not only two, five and ten to one, but sixty and an 
hundred fold. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Robert C. Jones. 

Broolc Hatt, Bedford County, Va. 



278 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

For the Southern Planter. 

Extracts from Sir John Evelyn's Diary and Correspondence. 

August 29th, 1G68. — "I went to see Sir Elias Leighton's project of a cart 
with iron axle-trees." 

The above is an extract from that very entertaining book, " Diary and Corres- 
pondence of John Evelyn, F. R. S." As to the success of Sir Elias, in his pro- 
ject with the iron axle-tree, I know nothing; but as he is described by one au- 
thority as " a mad freaking fellow ;" and according to another, " for a speech of 
forty words, the wittiest man he ever knew," and with all, " one of the best 
companions at a meal in the world," I am inclined to think that so useful and 
solid a thing as an iron "axle-tree for a cart" would make but little progress 
towards perfection in the hands of the witty convivialist. But whatever may have 
been the result attending the project of this "boon companion" two hundred 
years ago, there can, at this day, scarcely be two opinions in reference to the 
comparative merits of iron and wood axle-trees. The superiority of the former 
is so obvious that they are rapidly superceding in this part of the State the old 
fashioned wooden ones for wagons and carts. 

In the same volume, under the date 26th October, 1685, I find the following: 

" Sir Richard Bulkley, described to us (Royal Society) a model of a chariot 
he had invented, which it was not possible to overthrow in whatever uneven way 
it was drawn, giving us a wonderful relation of what it had performed in that 
kind, for ease, expedition and safety; there were some inconveniences yet to be 
remedied — it would not contain more than one person ; was ready to take fire 
every ten miles; and being placed and playing on no fewer than ten rollers, it 
made a most prodigious noise, almost intolerable. A remedy was to be sought 
for these inconveniences." 

Evelyn does not inform us of the success attending Sir Richard's search after 
a remedy for the inconsiderable "inconveniences" of his chariot. Some timid 
persons would, doubtless, be willing to incur the danger of " taking fire every 
ten miles " in order to be secure against an " overthrow." Were it not, there- 
fore, for the " intolerable noise," the danger of combustion might be borne. 
The invention of a carriage or wagon that could not be overthrown, might be the 
means of saving the State some expense in the construction of turnpikes. I 
commend the subject to our Legislators. Perhaps their wisdom may deem it for 
the interests of the Commonwealth to offer a State bond, or Treasury note bear- 
ing interest, as a reward to the meritorious inventor of such a wagon. The suc- 
cessful inventor of a " Platform" that could not be overthrown "in whatever 
uneven way it was drawn," would soon make his fortune, however great the 
" noise " or the danger of " taking fire," provided its capacity was a vast multi- 
tude " that no man could number." 

I will trouble you with but one more extract from Evelyn, it is as follows : 

19/71 May, 1672. — " Went to Margate, and the following day was carried to 
see a gallant widow, brought up a farmeress, and I think of gigantic race, rich, 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 279 

comely, and exceedingly industrious. She put me in mind of Deborah and Abe- 
gail, her house was so plentifully stored with all manner of country-provisions, 
all of her own growth, and all her conveniencies so substantial, neat and well un- 
derstood ; she herself so jolly and hospitable, and her land so trim and rarely 
husbanded, that it struck me with admiration at her economy." 

Now, dear Planter, is not this a picture worth contemplating ? Does it not 
make you wish you could travel backwards, along the track of time, for two hun- 
dred years? I hope the "jolly" widow soon found herself in the same situa- 
tion as her land, " rarely husbanded." T. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Southern Patronage Again. 

Messrs. Editors : — I join the Southern Cultivator in regard to an article of 
the Journal of Commerce, of which you speak in your February number. Here 
in Virginia, for instance, instead of the Connecticut bell we are aroused by Vir- 
ginia roosters; our beds are made by Virginia mechanics, the feathers and wool 
for the same raised on the farm ; the family wears homespun and European 
goods — the latter ought to be, and I trust soon will be, imported by Norfolk. 
3Iy coffee pays toll in Richmond; heaven gave us clear spring water, and our 
cows give excellent milk. We buy Southern sugar refined in New York which 
could be done as well in Richmond, and use some home-made maple sugar also. 
Very fine pianos can be bought at Baltimore factories. The Massachusetts shoes 
are not worth having. Phillip K. White in Richmond, and our country shoe- 
makers can beat them ; and I would not give one Virginia made saddle for half 
a dozen Northern. I hope our nurserymen will do all they can to induce us to 
quit New Jersey. We are also willing to support the Southern manufactories, 
provided they use all exertion which we can reasonably expect of them — that is 
to live by industry and a moderate tariff, and not by a high one all together. 

The vigor and strength which we have added to the North must be withdrawn 
from there; and to make a start, our Northern friends should be invited to settle 
in Southern cities, and help to establish a Southern-European trade. It will not 
do to say that England is as much against us as the North, as we intend to trade 
with all Europe, and I hope it will not be necessary to prohibit the Northern 
manufactures. 

Whenever we have direct importations, the Southern jobbers can afford to 
give the country merchant all the facilities which the New York jobber gives now. 
Tbe high rent for store-room, and high clerk-salary, which the latter pays, and 
even his extravagance, is no reason why he should undersell the Charles- 
ton jobber as you argue on " Southern patronage " in your February number. 
The New York jobber has to swim with tbe great mass, and has at present many 
advantages in buying. He sells to an enormous amount to make his expenses 
comparatively small, and runs the risk for good or evil. 



280 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

Our only remedy in the South is a direct trade with Europe. This once estab- 
lished, the jobbing trade will follow. 

With a distributing Southern city, manufactures to a moderate extent, and our 
agricultural resources, we cannot fail to be a happy people. 

Yours with respect, T. K. 

Chest, Marcli 22, 1861. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Comments on Articles in the March Number of Southern Planter. 

Messrs. Editors. — I was very much pleased with Mr. Ed. Taylor's excel- 
lent essay in the last number; it is a useful paper: — perhaps you can make it 
more so, by supplying a slight omission on his part. In his preparation for the 
corn crop, he does not say what form of surface he prefers. This is a matter 
of great importance to most of our farmers. We have a diversity of theory as 
well as practice, some preferring the old mode of five-feet beds, others fifteen, 
twenty, and some thirty feet. In all flat countries this is a question of great im- 
portance. 

Perhaps you may also render your readers service by explaining Mr. Ran- 
dolph's Farm Accounts. 

I observe in some of his accounts, he charges the farm with interest on 
$40,000 capital invested, and charges also hire of negroes. In others he does 
not charge negro hire, but charges interest on an increased capital, 645,000. 
Are we to understand that negroes were included in the first investment ? Aud 
are we to infer that they increased so as to render hirelings unnecessary? And 
is the additional §5,000 the increased value of the negroes alone, or of the whole 
investment — or is it an additional investment of new capital? If the first, or 
either of the two first, then his account does his farm injustice, if the last, 
then his dividends decrease as his capital increases. If I purchase a share of 
R. R. stock for $100, and receive at the end of the year five per cent, dividend, 
and sell my stock for $120. I have realized 25 per cent. 

I knew a gentleman in this county to purchase a servant woman and four 
boys for $860. In the course of five years the woman, still young, had three 
more boys, and the eight servants were worth over $6,000. 

Several interesting facts are presented in these accounts of Mr. Randolph : 
— one, that wheat is his most valuable crop ; another, that he lost money by 
neglecting the corn crop. Had he sold as much corn in 1859 as he did in 
1855, it would have amounted to nearly $1,200. Another, that his sales of 
beef and pork never amounted to as much as his corn, 1855, except in 1859, 
when he must have purchased his beeves, fattened and sold them, but did not 
charge the cost, while he gives credit for the whole amount of sales. Another, that 
his wool sold for enough, nearly, to purchase his negroes clothing, saving all 
trouble of spinning, weaving, &c. Another, that he made as much when he had 
no overseer as when he had one. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 281 

These exhibits show admirable results, including support of family, (a very 
legitimate item,) amounting to nearly eight per cent, for five years — and if the 
$5,000, should be added, a much larger percentage. 

I will send you, first opportunity, a sample of corral, of which we have great 
abundance in the beds of our rivers and creeks. I think Mr. Gilham will con- 
cur with me in thinking it equal to any phospho-guano at all. 

Tery respectfully your ob't serv't, C. C. Curtis. 

Gloucester, March 20th, 1861. 

Remarks. — The authors referred to in the above communication will each 
take pleasure, we are sure, in answering the enquiries of the writer through our 
columns. For ourselves, we are glad to find the attention of intelligent farmers 
drawn to the subjects of the communications of Mr. Taylor and Mr. Randolph, 
and especially to find so proper an appreciation of "farm accounts" as is evinced 
by our corrrespondent. We wish the practice of keeping them might prevail 
universally among the farmers of Virginia, for, strange as it may seem to the 
unthinking, it would save hundreds of thousands to the commonwealth in curb- 
ing extravagance, and in wisely directing expenditures to subjects demonstrated 
by the ledger to be profitable, and withdrawing them from such as are found 
productive only of loss and disappointment. — [Ed. So. Panter. 



Kind—Mankind— Husband— Wife. 

Let us a little consider the word " kind." We speak of a " kind" person, 
and we speak of " mankind," and perhaps, if we think about the matter at all, 
we seem to ourselves to be using quite different words, or the same word in 
senses quite unconnected, and having no bond between them. But they are 
connected, and that most closely; a " kind" person is a " kinned" person, one 
of kin ; one who acknowledges and acts upon his kinship with other men, con- 
fesses that he owes to them, as of one blood with himself, the debt of lore, and 
so mankind is ma,n7cinned* In the word is contained a declaration of the re- 
lationship which exists between all the members of the human family, and see- 
ing that this relationship in a race now scattered so widely and divided so far 
asunder can only be through a common head, we do in fact every time that we 
use the word " mankind" declare our faith in the one common descent of the 
whole race of man. And beautilul before, how much more beautiful now do 
the words " kind" and " kindness" appear, when we perceive the root out of 
which they grow; that they are the acknowledgment in deeds, of love of our 
kinship with our brethren, and how profitable to keep in mind the lively recog- 
nition of the bonds of blood, whether of those closer ones which unite us to 

*Thus it is not a mere play upon words, but something much deeper, which Shak- 
speare puts into Hamlet's moutli ; when speaking of his father's brother who had mar- 
ried his mother, he characterizes him as '• A little more than kin, and less than kind." 



282 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

that whom, by best right, we term our family, or those wider ones which knit us 
to the whole human family that this is the true source out of which all genuine 
love and affection must spring, for so much is affirmed in our daily, hourly use 
of the word. 

And other words there are, having reference to the family and the relations of 
family life, which are not less full of teaching, which each may serve to remind 
of some duty. For example, " husband" is properly " houseband," the band 
and bond of the house, who shall bind and hold it togther. Thus, old Tusser in 
his Points of Husbandry : 

'• The name of the husband what is it to say ? 
Of wife and of household the band and the stay;'' 

so that the very name may put him in mind of his authority, and of that which 
he ought to be to all the members of the house. And the name " wife" has its 
lesson, too, although not so deep a one as the equivalent word in some other 
tongues. It belongs to the same family of words as " weave," " woof," " web," 
and the German " weben." It is a title given to her who is engaged at the 
web and woof, these having been the most ordinary branches of female industry, 
of wifely employment, when the language was forming ; so that in the word 
itself is wrapped up a hint of earnest iu-door-stay-at-home occupations, as being 
the fittest for her who bears this name. — [Trench on the Study of Words. 



From the Rural American. 

Applications of Manures. 

A very fundamental principle in the application of manures is, that not only 
the kind and quantity, but the mode of their application should be adapted to 
the position, character and condition of the soil. This general principle in rela- 
tion to the nutritive manures, may be reduced to a number of highly practical 
rules. 

1st. The smaller the quantity of organic matter in the soil, the greater should 
be the quantity of manure applied, and vice versa. 

A slight dressing of manure on an exhausted soil, and a heavy one on a soil 
already stored with nutritive matter, would be alike injurious; the former being 
insufficient not only to give a permanent fertility to the soil, but even to make 
the present crop a remunerating one, and the latter having no immediate office 
to perform, the crop to which it is given being already supplied with appropriate 
food. 

2d. The heavier, damper, and colder the soil, the lighter, drier, and warmer 
should be the manure applied ; as horse and sheep dung in an unfermented state. 

" Animal manures develop more or less heat according to their nature and the 
state of fermentation ; those which have been decomposed, excite more heat and 
maintain it for a longer time than others. The excrements of the sheep and horse 
are more heating in their action than those of the cow ; the black or brown 
manures warm the soil more than marl or chalk." — Chaptal, p. 37. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 283 

3d. The lighter, drier, and warmer the soil, the heavier, damper, and less 
heating may be the manures applied. 

The liability of the light soils to suffer from drought, should lead the farmer 
not only to exercise greater care in selecting the most suitable manures, but to 
see that they are thoroughly incorporated with the soil, and not left in masses, to 
increase the evil. Moderate quantities of either animal or vegetable matter, if 
properly blended with the soil, will promote its moisture by increasing its power 
of absorption ; but if applied in excess, or left in considerable masses, the oppo- 
site effect will be produced. 

The same considerations should have their weight in relation to the kind and 
quality of manure used, if any, in the hill for hoed crops. 

•1th. The more porous the soil, having a loose subsoil, the nearer the surface 
should the manures be deposited, to avoid infiltration. If on the other hand, by 
placing our manures too deep in the soil, we suffer from infiltrations, so on the 
other, by leaving them upon the surface, we shall find ourselves losers by evapo- 
ration, though, perhaps, to a less extent. The true practice would be to give 
them just that covering which, while it would protect them from the direct in- 
fluence of the atmosphere, would not at the same time keep them longer within 
the reach of the roots of the plants. 

5th. The more impervious the soil, having a compact subsoil, the deeper and 
more intimately should the manures be incorporated, to promote the freest action 
of the sun and air upon the soil, to render it easier of cultivation, to secure a 
wider range for the roots of the plants, and to prevent excessive moisture in wet, 
and drought in dry weather. 

The common air, which is to a great extent excluded from soils of the kind 
now under consideration, exerts a most powerful agency in promoting vegetation, 
and that in various ways. To be convinced of the importance of permeability, 
and a looseness of texture to the soil, we need but reflect for a moment that 
plants are not permitted, like animals, to roam about in quest of their food, the 
invariable limits of their pasturage being the extremities of their roots. How 
obviously necessary, then, that they should be enabled to extend their roots with 
the utmost freedom, and thereby derive nourishment, without impediment, from 
those elements which can yield them sustenance. 

" Whenever water is converted into steam, the ascending vapor carries off much 
of the heat along with it. Let two adjoining fields be wet or moist in different 
degrees, that which is wettest will almost at all times give off the largest quanti- 
ty of vapor, and will therefore be the coldest. 

u What is the remedy ? Effectual drainage. The first effect on the soil is the 
same as if you were to place it in a warmer climate, and under a milder sky, 
where it could bring to maturity other fruits and yield more certain crops. — 
Johnston, p. 74. 

" If the water is withdrawn from a marsh, free access is given to the air, and 
the marsh becomes a fruitful meadow." — Liebig, p. 116. 



284 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

" The solvent power of water over solid substances is increased by an eleva- 
tion of temperature. To this fact is ascribed, among other causes, tbe peculiar 
character of the vegetable productions, as in tropical countries." — Johnston, 
p. 48. 

" Warmth renders the sap fluid, and quickens its circulation ; cold thickens 
it, and renders it stagnant. It is heat alone that, by animating the vegetable or- 
gans, enables the plant to elaborate within itself the nourishment it receives." — 
Chaptal, p. 36 and 102. T. 



From the American Agriculturist. 

Gas-Lime— Experience in its Use — Valuable Information. 

[The rapid introduction of gas into cities and villages, and the large amount 
of lime used in purifying the gas, which is offered to farmers at a cheap rate, 
makes the subject one of no little importance. The constant inquiries received, 
we have usually answered by forwarding a copy of the Agriculturist, Vol. XYII, 
No. 1, (Jan., 1858,) in which the subject is ably treated by Prof. Johnson, of 
the Yale Agricultural School. We can not better meet the demand for present 
information, than to republish Prof. Johnson's remarks; to which is also ap- 
pended an account of some recent experiments by a subscriber in Dracut, Mass. 
—Ed.] 

letter from prof. s. w. johnson. 
To the Editor of (lie American Agriculturist. 

The various contradictory opinions held among practical farmers with reference 
to the value of gas lime, as a manure, are justified by the extreme variableness 
of its composition. When perfectly fresh from the gas-purifiers, it is in general 
a rather dangerous application to any growing crops, or in contact with seed. 
Mr. Solomon Mean, of New Haven, Ct., informs me that he once applied it in 
the hill to potatoes, and they never came up. A gentleman in Wallingford, Ct., 
applied it to grass land and to the roots of peach trees. The trees were destroy- 
ed, and the grass severely scorched, so that it did not fairly recover until the 
ensuing year. 

It may be used in the fresh state upon naked fallows, especially when it is de- 
sirable to free the soil from slugs, injurious worms, or couch grass. What its 
action is upon vermin may be inferred from the fact, that when fresh, it contains 
a substance (sulphide of calcium) which is the actual ingredient in the depilato- 
ries and cosmetics, which are articles employed for removing hair. There is an 
account of its being thrown into a hog-pen with the intent that the swine should 
incorporate it with the compost heap. This was effectually accomplished, but at 
the expense of the bristles and hair of the hogs, which were, in a great measure, 
removed by the operation. 

It is thought, too, that the odor of the coal-tar which is mixed with the gas 
lime in greater or less quantity, serves to dislodge insects and vermin, and it is 
sometimes sowed in small quantity over young turnip plants to prevent the at- 



1861 .] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 285 

tacks of the turnip-fly. In Scotland, it is largely applied to moss-land -which it 
is intended to reclaim. 

The quantity of easily soluble matters, (sulphide of calcium, sulphite and hy- 
posulphite of lime,) is so variable, ranging according to analytical data, from 2£ 
to 15 parts in 100, that we may readily comprehend how some gas limes may be 
quite harmless if applied in moderate doses even to growing crops, while others, 
rich in these soluble and deletrious matters, destroy all vegetation. 

It has been supposed that fresh gas lime is valuable on account of the ammo- 
nia it contains. "When the gas-lime is emptied from the purifiers in which it has 
been exposed to the gas, it has quite a pungent odor of ammonia, but the quan- 
ty, though enough to affect the nostrils, is, in reality, quite too small to have any 
great manuring value, and entirely disappears after a few days' exposure to the 
air. Mr. Twing, o£ this Laboratory, found in a specimen of perfectly fresh gas- 
lime from the New Haven gas works, but 8-10ths of one per cent of ammonia. 
In a gas-lime from the gas-works at Waterbury, Ct., which had been exposed to 
the air for one week, he found but about 4-100 of one p>er cent. 

Fresh gas-lime may be advantageously used in composting swamp muck, etc. 

By full exposure to the atmosphere, as when scattered over fallow-ground, 
after a time it becomes innocuous. The soluble caustic ingredients are converted 
into no less valuable a substance than gypsum (plaster), and then, after its odor 
and bitter burning taste have disappeared, it acts precisely like a mixture of lime 
and gypsum. How rapidly these changes take place, I have no means of know- 
ing without making actual trial, but should presume that if a dressing of gas- 
lime be incorporated thoroughly and uniformly with the soil one week, before 
sowing or planting, no harm could result to the crop. [One month would be 
safer. — Ed.] 

In conclusion, your correspondent is recommended to use it, if he can get it 
more cheaply than other lime, at the rate of 50 bushels per acre on heavy soils 
— or 10 to 20 bushels on light soils — making one application in three or four 
years. If fresh, it should be put on the bare soil and not on a crop. In. case of 
corn or potatoes, it may be scattered between the rows and worked in at hoeing 
time. If the gas-lime is white and tasteless after exposure to air for a time, it 
may be sown like gypsum. 

( It should be remembered that a wet soil will not be much benefited by lime, 
nor by any manure, unless in a dry season; and that a light dry soil is soon 
spoiled by lime unless a good supply of organic matter be maintained in it, by 
means of stable manure, muck composts, or green manuring. Lime, and plaster | 
too, are, at the best, even when they exhibit their most extraordinary effects, but \ 
partial fertilizing agents. S. W. Johnson. " 

v 

Experience with Gas Lime. ■ 

S. A. 8-, of Pracut, Mass., under date of Jan. 28, 1861, writes to the Ameri- 
can Agriculturist thus : " .... In the Spring of 1859 I bought two barrels of 



286 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

gas-lime from the Lowell works, and tried a portion upon a row of early pota- 
toes, beside another of the same kind without any gas-lime. One half of each 
row I set with sprouts. I eould perceive no difference at digging, except that 
the sprouts were a little later than the rest. The gas-lime had no apparent ef- 
fect. On the 7th of June of the same year, I scattered the remaining 4J hush- 
els broadcast, before plowing, upon i acre of potatoes on rather wet land, by the 
side of another i acre of land, a portion of which was, perhaps, a very little 
dryer. About a dozen hills came up on the gas-limed part, but these afterwards 
succumbed. Those without lime came up finely, progressed rapidly, and, with 
the exception of a few rows, gave a fair return, considering the late planting. 
The seed was a late variety. You wish us to give failures as well as successes. 
That was my Jailure. 

Last Spring, a neighbor thought he would try it, as it only cost two cents a 
bushel; so he turned over his sod, and put from one to two quarts of the stuff 
in each hill, covered it slightly with dirt, and planted his potatoes. The cor- 
ner where the gas-lime was buried could be easily distinguished a quarter of a 
mile off, it being perfectly bare. The potatoes are yet to appear above gr»und. 

Again, in the Fall of 1859, having suffered some weeds to go to seed by the side 
of a wall, and seeing the effects of the gas-lime on my potatoes, I applied a bar- 
rel of it, fresh from the works upon about 800 square feet, and let it remain on 
the surface all Winter. Very early in the Spring I harrowed it in, then turned 
it under, and sowed rye for soiling. The rye appeared earlier, was of a deeper 
green, headed out five days sooner, and was six inches taller than that by its side 
not treated in this manner. I afterwards plowed again and put in corn fodder. 
The fodder was decidedly " yallar," though I was very sure I did not sow the 
yellow kind, and though it appeared earlier than the rest, it grew to he only eight 
inches high ! There were but few weeds, however, on that part. 

■ Again, I composted it with muck and horse manure, using lots of muck, and 
gave a liberal dressing to a plot where I wished to start cabbages for transplant- 
ing them, that where there was a lump of gas-lime and muck, the cabbage roots 
were woven round it, taking it up with them. (By the way, 250 plants which I 
puddled in a liquid of home-made guano never flagged, though the sun came out 
immediately after setting out ; and moreover, they paid me twice over for my ex- 
tra pains. I begin to see how valuable cabbages are for stock, now that the 2000 
heads I raised between my early potatoes and peas are gone, and I only regret 
that I have not 2000 more.) 

My experience with cut worms has not been quite as disastrous as some of 
your correspondents, thanks to hints from you. I put in plenty of seed and to 
spare, according to the advice of the Agriculturist, and at the first hoeing I kept 
a good watch for the cut worm, both where a spear was wilted, and everywhere 
else. Scarcely a hill did not have at least one. I searched till I found him if a 
stem was cut, and taking him on my hoe, with or without dirt, as it happened, 
and with the sole of my boot made him disgorge forcibly. I thought, as I 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 287 

crushed each one, that he, at least, would neither trouble my corn again, nor pro- 
duce progeny for another year's supply. They disappeared_ suddenly. Where 
they went to, or what form they assumed, I can not tell, but would much like to 
know. 

My conclusions upon the subject of gas-lime I give for what they are worth, 
though being a novice, and my experiments imperfect, I speak with diffidence, 
yet hoping that my " one item," when taken in connection with others you re- 
ceive, may be of use to you at some time, and consequently to myself. To cab- 
bages and rye it did seem to be a benefit. Applied to corn in any manner, I 
have been informed, it is injurious, and I think it would be much the safest 
mode to compost it with a goodly quantity of muck, and perhaps muck and ma- 
nure. In that manner it gave me the best returns. But whether its value, ac- 
cording to cost, is greater than stone lime, to compost with muck, of which I 
have an inexhaustible supply, T would much like to know. 

Remarks. — A careful study of what Prof. Johnson says, will, in part, ex- 
plain the results with J. A. S., and the contrary experiences of many others. 
The crude or fresh lime from the works is poisonous. After thorough compost- 
ing with muck, or after sufficient exposure to the air, and especially to frosts, on 
the surface of fallow or plowed ground, it loses its noxious properties, and is then 
probably quite as valuable as common lime, owing to the amount of gympsum 
formed by its decomposition. — Ed. 



From the American Farmer. 

Dr. Baldwin's Shade Theory. 

In a late number of the American Farmer, Dr. Baldwin has again appeared, 
and commenced his essay with this important query: "Can the fertility of culti- 
vated land be preserved without the application of manure?" In appearing to 
discuss this "very interesting question," the Doctor, after stating the fact and 
producing other evidence to show what we all know as a general thing, that "the 
longer the soil has been subject to cultivation, the poorer it has become," he asks, 
"is there no remedy for this alarming and steadily progressing evil?" and then 
slips in his favorite theory of shade, without giving his own experience to confirm 
it, by saying, " I have asserted that all soils, no matter how poor or by what pro- 
cess exhausted, may be made exceeding fertile by covering the surface with any 
substance whatever which will cause a dense and permanent shade, and that the 
degree of this fertility is totally independent of the quality of the covering sub- 
stance." Here, then, we have the important fact in full — so how do ye "intelli- 
gent farmers," who "do not care to understand the quo modo," and are "per- 
fectly satisfied with the knowledge of the facts," and reverently acknowledge the 
influence of shade, without presuming to enquire whether the Doctor's practice 
corresponds with his theory. 

But to be serious — does Dr. Baldwin's practice in farming correspond with his 
theory? Has he made his own farm, situated as it is in that "valley so cele- 



288 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

brated for the fertility of its soil," "exceedingly fertile"? I have no personal 
acquaintance with the Doctor, nor his farming' operations, but if he is not mis- 
represented by his neighbors, his farm is not superior to many others in that 
valley. His plan of shading I understand to be this: he gets as good a stand 
of clover as he can, then lets it grow until it is as large as it will get that season, 
then turns not only all his own stock, but all he can get of his neighbors for a 
while into it, and treads it down as quickly as possible, then lets it lie in this 
state. Where is the difference, in effect, in this plan, from that practiced in 
many places where they have depended on " a crop of clover, or peas," as a green 
crop for improving the soil? The Doctor admits that "the fertility imparted to 
the earth, by a growth of vegetable substances of various kinds, has been known 
to observant practical farmers for centuries," and yet he concludes " that the 
interests of agriculture has not been greatly promoded by the knowledge of facts 
of such great importance to the farmers." Are we to conclude that the use of 
green crops and the grasses have been of no " great importance" to our agricul- 
ture in the last three-fourths of a century? What would have been the con- 
dition of our soil now without their use? The reason why "the interests of 
agriculture" have not been more "promoted hitherto by the knowledge of facts 
of such great importance," in his opinion, "admits of no other explanation than 
that it was impossible to deduce a scientific principle from isolated facts." How 
did Dr. Baldwin himself come to a knowledge of the "scientific principle" he so 
jiiuich values, but by studying .^isolated facts." He has, in former essays, brought 
forward " isolated facts" to prove his conclusions, and facts, too, that would admit 
of a much more philosophical interpretation than the one he gave them, and yet 
he strongly intimates that " scientific agriculturists" of former days could not 
" deduce a scientific principle from isolated facts." He has denied that science, 
as has been applied, has benefited agriculture, and yet he considers that his 
scientific view of the subject is of great importance to the farmer. This scien- 
tific view, if I understand it, is that shade causes the earth to putrify, and thus 
enrich itself. That the organic matters in the soil do putrify, or more properly 
decompose, has long been acknowledged by agriculturists and scientific men, 
hence the great value of green crops to the soil ; but that the inorganic matters 
of the soil do purify, has been denied, and is denied, and Dr. Baldwin has never 
attempted to prove it, as far as I know. That these matters decompose and thus 
furnish nutrition to vegetables, is evident from the fact of their presence in 
vegetables, and that this decomposition is provided by the presence of organic 
matter in the soil, is also evident. 

There is another vague idea suggested in this essay, to account for the fertility 
of soil from shade, and that is " the generation of myriads of invisible aniinal- 
calje." Now, that he could know that they were " animalculas," if they were 
" invisible," is a mystery to me; perhaps he can enlighten us, and instruct us 
how to ascertain the nature of "invisible" things. "Science, I understand," 
says he, "to be the knowledge of principles derived from facts." True — but it 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 289 

is not all who observe facts that deduce correct principles from them. How 
often do we see facts brought forward in support of theories that have no foun- 
dation in true science. Very much of this class are the conclusions of the 
Doctor against the use of barn-yard manure. Because the farmer " has never 
been able to obtain an adequate supply," he asks, " why should the farmer bestow 
so much attention and labor upon the collection or materials in his barn-yard," 
&c. " Why should he purchase it if it be not indispensable ? Or why should 
the slow, laborious, and expensive process of liming be so urgently commended 
to his attention? I certainly cannot comprehend; if any satisfactory reasons can 
be assigned, I shall be pleased to learn them." Is it any argument against the 
use of barn-yard manure that the farmer cannot make as much as he needs? 
Even the Doctor knows that it is valuable; whether it is more expensive than 
shade has not been shown, and until that is proven, he must excuse others if 
they do not agree with him. Now what we ask of the Doctor is, to show from 
facts — for facts are wanted — that the process of shade is cheaper than other 
manure, and his brother farmers will have good sense enough to follow him. Let 
him take his own farm, give the number of fields, the rotation practiced, how 
long his land was shaded, how much per acre was produced before and how much 
increase by shade. Let him present this by figures, and give a fair account, 
charging interest for capital, and see then where his balance would be. It should 
be remembered that the Doctor has a profession in addition to the profits of his 
farm, which other farmers have not, and that he might be able to do without 
any produce from his land for the time necessary to be left shaded, while a man 
with a small farm and large family, could not so well do so. Until he shows that 
a man of moderate means and a small farm can improve his land cheaper by 
shade than in any other way, practical men will not give their assent to his sliade 
theory. Yardley Taylor. 



From the Farmer and Gardner. 

Plain Talk about Draining. 

Mr. Editor : — A word on the subject of underdraining. I am aware that 
the subject has been presented in a thousand forms, by as many able writers, but 
still we do not, as a people, appear to have profited by the teachings. 

The experience of practical drainers, both in our own and other countries, 
proves beyond all controversy, the immense advantages which accrue from the 
thorough draining of oil soils. Some idea of the estimate of value placed upon 
it by the Parliament of England, may be found in the fact, that that body set 
apart two millions of pounds sterling to be loaned out for the encouragement and 
extension of draining, and the results flowing from this wise legislation, have 
been of the most gratifying character. It is, I am aware, a difficult matter for 
the merely practical farmer to understand fully, how, what are known as warm, 
dry soils, can possibly be benefitted by draining. Many would take the opposite 
view, and. instead of draining, endeavor to supply the supposed needed moisture. 
19 



290 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

A recent writer says, " they imagine that such soils are deficient in moisture, and 
cannot comprehend how the moisture which they lack in summer, would flow vp 
through the open and friable soils from below, while the surface supply, when 
superabundant, would rapidly percolate through to the drains, leaving in its pas- 
sage, certain necessary constituents, and making way for the air, with its oxygen 
and carbon, and such ammoniacal matters as it may be charged with." 

SOME OF ITS EFFECTS. 

It is only a few months since I had the pleasure of examining a thoroughly 
drained farm in an adjoining county. Had I required any evidence to convince 
me of the immense advantages of draining, I would have found it there. The 
superior crop of corn, the luxuriant grass, even at that late season, (October,) 
and the flattering accounts of the gathered crops, all told a tale which carried 
its own moral. A remarkably handsome meadow was pointed out to me, in 
which cattle were grazing, and over any portion of which a heavily loaded wagon 
could pass with entire safety. That meadow only a few years since was little less 
than an unsightly bog. Its spirited owner bad drained it tlwrowjhly, and he now 
regards it as one of the most valuable portions of his beautiful farm. 

Nothing short of an investigation of the unmeasured advantages which are 
certain to- follow systematic draining, will enable farmers generally, to appre- 
ciate the incalculable advantages which flow from it. Another writer on the 
subject says, "a superabundance of water on the surface of fens, bogs and 
marshes, is so obvious a cause v of great and manifold evils, as not to require ex- 
planation ; yet it operates in many respects quite as leniently as an excess of mois- 
ture in the cultiuated lands of peopled districts. 

THE EVILS OF UNDSAINED SOILS. 

It should, therefore, be a subject of early and thorough investigation with 
every farmer who seeks to improve his lands, and until it is generally practised 
in our country, we can never hope to reach an elevated position as an agricultu- 
ral people. I cannot here forbear quoting from a very able writer on this sub- 
ject : " The water which is retained under the soil on impervious layers 
of earth effects incalculable mischief. While hidden water remains, manures, 
whether putrescent or caustic, can impart no fertility to the soil, the plow, the 
harrow, and even the roller cannot pulverize it into a fine mould; the grass can 
contain no nutriment for live stock, as the finer sorts disappear, and their places 
are usurped by coarse aquatic plants; the stock can never receive a hearty meal 
of grass or straw from land in such a state ; they are always hungry and dissatis- 
fied, and of course, remain in low condition; the trees acquire a hard bark and 
stiffened branches, and soon become prey to innumerable parasites; the roads in 
the neighborhood are constantly soft and rutted ; the ditches and furrows are 
either plashy, or like a sponge, full of water, suitable receptacles for toads and 
frogs. The surrounding air is always damp and chilly, and from early autumn 
till late spring, the raw hoar frost meets the face like a wet cloth, morning and 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 291 

evening. In winter the frost incrusts every furrow and plant with ice, not strong 
enough to hear one's weight, but just weak enough to give way at every step, fit 
feeding ground for woodcock and snipe, and in summer, musquitoes, green flies, 
midges, gnats and gad-flies torment the cattle, the laborer and his horses from 
morning till night, while the sheep get scalded heads and are eaten up by mag- 
gots during the hot blinks of sunshine. 

This is a horrible picture to be sure. The catalogue of evils presented is a 
formidable one, and yet not one-half of the calamities which follow the want of 
draining have been enumerated. 

Were it possible, within the narrow limits of a communication, to point out the 
ill effects of badly drained lands upon crops, I feel satisfied it would be an easy 
task to convince most of your readers, that very many of our failures to secure 
remunerative crops, are attributable, not, as is frequently charged, to the weather, 
or to the poverty of the soil, or to careless tillage, so much as to the want of 
proper underdraining. Who has not heard of spouty lands ? What are they ? 
Simply, lands which, if the superabundant moisture were carried off by properly 
constructed drains, would become as valuable as any other portion of our soil. 

It will, perhaps, be urged that the cost of underdraining is so great, that few 
farmers have the means or the inclination to undertake it. This is precisely the 
failing which pervaded the English landholders, when the conviction was forced 
home upon them, that thorough, systematic and scientific underdraining was the 
only remedy for the difficulties under which they labored. A few strong hearted, 
determined men, resolved to test the experiment fully, and when they demon- 
strated not only the entire success of the experiment, but also that large profits 
attended it, others were soon found who followed their example, and to-day the 
benefits are seen in the luxuriant crops of that country. 

HOW IT PAYS. 
I have never known a single instance of proper draining which has not paid 
well. It is only the first outlay which frightens. The increased crops, the greater 
ease with which well drained lands are cultivated, the decidedly greater certainty 
of good crops one year with another, all pay so large a dividend upon the capital 
invested, that in a few years the entire cost of the draining is met in this way. 
Suppose it does cost seventy dollars to properly underdrain an acre of land ! 
The interest of that sum is four dollars and twenty cents. Now, I contend that 
if underdraining is worth anything at all, it ought to produce a greater increase 
of crop, than would amount to four dollars and twenty cents per acre. But this 
is an extreme sum. The majority of our lands could be drained for half that"^ 
sum, and even less, and all will admit that it is far better to have an investment . 
of this kind, than in the uncertainties of bank and railroad stock, with default- j 
ing cashiers and treasurers, and who, with almost every depression of business, J 
make an excuse for not paying their honest dues. 

HOW IT IMPROVES THE MARKET VALUE. 
But it is not an investment depending upon the increased crops as the only 



292 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

remuneration. Let us take any farm in Montgomery county, which to day is 
worth §100 per acre, and which unchained will yield an average of twenty bush- 
els of wheat to the acre. Drain that same farm thoroughly, so that its aver- 
age yield with the same cultivation will be thirty, instead of twenty. It does 
not require a great deal of figuring to tell how much more the well drained farm 
would have done, had it been offered for sale before being underdrained. It is 
in this light we must examine this great question of drainage. I say great ques- 
tion, Mr. Editor, because I consider the subject one of the most vital importance; 
one which sooner or later must and will be the leading one with the farmers of 
the United States. 

WHAT ARE ITS GREAT RESULTS. 

When thorough drainage shall have assumed its proper position, we may then 
look forward to the following results with entire confidence. First, we shall be 
relieved of all excess of moisture from heavy rains ; Second, the ascent of water 
from beneath, whether by capillary attraction or by the force of springs, will be 
arrested. Third, the water from heavy rains, which on undrained lands either 
saturates the soil, and is retained by it, or passes over it, conveying with it many 
of the fertilizing constituents of that soil is, on drained land, filtered through it, 
imparting to the soil those substances useful to vegetation, which rain-water is 
known to possess. Fourth, the constant or even periodical descent of rain-water 
through drained soil, carries with it a supply of fresh air which displaces the 
air in the pores of the soil. "As the water gradually sinks, leaving the pores of 
the soil open, the tresh air follows and supplies the place of the Jess pure air 
which was expelled by the water This fresh air has been shown by the most 
ample experience, to be immensely valuable in promoting the healthy growth of 
all cultivated crops. Fifth, the temperature of the soil is considerably raised by 
it; in fact the change in this respect which thorough drainage effects, is almost 
equivalent to a change of climate. Consequently, crops arrive at maturity much 
earlier than without, a subject of the highest importance as every farmer knows. 
Sixth, being forced from the constant presence of undue quantities of water, the 
soil becomes drier, sweeter, more easily, and consequently, more economically 
worked ; and lastly, the superabundant water being rapidly carried off by effi- 
cient drainage, the putting in of crops, (particularly of winter grains,) is not re- 
tarded until, as is so frequently the case on undrained lands, the seeding time is 
protracted to so late a day as to render ripening also late, thus subjecting the 
farmer to the risk, loss from mildew, waste, &c. 

These, Mr. Editor, are some of the advantages which men, who have given the 
subject of thorough drainage their closest attention, claim for it, and they are 
sanctioned by all experience and sustained by every principal of science. 

Montgomery Co., Pa. Drain Tile. 



Stomach Bitters. — Infusion of columbo, infusion of cascarilla, of each four 
ounces; carbonate of potash, one and a half drachm. 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



293 



Professor Campbell's Address. 

[At a regular monthly meeting of the Rockbridge Agricultural and Mechan- 
ical Society, held at the office of the Treasurer, on the 16th of March, 1861, 
Professor J. L. Campbell, in fulfilment of a previous appointment, delivered an 
address, of which we find in the Lexington Gazette the following :] 
Outline of Prof. Campbell's Remarks. 

By previous appointment, Prof. Campbell addressed the meeting, in substance 
as follows : 

He said he had not come prepared to make a set speech or a formal lecture ; 
but simply to give an off-hand talk, on the first topic selected for the present dis- 
cussion. He had proposed the topic himself, and had intentionally placed plow- 
ing before manuring corn land, because he believed that plowing ought always 
to precede manuring, in the preparation of ground for a corn crop ; the reasons 
for which opinion would appear in a subsequent part of his remarks. 

As to the condition of lands best fitting them for the successful cultivation of 
corn in this limestone Valley, there could be but little difference of opinion. It 
was not worth while to tell a company of intelligent practical farmers, that a grass 
or clover sod turned down presented the surest chance for a fair crop. On such 
lands, he contended, that manuring might precede plowing; but not as a direct 
application just previous to planting. He favored the jglan of applying manure" 
to the grass or clover crop of the previous season, on the ground that the fertiliz- 
ing properties of the manure would be transferred to the clover; and besides 
this, the clover crop, during its growth, would collect from the air and soil large 
quantities of organic and mineral matter, which, together with what had been 
obtained from the manure, would make a mass of fertilizing substances in the 
soil, greater than the clover could have given without the manure, and even 
greater than the manure and clover both would have given if they had been ap- 
plied separately — the manure having increased the value of the clover crop to \ 
an amount, even exceeding its own original value, i. ~i ■ '. , ^ 

The question of the importance of deep plowing for corn, (he remarked,) is 
fully settled, to the entire satisfaction of every well-informed farmer. That is 
no longer a point to be discussed. The questions now are, first, how to induce 
farmers to put their own faith into successful practice; and, secondly, how this 
practice can be conducted most economically and successfully in our stiff lime- 
stone clays. On the first of these questions practical men can be induced to act, 
when they are convinced that they can cultivate a smaller quantity of land more 
thoroughly, and make it yield as much as the larger quantities, which they now 
cultivate only superficially. This can be most effectually done by actual experi- 
ments, some of which will be given presently. 

As to the best means of getting our soils broken to a sufficient depth, theTe 
may be differences of opinion ; and as to what is a sufficient depth, men may not 
agree; but no one ought to be satisfied until he has gotten at least 15 inches of 
his land well pulverized. This cannot easily be done with the ordinary mould- 



294 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

board plow, nor would it be desirable to have it thus accomplished — at least in a 
f single plowing; for too much of the stiff clay would thus be brought to the sur- 
j face, and form a tenacious mass, which would be converted in a hard, unyielding 
i crust by every heavy rain. The temporary injury done to crops, by thus turn- 
ing up the sub-soil, has stood in the way of deep culture, more than any one 
thing else. 

The objection just mentioned may be most successfully obviated by the use of 
the sub-soiljylqw. Following in the furrow of the ordinary plow, it breaks up 
the clayey sub-soil, pulverizing it with the coulter and share, but leaves it in the 
bottom of the furrow, to be covered again at the next round of the other plow. 
This process will bring a field into the condition of having a deeply broken sur- 
face, with the top-soil still uppermost. 

The advantages of having land treated in this way, may be briefly detailed. 

1. It ultimately results in the formation of a deeper soil. The sub-soil always 
contains, in such lands as we have to deal with, a good supply of mineral fertiliz- 
ers, and all it wants to make it as good, and often better than the surface soil, is 
a supply of decayed vegetable matter. When it has been thoroughly broken, it 
will soon be penetrated by the roots of crops, (especially clover); these by their 
decay, gradually fill the lower stratum of soil, to which they have been admitted, 
with humus or vegetable mould, and thus fit it for being brought to the surface 
when wanted there. 

2. A larger space is given to the growing crop, from which to collect its ne- 
cessary nourishment. The roots of corn penetrate to a depth, limited only by 
the depth to which the plow has run. [To illustrate this point, the speaker 
mentioned a case in which he had traced corn roots to the depth of five feet, in 
a porous and very fertile piece of ground, on the margin of a stream. He also 
stated that he had found clover roots in similar situations, penetrating to a per- 
pendicular depth of more than three feet.] In such case, the top of the plant 
was found to correspond, in the luxuriance of its growth, to the length of the 
root. 

3d. Sub-soiling is an antidote to drought. A deeply broken soil is capable of 
absorbing an amount of moisture proportioned to its depth. Every one knows 
that most of the rain which falls upon a beaten road runs off, and the surface be- 
comes dry and hard in a very short time in Summer. Water cannot easily 
penetrate firm clay, and the little that gets into it is soon sent to the surface, aod 
evaporated. So the unbroken sub-soil of a field cannot at any time contain a 
large quantity of moisture. But if it is well pulverized, it receives and retains 
water in abundance, and as the surface-soil becomes dry, this water rises, by 
what is called " capillary attraction," and thus supplies the higher, as well as 
the lower roots, with whatever fertilizing substances it holds in solution. 

4. A deep mass of broken soil is not so liable to be washed into gullys as one 
which is more shallow. The rain, instead of running off and carrying off the 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 295 

soil with it, is absorbed and retained, unless it is very heavy and long continued. 
Thus sub-soiling tends to prevent washing. 

After giving this out-line of the general principles involved in deep plowing, 
the speaker remarked, that he believed the result of actual experiment would 
have far more weight with the minds of practical men, than all the theoretical 
considerations that could be presented. He would, therefore, venture to give 
one or two experiments of his own, conducted on a limited scale, but not the 
less truly illustrating the principles he had just been discussing. 

The first was a trial of sub-soil plow on corn stubble, broken up in the Spring, 
to be again planted in corn. The land lay upon the shaly limestones of the Pop- 
lar Hills. In consequence of lying idle for several years, the field had become 
foul with briars and locust sprouts, and required two years tillage in corn to sub- 
due it entirely. In preparing the ground the second year, he sub-soiled a por- 
tion of it to a depth of 10 or 12 inches ; the remainder was plowed in the ordi- 
nary way. The soil on the sub-soiled portion was in no respect superior to that 
of the other part. The stalks of corn grew well on both, and in that respect no 
very marked difference was perceptible. But the earing season was dry; and 
whilst the blades were quite green and fresh where the sub-soil plow had been 
used, they were considerably fired on the other portion of the field, as well as on 
neighboring fields. The most marked difference, however, was developed when 
the crop was gathered. The sub soiling gave a difference of fully seven lushek 
per acre in its favor. When gathered, a part of the crop was sold immediately 
at 62 \ cents per bushel. This would make $4.37 \ per acre for the extra plow-/ 
ing, while the actual cost was not more than $2.50. ;; 

Another experiment, conducted somewhat differently, was made upon a part 
of the grounds of Washington College. The old commons, which had been in 
pasture probably 40 years or more, had been recently put under cultivation. On 
that portion referred to by the speaker, a blue-grass sod was turned down during 
the Winter, and a heavy harrow passed over it, so as to pres3 it down, and con- 
ceal the grass as far as possible. Thus it lay, exposed to frosts and rains, until 
the last week of April. Just before planting, a sub-soil plow consisting of a 
very sharp coulter about fifteen inches long, armed with a share at the bottom, 
was run diagonally across the lot, so as to cut the original furrow neither longi- 
tudinally, nor at right angles, but obliquely. In this way the sod was cut into 
fragments, without being torn up from its inverted position. The plow went to the 
depth of about 12 inches, (when not prevented by rock,) giving a fine pulverized 
condition on the surface, and breaking, at the same time, at least 4 or 5 inches 
of sub-soil, which the plowing had not touched. 

Besides the usual benefits of sub-soiling, this plan had the additional advan- 
tage of loosing the sub-soil, just before planting time, at the same time having 
all the benefit of frost upon the sod inverted in water. The grass was then well 
rotted, before the corn had made much progress in its growth. 

The whole lot was treated alike, and hence no decided comparison could be 



296 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

instituted, so as to draw a definite conclusion as to the benefit derived from the 
extra treatment of the land; but during the month of August, when neighbor- 
ing lots were suffering greatly from drought, the corn on this one retained all its 
freshness and vigor. The crop yielded between 44 and 45 bushels per acre, 
while a large part of the soil is not remarkably fertile, a considerable part is 
rocky, and no part very favorable for bearing a severe drought. 

After answering a number of questions, asked by gentlemen present, on the 
subject of plowing, the speaker took up the subject of manuring land for corn. 
Both experiments and scientific investigations concur in condemning the old 
method of spreading manure upon unbroken land, and then turning it down with 
the plow. .The idea that manure loses much of its virtue by evaporation, when 
exposed upon the surface of the soil, is an exploded fallacy. Ammonia is the 
only very valuable ingredient of manure which is volatile. This is only liberated, 
or rather, generated during the fermentation or decay of organic manures. The 
fermentation can take place rapidly, only when the material is thrown into heap?. 
Then, if a sufficient quantity of moisture is present, nearly all the ammonia will 
be retained, either by the water or by vegetable acids, formed in the manure 
heaps, at the same time with the ammonia. The case is different, if the mass is 
sufficiently ^dry. to form a white mould within. To this process the term " fire- 
fang" has been applied. It results in serious injury to manure heaps, and is 
more frequently seen in the cleanings of stables than elsewhere. 

More serious loss is sustained from the drenching of manures by rain than 

from all other causes combined. This is especially true in farm yards. Hence 

the importance of getting the material spread upon the land as soon as possible. 

Then the soluble matter, which is always the most valuable, is carried at once 

^into the soil where it will be ready for the succeeding crop. 

To the question : " Is it not best to have manure well rotted before it is ap- 
plied?" he replied, that this was best; provided the rotting process could be 
conducted without the loss resulting from exposure to rains. Vegetable and ani- 
mal substances are not in a condition to nourish uutil they have undergone decay. 
If this necessary process has been conducted in tanks and cellars, properly con- 
structed, the manure will act more promptly than it would if allowed to go 
through the process of more slow decay upon the surface of the land. 

He advocated the plan of spreading manure upon grass or clover, or upon 1 

freshly broken corn lands, as soon as possible, after it accumulates about stables 

and barn-yards. This was regarded as the most economical way of securing it 

against loss. The reasons in favor of this method have been given in part. In 

addition to what has been already stated, it will be readily seen, that whilst ma- 

: nure applied as a top-dressing loses but little of its fertilizing value, its soluble 

' portions will be carried down by the rains that fall upon it, and be more com- 

! pletely mingled with the soil than could be done by any mechanical means. If 

spread upon grasses and clover, it would find its way at once at the roots of these 

crops; if applied to a field broken up for corn, it would be diffused through the 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 297 

J soil, where it would be formed by the corn roots at every sta^e of their growth.) 
- The insoluble portions are gradually incorporated with the soil in working the 
crop. The tendency of the manure in a soluble condition, is generally down- 
ward, and if already turned down to the bottom of the furrow, it can produce 
but little influence upon the crop, until the roots have penetrated to a depth of 
several inches. / 

^ The question was asked, "whether any thing but water is evaporated from 
manure spread upon the surface, and exposed to the hot sun ?" To this the 
reply was made, that minute portions of carbonate of ammonia might escape at 
first, if the manure were spread out in a fermenting condition ; but the loss thus 
sustained would be far less than would have resulted from the continued fermen- 
tation in the heap. So far as the mere dying of the manure is concerned, it 
amounts to nothing more than the evaporation of water, and results in no appre- 
ciable injury to its value. 

" How would you apply plaster and ashes to corn?" was a question propounded. I 
i The general principle stated in reply was, that all kinds of fertilizers should be 
! brought within reach of the corn roots as soon as possible. Hence he preferred f 
applying these substances in the hill, and covering them with the corn. 

In conclusion, the great error into which our farmers fall, is that of attempt-^ 
ing to cultivate too much land. They have a certain amount of capital invested 
in their farms, and in their eagerness to make it all productive, with limited force, 
they diffuse their labor and manure over too many acres — mqre than they can till I 
thoroughly — more than they can manure sufficiently to secure what may be re- 
garded as a liberal crop. If the farmer has not force sufficient to cultivate all . 
/his arable land thoroughly, he had better put all his surplus acres under grass, 
I else sell a part of his farm and invest the proceeds in some form which will be : 
safe and productive, while he concentrates his energies within a more limited \ 
area. 



> 

1 



From the Gazette. 

Rock Retreat, March 16th, 1861. 
To the President of the Rockbridge Agri'l and Mechanical Society : 

Dear Sir — I see by a notice in the Lexington Gazette, my name associated 
with other gentlemen as a co-editor of the Agricultural Department of the Ga- 
zette. I see by the same notice it will be my duty as well as privilege to attend 
the monthly meetings of the Board. I hope I shall be able generally to. attend 
these meetings and contribute my mite to the furtherance of the noble cause of 
Agriculture. To-day, however, I am compelled by important business to be ab- 
sent from your meeting. In tendering this excuse for absence, I deem it not in- 
appropriate, by way of showing my appreciation of the object you have in view, 
to give you a few hints upon one of the topics proposed for discussion at this 
meeting — viz : the best time for turning stock on grass in the spring. 

As the time is now approaching when this question will be of practical im- 



298 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

portance, I will give a brief chapter of my own experience, confining my re- 
marks to clover_pasture. And, first, as to the interest of the clover itself. Stock 
ought never to be turned on a clover field, until the clover begins to bloom, which 
in ordinary seasons is from the 5th to the 10th of May. If clover is pastured 
sooner than this, it prevents it from making a luxuriant growth, and it is so soft 
and watery, it does stock but little good — on the contrary, it is liable to give 
them the scours ; and if you take them off for a few hours, they will look as flat- 
sided as shad ; showing that there is but little real substance in it at this stage 
of its growth. It is much better every way to feed stock a few days later in the 
spring than to turn them on clover before it begins to bloom. It is not necessary 
to wait till it blooms out fully or even generally, but only till it begins to bloom. 

Now, as regards the safety of the stock, every farmer knows that many cattle 
are lost every spring by improper management in turning them on clover. They 
ought not to be turned on with an entirely empty stomach, or if they are, it 
should be but for a very short time at first, say 15 or 20 minutes, if the clover is 
rank, and then they ought to have plenty of salt. 

Cattle ought never to be turned on clover, at first, in the morning, while the 
dew is on. The dew, combined with the sap of the clover, form a gaa in the 
stomach of the animal, that swells it to such a degree as to cause his death very 
soon. In former years I lost one or more every year or two, and they invariably 
died in the forenoon. I never had one to die from this cause after 12 o'clock; 
they were always dead by 9 orvlO, A. M., and swelled almost to the bursting 
point. My plan of management is this: I turn on the first time in the evening, 
and let them get a moderate mess. After a day or two I turn in twice a day, 
but not till the dew is off, and each time let them stay a little longer, and at 
night I turn into the barn-yard and give them some hay or straw, or something 
of the kind. This, I find is of great benefit to them at this time. This plan of 
turning on for a short time should be kept up from 4 to 8 days, according to cir- 
cumstances. 

' The above is at your service. If you think it worthy of being read before the 
meeting to-night, read it; if not, just cast it aside, 

And oblige yours, very respectfully, &c, 

Robert Morrison. 



" Nothing to Live for." 
Say you so, young man ? Shame on your manhood for uttering such a senti- 
ment ! You have been disappointed, perhaps, in the attachment of an object 
on which you have foolishly set your heart — some " wee bit lassie," as Burns 
has it, whom you would clasp in your arms, were it not for fear of " mussing the 
dry goods up," has led you a willing captive to the charms of her beauty, and 
because she wearied of too easy conquest, and broke the chain that bound her to 
you that she might go forth, like Alexander, to subdue other kingdoms, you set 
tamely down and bemoan your hard fate as if you were the greatest martyr since 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 299 

Nero's time! "Nothing to live for!" I blush for your willfull blindness. 
Arise and use the eyes that God has given for some useful. purpose, and you will 
see misery enough in the world — real, genuine misery — to make you ashamed of 
the selfish Byronic sentiment which now unmans you. " Rouse to some work of 
high and holy love;" take your handkerchief down from your eyes, and use it to 
wipe away the tears of those who have some cause to be unhappy, and you will 
be surprised to find that your heart is still worth two or three broken ones. 
" Nothing to live for !" why, man, has all generous feeling left you, that you can 
look unmoved on the thousands of suffering ones needing your help, and go on 
your own lonely way, murmuring fretfully about the " desert sands," while you 
systematically avoid every oasis to which you might guide the bleeding feet of 
many a wayworn traveler ? 

There is work enough in life to awaken your greatest endeavor — work, too, so 
high and holy that it would not disgrace the highest archangel in the courts of 
heaven. Work valiantly, then, with tongue and pen, in the cause of human 
freedom ; be ready and willing to give up everything — wealth, and honor, 
and good report, and life itself, if need be — for the good of your fellow-man 
groaning under the burden of oppression. Intemperance is slaying its tens 
of thousands on every hand ; try what your arm can do to stay its ravages. 
Don't be content with saying, "God help the poor!" do it yourself. Some of 
your dainty, refined sentimentalism would be shocked out of you, if you could 
hear the plain, unvarnished tale of privation and sorrow which many a poor 
laborer could relate to you — a tale, perchance, of the gradual fading away of a 
beloved wife or daughter, till the cheek and lip which once rivaled the June 
rosebud are pale as the last autumn flowers, and hope and strength die out of the 
heart. Yet, without even asking if these things are so, you are doing nothing 
— absolutely nothing — except to breathe your life away in sighs and lamenta- 
tions over disappointments, under which it is not the part of true manliness to 
falter for a moment. — Life Illustrated. 



Soluble Phosphated Peruvian Guano. 

Alexandria, Va., Feb. 15, 1861. 

To the Editors of the Southern Planter : 

Messrs. Editors ! — The December (1860) number of the American Farmer 
contained an able and interesting communication, from Prof. Campbell Morfit, 
of New York, on the subject of " Sombrero Guano and other commercial varie- 
ties of Phosphate of Lime, and in reference to their capacity for manipulating 
and superphosphating." In that communication Prof. Morfit exhibited two 
tables, Nos. 3 and 4, the former giving the results of his analysis of three 
" representative samples of certain manipulated Guanos, containing Navaza 
Guano as their phosphatic material in chief," and the latter, (table No. 4), 
showing " the analytical results from two fertilizers, made with care in the selec- 
tion of all the materials, the phosphatic element being Sombrero Guano." 



00 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

Prof. Morfit designates these two fertilizers as "A and B," with the explana- 
tion that " A" is a " soluble Phospho-Peruvian fertilizer," while " B" is a " man- 
ipulated Guano." After giving the respective analysis of "A and B," side hy 
side, he proceeds to state that — " The poverty and objectionable features of the 
Navaza mixtures are seen in 1, 2 and 3, of table No. 3, as compared with the 
results in A and B, of table 4, from Sombrero Guano. No other phosphatic ma- 
terial than the Sombrero could be made to yield a fertilizer like A of table 4, so 
affluent and yet so well adjusted in all the elements for profitable fertilization : 
while, the employment of Sombrero in B gives also as rich a " Manipulated 
Guano" as can be probably made at the price charged for it by the vender." 

Whilst we prefer to see the reputation of our " Soluble Phosphated Peruvian 
Guano" established, rather by the successful results of its application to the soil 
— this being in our opinion the surest practical evidence of its value — than any 
analysis whatever, we nevertheless frankly acknowledge feeling a proper degree 
of pleasure and satisfaction at the high estimate placed upon our fertilizer, by a 
gentleman so reliable and of such eminence in his profession as Dr. Morfit. 

Although we have privately informed some of our friends of the value placed 
upon our fertilizer, (as compared with other manipulations) by Prof. Morfit, it 
was not our intention at this time, and in this manner, to remove the veil of 
secrecy, which he had with so much delicacy and propriety of feeling, dropped 
between the public and the proprietors of the different manipulations exhibited 
by him. Preferring rather \h$\, practical results should first prove the truth of his 
remarks, before connecting them publicly with our fertilizer. But we are reluc- 
tantly forced to do so, in consequence of a change of title in one of the manipu- 
lations made since the publication of Dr. Morfit' s article, which is calculated to 
deceive (unintentionally no doubt) the public. 

We beg therefore to state that analysis "A" of "table 2fo. 4" corresponds ex- 
actly with Prof Morfit 's analysis of our " Soluble Phosphated Peruvian Guano," 
and that analysis " B" of said table also corresponds with his analysis of Messrs. 
John S. Reese & Co.'s " Phospho-Peruvian (or Manipulated) Guano," as pub- 
lished by themselves. 

We are with great respect, your friends and servants, FOWLE & CO. 



Increase of Southern Productions. 



A New York contemporary speaks of the rapid strides which the Southern 
States have made in Agricultural progress during the last ten years, as the next 
census will undoubtedly show. In support of this view, it says: 

In the article of Cotton alone they produced, during the past year, over three 
million seven hundred and fifty thousand bales, which, at an average of fifty dol- 
lars per bale, amounts to the sum of one hundred and eighty-seven million, five 
hundred thousand dollars. Of this the American manufacturers have taken 
over seven hundred and fifty thousand bales, of the value of about thirty-seven 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 8.01 

million, five hundred thousand dollars, and Europe has taken three million hales, 
valued at one hundred and fifty million dollars If to this export of one hundred 
and fifty million dollars in Cotton, we add the exports of the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1849, at the same figures they stood at in the official report made up to 
the same time last year, though they probably have been nearly twenty-five per 
cent, larger, we shall find that the exportable value of Southern products will 
stand as follows : 

Quantity. Value. 

Cotton, bales, to Sept. 1, 1859, 3,000,000 $150,000,000 

Tobacco, hhds., to June 30, '58, 137,670 16,500,000 

Rice, tierces, " " 64,015 \ 1,870,578 

" barrels, " " r ! 9 ' 2 ^ 3 J 

Naval stores, rosin and tur., bbls. 578,573 \ 2 gg^ gyg 

" tar and pich, " 42,475 j ' ' 

Total, $169,935,156 

Seed Corn. 

HOW TO PRODUCE EARLY GERMINATION. 

If you did not, as you have so often been advised to do, save your seed corn 
by selecting the best ears in the field, don't lose another day, but go at once 
to your corn-cribs and pick out the handsomest ears that you can find, and 
store them up in some dry loft — no matter if it is a very smoky one, and as Lot 
as a July sun ; it won't hurt the vitality of the seed. 

It is of the highest importance that your seed should germinate immediately 
after you plant it. That i3 of more importance than early planting. Germina- 
tion can undoubtedly be hastened by artificial means. Dr. Chamberlin, of Bu- 
reau county, 111., has made some important discoveries in this direction. The 
Republican says : 

" Last year, Dr. Chamberlin, of this place, made some practical experiments, 
and demonstrated that nearly half the time may be saved in germinating the 
seed by the use of chloride of lime. Not satisfied with the success of last year, 
he is again experimenting. In his office he has four boxes ; in the first is corn 
planted without soaking, and the seed not germinated ; in the second, the seed 
was soaked in warm water, which has just commenced to germinate ; in the third 
is seed soaked in a solution of lime, and green blades are just peeping from the 
ground ; in the fourth is seed soaked in a solution of chloride of lime and cop- 
peras, in equal parts, and the blades are now nearly three inches above the 
ground. All the seeds were planted at the same time, in the same quality of 
soil, and taken from the same ear. The boxes have all had an equal share of 
heat and light, neither allowed advantage over the other. 

" This experiment should attract the attention of farmers. We conclude from 
four to six weeks may be saved by the use of chloride of lime and copperas, 
which is a matter of no ordinary moment, when we reflect that a delay of 
germination of the seed of two weeks frequently places the crop within the 



302 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

reach of the frost in the fall. Another fact of some importance may also be 
mentioned : The copperas used in soaking will pevent the birds, squirrels, worms, 
&c, from eating the seed. 

"Dr. Chauiberlin assures us that one pound of chloride of lime and one 
pound of copperas, in water, will soak enough seed for twenty acres. The 
cost will not be over twentyfive cents. Every farmer could afford to make the 
experiment, even if he should fail to derive any benefit from it. — N. T. 
Tribune. 



Sleeping Rooms. 

The air which passes out of the lungs is wholly innutritious. If re-breathed 
without any admixture of other air, it would induce instant suffocation. It con- 
tains a large amount of carbonic acid gas. This gas is condensed by cold, and 
falls to the floor; heat carries it to the ceiling; hence the practical fact, that in 
warm weather, those who sleep on the floor, breathe the purest air ; while in 
very cold weather the higher one sleeps above the floor, the better is the atmos- 
phere. Hence in a warm room, sleep as near the floor as possible ; in^ a_cold 
room, the higher the bed is, the better. A striking illustration of one branch 
\)f the statement is found in Dr. Hall's new book on Sleep. When the jail- 
fever was raging in England, it was the custom to hand the food and water 
through a hole in the floor above them. A case is mentioned where the jailor 
and his wife died in one nijil\t, in consequence of the effluvia of the prisoner's 
cells below ; while the prisoners themselves continued to live, showing conclu- 
sively the concentrated malignity of the air at the ceiling, as compared with that 
on the floor. 

The same principle has an illustration in the narration in the same pages, of 
the terrible incidents in connection with the " Black Hole of Calcutta," where 
it was speedily noticed that relief was given by sitting down on the floor. From 
these statements, it is clear that it is better to have a fire in the fire-place in a 
close room in winter, than to have no fire; and for two philosophical reasons — 
the fire rarifies the carbonic acid gas, and compels it to seek the ceiling; be- 
sides, it creates a draft up the chimney, thus causing cold air to come in more 
copiously through the crevices of the room ; the inevitable effect of which is, 
a more copious supply of fresh air, and a more rapid change of air. 

Another incidental benefit from having a fire in the fire-place of a close room 
in winter is, that less bed-clothing is needed ; hence, the body is less smothered 
and sweltered; less oppressed by its own emanations, which are necessarily kept 
in more or less immediate contact with it, as the bed-clothing is heavier. When 
it is not convenient to build a fire in the fire-place, a good substitute is had in 
a large lamp, or jet of burning gas, brought into the fireplace by a flexible tube. 
These suggestions merit special reflection, as there seems to be a very prevalent 
opinion that cold air is necessarily pure, and that warm is a synonym of im- 
purity. — Hall's Journal of Health. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 303 

From Miner's Rural American. 

Notice to the Readers of the Rural American.— A Sad Disaster— its Dis- 
continuance, &c. 

It becomes my painful duty to announce to my subscribers, that misfortune 
has come upon me, and the consequence is, that the Rural American ceases to 
exist with this week's issue ! 

That all persons who are interested in this matter may understand the causes 
which have led to this great calamity to me, I will give as brief a relation of the 
facts as I can, and do justice to the subject. 

In the fall of 1859, when the John Brown invasion of Virginia took place, I 
denounced his act severely, and stated, that in my opinion " he ought to be 
hung." I also commented strongly on Brown's proceedings in Missouri, the 
running off of slaves, taking horses belonging to their masters, and selling them 
at auction in Kansas, as he himself admitted. These comments, with other con- 
servative sentiments which I then published — and which at this time, nine out of 
ten of the people of the North endorse — greatly offended many of my subscri- 
bers, and the result was, that in 1860 I found my paper with a subscription list 
considerably diminished, and in order to reinstate it, I concluded to make im- 
portant improvements in it, and to make a vigorous effort to give it an extensive 
circulation in 1861. 

I reasoned in this wise, that as the country was very prosperous up to Nov. 
last, before which time my arrangements were mostly perfected, and after the 
political campaign was over, a very favourable opportunity would be before me> 
to place my paper upon a more prosperous basis than it had ever occupied before. 
In order to effect this object, I was aware that my credit would have to be used 
to some extent. I needed a new press, my old one being incapable of doing 
good work, and was, moreover, too slow. Having procured every thing essential 
to carrying out my plans, I found myself, in December last, more in debt than I 
had apprehended, yet the very extensive notoriety which I had given to my 
paper, by advertising, and circulating sample copies, led me to suppose that it 
was almost morally impossible to fail to receive less than ten thousand more sub- 
scribers than I had in 1860, while Jive thousand, would, I think, be sufficient to 
place my paper on a solid foundation. Full 20,000 sample copies of the paper 
were called for by persons who mostly had never before seen it; and notwith- 
standing the scarcity of money, and the existing " panic," I felt no uneasiness 
as to the result, till early in January, when the cry came to me from all quarters, 
that owing to the "hard times," but very few subscribers could be obtained. The 
first two weeks in January produced only about the same receipts that I used to 
receive previous to 1860; and in a few days they dwindled down to an alarm- 
ingly small sum weekly, and the result is, that I find it utterly impossible to pro- 
ceed, owing to the fact, that I have not received money enough to liquidate my 
liabilities, and at the same time, publish the paper. 

This is a terribly disastrous affair to me, and one that will produce much 



304 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

astonishment, regret, ill-feeling ; and probably, abuse of me, on the part of my 
subscribers; but to save my life, I could not avert the disaster in any possible 
shape or manner, as every dollar's worth of property that I possess, would not, at 
this time, sell for enough to carry the paper through the year, if I did not owe a 
cent. 

Probably no one can fully understand the case, form this explanation; but I 
will say, that the receipts, thus far, have been expended in paying up matured 
obligations, and the current expenses of the business, which are very heavy, and 
I now find my receipts so greatly diminished, that a continuance of the paper, in 
any shape, is utterly hopeless. Nor was I without hope of a better state of 
things taking place up to the very day that this paper went to press. 

In this catastrophe, I lose the accumulated savings of a life of over thirty 
years of the most unremitted toil ! Yes, reader, all is lost, and nothing will, 
according to present appearances, be saved from the wreck ! It is a case for 
your pity — not for your curses, which latter, I well know, will be bestowed upon 
me by unfeeling subscribers. 

To cap the climax of my misfortune, a disease, which has been fastening its 
subtle coils around me for ten years, now threatens to deny me the ability to earn 
a living in any manner, and what is to become of me and my family hereafter 
God only knows. 

It is torturing to the sensibilities of my mind, to make such a development; 
but truth demands it, that my subscribers may know my real condition, and 
inability to pay them their dues. I am too far advanced in years, and unman- 
ned by disease, ever to recover from the calamity, and my career, as a publisher, 
is now ended. I have striven hard to sustain my paper, but the " times" have 
been too crushing, and I am compelled to yield. 

To my club agents and all friends, who have done their best to aid the circu- 
lation of the "Rural," allow me to say, that my heart is pierced with the deepest 
anguish, that I should be the means of bringing upon them the contumely, and 
hard thoughts of those whom they have persuaded to subscribe for it. It is 
crushing to my spirit, and will sting me till the grave shall cover me from the 
face of man, while I have done all, as I verily believe, for the best, and with 
reasonable prospects, as I supposed, of success. 

It may be considered unmanly in me to thus enter into the details of my busi- 
ness, feelings, position and future prospects, but so great a calamity, and especi- 
ally one so soon after commencing a new year, requires a more than ordinary 
exposition; and when I look back and reflect on the nine years of very hard men- 
tal labor that I have endured in Clinton, in order to save a small pittance against 
the day of age and infirmity, and now find all swept away, health gone, and 
poverty my future inheritance, my breast is filled with the deepest anguish, and 
I feel, at times, that life is almost insupportable. 

All my readers, I think, will admit that the Rural American is deserving of 
a better fate. Owing to illness, I have been unable to give it much attention 



1801.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 305 

during the last few numbers, but my son, with some help, I think, has shown 
quite good judgement in his selections, and has got up a very fair paper. 

In conclusion, allow me to say, that at present I see no possible way of refund- 
ing dues even to subsribers in this immediate vicinity, as all that I possess must 
go to satisfy my more heavy creditors, as the case now appears; but should I 
ever have it in my power to repay them, they may rest assured that I shall do it. 

I am thus particular, so that I may not, in my illness and broken spirit, be 
harrassed with importunities, enquiries, and demands that will be utterly out of 
my power to attend to. I, therefore, here give notice that all letters that shall 
remain unanswered, may be considered in this way, that it is out of my power to 
comply with requests made, or that my answers would not benefit them. I am 
not only too ill to sit down and answer a dozen or two letters a day, but what is 
to become of me and my family, must be the first object to which I can now 
give my attention. 

To show the effects of the "hard times" more clearly, I will say, that in all 
probability, if this paper could be continued, I should have no more subscribers 
than I had in 1860, although about $500 were spent in Nov. and Dec. in adver- 
tising, postage, showbills, specimens, &c, in order to give it a wide notoriety; 
and, as already stated, full 20,000 sample copies were distributed all over the 
country. I now print but about the same number of copies that I did last falb 
and with the greatly increased expenses of the enlarged paper, under any cir- 
cumstances it would be a loosing business with simply my old number of sub- 
scribers. A paper of this size and character can be afforded at one dollar a 
year in clubs, with a circulation of moderate extent, but not on the support that 
it is now receiving. 

I have done all that lay in my power to ensure success, and believed that I 
should succeed; but the fates are against me, and I must yield. God knows 
that my intentions, designs, anticipations, — all have been right. Errors I may 
have committed, but they were all of judgment, with a veil covering the future, 
through which my vision could not penetrate. I have done no act, entered into 
no contract that now embarrasses me, which at the time effected, I did not fully 
believe was for the best, although now, when my receipts are cut off by the 
money pressure of the country, I see my mistakes. My case is a hard one, — 
yes, terribly severe, because the savings of a life are lost, and with them health 
also. Let the judgment of the public be tempered by charity, because if all 
the facts pertaining to my business were fully understood, no man could in reason 
condemn me. 

With this truthful exposition of my affairs, I bid my subscribers farewell. 

T. B. Miner. 

Clinton, Feb. 23, 1861. 

P. S. — Exchanges will please discontinue. 

J8^r"No blame should be attached to any traveling agent of this paper, who, of 
course, could not be expected to know what could happen to the prosperity of it. 
20 



30G THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

Bone Manure. 
Bone manure is universally considered one of the very best kinds that can be 
applied to the land, whether for corn, grass, or root crops, and its extensive and 
increasing use is a proof of the estimation in which it is held. Not only are 
the bones of those animals slaughtered in this country employed as manure, but 
nearly 80,000 tons per annum are imported from foreign countries, chiefly for 
the same purpose, and yet the supply is by no means equal to the demand. Had 
not the importation of guano commenced about the year 1840, it is probable that 
bones would have risen to £10 or £12 per ton. 

" That bones must be beneficial as manure," says Mr. Nesbit, in his pamphlet 
on Agricultural Chemistry, "will appear from a very simple consideration. An- 
imals are fed upon vegetables, and the whole of their bodily*structure grows 
out of the food, or is eliminated and formed from it. If the food did not con- 
tain phosphate of lime, the bony structure of the body could not be bui.t up. 
If the soil in which vegetables grow did not contain phosphate of lime, the 
seeds of vegetables could not be matured. Supposing the arable land of this 
country to have been robbed for a thousand years of phosphate of lime, and 
never to have received any back again ; assuming this ingredient to have been 
continually exported in the shape of milk, cheese, sheep and oxen, it is clear 
that unless the land had an unlimited amount of phosphate, which we know is 
not the case, there must have been a proportionate diminution in the quantity of 
such materials. Hence it is that when certain substances which have been 
taken out for a long period have been again suddenly applied, land worth hardly 
5s. per acre has sprung up to the value of 15s., and there has been an enormous 
increase of crops." 

One of the most valuable qualities of bones is the slowness with which they 
decompose, and the length of time during which they continue to give out the 
phosphates. It is found upon analysis that one pound of bones contain as much 
phosphoric acid as 28 pounds of wheat or 250 pounds of potatoes. Now, a ^rop 
of wheat of four quarters per acre, and reckoning it at 60 pounds per bushel, 
weighs, in round numbers, 2,000 pounds, which contains only as much phosphate 
as is found in 71 pounds of bones. It is clear, therefore, that if the bones are 
put on at the rate of 3j cwt. per acre, supposing them to decompose rapidly and 
give out the phosphates in proportion, a large proportion would be wasted. But 
this is not the case, as the following circumstances prove. A gentleman, who 
occupied a large farm in Norfolk, finding, towards the close of his wheat-sowing, 
that he was likely to have a considerable quantity of bone-dust left, if he con- 
tinued distributing it at the ordinary rate, directed his foreman to increase the 
quantity. On going to the field the following day he found the man had doubled 
the allowance, and that instead of having any to spare, he would not, at that 
rate, have enough to finish manuring the remaining seeding land. He there-^ 
f fore told him to go back to the usual quantity of about 4 ewt. per acre, at which 
J rate the field was finished. The erop of wheat proved a very heavy one, as well 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER: 307 

as the succeeding crop of turnips, on that part of the land which was doubly 
dosed with bone dust. Now mark what follows. Eleven years ..a£te,i^. the farmer, 
on riding with a friend over his land, came to this field, which was again, for 
the third time after the above occurrence, under wheat. On entering it, he re- 
quested his friend, if he should, in riding down the furrow, find any difference 
in the growth of the wheat, to point it out. After riding a few yards into the 
wheat he suddenly stopped. " What in all the world have you been after 
here ?" he exclaimed. " This wheat is six inches higher, and as stout again as 
the rest ; how came this to pass ?" The farmer then explained to him the oc- 
currence we have related, and which proves not only the value of bones as a 
manure for a single crop, but that by the deliberate manner in which they give 
out the phosphates in decomposition, they possess a more permanent value than 
any other kind of manurg.. J3c0t f&4V*4iAM" J tffeM ' Miwt 

But bones are not only valuable on account of the phosphoric acid they con- 
tain ; they also contain nitrogen in the proportion, according to some chemists, of 
six, and of others, of four j>er cent. As the bones decompose, this becomes am- 
monia, the value of which in manure is now well understood by almost all 
agriculturalists. The conversion of bones into superphosphate of lime by the 
addition of sulphuric acid, by precipitating the decomposition, probably alters 
the conditions, by causing the immediate distribution of the phosphoric acid in 
the sod; and thence it requires a less quantity to be applied to the land to pro- 
duce a crop. 

The Americans have adopted a new method of dissolving bones, which may 
probably be employed to advantage in this country, as the bones will not require 
to be ground. A ley is made with lime, in the proportion of one bushel of lime 
to sixty gallons of water. To 200 pounds of bones put 60 gallons of ley, and 
boil them for a few hours until the bones are dissolved, when they may be re- 
duced to a dry powder, and applied in the same way as guano, or any other arti- 
ficial manure. This mode of application has been found to produce very satis- 
factory results. The lime used was made of oyster-shells, as the best for the 
purpose. " It has been repeatedly demonstrated," says an American writer, 
" that one bushel of dissolved bones, for immediate eff ect, is equal to five t.ijppa 
as m uch ground bones ; in other words, that one pound of nascent, or soluble 
phosphate of lime, is worth more than five jJbunds of normal, or natural phos- 
phate of lime, or bone earth." 

This economic application of bones is becoming more and more common, be- 
ing cheaper, and involving less labour, and the result is quite as certain and as 
good. The only difficulty in the purchase of bones, in whatever form, is that of 
getting them genuine, on account of the adulteration with scutch, or the refuse 
of the tanpits, oyster-shells, and other cheap ingredients, the proportion of which 
in bones is regulated, with some dealers, by the price paid per ton. We have 
known as much as fifty per cent, of scutch mixed with bones, as agreed on be- 
tween the merchant and his customer, a country bone-crusher. — Lon. Far. Mag. 



308 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [Mat 

For the Southern Planter. 

The Concord Grape. 

This grape is becoming more popular as it becomes more known. It is a seed- 
ling of the Isabella, and originated in Concord, Mass., some ten years ago. It 
is a very thrifty grower, like the Isabella, but yields more profusely and regu- 
larly than the parent vine, while it ripens from ten days to two weeks earlier 
than that variety. 

The color of the fruit is black — berries considerable larger than the Isabella — 
flavor delicious, and the grapes ripen much more evenly on the bunches than that 
variety. 

The Concord is much more hardy than the Isabella, Delaware, Diana, Rebecca, 
&c, and requires no winter protection South of the State of New York. In 
that, and all other States of the same climate, it is better to lay down the vines 
in the fall, and cover them slightly with earth, rather than to run any risks 
of the severe cold weather. Indeed, it is now recommended by our best grape 
growers, to lay down all varieties, and cover in the fall, whether hardy or not, 
on account of the better condition of the vines in the spring. There appears to 
be less drain of sap from the roots, when vines are thus protected, and the conse- 
quence is, that the buds break more freely and evenly, and the crop of fruit is 
larger, and better secured from all contingencies pertaining to the power of 
vines to yield fruit. 

I am ot the opinion that grape-vines should be thus protected, even in the 
" Old Dominion" — not that the frosts of winter would injure the hardy varieties, 
but that the crop of fruit would be enough more to pay the expense, which is 
not a half a cent a vine in vineyards. 

By the way, can some friend of the vine inform me, what the prospects would 
be, in Virginia, or Maryland, to plant a vineyard of Concord grape-vines, of ten, 
fifteen, twenty, or more acres, for wine-making, or for selling the fruit in the 
New York, or other markets ? I presume that I could supply 20,000 vines next 
fall for such a purpose, and I would be willing to enter into an arrangement with 
any gentleman to supply the vines, that might be mutually advantageous. 

The fruit of the Concord vines is worth in the New York market, at whole- 
sale, 10 cents per pound. An acre will produce from 10,000 to 12,000 pounds 
when in full bearing. As a wine^rape, it excels all other kinds. I have aver- 
aged a barrel of wine from only six hushels of grapes ! The Concord contains 
more alcohol than any other grape known, even 25 per cent, more than any 
European variety. 

This grape has, as yet, no disease — perfectly free from rot, mildew, and all 
defections that blight the hopes of the Ohio grape growers. And it greatly im- 
proves in the latitude of Maryland and Virginia — not only in quantity of fruit, 
but also in flavor. Moreover, it flourishes in &poor soil) and there are but few 
fields in Virginia, where this grape would not grow luxuriantly, with seasons of 
the usual rains. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 309 

I am growing the Delaware and other popular varieties, but the Concord, as a 
vineyard grape, is superior to them all. The Delaware requires quite too much 
nursing, and it grows entirely too slow. It makes no difference what dealers in 
that variety may say in regard to this fruit, it is an undeniable fact, that the 
Delaware is a slow grower, and a " shy" bearer, until it has attained considerable 
age. T. B. Miner. 

Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Hungarian Grass. 

During the last few years much has been written and published in regard to 
Hungarian grass. It has been claimed that it is an old variety of millet under a 
new name — that it is not profitable to grow, &c. 

I have grown this grass and fed it to stock — am now feeding no other kind of 
hay. It has been grown extensively in central New York, and it now bears a 
good reputation — one that is not a humbug. 

It requires about a half a bushel of seed to the acre. That quantity is what 
I have sown; but at the West some farmers sow only ten or twelve quarts to the 
acre. It should be sown as soon as the weather becomes settled down to a sum- 
mer heat, perhaps, in Virginia, early in May, while here, we wait till the first of 
June, and sometimes later. If sown earlier, the weeds and wild grasses are apt 
to get the start of it, and injure its growth. 

It produces, generally, in moderately good soil, from three to four tons of hay 
to the acre, and from twenty to thirty bushels of seed, worth as much to feed to 
any kind of stock, as so many bushels of oats. 

When the grass is left, in order to ripen the seed, it is not destroyed for feed- 
in? to stock. Indeed, I do not think it is injured at all. It is a little more 
colored — a yellowish hue, but horses and cattle eat it with great avidity. 

When the seed is not desired to be threshed out, the grass is cut about a week 
earlier, and the hay thus made is of a very nutritious character, and horses fed 
on it, should have but little grain of any kind. Some complaints have been 
made, that this hay injured horses; but the cause has been traced to feeding too 
much grain in connection with it. The seed of this hay contain a great deal of 
oil; and, therefore, horses may be injured by over-feeding on it and grain at the 
same time. 

The Hungarian grass, or millet, is an annual plant, requiring to be sowed 
every season. On poor lands, I presume that it will produce a poor crop, like all 
other vegetation. On rich soils, the crops will be heavy and luxuriant. 

Some of my farmer neighbors have thought that this grass impoverished their 
soil more than ordinary crops; and I am not sure that they are incorrect in that 
opinion. I sowed a field to this grass in 1859, which was planted to corn last 
year, and the crop was very small, owing to the grass crop having, apparently, 
drawn the most of the fertility from the soil. I have not, however, seen or 



310 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

heard of any bad effects of this grass crop on soils in other places, and I am 
inclined to believe, that it is no more injurious to soils tban oats or corn. 

The present price of Hungarian grass seed, in Chicago, is about one dollar per 
bushel, and ought to be sold in the South at $1 50 to $2 00 per bushel. 

I think that Virginia farmers, who have but little good grass land, would do 
well to sew a few acres of Hungarian, as an experiment. 

T. B. Miner. 

Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y. 



From the Farmer nnd Gardener. 

Mast as Food for Swine. 

Mr. Editor : Last Fall we had in this section of country a very abundant 
crop of acorns and chestnuts. In a thirty acre lot, on my farm, the ground was 
literally covered with them, particularly of the former. My hogs were turned 
into the enclosure about the first of October, and improved rapidly for a short 
time. I observed, however, after some weeks, that they began to lose their plump 
appearance, and that several of them had a wheezing cough, and difficulty of 
breathing. A few of them became quite sick ; and a fine sow, near the time of 
farrowing, cast her litter. A neighbor, whose hogs were enclosed like my own, 
said that his appeared " like a set of drunkards just emerging from a spree." 

I hear the same complaints from all around me ; and the general opinion 
amongst them is, that the animals suffer from the shells of the mast lodging in 
the stomadi, where they remain undigested, and produce irritation and inflam- 
mation of that organ. I think this opinion is in some degree well-founded, for 
I notice the shells in the excrement, apparently unaffected by the powerful gas- 
tric action to which they have been subjected. The difficulty of breathing, I 
suppose, can be accounted for by presuming that small portions of the shells 
may have lodged in the pharynx. But how are we to account for the narcosis^ 
which was palpable and unmistakeable ? Some sorts of acorns, especially those 
of the red oak, (Quercus rubra,') of the black oak, (Q. nigra, vel tinctoria,) and 
others, contain considerable quantities of Prussic as well as Tannic acids; but 
hogs will not eat these as long as the others are abundant. It is true, those of 
the white oak (Q. alba,) contain more or less of these acids, (the Tannic pre- 
dominating,) but I think the quantity too inconsiderable to produce the results, 
which I have witnessed. If the effects which we observe now are attributa- 
ble to them, why did they not have the same effect on our hogs before ? Only a 
few years ago, our porkers were occasionally fattened upon the acorns alone. Can 
anybody explain? 

It may become an interesting subject of inquiry whether the fruits of our 
forest trees, like those we cultivate for the sake of their edible pulp, are deterio- 
rating. Does anybody know ? 

There was a tradition amongst the Greeks, that the oak was the first created 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 311 

tree; and it is known that the fruit of them constituted, at one period of time, 
an important portion of their food. Virgil tells us to 

"Thrash the woods, 

For mast of oak, your father's homely food. 

And Ovid corroborates their use, 

"Content with food-which nature freely bred, 
On wildings amren strawberries they fed. 
Cornels and bramble berries gave the rest, 
And fallen acorns furnished out a feast." 

Those familiar with our early struggles for independence of the mother coun- 
try, will remember how the Continental soldiery ate them for lack of more sump- 
tuous viands. But Turner, who was probably the earliest English writer who 
wrote upon the subject, does not appear to have had a very favorable opinion of 
them as human food ; for, he says, in the quaint language of that day, " Okc, 
whose fruit we call acorn, or eykorn, (that is the corn or fruit of an evke,) are 
hard of digestion, and nourish very much, but they make raw humorcs, where- 
fore we forbid the use of them for meates." Yet the early Britons certainly ate 
them. The. Druidical priests taught them, that everything that was produced 
upon the oak, even to the parasitical mistletoe, was of heavenly origin ; a super- 
stition which was common also among the Persians. They are, to this day, the 
food of the lower orders of Spaniards; but then it must be remembered, that 
the acorns of Spain are much more nutritious and sweet, than those of England 
or the United States. 

Acorns are said to have been the primitive food of mankind. We have no 
means of knowing whether they have undergone an unfavorable change in the 
land first peopled by the human race. That human tastes do undergo very great 
changes admits hardly of a doubt. At any rate, modern epicures would not, I 
fancy, esteem the acorn much of a feast. 

Thomas Tusser, and old English agricultural writer, who had a sort of innate 
proclivity for versification, said many truths in his "Boke," "A HwridretTi Good 
Points of Hushandrie" published in 1557. Speaking of acorns, he says: 

•'Some left among bushes shall pleasure thy swine, 
For fear of mischief keep acorns from kine." 

They are injurious to all ruminating animals, particularly to sheep. Whether 
it is owing to the Tannic and Prussic acids that they contain, or whether it is 
because ruminants cannot belch them up to undergo a second mastication, re- 
mains to be decided. Their effects upon cows are a drying up of the milk, con- 
stipation, wasting of flesh, and general debility. 

But, friend Spangler, when I commenced, I only intended to speak of them 
in reference to their misjudged value as food for swine, and to solicit from your 
numerous able correspondents such information as will be useful for farmers gene- 
rally. A few words more and I shall conclude for the present. 



312 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [Mat 

■ - — — ^ 

After putting up my hogs, they fattened very slowly. Indeed with all the 
careful and liberal feeding that I gave them, I did not succeed in making them 
anything near as fat as I wished them to be. An old and experienced hog- 
dealer, to whom I spoke upon the subject, told me that I would find it impossi- 
ble to fatten them thoroughly. He further stated, that lie could always tell 
when a lot of hogs had eaten largely of acorns. They riever endured traveling 
without becoming lean, and they could not b^made fat for the same season. What 
is the reason ? F. J. Cope. 

Hemphill, Feb. 5, 1861. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Roup in Chickens. 

Messrs. Editors. — I have seen several inquiries in agricultural papers of 
late, from persons who are anxious to learn some cure for chicken distemper or 
roup. And as I have found out a remedy, after trying every thing I thought 
would do any good, I send it to you to publish, that all may know it and profit 
by it. 

I have been raising from several varieties of English game for many years, 
and never until lb 59 knew what the roup among chickens was. I purchased 
several varieties during 1859-60, in Pennsylvania, and when I got them home I 
found they had a disease that effected them in three different ways. Sore throat 
one ; another, one or both eyes would be diseased, and the third, the head-comb, 
&c, generally would have ulcers. I tried caustic washes and various other 
things, and after great care and labour I cured the most of them. At this time 
my other fowls had taken the distemper, and as I thought of the many things 
used, not one could I rely upon as a certain cure, and my patience nearly worn 
out, I concluded to try, as an experiment, some Cod Liver Oil, and picked out a 
chicken that had his throat and mouth nearly one solid ulcer. To this chicken 
I gave a teaspoonful of the oil morning and night, and rubbed his head well 
with the same. For three days I kept up this practice, and at that time I found 
out the oil purged too much, so I lessened the dose and gave half a teaspoonful 
night and morning, and continued to rub the head and throat well with the oil; 
and to my surprise and gratification the chicken got well. I then tried it on 
several, and cured all. And now, with one year's experience, I can say that 
every chicken, if taken before the disease runs too long, can be cured. Now 
this is a simple remedy, and I know it to be a certain cure. 

It may be asked if I have not lost some fowls since I found out this remedy. 
I will say yes, and it was because the disease was too far advanced and the 
chicken too weak. Yours, respectfully, 

Caroline. 



Biscuit. — Two quarts of flour, one tablespoonful lard, one teaspoonful soda, 
half teaspoonful salt; mix with cold water, and beat well. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 313 

From the Farmer and Gardener. 

How we Waste Manures. 

The collection, management and application of manures, is perhaps, the most 
important branch of farm practice. And what is equally true, it is one which 
is in greater need of improvement, than almost any other. For a number of 
years past, agricultural chemisty has explained the proper method of managing 
manures, but thus far, its teachings'have had but a partial effect. The fact is, 
if there were no other cause for the deterioration of our soils, and consequent 
annual diminution of our crops, the waste of manures would sufficiently account 
for it. No one at all, familiar with the subject, will, we presume, pretend to 
dispute the assertion that in this direction at least, we are more wasteful than 
any other nation in the world. Were the same unthriftiness practised by the 
Chinese, with their dense population, or even by the German States of Europe, 
the result would be actual starvation, if as at present the people were dependant 
upon the products of their own soil for support. It is almost impossible for an 
American farmer, who has not had the opportunities for personal observation, to 
form anything like a correct idea of the jealous care with which the smallest 
particle or shred of every manurial substance is collected and husbanded by 
European nations generally. It is asserted on good authority, that at least one- 
third of the nutritious value of food used by the people of the United States, 
is lost either in its preparation, or, by actual waste; and it may be as safely as- 
serted that fully one-third, (we were about to say one-half,) of our available fer- 
tilizing material is also wasted and lost. Unlike as this may at first glance ap- 
pear, we have abundant evidence to sustain it, and did space permit, it would 
not be a difficult matter to satisfy every reader, that we annually waste nearly 
as much manure as we use. Our limits will only permit a brief reference to 
one or two of the principal sources of waste. 

First, we have the drainage of our cities and towns. This is composed mainly 
of the rich dirt from the streets, the wash-waters from the kitchens, the refuse 
of manufactories, the cleaning of water-closets, together with a variety of other 
substances, rich in manurial ingredients. 

The following statistical fact in relation to the sewerage of London, will con- 
vey a better idea of the immense waste of valuable fertilizing material, than 
anything we could say upon the subject. 

" By carefully conducted experiments, and very accurate guagings, it has been 
found that the chief London sewers convey daily to the river Thames, about 
115,000 tons of mixed drainage, consisting, on an average computation of one 
part solid and 25 parts absolutely fluid matters; but if we allow one part in 30 
of this immense mass, to be composed of solid substances, then we have the 
large quantity of more than 3,800 tons of solid manure, daily poured into the 
river from the city of London alone. Allowing twenty tons of this manure as 
a dressing to the acre, the annual waste equal to the full fertilization of 50,000 
acre* of the poorest land. This, with a fair average yield, would maintain at 



314 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

least 150,000 persons. And this enormous waste flows from one city only, and 
refers only to the solid matter. The fluid portion is also rich in fertilizing mat- 
ter, salts, &c, combined with the water." 

Now the same estimates may be made with reference to. *11 our American 
cities and towns, with this difference in favour of our superior prodigality, that 
our people being better fed than the majority of the people of London, or of 
England generally, and permitting more of our food to go to waste, either before 
or after preparation for the table, our sewerage is consequently richer in fertiliz- 
ing ingredients, and the waste of course greater. 

Is it not a striking comment upon our farming economy, that while we are 
sending our ships to the remotest parts of the world for guano, with which to 
maintain the fertility of our soils, we are permitting millions upon millions of 
dollars' worth of equally valuable material to flow past our very doors, and pour 
itself into the sea ? Nay, we do more, we puzzle our brains to devise the most 
effectual method of getting rid of it, with the least possible expense and trouble. 
The Agricultural Chemists and Engineers of London, have given the subject 
their attention, and a movement is now on foot to arrest the further progress of 
this enormous and heedless waste of manure, so far as that great city is con- 
cerned. 

A celebrated English writer, in answering to the inquiry, What is sewerage f 
says, " In it the chemist recognizes rounds of beef and basins of turtle, cargoes 
of sugar, coffee and port wine, millions of four pound loaves, and thousands of 
tons of cheese and butter. Therein are not only all the alimentary productions 
of our own country, but also our enormous alimentary imports, altered in form 
it is true, but scarcely altered in utility or value. It is truly a well known, but 
unworked, mine of gold, equal in value to one-half the interest of our national 
debt. We might call it a stream of liquid guano. It exists in a form of pecu- 
liar availability and almost self-portability ; its fertilizing powers are enormous. 
We may estimate its value by the sums expended to compensate for its loss. 
We pay for our guano, two million of dollars annually. For unprofitable oil 
cake and corn to feed our manure-making animals, many millions, and vast sums 
are annually abstracted from the agricultural pocket for phosphates and other 
artificial manures." 

It is not for us to point out in what manner this unpardonable extravagance 
is to be checked. " Necessity is said to be the mother of invention," and when 
we have exhausted all our other manurial resources, then, perhaps, some plan 
will be devised for bringing into profitable use this immensely valuable ma- 
terial. 

But let us turn our attention nearer home for a few moments, and see whether 
we are as economical of the manures of the farm as we should be. It is to be 
feared that a strict investigation in this direction would develop little, if any, 
less prodigality than in the sewerage of our cities and towns. 

We have already adverted to the unceasing attention given by the Chinese 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 315 

to the collection and careful preservation of every substance however trifling, 
which will in any degree serve to enrich the soil and increase their crops. We 
might profitably imitate the example of " John Chinaman" in this particular, 
for certainly, no department of farm practice has been as grossly neglected. 
Many of our farmers absolutely waste as much manure as they apply beneficially, 
or, in other words, permit one-half of it to go to loss through downright neglect 
or misapplication. 

This neglect is shown in a variety of ways. We see it in the location and 
construction of our barn-yards. Were it a special object with the farmer to ex- 
pose his manure heap to the fullest action of the sun, wind, and rain, and to 
afford the most complete outlets for all the liquids, he could not accomplish it 
more effectually than by following the plans of tens of thousands of farmers, in 
our own and adjoining States. The barn-yards, as a general thing, slope from 
the barn or stables, and as a consequence the liquid manure soon accumulates 
at the lowest point. The first rain causes it to overflow the trifling barrier some- 
times raised to prevent its escape, and away it goes to the nearest rivulet, to the 
horse-pond, or in the public highway, to be lost to its owner forever. Few who 
have not studied this subject, are aware of the immense quantity of fertilizing 
material, that accompanies the little black stream that oozes so quietly and stead- 
ily from the majority of our barn-yards. If such careless farmers were to be- 
hold gold dollars rolling from their pockets as rapidly as gold dollars worth of 
liquid manure flows from their manure-heaps, what immense activity would im" 
mediately be manifested, and how energetically would they go to work to stop 
the drain. Its apparent insignificance is the reason why it is permitted, for if 
farmers understood as they undoubtedly should, the actual dollar and cent value 
of the material they are thus permitting to escape them, this, another one of the 
every day errors of farming, would be speedily corrected. 

The fact is, true economy points to a complete reformation in the manage- 
ment of our manures, and more particularly the manures of the farm-yard. 
How many farmers are there who give a single thought to the importance of 
protecting their manure heaps from the injurious effects of exposure to the sun, 
wind, and rain. True economy points to the covered barn-yard ; to the properly 
prepared manure pit; to the indispensable tank for the surplus liquid manure J 
to the protection of the manure-heap from the deluges of rain-water, which are 
poured upon it from unspouted barn-roofs, and other buildings, every time a 
rain falls. Agricultural chemisty has conclusively demonstrated the absolute 
necessity that exists for attention to these points, if the farmer desires to save 
from total loss, a very large proportion of his manure. It teaches him that a 
loss of manure, is equivalent to a diminution of his farm products. If permitted 
to continue, it can result only in either gradually impoverishing the farm itself, 
or what is equally unfortunate, the pockets of the farmer himself. 

It should be a cardinal principle with every farmer, to allow no portion of 
fertilizing material, however minute, to go to waste. The scrapings of the road- 



316 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 



side, old shoes, woollen rags, hair, bones, the wash-water of the kitchen, 
soap-suds, the contents of the water-closets, unripe weeds, in fact, a thousand 
little matters which are not only permitted to go to waste, but are in many cases 
regarded as nuisances, and the disposition of which is often times a source of 
annoyance and inconvenience to the farmer, all possess a high manurial value, and 
one of the most common of our every day farming errors, is to permit them 
to be lost, instead of adding them to the compost or manure heap. If neglect 
to preserve and apply these valuable materials is the result of indifference, it 
properly belongs to the class of every day errors. If, on the other hand, it 
proceeds from ignorance of their value, the sooner this want of information is 
supplied by the teachings of Agricultural Chemistry, the better it will be for 
the interests of the country at large. 



Horticulture in California. 
We have received the report of the third annual fair of the California Horti- 
cultural Society, held at San Francisco in September last. It gives a lively idea 
of the horticultural resources of our great western state. At this exhibition of 
the products of California were seen the lemon, the orange, the fig and the pome- 
granate, with the luscious peach, the more hardy pear and apple, and flowers of 
rare hue and fragrance. 

Among the vegetable monstrosities was a huge red beet, weighing one hundred 
and fifteen pounds. Whervit weighed forty-two pounds it was exhibited and 
then again stuck into the ground to produce seed, and in twelve months it gained 
175 per cent in weight. If the owner should pursue the same policy for several 
years more, and it should grow iu the same proportion, it would weigh 315 
pounds in September, 1860, 855, in 1861, 2,300, in 1862, and so on. It is now 
about four feet long and nearly a foot through. . 

One grape-grower sent from San Jose no less than 80 varieties of grapes. 
The president of the Society exhibited 57 varieties pears, 40 of apples, ; 6 of 
peaches, 10 of plums, and four of nectarines. Of flowers several gentlemen 
contributed each collections of cut roses, embracing some one hundred varieties. 
A gardener sent a cabbage three feet seven and a half inches in circumference. 

There were also exhibited several specimens of the Chinese tea plant ; they 
were a part of a lot of twenty-four which were brought last summer from Can- 
ton, in their native earth. The transplanting proeess retarded their growth, but 
they thrive successfully in their California home, leaving no reason for doubt as 
to the suitability of the climate for tea culture. — Post. 



Lemon Custard. — Three lemons grated, one pound sugar, eight eggs, a 
piece of butter size of a walnut. Beat the yolks, sugar, lemons and butter to- 
gether, the whites to a froth, which are not to be added until ready for the oven. 
Bake on pie- crusts. 



rflk'fM 




Green Crops for Cattle Food. 
We would earnestly advise all of our farmers to devote a few acres to the 
purpose of raising green crops, to feed away to horses, cows, and other farm 
stock, during the summer. 



J & 



If they will pursue this plan, they can lay by a much larger supply of hay 
for use next winter, and by preparing for a large stock of cattle to be fed during 
winter, they may have for them, when that time arrives, the most ample abun- 
dance of food — the cattle can be wintered at a very inconsiderable expense, and 
a large stock of the most valuable kind of manure be on hand in time for the 
next corn crop. This system has proved profitable wherever it has been adopted, 
and we are sorry to say, has very few followers in this country. Some 
farmers, who practice it regularly every year, have made fortunes in agricultural 
pursuits, and are proofs that farming, when well managed, " will pay." 

Corn, when sowed broadcast, at the rate of three bushels to the acre, will fur- 
nish an almost incredible amount of provender for stock. Milch cows can be 
brought up to 'their maximum yield of milk, by its use as food: nor is it at all 
objectionable as provender for horses. It is necessary to give animals a plenty 
of salt, air-slacked lime, and ashes, while they are fed principally upon it, since 
the amount of sap contained in it is so great, that fermentation in the stomach, 
at any time when that organ may be even slightly disordered, will be sure to 
produce colic, or scours. 

Sow three bushels of corn upon one acre of good land, and harrow it in. If 
the land is not already sufficiently rich, apply one hundred pounds of guano, 
mixed with two bushels of plaster, to it. 

Chinese sugar cane should form part of this "Truck Patch," since it is an 
article of excellent food for stock of all kinds, and generally yields a luxuriant 
crop. So many experiments have been tried with it, that its excellence is fully 
established, and nobody has a right to call it a " humbug" any longer. The same 
precautions are necessary to guard against colic and indigestion among the 
animals fed on it, as we mentioned with regard to green corn. 

Hungarian grass, and millet, are very highly spoken of by many persons who 
have tried them. We have raised one small lot of the former, and were highly 
pleased with it as hay. Cattle" are very fond of it, and on rich ground, more 
than one cutting may be had. When it is allowed to ripen, we think the seed 
should be threshed out before its used as hay, since they are very hard, and so 
rich in oleaginous matter, that we think there is some danger of over-feeding 



. 


320 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May, 1861 


coisrTEisrTS. 




THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 


Grazing Cattle, 


257 


Is published monthly, in sixty-four octavo 


Manures, .... 


260 


pages, upon the following .Terms : 


Chippenham Hundred Farmers' Club, 


265 


TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS 


The Grasses best Adapted to Vir- 




per annum, unless paid in advance. 


ginia — The Mode of Culture, and 




Advance payments as follows: 


Manner of Curing, &c, 


273 


One copy, one year, - - - - $ 2 


Extracts from Sir John Evelyn's Diary 




Six copies, do .... 10 
Thirteen copies, one year, ... 20 


and Correspondence, 


278 


Twenty do do 30 


Southern Patronage again, 


279 


One copy, three years, ... 5 


Comments on Articles in the March 




And one copy free to persons sending us the 
names and monev for thirteen or more new sub- 


Number of Southern Planter, 


280 


scribers. 


Kind — Mankind — Husband — Wife, . 


281 


All money remitted to us will be considered 


Applications of Manures, 


282 


at our risk, only when the letter containing the 


Gas-Lime — Experience in its Use — 




same shall have been registered This rule is 
adopted not for our protection, but for the pro- 


Valuable Information, 


284 


tection of our correspondents, and we wish it 


Dr. Baldwin's Shade Theory, . 


287 


distinctly understood that we take the risk only 


Plain Talk about Draining, 


289 


when this condition is complied with. 


Professor Campbell's Address, 

To the President of the Rockbridge 


293 








Agricultural and Mechanical So- 






ciety, .... 


297 


ADVERTISEMENTS 


"Nothing to Live for," T 


298 




Soluble Phosphated Peruvian Guano, 


299 


Will be inserted at the following rates : 


Increase of Southern Productions, 


300 


Business Cards of 5 lines or less, per 


Seed Corn, .... 


301 


annum, - - - - - $5 00 
f 1st insertion, - - 1 00 


Sleeping Rooms, 


302 


One-eighth of] Each continuance, - 75 


Notice to the Readers of the Rural 




a column, j 6 months, } without - 4 00 
L12 " J alteration, - 7 50 


American. — A Sad Disaster — itsDis 




(1st insertion, - - 1 75 
One-founh of J Each continuance, - 1 25 


continuance, &c, ... 


303 


a column, 1 6 months, } without - 7 50 
1 12 " $ alteration, - 14 00 
| 1st insertion, - - 3 25 


Bone Manure, .... 


306 


The Concord Grape, . 


308 


One half of a 1 Each continuance, - 2 50 

column, | 6 months, > without 14 00 

1 12 '• ) alteration, 25 00 


Hungarian Grass, 


309 


Mast as Food for Swine, 


310 


.-. , [1st insertion, - - 6 OH 

One column, J Each continuancPf . 4 5 „ 

or half page, <j 6 months i without 2 5 CO 

1 12 " ) alteration, 40 00 

fist insertion, - - 10 00 

.-. J Each continuance, - 7 50 

Une page, ^ g momh?) i wilnout 40 00 

[ 12 " (alteration, - 70 00 


Roup in Chickens, 


312 


How we Waste Manures, 


313 


Horticulture in California, 


316 






Green Crops for Cattle Food, 


317 


Miner's Rural American, 


318 


Advertisements out of tl^titv must be ac- 


Evan's Rural Economist, 


319 


companied with the money or citv references 


Dipping up the Water. 


319 


to insure insertion.