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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER; 

DebotcU to Stflrfeulture, ajortfculturc, an* the ^ouseholfc &rts. 



Agriculture is the nursing- mother of the Arts. 

Xenophon. 



Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of the State. 

Sully. 



C. T. BO ITS, Editor. 



Opposite Merchants' Coflee House, Main Street. 



Vol. II. 



RICHMOND, APRIL, 1842. 



No. 4. 



For the Southern Planter. 
EXTRACT FROM THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ELIZABETH 
CITY COUNTY. 

"Resolved, That the Committee on the Best 
Mode of Cultivating- Corn, consist of Dr. R. 
Archer, Thomas Lowry, and William Smith." 

The Committee, to whom was referred the 
subject of " the Best Mode of Cultivating Corn," 
beg- leave to report : 

Corn being one of the principal and most 
important staples of our countiy, is it not sur- 
prising that so great a diversity of opinion should 
exist, as to the best mode of cultivating it? 
Every periodical you open, enlightens you with 
some new discovery, and the details of some 
enormous crop, and you congratulate yourself, 
that the best way is at last discovered : the next 
number you receive, throws you all aback again; 
you don't know what to believe ; and at last 
settle down to the comfortable conclusion, that 
amongst such a multitude of conflicting opinions 
your own is as good as any, and your system 
of cultivation as likely to be the best as any 
other. One thing is certain, we have been rais- 
ing corn under every sort of management for 
two hundred years — and when the land was 
good we could make good crops : it will grow 
in spite of you, if you only keep the weeds 
down. And your Committee have serious doubts 
whether our ancestors did not understand the 
subject as well as we do. There is no secret 
about it ; for we all agree upon the main points. 
First, that the ground should be in good heart ; 
secondly, that it should be well broken up and 
pulverized ; thirdly, that the thickness of the 
planting should be in proportion to the strength 
of the land ; and fourthly, that the soil should 
be freely stirred and the growth of weeds kept 
down. If we follow these rules we shall not 
fail in a good crop once in twenty years. 

But how are these requirements to be fulfilled'? 
We will answer to the best of our ability. 

1st. The land should be in good heart. That 
is, it should be well drained of all superfluous 
moisture and then well manured; to manure 
wet land is to throw away both labor and ma- 
nure. Putrescent manures of all kinds are ap- 
plicable to the corn crop. Corn has been called 
a coarse feeder, hence undecomposed animal 
and vegetable matter, which might prove inju- 
rious to more delicate plants, is found highly 
Vol. 2— 10 



advantageous when applied to this. The sea 
ore, which drifts so abundantly to our shores at 
certain seasons of the year, is a most valuable 
manure. One of your Committee in an experi- 
ment made last year, proved by actual measure- 
ment of the com that the product from an acre 
manured from this substance, was fully equal to 
that from the same quality of land manured at 
the same rate, from the stable, farm-yard and 
pig-pen. It was spread broadcast from the beach 
and ploughed in when the land was broke up. 

Manuring in the hill is practised very gener- 
ally in some of the northern States. It certainly 
enables the farmer, who has but a limited amount 
of manure to go over a larger surface, but we 
doubt very much, whether, taking into calcula- 
tion the benefit that would accrue to the suc- 
ceeding crop of small grain, it would not be 
better to distribute it broadcast over a smaller 
area. 

It may be that the northern summers being 
very short, the corn requires to be pushed rapidly 
forward ; it has but a limited time to grow in, 
and may require the full benefit of the manure, 
applied directly to its roots, to urge it to matu- 
rity, before the frost overtakes it ; but this argu- 
ment however applicable to the north, is inappli- 
cable to us, as our corn growing season extends 
over seven months of the year. We are, there- 
fore, of opinion, that as a general rule, manures 
should be applied broadcast. When used in the 
hill they should be applied above and not below 
the corn, unless perfectly decomposed ; for the 
tender roots, shooting down into a bed of hot fer- 
menting manure, perish before they can tap the 
earth below, and the plant necessarily dies. 

2d. The ground should be well broken up and 
pulverized. The proper time, undoubtedly, to 
break up the land, especially if it be a stiff or 
clay soil, is in the fall ; for the action of the win- 
ter frosts upon it, breaks it down and renders it 
friable and mellow. When the depth of soil 
will allow, the deeper you plough the better, for 
you thereby turn up a new and virgin surface, 
and render the soil permeable to the roots of the 
plant, which in that case tend downwards, in- 
stead of running horizontsflly near the surface. 
When the soil is not deep, it is a good rule to 
cut every year, a little deeper than the soil, into 
the clay or subsoil ; the depth of your ploughing 
this year, will be the depth of your soil the next ; 
and in four years you deepen it four inches. 



74 



THE SOUTHERN 



L 



ANTER 



The ground having been well broken up in 
the fall, should be reploughed and harrowed in 
the spring, as late as possible 5 the advantage of 
this is twofold ; first, it pulverizes the soil, and 
secondly, kills the young grass which begins to 
show itself at the first opening of spring, and 
thus enables the young corn to get a fair start, 
before it can spring again. Cora land seems to 
require a certain number of ploughings, and the 
more you plough before the corn is planted, the 
less you have to plough afterwards. 

If, however, from scarcity of hands or other 
cause, the farmer can plough his land but once 
before he plants, instead of ploughing in the fall 
or winter, he should defer it to the last moment, 
and his planters should follow, almost in the 
wake of his plough ; otherwise he will have a 
green field before his corn is up. 

3d. The thickness of the planting should be 
in proportion to the strength of the land. 

No proposition is more self-evident than this ; 
for it would be just as reasonable to keep two 
horses on the food required by one, as to expect 
two stalks of corn to grow in a hill which could 
support but one. There appears to be a strong 
mania prevailing at this time for thick planting ; 
it is a very commendable one, but it should have 
been preceded by another still more important, 
viz : a mania for improving our lands by ditch- 
ing and manure. One of your Committee has 
raised upwards of ninety measured bushels of 
corn to the acre ; it was planted in drills four 
and a half feet wide, and as thick in the step as 
it could conveniently stand; but no man in his 
senses would plant in this way, on any other 
than the richest land. We more frequently err 
in planting too thick than too thin ; but there is 
one fact which should be remembered by every 
farmer ; it is that a crop of corn well worked 
can be planted much thicker on a piece of land 
of given quality, than one slovenly cultivated. 

4th. The soil should be frequently stirred and 
the weeds kept down. 

The philosophy of vegetation is, that plants 
require heat, air, moisture, and the capability of 
extending their roots in search of nourishment. 
These requisites are all afforded, by frequent 
loosening of the soil, which besides, is next to 
irrigation, the best remedy against drought, and 
the firing consequent upon too thick planting. 
It is a great mistake to suppose that working 
com during a drought is injurious to the plant. 

Various implements have been designed for 
this purpose; the plough, the coulter, the har- 
row, and the cultivator are those in most general 
use. Recently a new implement, the subsoil 
plough, has been added to the others ; and nu- 
merous experiments in England as well as in 
this country, go to confirm the high encomiums 
which were bestowed upon it at its introduction. 

Having laid down the general principles, in- 
volved in the cultivation of the com crop, your 



Committee now proceed to give their views 
somewhat in detail on the subject. 

No crop pays better for the labor bestowed in 
manuring and working, than the corn crop. If 
the land will not produce twenty bushels to the 
acre, it will not pay the expense of cultivation, 
at least in this county. It would be folly, there- 
fore, to plant it. But as the farmer must have 
corn, and as many of our fields will not go be- 
yond that average, it follows that in self-defence 
he must improve his lands, or ruin himself by 
their cultivation. 

Different opinions prevail as to the relative 
advantage of planting corn in drills and squares. 
We think the opinions of the most judicious 
farmers, as well here as at the north, incline to 
the square or check system, when the land is 
high and dry ; on low wet lands the drill system 
is best, as it enables the water to run off more 
freely. But the chief advantage of the square 
system is, that it enables you to w T ork both ways 
and you may then dispense, in a great degree, 
with the hoe. Besides, it lays the land more 
level and better suited to the succeeding crop of 
small grain. It is an error to suppose that com 
requires to be bedded up to prevent its being 
blown down. However high 3 r ou may throw 
the beds, you will always find that beautiful 
system of bracing roots, shooting out from the 
first joint and tapping the earth to support 
the stalk. There is ordinarily but one set of 
these roots, and whether the corn stand upon a 
level surface or on a ridge, the number of roots 
and braces is the same. 

In working corn, the theory confirmed by ex- 
tensive practice is, to plough deep in the early 
cultivation, whilst the roots are small and shal- 
low, as they begin to extend themselves. The 
deep ploughing enables the roots to tap down- 
wards, into the cool open soil, thereby avoiding 
the evil consequences of drought, and prevents 
their being cut and mutilated by the subsequent 
shallow cultivation. However strong the au- 
thority against us, we never can believe that the 
corn is benefitted by cutting and tearing the roots, 
which inevitably takes place if the deep plough- 
ing be continued through the whole cultivation 
of the crop. The most reasonable system, then, 
appears to be, to commence, when the com is 
just peeping out of the ground, with the harrow 
and run it thoroughly over every inch of the 
field : this operation pulverizes the land and ar- 
rests the young growth of grass, nor does it in 
the least disturb injuriously the young corn. 

Having gone over the field, set your culti- 
vators to work and continue them until the corn 
is large enough to thin out and replant ; the 
earlier this operation is commenced in reason, 
the better, for it prevents the first planted from 
getting too far ahead of the replanted corn. 
Replanting is preferable to setting ; it is more 
certain, more expeditious, and if the seed be 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



75 



soaked, it will soon overtake the first planting. 
If the hoe is to be used, (and we think it should 
never be entirely dispensed with, although we 
have seen good crops made without it,) now is 
the time to use it with most advantage. It 
greatly facilitates the operation of thinning, 
loosens the dirt close to the corn, and enables 
you to draw it neatly about it, which at this 
stage of its growth is all-important ; for, from 
the weight of the stalk and weakness of its 
roots, much will be found to have fallen down. 

Having got over the thinning and hoeing, 
start your cultivators again, and run them until 
the com is high enough to take the dirt from the 
plough. 

Some of the most judicious farmers of our 
State, at this stage of the cultivation, use the 
single coulter with great advantage, run close to 
the corn ; it loosens the ground nine or ten inches 
deep, and gives free access to the roots, moisture 
and air. On stiff lands we are inclined to think 
the coulter should never be dispensed with. 

The corn should now have one good deep 
ploughing, the dirt thrown to it, and the mid- 
dles thoroughly broke up. This is the only 
ploughing which seems absolutely necessary ; 
the after culture can be effected with the culti- 
vator, which in experienced hands is fully com- 
petent to keep the earth loose and clean. 

We have said nothing of the shovel plough, 
because we think the work can be equally well 
done, without as with it, and the multiplication 
of implements only tends to increase the ex- 
penses of the farmer. 

Generally speaking the corn crop suffers more 
from neglect in harvest, than at any other time. 
It is the busy season of the year, and every hand 
on the farm, young and old, is summoned to the 
wheat-field. Wo to the farmer whose corn-field 
is grassy when harvest begins : if he leave the 
field now, he can never get the upper hand of 
the grass afterwards. His interest, then is, to 
keep his cultivators running and hire labor for 
his harvest, even at double price. When the 
corn begins to silk and tassel lay it by, even if it 
should be overrun with grass ; or at most, send 
in your hoes to chop down the tall weeds ; for 
the injury don«» to the roots, by any farther cul- 
tivation, culd not be repaid by the destruction of 
the grass : it is at this time that the strongest 
draft is made upon the fertility of the soil, to 
develop the shoot and push the ear to maturity, 
and any injury done to the spongioles, the sole 
absorbents of the food from the soil, would ma- 
terially interfere with that important process. 

The corn having been laid by, the field for, 
the first time, since the planting, enjoys a season 
of rest, and the holyday continues until the time 
to gather fodder arrives. 

Much diversity of opinion exists on this point. 
Some contend that the fodder should not be ga- 
thered at all, as the injury sustained by the corn 



is more than equivalent to the value of the fod- 
der. However plausible this argument may be 
in grass countries, where fodder is of a secon- 
dary consideration, it has no application to us, 
even if it were true. Fodder is as indispensable 
to us as corn, and the fanner who would buy 
his fodder in preference to stripping his stalks 
would be justly considered as a fit subject for 
the lunatic asylum. But the fact is, as one of 
your Committee showed by an experiment last 
year, and which was reported to the Society in 
detail, that if the blades be stripped after the 
shuck has turned yellow, no perceptible injury 
is sustained by the corn. Corn thus stripped, 
was compared with other corn in the same field, 
which had been neither topped nor stripped, and 
there was no difference either in weight or mea- 
sure. The conclusion, therefore, is, that it is a 
matter of perfect indifference, so far as the yield 
of corn is concerned, whether the stalk be first 
stripped or first topped, whether it be topped 
and stripped at the same time, or whether the 
tops and blades be left to dry upon the stalk. 

An equal diversity of opinion exists, as to the 
best mode of gathering the corn crop ; but it is 
generally acknowledged, that when it can be 
done, that is, when the field is not to be sown in 
wheat, the best plan is to shuck it in the field, 
directly from the stalk, especially in neighbor- 
hoods where your corn is liable to be pillaged. 
With the assistance of the. corn-peg the opera- 
tion is equally as rapid, as pulling the shuck 
from the stalk, and at night you have the satis- 
faction to know that your corn is safe under lock 
and key in yom crib. After your corn is ga- 
thered you may cut down and stack your stalks 
and shucks, to be fed out in the winter. 

But when the field is to be sown in wheat, 
this mode is scarcely practicable, as it would de- 
lay the seeding too long. It then becomes ne- 
cessary to cut down the corn, and either cart it 
off, which is the best plan, or shock it in the 
field. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

Although we are not in the habit of inserting 
detailed reportsof agricultural committees, which, 
excellent as they frequently are, contain gener- 
ally, of necessity, a repetition of what has been 
published over and over again, yet so important 
is the subject of the above, so fitted to the sea- 
son, so ably handled, and so peculiarly adapted 
for southern uses, that we have concluded to 
give it entire to our readers. 

W T e do not mean to endorse all the particu- 
lars—only the general principles, of the report. 
We esteem it one of the fullest, clearest, and 
soundest expositions of the proper manner of 
cultivating corn, in Eastern Virginia, that we 
have ever seen. 



76 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



TREATMENT OF HORSES. 
We published, not long since, some excellent 
observations on this subject from the Albany 
Cultivator. The following are extracted from 
the Maine Cultivator, and refer principally to 
treatment on a journey : 

" Much difference of opinion exists among 
drivers as to the best mode of feeding and of 
watering, and it was an old rule never to let a 
horse drink when he is warm ; but this is now 
generally disregarded, and horses are invited to 
drink little and often while in the harness and 
when they are to stop but for a few moments. 
In regard to the kind of water proper for them, 
it has been supposed that puddle water, or such 
as has much earth and mud mixed with it, is 
better than any that comes pure from the brook ; 
but this is not a very philosophical rule, as pure 
water is known to be less injurious to a healthy 
animal than any which has foreign ingredients 
in it. Puddle water, therefore, can be no better 
than pure water unless it is because it is usually 
warmer ; and horses generally know enough to 
prefer this on that account. 

" Though horses are often injured or destroyed 
by being suffered to drink too much cold water 
when they are warm, a much greater number 
have been ruined by giving grain at improper 
seasons. It has very generally been supposed 
dangerous to feed with grain a horse which has 
just come into the stable very warm and sweaty; 
but what evidence have we that they have suf- 
fered from this cause ? Do men fear to eat im- 
mediately after quitting the scythe or the flail % 
Horses will not eat much immediately on stop- 
ping after a hard drive. What reason, then, 
for supposing they have ever suffered from this 
cause V 1 

We believe we have known violent cases of 
illness, both in men and horses, occasioned by 
eating, as well as drinking, whilst heated. A 
horse, after violent exercise or laborious toil, 
should be permitted to cool gradually before he 
is either fed or watered. If possible, he should 
never be stopped in the midst of violent excite- 
ment; but permitted to cool gradually under 
exercise. Otherwise, he should be carefully 
guarded against too sudden cooling, especially, 
should he in this state be particularly guarded 
from draughts of cold air. But if the traveller 
will relax his speed for the last mile or two of 
his day's journey, he may safely indulge his 
tired steed with a half hour's roll and cooling in 
the stable lot, before watering or feeding. One 
thing is certain, that no harm can come from a 
little care in this respect, and it is always well 
to err on the safe side. 



We agree, however, with the writer that as 
much injury accrues from heavy feeding imme- 
diately before, as after, exertion; he goes on to 
say: 

"It is violent exercise immediately after eating 
that ruins horses and causes distress in all ani- 
mals that are put to it. And though every man 
of reflection knows violent exercise, immediately 
after eating, causes pain in his own stomach ; 
yet many will give horses the most solid food 
just before commencing the labors of the day. 

" Men who give their horses no grain, except 
on extraordinary occasions, will administer a dose 
of it just before starting for a day's ride. They 
would not give it on the night preceding, lest 
all its virtues should evaporate before daylight. 
Such practices ought to be ridiculed if we can- 
not reason people out of them. 

" Stage owners in the vicinity of Boston for- 
merly directed that meal and water should be 
given to the teams on stopping for a few mo- 
ments to take breath ; and it was not till many 
of these animals dropped dead in the service 
that the practice was discontinued. On opening 
the stomachs of these horses the meal was found 
in hard cakes undigested. Violent exercise pro- 
bably prevented the proper action of the gastric 
juice on the food. Such exercise might cause 
an absorption of these juices and rob the sto- 
mach of its great means of disposing of its load. 

"In former years we have travelled through 
the country and tried various methods of feeding, 
and have come to the conclusion that the best 
and heartiest food should be given at night ; and 
this should be very soon after the horse is put in 
the stable. He will then soon eat. enough to 
satisfy his appetite and will have time to lie 
down and rest — his food will serve during the 
whole of next day, and he will need but little 
baiting till he stops again at night. 

" This will be found the best mode of feeding 
even when you can find the best of haj" at pub- 
lic houses; for your horse will be all ready to 
start in the morning — he has had his breakfast 
the night preceding, and if he has stood a whole 
hour in the morning without eating, he will be 
a better traveller for it through i>.e day." 



MAKING CANDLES. 

The season of the year has arrived for fami- 
lies in the country to make up their supply of 
candles for the year, and as much trouble and 
extra labor is occasioned by want of skill, I will, 
in order to enable people to obviate this, give 
some brief directions for dipping candles. 

The tallow, when melted, should be ladled 
into a wooden vessel of convenient width and j 
depth, which has been previously heated by fill- 
ing it with boiling water for an hour or more. 
Fill the vessel within an inch of the top with 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



77 



melted tallow, and keep it that height by adding 
hot tallow or hot water. By this means the 
candles will be kept of a full size at the top, and 
not taper off to a point, as is often seen with 
country candles. 

The tallow, when used for dipping candles, 
should not be too hot. A temperature that will 
allow the finger to be dipped in without burning, 
is sufficiently hot, and at this temperature the 
candles will take on the tnllow very fast. The 
wicks should be lowered into the melted tallow 
gradually, and should be lifted out of the tallow 
so slowly that when the bottom of the candles 
are clear from the surface of the melted tallow, 
no tallow w 7 ill run off them. When the can- 
dles are raised quite out of the melted tallow, 
the tallow will run off the candles in a stream, 
whereas if the candles are raised out slowly, not 
a particle of tallow will fall from the candles. 
A few trials will satisfy any person in this mat- 
ter. If the tallow is boiling hot, the wick will 
not take on the tallow to any considerable extent. 
When candles are raised out of the tallow ra- 
pidly, the candles will be large at the bottom, 
and the tallow will extend below the wick, so 
that when burnt in the candlestick a piece of 
the candle will have no wick in it; and, there- 
fore, for burning, will be useless. Where per- 
sons have no suitable wooden vessel, an iron 
vessel will answer for a dipping vessel. When 
tallow has been thoroughly melted over the fire, 
should it be dirty or impure, throw into it, while 
hot, a small quantity of finely powdered alum, 
and in a short time a scum will be seen rising 
to the surface, in appearance like dirty froth. 
Skim this off as it rises. This scum will rise 
for half an hour or more. These directions are 
plain and easily complied with, and one trial 
will be satisfactory. Persons, by following these 
directions, will save more than one-half the usual 
labor of making candles, besides having better 
candles. I speak from abundant experience, and 
therefore with full confidence. 

Journal of Commerce. 



HORSE SHOEING. 
A writer upon the subject of "shoeing," ad- 
verting to the use of the frog and the diseases 
that proceed from its inaction, maintains, that it 
should be always, as in a state of nature, sub- 
jected to pressure. He gives the following di- 
rections for shoeing : 

" The horse's foot being circular and not oval, 
the shoe should be made in that form ; or rather 
the hoof should be measured, and the shoe made 
exactly to correspond. An oval or elliptic foot 
is generally, nay, we may sa}' always, diseased. 
It has assumed that shape in consequence of the 
contraction of the bars, brought on solely by a 
diseased state of the frog for want of pressure ; 



and in no one instance of oval-formed feel will 
the frogs be found healthy. The moment the 
foot is lifted from the ground, the smell indicates 
the diseased frog, though perhaps cockney eques- 
trians consider this the natural perfume of the 
organ when in health. 

" The shoe should be as light as possible con- 
sistently with the labor the animal has to un- 
dergo. Before it is put on, the hoof should be 
pared away toward the heels, in such a manner 
that without the shoe ihe horse should stand 
with the frog close to the ground, as when in a 
state of nature ; when the shoe is on, it should 
be filed away towards the heels, being left only 
sufficiently thick to enable the frog in the natural 
position of the animal without a rider or burthen, 
just to clear the ground ; so that when the horse 
bears its burthen or its rider, the frog of the 
shoed foot should receive the same pressure from 
the ground that it would do if the shoes were 
taken off and the animal turned loose. When 
a horse is shod according to the present system, 
besides the various diseases brought on by the 
want of the action of the frog, the animal walks 
upon its toes, (the expression cannot be misun- 
derstood,) and the proper muscular action of the 
foot and leg is perverted. Hence many horses 
fall dead lame without the farrier being able to 
assign any cause for it, although he will talk 
dogmatically enough on the subject to confound 
those who know no better than himself/' 



The following is to be considered, we think, 
rather curious and interesting than extensively 
useful. With proper care it might make a very 
pretty and singular fence. 

LIVING AND ORNAMENTAL FENCES. 

At a recent meeting of the Botanical Society 
of London, Mr. D. Cooper gave an account of 
a new living fence, formed by planting young 
trees in a slanting position, every tree leaning 
the opposite way, so that they will cross each 
other, and then at the parts which come into 
contact, take off from each a piece of bark, and 
tie close together, covering the part with clay. 
This grafts each tree into its neighbor, and forms 
in a iew years, a living fence, with diamond- 
shaped openings. The plan is an excellent one 
for ornamental fences. 



POTATO. 



At one of the agricultural meetings, which are 
held regularly in Boston by some of the farmers 
of Massachusetts, the cultivation of the Irish 
potato was the subject of discussion. Upon 
many points a great difference of sentiment pre- 
vailed, but the current of opinion seemed to run 
in favor of planting shallow, using large seed, 



78 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



whole, instead of cut, and taking off the blos- 
soms. Mr. Plnnkett, to whom much deference 
seems to have been paid, expressed the opinion, 
that the round, and oblong round, varieties are 
adapted to light open lands, whilst the flat kid- 
ney, or egg shaped, should be appropriated to 
stiff clays ; the warmer the climate, the greater 
the necessity of a damp, cool soil. He also 
thought, that the quality might be determined 



by the shape. The 



oblong 



starch ; next the round ; 



round yield least 
the flat kidney shaped, 
the most. Where the productiveness is great, 
the quality generally is not good ; where the 
quality is good, the yield is not great. 

To our surprise, Mr. Cole, the Editor of the 
Farmers' Journal, expressed the opinion, that it 
is always better to get seed from the South than 
the North. 



BOILERS FOR COOKING FOOD FOR STOCK, &c. 




The above arrangement, together with the 
peculiar construction of the fire-place, are be- 
lieved to be original in invention and novel in 
practice. An experiment with a fire-place with- 
out draught-hole or grate was first made at the 
sugar-refinery of Joseph Lovering, Esq., in Phi- 
ladelphia, in 1837, where it was found to suc- 
ceed in the most perfect manner. The fire is 
lighted on the top of the fuel, and is operated 
upon by the air from above, on the principle of 
the blow-pipe ; by it the smoke is forced down- 
wards through the body of the fuel, becoming 
ignited in its passage through the flame, and 
adding much to the volume of heat while pass- 
ing under and around the boiler on its way to 
the chimney. Thus the smoke is consumed, 
none issuing from the top of the chimney after 
the fuel has become perfectly ignited — a con- 
sideration of great importance to those in the 
vicinity of extensive manufactories. The fuel 



clev- 



is wood, cut into lengths to suit the size of the 
fire-pit, which pit may be constructed at the 
sides and bottom with common bricks, the arch- 
ways, by which the fire passes to the bottom of 
the boilers, being turned with fire-bricks. This 
arrangement is adapted for boiling or evaporating 
generally, and particularly for the cooking of 
food for stock either on a large or small scale, 
none being more economical or convenient for 
heating water for dairy use, the scalding of hogs, 
&c. It was at first intended to confine the use 
of these boilers to the desiccation of beet-juice 
in the manufacture of sugar, but it was perceived 
that the principle of operation is applicable to 
many other purposes, especially to the evapora- 
tion of the juice of the maple and corn-stalk in 
the fabrication of sugar, the power of suddenly 
checking the fire — as instantaneous as the turn- 
ing off steam — being peculiarly adapted to such 
nice operations ; at the same time giving the 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



79 



means of applying a greater or less degree of 
heat, withdrawing it altogether, or transferring 
it to other purposes, by a movement the most 
simple. The boilers may be made of thin boiler- 
iron, the bottoms neady flat, and the sides per- 
pendicular, with a flange turned on the top, the 
depth being in proportion to the circumference. 
In setting, they may be placed with the bottom 
within three inches of the bed of brick-work, 
the fire from the pit passing under the arch and 
spreading over the bottom, escaping by a pas- 
sage at the opposite side, and making the cir- 
cumference of the boiler before passing off by 
the chimney ; the boiler itself being surrounded 
by a jacket of sheet-iron, of size sufficient to 
leave a space of one and a half or two inches, 
for a flue between it and the boiler ; and against 
this the brick-work is to be built. Put the in- 
gredients to be boiled into one of the boilers, 
withdraw the iron stopper C, formed of a flat 
bar of wrought-iron three inches wide, and light 
the fire, regulating the draught by raising or 
lowering the iron cover A, which must be made 
to close tight when put quite down. While this 
is progressing, make ready the other boiler, and 
when the food in the first boiler is done enough, 
replace the stopper, and withdraw that belonging 
to the second boiler, by which the fire will be 
transferred from one to the other in full force 
without receiving the least check or loss of time. 
If at any time it should be found necessary to 
withdraw the fire at once from both boilers, it 
may be done by drawing up the slide B, and 
putting in both stoppers, when the fire will pass 
off by the chimney ; or the fire might be extin- 
guished instantly by putting down the cover, a 
means of saving much fuel, by putting an end 
to all further combustion. Jas. Pedder. 

Jan. 20, 1342. 

In our last, we adverted to this apparatus for 
boiling food, and expressed our approbation in 
some respects, and hinted doubts in others. The 
arrangement, by which the heat may be applied 
to one or the other boiler, or altogether suspended, 
is excellent. The brick work for retaining the 
heat, we have no doubt, is also very advan- 
tageous. The great difficulty we had was, that 
it was contrary to our philosophy for heated air 
to descend ; we have been so much accustomed 
to seeing smoke ascend, that we doubted whe- 
ther it could be induced to go down through the 
fire for the purpose of being consumed. Yet 
we are told by Mr. Pedder that such is the fact, 
and practical men assure us, that when the op- 
posing column of air is very high, as in the 
chimney to this furnace, that the heat will de- 
scend for the sake of ascending. We must con- 
fess we do not see the philosophy of the thing. 



But that is immaterial, the fact is so. and of 
course there is an explanation of it somewhere. 
The other difficulty we had was with respect to 
the ashes: unless they, like the smoke, are con- 
sumed in this all-devouring furnace, we imagined 



they would soon fill up the space below and 
choke the flues. If we understand the engrav- 
ing, they can only be removed through the open- 
ing at top, after the fire is out. We feel so 
much interest in this contrivance, that we will 
be obliged to Mr. Pedder to inform us whether 
there is any validity in our objections, and also 
to furnish us with particular directions for build- 
ing, as to thickness of brick work, height of 
chimney, and such other particulars as expe- 
rience may have settled. 



THE ORCHARD. 

Mr. Randall, to whom w 7 as awarded the first 
premium for the best orchard, by the Massachu- 
setts Agricultural Society, furnished an account 
of his management, of which the following is 
a synopsis : 

" The extent of the orchard is three and a half 
acres ; the number of trees, two hundred and 
twelve; their distance apart, twenty-five feet; 
and the number of varieties, fifty-seven. The 
soil is a sandy, gravelly loam, generally light. 
In planting the trees, Mr. Randall says the mu- 
tilated roots of each tree were carefully cut off 
smooth; even the small fibrous ones, and en- 
grafting salve put over large cuts. The roots 
were immersed in water for above one-half hour 
before planting, thereby inducing the mould or 
loam to become attached to them. The hole 
was dug large, so that every root might extend 
without bending or being cramped. Nothing 
was put round the roots but surface earth, and 
that carefully worked in by hand, each root and 
fibre lying horizontally and naturally. No ma- 
nure was used in setting. One bushel of fine 
stable manure was put round each tree the first 
of November, and repeated for two years. Mr. 
Randall preferred raising the earth around trees, 
when first planted, above the common level, to 
give them firmness, to planting deep. He pre- 
fers spring to autumn planting. Shallow plant- 
ing he thinks succeeds best, and this, he thinks, 
may be accounted for philosophically. The 
roots are luxuriating in a good soil, and are 
more immediately under the influence of the sun. 

"The orchard was planted in 1837, and the 
ground has been planted every year since, and 
including 1837, with potatoes, carrots, rata baga, 
sugar beets, and mangel wurtzel. The manures 
used have been common stable, compost of sta- 
ble, loam and swamp mud, lime compost, spent 



80 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ashes, plaster, and a small quantity of saltpetre. 
The trunks and lower limbs of the trees have 
been well washed with oil soap, sand and water, 
every spring and fall since they were planted out; 
after which a coat of oil soap has been put on 
with a painter's brush. The first pruning was 
done the first of May last, at which time the 
earth was removed from around every tree to 
examine for borers ; not one w r as found, or any 
indication of one. In reply to the inquiries of 
the committee respecting the oil soap, Mr. Ran- 
dall says, that from eight to ten pounds of oil 
soap are put into a common pail, with such a 
quantity of warm water as will render it about 
as thick as paint when mixed for use. With 
this pail of soap, thinned as described, a man 
having a small tin pail, or bag, or pocket, filled 
with fine sand, tied round his waist, with a coarse 
crash cloth and a paint brush, is ready for oper- 
ating. He first wets his cloth with soap, then 
scatters on some dry sand, and gives the trunk 
and branches a good rubbing ; after which, with 
a paint brush, he puts on a coat of the soap, 
prepared as above, equal to a thick coat of paint. 
It is well, he says, to select for this work the 
termination of a storm of rain, when the moss 
or any roughness on the bark, will yield more 
readily to rubbing." 



MUSQTJITE GRASS. 

At a late meeting of the South Carolina Agri- 
cultural Society, the President read the following 
communication from Col. Wade Hampton, which 
was ordered to be entered on the minutes : 

Columbia, Nov. 24, 1841. 
Dear Sir, — The meeting of the State Agri- 
cultural Society affording a favorable opportu- 
nity for its distribution, I beg leave to place at 
your disposal, for that purpose, about two bushels 
of Musquite grass seed. This grass is a native 
of Texas, and as far as I am capable of form- 
ing an opinion by an experiment of a single 
year, is admirably adapted to our country. It 
has, I understand, been successfully cultivated 
by Mr. Carter of Alabama, for some years past, 
and the high estimate he placed on it, induced 
him very kindly to send me a few quarts of seed 
in the summer of 1840. These seed were 
planted in September following, in drills, came 
up with great regularity, and continued to vege- 
tate during the whole winter. A drought of 
unusual duration in the spring, and another in 
July, accompanied by intense heat, produced no 
visible effect on it, and it has continued to flourish 
through all the vicissitudes of a most disastrous 
season. The seed were sown on dry alluvial 
soil, which had been prepared for turnips; and 
from a piece of ground not exceeding the fourth 
of an acre, I gathered fourteen bushels of seed. 
It will, I think, make fine hay, growing from 



two and a half to three feet high ; and in its 
native prairies it forms the favorite pasture of 
the wild horses and buffalo. 

Appreciating as I do, your uniting exertions 
in the great cause of agriculture, I offer no apo- 
logy for the trouble I impose on you, in distri- 
buting the seed that accompanies this letter. 
Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

W. Hampton. 

One of the strongest arguments we know, in 
favor of a system of high cultivation, is this, 
that experiments, which are always made with 
the greatest pains, are almost invariably success- 
ful, producing astonishing results, whilst the 
same thing, under a more slovenly mode of hus- 
bandry, proves utterly worthless. 



AMERICAN FARMING. 

A correspondent of the Farmers' Cabinet, 
whose knowledge of European agriculture we 
have had occasion to notice frequently, in the 
last number of that invaluable work, undertakes 
to draw a comparison between the profits of 
English and American agriculture, greatly to 
the advantage of the latter. 

He opposes their cheaper labor and greater 
skill with our freedom from taxes, cheapness of 
ground, and the adaptation of our soil and cli- 
mate to the cultivation of Indian corn. The 
use of the horse-rake and cradle-scythe, not yet 
known in England, he esteems a heavy item in 
the account. 

Upon the whole, he comes to the conclusion 
that the cultivation of the earth, the great and 
favorite interest of mighty England, offers more 
inducements to the capitalist here than there. 
We have no doubt of the correctness of his 
opinion. 



SILK. 



We have expressed the opinion, that the silk 
culture would, eventually, become a good busi- 
ness. We think there is a great deal of labor 
in the South, both black and white, peculiarly 
adapted to this pursuit. Cotton itself, "the great 
staple," a few years ago, presented a less favora- 
ble prospect than silk now docs. 

The following, amongst other reasons, are 
given by a writer in the Albany Cultivator, why 
the people of the United States should, at once, 
engage in the business of silk growing : 

" 1. Because silk forms the heaviest item in 
the catalogue of our importations. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



81 



"2. Because we possess the means of doing 
it to better advantage than any other nation. 

11 3. Because the necessary skill is easily ac- 
quired, and no nation ever possessed better ta- 
lents to acquire it. 

"4. Because the nation is under heavy em- 
barrassments on account of excessive importa- 
tions, and no other means are so sure of success 
in providing the necessary relief. 

" 5. Because it can be effectually engaged in 
by all classes of people, requiring little or no ca- 
pital. 

" 6. Because we have more spare land than 
any other nation, and much well suited to the 
growth of the mulberry, which is worn out for 
other purposes. 

" 7. Because we are already well stocked with 
the mulberry trees, which will be lost to the na- 
tion if not used for that purpose. 

" 8. Because a stock of silk worms may be 
obtained the first year, equal to what could be 
reared of any other live stock in a great portion 
of a lifetime. 

" 9. Because raw silk or cocoons are always 
surer of a market than almost any other com- 
modity. 

11 10. Because it is a very certain crop. 

"11. Because a pound of silk, worth six dol- 
lars, can be grown in less time than a pound of 
wool, worth fifty cents. 

" 12. Because it will cost no more to transport 
a pound of silk to market, worth six dollars, than 
a pound of bread stuff or pork, worth six or 
eight cents. 

" 13. Because the labor of growing a crop of 
silk requires only six or seven weeks, while that 
of almost any farming crop requires more than 
as many months. 

" 14. Because most of the labor will be per- 
formed by women, children or invalids — who, 
though willing, are unable to perform other pro- 
fitable labor. 

" 15. Because there are hundreds if not thou- 
sands of skilful silk manufacturers in the coun- 
try, who are unable to find regular employment 
for want of raw silk. 

" 16. Because the growing and manufacture 
of silk has never failed to be a source of wealth 
to any nation which embarked in it," 



For the Southern Planter. 
HOGS. 

Dear Sir, — As you desire it, I will state to 
you the conclusion to which my own limited 
experience has led me in regard to the best 
" Farm Hog" of the several breeds with which 
I am acquainted, not desiring however to be 
considered by any means as orthodox upon the 
subject. I have the Berkshires as you know, 
and good ones too ; and I have other breeds — 
one of which, I think, is equalled by very few 
Vol. 2-11 



Berkshires, and which so far as I am capable of 
judging, is well worth the attention of Virginia 
Farmers. It is a large, handsome and thrifty 
white hog, reared by one of our Vice-Presidents, 
Mr. Thomas S. Dicken, from the Bedford, crossed 
with the Barnilz breed, so called, which last is 
a cross by that celebrated breeder, of the Ches- 
ter county breed- with the white Chinese. Mr. 
Dicken is a careful breeder and has devoted more 
attention and for a longer time to the improve- 
ment of his stock than any one known to me — 
and to borrow a familiar saying " it is hard to 
beat." But from his retiring habits and unpre- 
tending character, this stock is less known than 
it deserves to be. Crossed with the best Berk- 
shires his pigs are equal to any and superior to 
most of that stock I have seen — and the best of 
them may be had for $5 instead of $10. You 
can judge for yourself how far the following facts 
sustain my opinion : 

I have a sow of Mr. Dicken's stock which 
produced on the 7th March, 1840. her first litter 
7 pigs — 5 of which were very fine and 2 decid- 
edly inferior. Four of the best were disposed of 
to friends, a fifth selected by another friend and 
kept for him until the fall, when having pur- 
chased some Berkshires he declined taking him. 
This pig was then altered and put up to fatten 
with the two inferior ones on the first day of 
November — the three having had until that 
time, only the ordinary farm treatment. They 
were killed the 8th day of December following, 
being 7 months and 1 day old, and weighed 127, 
1.29 and 134- lbs., having been in the fattening 
pen but 1 month and 8 days. 

The sow was then put to a Berkshire Boar 
and produced again 7 pigs — four of them per- 
fectly white like herself— the other three, "taw- 
ny or reddish color spotted with black," which 
appears to have been the universal and distinct- 
ive color of the Berkshires 35 years ago. For 
one of these last, our President, the Rev. J. H. 
Turner, paid me $20, at 8 weeks old. I sold 
the four white ones for $30 and kept the other 
two spotted ones. That purchased by Mr. Tur- 
ner though a very fine, is not near so large a 
hog as the white ones have proved to be ; and 
both the spotted ones that I kept, turned out 
small hogs. The same sow has now a litter of 
10 pigs by another Berkshire Boar — of which 
7 are white like herself and 3 spotted, as before 
described. The white are decidedly the finest 
pigs, and superior in size and appearance to a 
litter of really fine full bred Berkshires by the 
same Boar, which are 20 days older. 

Mr. Dicken has several brood sows of this 
stock superior to mine, as also one or more of 
the Skinner breed as it is called with us ; tho' 
it is in reality the u Essex half black pig " of 
England. This too is an excellent cross with 
the Berkshire or any other good stock ; though 
it is a smaller hog than the white, and has been 



82 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



so intermixed with the common hog-, that a gen- 
uine one is not often met with. It is remarkable, 
like the white stock of Mr. Dickon, for great 
thrift, aptitude to fatten, early maturity and 
great weight for its apparent size — all very im- 
portant points with the Farmer. Mr. Dicken's 
white hogs, without the Berkshire cross and with 
the customary farm keep, well as I know, reach 
231 lbs at somewhat less than 12 months old — 
and I have no doubt will, upon the same keep, at 
any age, weigh with the Berkshires. Its pork is 
peculiarly fine, "thin rind" and resembles pre- 
cisely the beautiful white poik I have seen in 
the Philadelphia market. I do not say that this 
is a better hog than the best Berkshires — but I 
prefer it decidedly as a farm hog to a large ma- 
jority of those 1 have seen; and crossed with 
fine males of that stock, Mr. Dicken's pigs will 
compare advantageously with any of them. — 
You remember no doubt, the white Boar exhi- 
bited by him at our first Fair last May, which 
was purchased by Dr. Lewis of Lawrenceville — 
If I am correctly informed, the Committtee on 
Swine had no little difficulty in deciding the 
premium between him and the Boar President. 

I believe that this stock, pigged in February 
and March, and treated as every farmer should 
keep his hogs, will attain as high weights by 
the usual killing time, as farmers generally de- 
sire — and that no farmer should keep his pork 
hogs through a winter. There are doubtless 
other good breeds in the State, which if properly 
attended to, especially by avoiding 'breeding in 
and in' as it is termed, and always selecting the 
best pigs as breeders, might save our farmers 
many dollars which now go nonhward to pur- 
chase they don't know what. The Berkshire is 
undoubtedly one of the finest hogs of the day and 
a superior cross upon any good stock — but few 
of them are so fine as to be worth $10 a pig, — 
there are superior and inferior of ihis, as of all 
o:her breeds — and I think you will concur in 
advising our farmers never to purchase a Berk- 
shire unless he can first see it himself, or can 
have it selected by some competent and disin- 
terested judge. 

Mr. Turner in one of his essays suggests an 
excellent plan for propagating the Berkshires — 
that of procuring one male for a neighborhood ; 
and it is but. just to say of his stock, that it can- 
not be surpassed by all New York and New 
England together. 

If an account of the different breeds of hogs 
which have been recommended to us, be of any 
interest to yourself or your readers, I refer you 
to an article on that subject in the Farmers' Re- 
gister for October, 1840, chiefly compiled from 
printed accounts of them, to which is added an 
economical and successful plan of feeding hogs. 
I ought to apologise for the leng h of this article, 
which is greater than I could have desired. 
Very resp'y, Wm. H. Richardson. 



The following named gentlemen of the neigh- 
borhood have tried and prefer these hogs — Mr. 
Wm. Miller, Mr. Wm. Hill, Mr. W. W. Guy, 
Mr. Wm. D. Sims, Dr. Hopkins. 

The above was written in consequence of a 
request on our part that the author would reduce 
to writing some opinions that he happened to 
express in our presence of the relative value of 
Berkshire and other hogs. W 7 e thought his 
opinions entitled to peculiar weight, because we 
knew that he had had a fair opportunity of 
judging, and because if he had been swayed by 
his interest his conclusions would have been op- 
posite to the opinions he has expressed. Gen'l. 
Richardson has had opportunities of seeing the 
best stock in America, and we will venture to 
assert that no man in the Union is better in- 
formed on the history of the various breeds of 
hogs. He is himself a raiser and seller of Berk- 
shire pigs — His stock was purchased at the 
highest price, and selected for him by Mr. 
Tucker, the Editor of the Cultivator— His sow 
is equal in point of form to any Berkshire w T e 
ever saw. It was then with such stock and 
under such circumstances,that he arrives at the 
conclusion,that for ordinaryfarm treatment,where 
no excessive pampering is resorted to on either 
side, that the white hog is equal to the Berk- 
shire, and we have reason to believe that he as 
well as others greatly prefer the cross to either. 

We know that we may expect, a rating from 
some deeply interested in Berkshire stock for seek- 
ing the publication of airy article to their dis- 
paragement; but we have no indiwdual inter- 
ests to subserve, and in procuring this communi- 
cation we only sought to give to the public the 
evidence of a highly informed, most respectable, 
and impartial witness upon a subject of univer- 
sal interest. Whether Berkshires are the best 
or the worst hogs in the world, is a matter to us 
individually of the most perfect indifference, and 
our columns are as open to the advocacy as to 
the denial of their claims. 



RICE CEMENT. 

This useful and elegant cement, which is 
beautifully white, and dries almost transparent, 
is made by mixing rice flour intimately wiih 
cold water, and then gently boiling it. Papers 
pasted together with this cement will sooner 
separate in their own substance than at the join- 
ing. It. is, therefore, an excellent cement in the 
preparation of curious paper articles, as teatrays, 
Ladies' dressing and work boxes, and other ar- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



83 



tides which require layers of pa per to be cemented 
tog-ether. In every respect it is preferable to 
common paste made with wheat flour. It an- 
swers well for pasting into books the copies of 
writing taken off by copying machines on un- 
size 1 silver paper. With this composition, made 
with a small quantity of water, that it may have 
a consistence similar to plastic clay, models, 
busts, scatues, basso relievos, and the like, may 
be formed. When dry, the articles made of it 
are susceptible of a high polish ; they are also 
very durable. 



FIRE-PROOF WOOD. 

Doctor Fuehs, member of the Academ} 7 of 
Science at Munich, has discovered a composi- 
tion by which he renders wood incombustible; 
the composition is made of granulated earth and 
an alkali. To obtain it the inventor says, you 
must dissolve some moist gravelly earth, which 
has been previously well washed, and cleared 
from any heterogeneous matter, in a solution of 
caustic alkali. This mixture has the property 
of not becoming decomposed by fire or water. 
When spread upon wood, it forms a vitreous 
coa f , and is proof against the two elements. — 
The building committee of the roj^al theatre 
have twice publicly tried the composition on two 
small buildings of six or eight feet in lengih,and 
a propjrtiomtte height; the one was covered 
with the composition, and the other built in the 
usual manner. The fire was put equally in the 
two buildings ; the one which was not covered 
with the composition was consumed, while the 
other remained perfect and entire. The cost of 
this process is very insignificant compared to its 
great utility, being about two francs three cen- 
times per 100 square feet. The royal theatre at 
Munich has undergone this process, having about 
400,000 square feet ; the expense of which was 
about 4 or 5000 francs. 



LIME. 
Much as we have seen and heard about this 
substance, we were not aware that the proper- 
ties claimed in the following article had been as- 
signed to it. The communication is taken from 
the Farmers' Cabinet, and appears over a sig- 
nature that we have often remarked accompa- 
nied some of the ablest productions in that excel- 
lent work. The author first alludes to the fatal 
disease that is now destroying so many of the 
cattle in England, which he thinks may be 
cured by the use of Lime. He quotes the first 
paragraph from an old No. of the American 
Farmer. 

" Some years since I purchased a horse, but 
he had the appearance of laboring under dis- 



| ease ; I commenced a course of treatment which 
I had before pursued in cases similar to appear- 
ance, but without effect; I was i herefore in- 
duced to try the use oUime, as I was confident ho 
was filled wilh botts, for he had discharged sev- 
eral; I therefore commenced by giving him a table- 
spoonful of slaked lime three times a week in 
bran mashes. Afier pursuing this course near 
two weeks, the botts began to pass away in 
quantities, varying from ten to twenty, which 
he would expel from his intestines during the 
night: in the meantime his appetite began to 
improve, and in six weeks he was one of the 
finest geldings I ever saw ; from that day to 
this I have kept up the use of lime amongst my 
horses with decided benefit; and as an evidence 
of its good effects, 1 have not lost a horse since 
I began to use it. And lime is a certain pre- 

j ventive in keeping cattle from taking the mur- 
rain. As an evidence of this fact, I have used 

.it among my catile three times a week, mixed 
with salt, for three or four years, and in that 
time I have not lost a single animal by this dis- 

[ease; but in the meantime some of my neigh- 
bors have lost nearly all the cattle they owned. 
But I will give a stronger case than even the one 
above mentioned. One of my neighbors who 
lost all his cattle, had a friend living wi bin two 
hundred yards of him, who had several cattle 

i which ran daily with ihose that, died, and his 

1 cattle all escaped — he informed me that he made 

: it an invariable rule to give his cattle salt and 
lime every morning. I have, therefore, no doubt 

i but salt and lime are a sure and infallible remedy 
for botts in horses and murrain in cattle ." 

And I am reminded of a circumstance by a 
friend, who has often before mentioned it; he 

I had two fields of pasture near his house — on one 
of these he spread lime upon the turf to the 
amount of more than 200 bushels per acre, but 

'as the other field lay immediately below his 
cattle-yard, from whence he had formed drains 
to carry the water over its surface in the most 
complete manner, he determined to let that suf- 
fice for a dressing ; and the effect of the highly 
impregnated water from the yard was a growth 
of grass truly astonishing. Both fields were 
kept in pasture, and when the stock had eaten 
one of them down, they were removed to the 
other, and so changed regularly about ; but the 
effect of the different crops on the appearance of 
the stock, horses and cattle, is not to be ex- 
pressed, for while feeding on ihe limed land 
their coats were close, shining and healthy, and 
their spirits light and cheerful, even when they 
were compelled to labor hard to obtain a belly- 
full ; but when turned into the watered grass, 
six inches or more in height, a difference for the 
worse could he perceived in 24 hours, and every 
day after they lost condition amidst the greatest 
abundance, with coats rough and staring, lax in 
the bowels and flaccid, with distended paunches, 



84 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



dejected countenances, and sluggish in their 
movements: they soon exhibited a depreciation 
in value to the amount of about half their former 
worth. But the transition to health and vigor 
and good looks was quite as sudden and appa- 
rent on a return to the limed land, for again in 
24 hours, or by the time the food had passed 
through the system, a change, particularly in 
their air and carriage, was very perceptible. — 
My friend adds, he never had an instance of the 
murrain or botts while his stock fed on these 
pastures, but is satisfied he should have had 
both, but for the change to the limed land ; for 
while feeding on the watered pasture, the stock 
had always the appearance of a predisposition 
to that state of derangement of the digestive 
system, by which he has no doubt these diseases 
are engendered. 

In conclusion, I would ask, is it not quite fair 
to draw the following deduction from what has 
been said, namely, that all dairy pastures ought 
to be heavily limed, it being the most natural 



thing in the world to suppose that a proper secre- 
tion of milk, the best and most wholesome, de- 
pends very much on the nature of the food with 
which the animals are fed ? and must not the 
butter from a cow that is in health and spirits 
be of better flavor, color and consistence, than 
that from one that is lax, washy and weak, from 
feeding on watery, acid and soft herbage? and 
will not this account for much of the disgust- 
ingly rancid, ill-flavored and ill-looking butter 
which we so often find in the market 1 My 
friend above quoted, and who is now at my 
elbow, answers " Yes ; for while my cows fed 
on the watered meadow, the butter was scarcely 
eatable — white, soft and ill flavored, but it was 
sweet, firm and fine flavored when they were 
confined to the limed land." Ergo, lime your pas- 
tures, and allow your stock as much salt as they 
will consume daily, for I am convinced that 
lime and salt are a remedy for " botts in horses," 
as well as the " murrain in cattle." 

VlR. 



For the Southern Planter. 

GATE. 




C. T. Botts : 

Sir, — The reception of the January number 
of the Planter suggests to me that a new sub- 
scriber has something more to do in the way of 
patronage to your valuable paper than merely 
paying the subscription. Cash is no doubt in- 
dispensable to the support of the paper, but I 
am persuaded that other contributions of a plain, 
practical kind constituting, in the main, the value 
of an agricultural work, will be kindly greeted 
by the Editor. 

I am a plain farmer, who thinks that fancy 
work, visionary speculations, and finely spun j 
theories upon agricultural impiovements, though 



woven with a delicate taste and practised hand 
into such a work as the Planter, contribute but 
little to its body and the value of its staple. 
What we farmers want are facts, the results of 
experiments with all the accompanying circum- 
stances fairly stated, such as climate, soil, season, 
cultivation, &c. For an agricultural experiment 
failing or succeeding may have been reversed 
under different circumstances. V\ e should not 
become converts to a successful experiment, pro- 
mulgate it as a general truth, and urge our agri- 
cultural brethren to adopt it implicitly without 
giving them all the facts and truths connected 
with it. Nor should we discard an abortive ex- 






THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



86 



periment, and counsel others so to do, merely 
because we have failed, This remark is directed 
particularly to the cultivation of land. What 
will succeed or fail on one farm, will often have 
a different result on the next. The same remark 
holds good in relation to the same farm— one 
field differing from another b}' sudden transitions 
of soil — one field has gravel, the next is spungy-^ 
one is sandy, the next argillaceous. In fact, the 
soil of parts of the same field differs entirely in 
character, and requires totally different treatment, 
and often the application of different kinds of 
compost. No reliance, then, can be placed upon 
the result of an agricultural experiment, unless 
the experimenter will give, as remarked above, 
all the facts connected with the experiment. 
This is too much neglected in contributions to 
agricultural works, and its importance cannot be 
too forcibly impressed upon your contributors. 
When a lawyer is applied to for advice, he in- 
stantly demands the facts ; the physician when 
consulted, must know the symptoms, and when 
farmers are to make up a judgment in relation 
to an agricultural experiment, their minds should 
be enlightened by every thing connected there- 
with. 

When I took up my pen, Mr. Editor, it was 
for the purpose of giving you the plan of a gate 
I have in use upon my farm, and which has 
been adopted, I may say, universally through 
this section of the country. 

The drawing represents the frame work of 
the gate. It is made of hard pine or poplar, 
ash, cedar or white oak. 

The postern upright is 4 by 3 inches or 5 by 
3 -inches, according to fancy. 

The brace is 4 by 3 inches. 

The top railing is 4 by 3 inches until it passes 
the middle upright, then 3 by 3. 

The middle upright is 4 by 3 inches, to keep 
the slats true and in place. 

The front upright is 4 by 3 inches. 

The bottom railing is 3 by 3 inches. This 
is sometimes a slat. 

The top and bottom hinge. This is a clasp 
hinge, embracing the back upright and the top 
and bottom railing, securing the tenons from ever 
breaking, and having the shank of the bottom 
one longer than that of the top one, so as to give 
a fall to the gale. This is the hinge I prefer — 
others may differ from me, but this does not af- 
fect the gate, as it is adapted to any kind of 
hinge. If the maker thinks proper, he can ex- 
tend the back upright and let it work in a socket 
at bottom and ring at top fastened to the post. 

I think, Mr. Editor, you will perceive that all 
the requisites of a good gate are combined in this 
plan. When properly made, the timbers in front, 
are lighter than those back. The slats are all 
kept in place by the middle upright and brace, 
without the possibility of being warped by the 
sun. Thereare no nails, every part being pinned 



together, and can be made by any one in the 
least accustomed to common plantation tools. 
But the most important of all, we have here a 
brace, which resting v/ith one end upon the back 
upright and the other supporting the top railing, 
which in its turn supports all other parts of the 
gate, prevents the possibility of swagging. The 
brace is the most important part of a gate, and 
its position most important of all. Some gates 
have no brace — many are braced by two slats 
pinned together which soon become racked and 
serve no good purpose. In others, again, (such 
as that of your correspondent J. B. so much 
lauded by you,) the brace is permitted to rest 
upon the bottom railing. This is worse than 
no brace, as it throws the whole weight of the 
gate, with that of the brace superadded, upon 
the tenons. Plant your brace upon the back 
upright, and the gate never swags. 

I have thought every one who advises a par- 
ticular construction of a gate or farming imple- 
ment, should send a model of it, and if it meet 
with your views, I will send one of the plan 
above, and also a model of any implement I may 
recommend to my farming brethren, and hope 
that they will do the same, as a room in your 
establishment well filled with models of agricul- 
tural implements, such as have met the approba- 
tion of judicious farmers, might afford amuse- 
ment and instruction to many of us visiting the 
city for various purposes. 

Very respectfully, &c. 

G. A. £. 

We thought we had nearly exhausted the 
subject of gates in our first volume, nor do we 
see that this has any advantage over the corrected 
one of J. B. therein described. Nevertheless, as 
it is upon the same principle, in the main, and 
as many of the subscribers to the present vo- 
lume have never seen the first, we have deter- 
mined to insert it, accompanied with an engrav- 
ing. If our correspondent will look again, he 
will find, that the gate "so much lauded," has 
the brace placed as his is, and as it should un- 
doubtedly be. The defect in the original was 
specially noticed and corrected in a subsequent 
engraving. We prefer the dovetail joint to the 
mortice and tenon. There are great varieties 
of gates, and almost every man has a fancy of 
his own. The chief points to be observed are, 
as our correspondent hints, the proper position of 
the brace, the lightening in front, and security 
in hinging. 

Mr. Smith (we despise initials) is, we under- 
stand, an able and experienced farmer. We 
entirely concur with him in the necessity of par- 
ticularity in the detail of experiments, and the 



86 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



impropriety of deducing general conclusions from territorial limits of his District ; so that our more 

a single fact. distant friends, by early application, may come 

With respect to the last suggestion of our in for a share, 
correspondent, we esteem it a very happy one.' A very few seeds of each variety are sent, 

We have long thought that our office might be and a division amongst the numerous applicants 

convened into a very interesting agricultural will frequently allow only one or two to each, 

museum. We have already made some small One condition we shall take the liberty of im- 

collect ions, and shall be much obliged to our posing in every instance, viz : that, if ihe variety 

friends, who will forward us any thing, in the prove valuable, double the number of seed re- 



agricultural line, either curious or useful. 



STRAW. 



ceived this year, shall be furnished to this office, 
for distribution, next spring. 



PAINTING HOUSES. 



How can I make my cattle eat straw ? I have 
often asked of some experienced farmers. "Give| It has ]ong been a sub j ect of j nqm > y as t0 
them less hay,'' was ihe general reply. Not the best time to apply paint 10 the clapboards of 
liking this mode however, and knowing that houses for durab j| lly . Repeated experiments 
good farmers .n England and this country made have been mad8j wilhin twen iy-five years past, 
free use of straw as food for cattle, I resolved last which have resu ited in the convictions, that paint 
summer, when thrash.ng, to change my plan. app]ied between November and March, will 
I slacked it as usual, but in the progress of the sland more than lwice as long . as lhal which is 
work, sprinkled on from two to three bushels of spread |n |he warraest weather. The reason is 
salt. I used the " Pitts Thrasher," which gave obvious . for in co]d we ather the oil and the com- 
me the additional advantage of mixing the chaff m parts of the in1 form a hard subsIance 

through the whole. Well, during the warm on lhe surface of lhe c i iipboard) 1]e arly as hard 
weather in the first part of this month, my cattle, as glass> nnd not easi]v erased or even cul wilh 
instead of wandering about with but little appe- a sharp knife and will not soon wear off; whereas 

In 6 ! m !! ht . be , Seen ^! , 1 37 day .. eage '" 1 7. eD l P^u ,n P ainls a PP lied in ,he ,T,onths of Ju] y and August, 

and more especially if in a severe drought, the 



filling themselves with straw. At night, when 
the cows were tied up to receive their roots, their 
hay would be almost untouched. Their rotund 
appearance left me no apprehension of their 
starving, however. This was continued uniil 
nearly the present time, when I was obliged to 
reserve the remainder of the stack for the use of 
the stables. Nearly a month's feeding of hay 
was saved. — New Genesse Farmer. 



SEEDS. 
We are indebted to the kindness of the Re- 



oil immediately penetrates into the wood like 
water into a sponge, which leaves the lead nearly 
dry which will soon crumble off. 

Whig fy Courier. 



From Mr. Colman's Agricultural Rrport. 
WEST CAMBRIDGE PIGGERY. 

"A very large hog establishment," &c. 
A very large hog establishment in this county 
is to be found in West Cambridge, on the farm 



presentative from this Congressional District for °[ Abl l er ^ erc , e - 3 ^ e kee P* in his enclosure 

, , c , c . ,-rt t , r-^rri about five hundred hogs. They are supported 

another supply of seeds from the Patent Office. , ■ ,, Z c < T , l r , 

rf Y I upon the citv swill or refuse. INo bogs are a Ij 

These seeds, it will be remembered, are collected lowed t0 be - kepl in Boston but by special and j 

with great pains, through foreign and domestic extraordinary permission ; and among ihe ex- 
agents, by the indefatigable Commissioner of cellent municipal regulations, the refuse vegeta- 
Patents, and annually distributed through the , bies, meat, garbage, and offal of the houses are 



required to be kept by each householder in a 
box or barrel which is emptied once a week or 
oftener by the city scavengers. This being taken 
into the covered city carls, is delivered at JVIr. 
the Dutton, ihe Baden, and Brown ; also several • Pierce's establishment, about five miles from the 
varieties of beans and turnips, introduced from city, daily — he paying therefor to the city four 



members of Congress. Many of them are new 
varieties, and likely to prove exceedingly valua- 
ble. Amongst ihe varieties of corn, we notice 



England by ihe Hon. Daniel Webster, intended 
chiefly for field culture. 

We are requested by our Representative to 
distribute them amongst his and our constituents. 



thousand dollars per year on a contract for five 
years. 

His hogs, when I visited them, were in an 
enclosure of about fourteen acres, partly covered 
with trees and bordering on one of ihe beautiful 



A liberal consiruction of this clause will, we, ponds in that vicinity — a picturesque situation 
apprehend, justify us in going a little beyond the | most certainly, for animals making such humble 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



87 



pretensions lo taste and sentiment. If nothing 
else, however, in the summer months they enjoy, 
as much as iheir betters, the luxury of a re- 
freshing bath and quiet repose under ihe shade, 
both essentially conducive to their health and 
thrift. He has had no general disease among 
them, though occasionally a case of the " blind 
staggers." He considers this troublesome dis- 
ease as proceeding wholly from indigestion ; and 
he finds no difficulty in its cure, by procuring an 
immediate evacuation. For this purpose he 
gives a dose consisting of half a pint of lamp 
oil, and half a pint of molasses, strongly charged 
with pounded brimstone. This remedy is im- 
portant to be known, as the disease is not un- 
common among swine, and often proves fatal. 
This disease can hardly be considered local, 
though the "blind staggers" in years gone by, 
has been known to prevail in some localities 
near at least one of these ponds among a class 
of animals, who assume to be of a higher rank, 
but who occasionally pollute these beautiful re- 
gions by a resort to them for purposes of dissi- 
pation ; but a simple and perfect preventive is at 
last found for this disease, (so much more humi- 
liating and dreadful in its elfects on them) if they 
can be induced to take it, in "total abstinence." 

Mr. Pierce's hogs are purchased ; he raises 
none. He buys them at a weight uf ICO to 150 
pounds. Their average weight when killed is 
from 250 to 300 pounds. He has a killing 
twice a year, though many of his hogs are kept 
a year. The supply of refuse from the city is 
sufficient, excepting at certain seasons of the 
year, when some meal and corn are given. 
They fatten in the yard without extra fee^\, ex- 
cepting as above. At killing, the skins (that is, 
the small entrails) are sold at ten cents a set ; 
the harslet at eight cents; which pay fully the 
expenses of dressing. The remainder is cooked 
for the swine, after saving and selling what can 
be used by the soap-maker. The manure made 
in their beds where they are littered is sold rea- 
dily at four dollars per cord, and in quick de- 
mand. The average sales of manure are not 
less than one thousand dollars. 

In the enclosure there are extensive plank 
platforms on which the garbage is spread when I 
brought from the city. The right of cleaning , 
the tables, after the hogs have filled themselves, | 
is purchased by several neighboring farmers at 
tw T o dollars and fifty cents per day. Much of i 
the refuse thus obtained is spread upon their 
grass lands, or ploughed in on their cultivated 
grounds, or placed round their apple trees, and 
in every case with the greatest advantage. If 
not used immediately it is put into a compost 
heap and covered with mould. Some far met s 
who obtain it use much of it for feeding their 
own swine. One farmer stated lo me that he 
had purchased the right of obtaining it two 
days in a week. He kept the last year fourteen 



hogs entirely upon those gleanings. The gain 
upon these hogs in live weight from 1st October 
io 1st April, when he sold them on foot, was 
2,800 pounds. Other farmers have been equally 
successful in this economical process* 

The average gain of the hogs at this estab- 
lishment is rated at a pound per day, live weight. 
A large amount of bones are brought out in the 
carts, and these find a ready sale at the bone- 
mill for manure. 



CURE FOR TOOTHACHE. 

Mix alum and common salt in equal quanti- 
ties, finely pulverized. Then wet some cotton, 
large enough to fill the cavity, which cover w iih 
the salt and alum and apply it. We have the 
authority of those who have tested it, lo say it 
will prove a perfect remedy. 

Union Agriculturist. 



For the Southern Planter. 
HOMONY MORTAR. 

Having occasion for a new homony mortar a 
short time past, wiih two of my men and a cross- 
cut saw, we cut off a hollow gum log of suita- 
ble size, three feet four inches long ; took it home, 
trimmed out the inside with a long-handled chis- 
sel, then drove down into ihe hollow a piece of 
hard oak two feet long, which being forced to 
the bottom and secured by an inch pin driven 
into an auger-hole bored about, one foot from ihe 
lower end, left a mortar about one foot four inches 
deep. This was smoothed with a cooper's shave, 
and in two hours the mortar was ready for use, 
without ihe expense of hoop or bolts, which is 
worth our consideration these hard limes. S. 



We make the following extracts from a most 
able report of a committee, appointed by the 
Agricultural Society of Pendleton, in fcfouth 
Carolina: 

ON THE CAUSES OE THE DEPRECIATION OF 
LAND. AND THE REMEDY. 

In every good system of culture, ihe earih 
must be allowed sufficient time to recruit her 
exhausted energy in producing a crop, by rest; 
or must be aided in re-invigorating herself by 
meliorating crops, or by means of stimulating 
manures. Rest will accomplish a great deal to- 
wards resuscitation, provided it is resorted to in 
time, before the land has become too much ex- 
hausted. It must be assisted, however, by turn- 
ing in, at the proper season, the natural produc- 
tions, for the purpose of converting them into 
manure, and of keeping the surface soil well 
pulverized for attracting and combining atmos- 
pheric manure. The proper time for performing 
this operation, is when the vegetable substance 



88 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



has arrived at full maturity, when it has reached 
nearest its woody state. The controversy so 
long- carried on, whether green or dry vegetable 
matter is the proper state to turn under, is now, 
we conceive, pretty well settled by the good 
sense and intelligence of agriculturists. Green 
substances are too evanescent in their quality to 
add to the permanent fertility of the soil. They 
are little better than a shower of rain — the be- 
nefit of which is soon evaporated. The value 
of manures depends upon their permanent and 
durable quality of enriching the soil, and there- 
fore vegetable substances in a green and succu- 
lent state are little to be relied on, and will not 
repay the labor of converting them. We do not 
see plants while growing shedding their green 
leaves and returning them to the earth for the 
purpose of being converted into soil. Hence, 
Nature, who is wise in all her operations, fur- 
nishes a valuable guide and direction on this 
important subject. We should improve from 
her hints, and follow, instead of depart from her 
example. 

It is a great mistake to turn land out to rest 
and surfer it to become close and compact. Land 
will not improve in that condition, because the 
pores (if we may so speak,) are closed, and the 
healthy action of the soil and its capacity for 
re-production is obstructed. The great secret in 
the formation of soil or its improvement, is the 
re-conversion of its products by decomposition into 
an increased capacity of the earth to produce. Plants 
feed upon each other — the parent stem dies and 
gives vigor and growth to its offspring. This 
vegetable cannibalism (if we may so term it,) 
clothes our fields with verdure and feeds us with 
the rich variety of earth's productions, and it is 
an important principle in the science of agricul- 
ture. Feed the earth liberally in order that she 
may feed us bountifully, and in proportion as 
proper aliment is given her, will she repay the 
bounty. She cannot yield us the milk of her 
bosom, or supply the cravings of our boundless 
appetites, unless she is liberally supplied with 
the means of doing it. " Muzzle not the ox 
that treadeth out the corn," is a divine command ; 
and also the command of the great God of na- 
ture is, muzzle not the earth that gives us food 
and raiment. 

The report alludes with great force to the ex- 
pense of making and hauling out manures and 
compost, and considers the system, however ap- 
plicable it may be to very small farms, as im- 
practicable and insufficient to restore the vast 
tracts of worn out soil that are cultivated in the 
South. Circumstances compel us, at any rate, 
induce us, to cultivate more land than can be 
renovated by this laborious and expensive mode 
of improvement. Whilst, therefore, the Com- 
mittee esteem very highly the manure that is 



made incidentally, they think that the labor, that 
is required to manufacture and spread it, can be 
much more profitably employed in cultivating 
and ploughing in green crops. 

We have heretofore expressed our conviction 
of the folly of hauling in vegetable matter for 
the purpose of hauling it out again. We do 
not believe that the cost of distant hauling has 
ever been fairly estimated. The current of opi- 
nion in favor of this compost system has been 
produced by the effect of northern example. 
The circumstances are totally different. North- 
ern farms are, in size, more like gardens ; the 
distance for hauling infinitely less, and the crop 
susceptible of higher and more expensive culti- 
vation. The question may be raised whether 
we too had not better work less land and culti- 
vate it more highly. That is another matter, 
but what we mean to maintain is, that although 
the system of improving by making composts 
may be the best for a small farm, cultivated like 
a garden, we think, with the South Carolina 
Committee, that we must look to some other 
source for extensive improvement. Do not let 
us be understood as underrating the value of 
stable manure or other fertilizing matter. On 
the contrary, we believe, and have said so be- i 
fore, that one of the greatest points of good 
husbandry, consists in gathering up and care- 
fully saving all kinds of animal and vegetable 
offal, that can be collected about the yard, stables 
and farm pen. 

But whether the labor of increasing this pile 
by artificial means, can be better bestowed inf 
assisting the earth to the production of vegetable 
matter, for her own consumption, is a subject ofi 
calculation. We entertain very little doubt of j 
the fact. We differ in this slight particular, 
however, with the Committee. When they 
would plough in the crop, we would cut it, andi 
suffer it to lie on the surface, as a "cover," dur- 
ing the summer months at least; ploughing in 
that and the sod it had nourished, for the next 
seeding. 



A VALUABLE TABLE. 

The following valuable table was calculated 
by James M. Garnett, Esq. of Essex County, 
Va., and first published in Mr. Rufhn's Farmer's 
Register: 

Table. — A box 24 inches by 16 inches square 
and 28 inches deep, will contain a barrel, or 
10,752 cubic inches. 

A box 24 by 16 inches square and 14 inches 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



deep, will contain a half barrel, or 5,376 cubic 
inches. 

A box 16 inches by 16 8-10 inches square, 
and 8 inches deep, will contain a bushel, or 
2,150 4-10 cubic inches. 

A box 12 by 11 2-10 inches square and 8 
inches deep, will contain half a bushel, or 1,075 
2-10 cubic inches. 

A box 8 inches by 8 4-10 inches square and 
8 inches deep, will contain one peck, or 537 6-10 
cubic inches. 

A box 8 inches square and 4 2-10 inches 
deep, will contain one-half peck, or 263 8-10 
cubic inches. 

A box 8 inches square and 4 8-10 inches 
deep, will contain half a gallon, or 131 4-10 
cubic inches. 

A box 4 inches square and 4 2-10 inches 
deep, will contain one quart, or 67 2-10 cubic 
inches. 

These measures come within a small fraction 
of a cubic inch of being perfectly accurate, as 
near indeed as any measures of capacity have 
ever yet been made for common use; the diffi- 
culty of making them with absolute exactness 
has never yet been overcome. 



CURE FOR WARTS. 

In our paper of January 8th we published a 
recipe for curing warts. Mr. H. M. Sanborn, 
of Brookline, called on us the other day to say 
that he had cured all the warts on the hands of 
his son, by the use of the means therein recom- 
mended. That is, he scraped a carrot and salted 
the scrapings for a poultice, which he bound on 
the boy's hands on his retiring to rest. This 
was several nights repeated. 

Massachusetts Ploughman. 



TOBACCO. 
Mr. Joshua Dodge, who was appointed by 
the Government special agent to attend to the 
interests of the United States in Europe, has 
addressed a circular to the Tobacco Planters of 
this country. The object of this circular is to 
urge upon our Planters continued and strenuous 
efforts to force a reduction of the high duties 
laid on Tobacco by the governments of Europe. 
This, Mr. Dodge says, can and should be effected 
by retaliating upon European goods that are 
imported into this country free of duty. Mr. 
Dodge says that the annual average exporta- 
tions of our Tobacco to Europe amounts to 97,- 
651 hogsheads — 11,000 of which are smuggled. 
The balance pays a duty of about $35,000,000, 
six times as much as is received for it by the 
producer. Mr. Dodge now reckons that if the 
Vol. 2— 12 



duty was taken off, the consumption in Europe 
would be increased eight fold. 

This is about the amount of the circular. To 
increase our Tobacco market is certainly a great 
desideratum to the Planter of the South and 
and West. We undoubtedly possess a capa- 
bility of producing much more than we can sell ; 
but whether the Planter, who is suffering for a 
market for his product, can better his condition 
by increasing the cost of the articles he con- 
sumes, is another question. But suppose the 
threat of an American tariff should produce a re- 
duction of European duties, does not Mr. Dodge 
greatly overrate the increase of European con- 
sumption? His estimate is founded upon the 
supposition that two men in Europe will con- 
sume as much tobacco as one in the United 
States. Now is it possible that there are half 
as many, or a fourth as many, of the starving 
population of Europe, that, under any circum- 
stances, could afford to purchase this luxury, as 
of the well paid independent, laborers of the U. 
States % We cannot but think that a man would 
buy wholesome food for his family, before he 
would incur the expense of acquiring a taste 
for tobacco. 

Mr. Dodge's statistics are, we fear, imperfect, 
and his deductions much exaggerated. With 
respect to Tobacco Coventions and national in- 
terference, we know that many of our soundest 
and most experienced tobacco dealers think such 
measures more likely to result in harm than 
good. We ourselves are not sufficiently ac- 
quainted with the facts to form an opinion. 



TRANSPLANTING PEAS AND EARLY 
VEGETABLES. 

The method of rearing peas in pots or boxes 
in hot-beds or hot-houses, and afterwards trans- 
planting them into the open ground, is a com- 
mon practice, and often succeeds well; but I 
would recommend a method not so we 1 known 
but far preferable to that of pots and boxes, es- 
pecially when the} 7 are to be raised on a hot- 
bed. This consists in having a quantity of turf 
cut into strips, say ten inches long and three 
inches wide, placing them in a close and regular 
manner over the surface of the whole bed, grass- 
side downwards. A row of peas, &c. is sown 
on each row of turf and afterwards covered with 
rich earth. When they are fit for transplanting, 
nothing more is required than to lift up the turf 
piece by piece, with the peas, &c. growing upon 
it, and place them where they are to produce 
their crop. By this means, the roots receive no 



90 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



injury, nor do the plants sustain the least ch •(}•• 
in transplanting. This method may be adopted 
with similar success in the raising of potatoes, 
beans, &c— JV. Y. Farmer. 



CORN HAY. 

Th3 Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, Commissioner of 
Patents, who, in his official as well as private 
capacit}', omits no opportunity of advancing the 
interests of Agriculture, has reported to the 
American Farmer the result of an experiment 
made by sowing corn broadcast. It was cut 
y/hen tasselled, and produced at the rate of 108^ 
tons of green fodder to the acre. A second crop, 
two thirds as great, was easily obtained from the 
same land, during the same season. Mr. Ells- 
worth guards the experimenter against the error 
of curing the stalks with the large end resting 
on tne earth, through which moisture would be 
absorbed. 

This is undoubtedly a prodigious yield in 
weight of even green hay, and we know that 
corn stalks contain a great deal of saccharine 
matter ; but we imagine few things would lose 
more in curing than corn stalks, and we confess 
we see no data from which to conclude, that the 
actual nutriment from this crop was greater 
than would have been furnished by a growth of 
clover. 



TRANSFORMATION OP WHEAT. 

A grain of wheat when put into the ground 
at the depih of three inches, undergoes the fol- 
lowing transformation : As soon as the farina- 
ceous matter which involved the frame of the 
young plant contained within it is softened into 
a milky state, a germ is pushed out, and at the 
bottom of that germ small roots soon follow • the 
roots are gathering while the germ, by the aid 
of the milky fluid, is shooting upward; and 
when the milk is exhausted, the roots are in 
activity, and are collecting nourishment for the 
plant from the soil itself. This is analagous to 
the weaning of the young of animals, which are 
not. abandoned by the mother till they can pro- 
vide for themselves. But the care of nature does 
not end here ; when the germ has fairly got 
above the surface, and become a plant, a set of 
upper roots are thrown out, close to the surface 
of the ground, which search all the superficial 
parts of the soil with the same activity as the 
under roots search the lower parts; and that 
part of the germ which separates the two sets of 
roots is now become a channel, through which 
the lower roots supply the plant with the nourish- 
ment they have collected. 



EXPERIMENTS. 

In a late No. of the Farmers' Register, Mr. 
E. Ruffin, Jr. details a series of experiments, of 
which the following are the results. 

His soil is described as a light loam on a 
sandy subsoil, originally very poor, but improved 
by means of marl and manure. 

Plaster of Paris, sowed in March on clover 
of the second year's growth, produced no visible 
effect. A dressing of James River green sand 
(not calcareous) 40 bushels to the acre, attended 
with the same result. 

The following important experiment going to 
shew the value of top-dressing and " covering" 
we give in the words of Mr. Ruffin. 

Top-dressing with farm yard manure, and with 
unprepared leaves. Eighteen acres of light sandy 
loam in clover of second year, very thin and 
very unpromising, was top-dressed in April, 
1840, with rough and unrotted manure from the 
farm-pen, at the rate of 800 to 1000 bushels per 
acre. This land was marled in 1821, and 
though greatly improved (for before its product 
was 8 to 10 bushels in corn, and perhaps 3 in 
wheat,) was still but of middling product, and 
before this manuring, would not have brought 
more than 18 or at most 20 bushels of corn per 
acre, or six bushels of wheat after corn. The 
last crop of wheat, cut in 1839, after corn, was 
known to be only 42 bushels of wheat or 2£ 
bushels to the acre. That crop however was 
very much damaged by chinch bug. The top- 
dressing was as coarse as any trodden litter 
could be, many corn stalks merely mashed, but 
unbroken, constituting an average of the manure 
of the farm-pen, which was made of the stalks 
and straw of the farm pen trampled by the cattle, 
and covered over with the manure of the stables 
and hog pens ever} 7 time they were cleaned out 
throughout the winter, which was about once a 
week. The hog-pens were principally littered 
with leaves from the woods. The effect of the 
top-dressing on the clover was almost immedi- 
ately perceptible. In September the field was 
fallowed for wheat, and in June of this year 283 
bushels of wheat, were cut from it, equal to 16 
bushels per acre. The soil is decidedly a corn 
soil, and too light for wheat. But the most 
striking and gratifying proof of improvement is 
the frequent appearance of green-sward in many 
places, where it was not at all observed prior to 
this manuring. This valuable grass has gene- 
rally made its appearance in spots of the differ- 
ent fields after marling, but this particular field 
was too poor for its growth (so as to be noticed) 
even after marling, until it received this top- 
dressing. 

In January, 1840, about 15 acres of light 
loam, with sandy subsoil, in clover of second 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



91 



year's growth, top-dressed with 377 very large 
ox-cart loads of leaves, principally pine-beards 
raked together in adjoining woods. The cover- 
ing was so thick that at one time it was thought 
that the clover was in great danger of being 
smothered. It however came through and was 
decidedly benefitted, except in spots where the 
leaves were left too thick. In the fall, the whole 
was fallowed for wheat. Crop 15 bushels per 
acre, and considered a good yield for the land. 
Its product after corn has usually been about 8. 
Part of this land was much infested with wire- 
grass. In getting in the wheat no means were 
adopted to get rid of the wire-grass, except to 
pick up and carry off the little that the harrows 
brought to the surface. And in fact this piece 
received one harrowing less than I usually gave 
to such wire-grass spots, on account of a rain 
which interrupted the operations. This fall, 
1841, in ploughing for corn, noticed that very 
little wire-grass was left. Could the leaves have 
had any agency in killing the wire grass, by 
shading or otherwise? Or did the mere ex- 
posure of the roots to the sun, as some maintain, 
effect it? Some credit is no doubt due to the 
latter cause, but the former has a strong, and, 
may be, a stronger claim ; for, in similar spots, 
fallowed without any application of leaves, I 
have never known a similar decrease of wire- 
grass. It maj' be well to mention that the above 
15 acres were 10 or 12 years ago well marled — 
the soil, originally and previously to marling, 
acid. 

Leaves ploughed under. In January, 1841, 
covered a stiff, intractable soil, previously and 
some years ago well marled, with leaves, which 
were ploughed under, and oats sown early in 
March. No benefit to the oats whatever ; and 
when ploughing the land for wheat this fall, the 
leaves were turned up very little deci.yed. 

Old seed wheat, carefully preserved, compared 
with new, was found to be longer in generating, 
and the product presenting an inferior appear- 
ance. 



MANURES. 
In answer to some inquiries of a correspond- 
ent, the Editor of the American Farmer gives 
the following advice. 

1. As to the quantity of each kind of manure 
necessary to act benefically. On clays not ex- 
hausted, where lime may be necessary, a hun- 
dred bushels to the acre should be applied. 

On clays, whose fertility may have been ex- 
hausted by over-cropping, or from any other 
cause — or which may never have been fertile — 
from 40 to 50 bushels to the acre will be found 
to be enough for the first application, a dose of 
the same quantity to be repeated, after such land 



may have been carried through a course of rota- 
tion of crops. 

2. On loams in good heart, a hundred bushels 
of lime may be applied not only in safety, but 
with decided advantage. 

On exhausted loams, from 40 to 50 bushels to 
the acre is enough ; to be repeated as above 
directed for infertile clays. 

3. On sands and gravels we think that 50 
bushels is enough lime to the acre ; to be re- 
peated under the same circumstances as above. 

4. Of barn-yard or stable manure, or composts, 
whether to be applied to cla}^, loams, gravels cr 
sands, it is our opinion, that less than 20c'ouble 
horse cart loads, of the capacity of 40 bushels 
each, should not be applied. To be sure, from 
10 to 14 would tell; but then, we question much, 
whether one acre with 20 loads, would not. pro- 
duce as much as two manured with half that 
quantity to the acre. If so, economy would sug- 
gest the propriety of giving the larger dose, be- 
cause, half the labor would be thus saved. 

5. On all lands which naturally lay dry, or 
which have been made so, planted in corn, or set 
to clover, w T e would sow a bushel of plaster to 
the acre. 

[Thirdly. Mode of applying the different kinds 
of manure.] 

1. Lime and Plaster should be sown on the 
surface. 

2. Barn-yard, stable and compost manures, 
should be spread broadcast, and ploughed in to 
the depth of three inches, in stiff lands, and say 
four inches in light soils. 

This, however, is a disputable question, and 
the opinion seems to be gaining strength and 
friends, that all such manures will prove most 
beneficial when applied as a top-dressing. This 
opinion is entertained by gentlemen of great ex- 
perience and judgment ; but we deem it due to 
candor to say, that we have not yet seen any 
thing in the way of experiments, to shake our 
belief in the opposite opinion. If the food of 
plants is, in part, received in a gaseous form, and 
we believe it is, much of this portion of their sus- 
tenance will escape, if the manure be left on the 
surface, subject to the drying of the sun and at- 
mosphere, nor will a little of its virtues be washed 
away, and consequently lost by the rains. But 
as we are open to conviction we shall hold our- 
self prepared to profit by the lights of others. 

While on the subject of manures we may sny 
a few words upon Marl. This manure may be 
used according to its quality and the character 
of the land upon which it may be placed, in 
quantities varying from 40 to 60 double horse 
cart loads to the acre. The heavier kinds,, clay 
or stone, we should presume to be best adapted 
to light soils: the shell marl, to tenacious soils. 
On these, besides the benefit arising from the 
lime which they contain, such soils would be 
greatly improved in texture. Where, however, 



92 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the shell marl may not be procurable, the others 
should be used, no matter what the character of 
the land, as its condition would be immensely 
meliorated by the calcareous principle contained 
therein. 



BUTTER. 



At a recent exhibition of the New York Agri- 
cultural Society, the butter exhibited for premium 
amounted to 2600 lbs. The three premiums of 
$30, $20, and $10, were severally awarded to 
Messrs. Lansing-, Merrifield, and Lyon. These 
gentlemen each furnished statements of his mode 
of management. 

Mr. Lansing's statement was as follows : 

1. The number of cows kept is ten. 

2. Keep them stabled through the inclement 
season ; feed them from three to four times per 
day with good hay or green stalks; when near 
corning in, add some oats, barley, or corn crack- 
ed. In summer, good pasture, with living water 
accessible at all times, and plenty of salt. 

3. Treatment of milk and cream before churn- 
ing. Strain the milk in tin pans ; place them 
in a cool celiar for the cream to rise. When 
sufficiently risen, separate the cream from the 
milk ; put it in stone jars, well prepared, before 
churning. 

4. The mode of churning in summer. — Rinse 
the churn with cold water ; then turn in the 
cream, and add to each jar of cream put in churn 
full one-fourth of the same quantity of cold water. 
The churn used is a patent one, moved by hand 
with a crank, having paddles attached, and so 
constructed as to warm the milk, if too cold, 
with hot water, without mixing them together. 
The milk and cream receive the same treatment 
in winter as in summer-; and in churning, use 
hot instead of cold water, if necessary* 

5. The method of freeing the butter from the 
milk, is to wash the butter with cold water till it 
shows no color of the milk, by the use of a 
ladle. 

6. Salting of the butter. — Use the best kind 
of Liverpool sack salt ; the quantity varies ac- 
cording to the state in which the butter is taken 
from the churn — if soft, more, if hard, less, al- 
ways taking the taste for the surest guide. Add 
no saltpetre nor other substances. | 

7. The best time for churning is the morning, 
in hot weather, and to keep the butter cool till 
put down. 

.8. The best mode of preserving butter in and 
through the summer and winter, is as follows : 

* In winter, Mr. Merrifield lets his milk stand 
twelve hours ; it is then removed to the stove, and 
scalded over a slow fire to near boiling beat; the pans 
removed to the cellar to cool ; the cream only churned. 
The butter, placed in the coldest part of the house, will 
keep frood for any lcnerih of time. 

t Mr. Merrifield also uses Liverpool sack suit, one 
ounce to the pound. 



The vessel is a stone jar, clean and sweet* The 
mode of putting it down is to put in a churning 
of butter, and put on strong brine ; let it remain 
on till the next churning is ready to put down, 
and so on till the jar is filled ; then cover it over 
with fine salt, the same to remain on till used. 
Jacob T. Lansing. 
Watervliet, Jan. 1S42. 

Mr. Lyon has a cellar under his milk house 
the entire size of the building, with wall of stone 
to the depth of six feet. In the centre of the 
floor, he has a hole about three feet square, over 
which he has a table, where, in summer, the 
milk is strained, the butter worked, &c. Mr. 
Lyon is very particular in salting his cows, re- 
gularly, once a week in winter, and twice a 
week in summer. It is not only conducive to 
health, but he says he has never known a case 
of great difficulty in obtaining butter, where the 
cows were regularly salted. 



REBELLIOUS HENS. 

A neighbor of our f s states that hog's lard is 
the best thing he can find to mix with the 
dough he gives to his hens. He says one cut 
of this fat, as large as a walnut, will set a hen 
to laying immediately after she has been broken 
up from her setting ; and thus his hens lay thro r 
the whole winter. Will some more experi- 
menters try the virtue of hog's lard ? — Mass, 
Ploughman. 



RAW POTATOES BETTER THAN COOKED. 

Mr. Holmes : — A. E. a farmer, had four pigs 
of the same litter, of course of the same breed, 
very near of a size and flesh on the first day of 
December. He then placed two of them in a 
pen marked A. the other two in a similar one 
marked B. both of equal dimensions, warmth, 
&c. &c. To those in pen marked A. he gave 
a peck of raw potatoes per day — those in pen 
marked B. he gave precisely as many by meas- 
ure well boiled. Those that eat the uncooked 
ones did pretty well, or kept in tolerable order 
for store swine, the object being not to fat either, 
but only to carry them to the first of March, 
three months in common order. But those that 
cat the cooked ones grew daily poor, and before 
March come, must have perished by starvation 
had not the quantity been increased. The rea- 
son is plain, those boiled passed out of the sj T s- 
tern soon, while the others continued longer. S. 

Note.— The above is from a very respectable 
source, and we publish it because it comes well 
vouched. But we doubt the cause. There 

* Messrs. Merrifield and Lyon both prefer wooden 
vessels for keeping- butter. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



93 



must have been some other cause than the one 
alleged by our correspondent. We are decidedly 
in favor of cooking potatoes, when it can be 
conveniently done, and given warm to swine. 
Editor Maine Farmer. 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF THE U. STATES. 

On the 15ih day of December, 1841, a meet- 
ing was held in the Capitol, at Washington, for 
the purpose of organizing a grand National So- 
ciety of Agriculture. 

The Hon. James M. Garnett, of Virginia, was 
chosen President, and a Committee, appointed 
for the purpose, reported a Constitution, of which 
the following are the principal features : 

"Article 1. This Society shall consist of such 
members as shall, at the formation of the same, 
sign the Constitution, and pay to the Treasurer 
two dollars, and one dollar annually thereafter 
as long as they shall continue members. 

"Article 2. Any citizen of the United States 
may become a member of this Society by pay- 
ing the fees required for membership. 

"Article 3. Any agricultural society in the 
United States shall become an auxiliary society 
upon paying to the Treasurer the sum of ten 
dollars, upon application, and five dollars an- 
nually thereafier; and each auxiliary society 
shall receive no less than five printed copies of 
the annual proceedings of this Society, and shall 
also be represented by such delegate or delegates 
as they may appoint to the annua] meetings of 
this Society, and on all questions to be decided 
by the Society, such delegation shall be entitled 
to ten votes. 

"Article 4. Any person paying to the Trea- 
surer ten dollars, shall receive a diploma of mem- 
bership for life. 

"Article 5. The officers of this Society shall 
consist of one President, one Vice President from 
each State and Territory, and one from District 
of Columbia, a Recording Secretary, a Corres- 
ponding Secretary and Treasurer, and a Board 
of Control, consisting of five members, three of 
whom shall constitute a quorum. 

"Article 10. The Board of Control shall con- 
sist of five members, living in, or at convenient 
distance from this city, who shall perform all the 
executive duties necessary to the purposes of the 
Society, not specifically assigned to other offi- 
cers. They shall avail themselves of all the 
means in their power to become acquainted with 
the agriculture of foreign countries, and through 
such aid as they may be able to receive from 
our diplomatic agents abroad, as well as our 
consuls, shall, if consistent with the pecuniary 
means of the Society, introduce from abroad 
whatever they may think materially calculated 
to improve the agriculture of this country, whe- 



ther it consists of information as to new and 
improved modes of culture, seeds, plants, addi- 
tional articles of cultivation, agricultural imple- 
ments, or domestic animals; the disposition of 
which shall be made at the first annual meeting 
of the Society. 

"Article 1 1. The Board of Control shall also 
use the necessary means of having a large ex- 
hibition, at each annual meeting, of improved 
agricultural implements and machinery, wiih 
full and public trial of the same; — of impioved 
stocks of all kinds, and particularly of inviting 
the exhibition of such animals as have taken 
premiums at other agricultural shows, with a 
view of testing the superiority of prize animals 
themselves; also, of the different breeds of ani- 
mals, for the purpose of comparing the advan- 
tages of each. They shall affix to such exhi- 
bitions such premiums as they shall adjudge 
suitable, appointing such judges as they may 
select to award the same, which judges shall 
not only assign iheir preferences, but shall draw 
up a detailed report of their several examina- 
tions, setting forth fully a description of the ar- 
ticles or animals adjudged, and the grounds upon 
which their preferences are awarded. 

"Article 12. It shall further be ihe duty of 
the Board of Control, when they think it expe- 
dient, to procure a model of such implements, 
and machinery as may have received a premium, 
to be kept in some suitable and convenient place, 
selected as an agricultural repertory, for the in- 
spection of the public, and particularly of mem- 
bers of the Society. 

"Article 13. The said Board may also award 
premiums for prize essays, to be read before ihe 
Society, for well conducted and well reported 
experiments in agriculture, having reference in 
the same to the prevailing agricultural produc- 
tions of the different sections of the Union. 

"Article 14. The said Board shall give due 
notice by advertisement, of the time and place 
of such exhibitions, the premiums to be awarded, 
and the committee by whom they are to be 
awarded, and for the expense attending the dis- 
charge of the duties herein imposed, they shall 
draw requisitions on the President, setting forth, 
severalty, the items of expense, which requisi- 
tions shall be recorded by the Recording Secre- 
tary, and the President, if he approves the same, 
shall thereupon issue his draft on the Treasurer 
for the amount. 

"Article 15. The said Board shall also be in- 
structed to make efforts to obtain funds for the 
establishment of an Agricultural School, in the 
District of Columbia, and appurtenant thereto, 
a course of Public Lectures on Agriculture, 
Chemistry, Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, and 
Entomology, as appropriate sciences to the great 
business of Agriculture, which, with the build- 
ings and improvements thereon, shall, in the lan- 
guage of Smithson, be set apart forever " as an 



94 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



establishment for the increase and diffusion of know- 
ledge among men." 

"Article 16. The Board of Control shall pro- 
cure an appropriate seal for the Society, to be 
attached to diplomas or other documents or in- 
struments which may be issued to honorary 
members or other persons, under the directions 
of the Society. They shall fill all vacancies 
that may occur by death, resignation or otherwise, 
either in their own body, or the list of the offi- 
cers, to continue until the next general meeting. 

"Article 17. In further aid of the purpose of 
this Society, the said Board shall invite some 
suitable person to establish an agricultural pub- 
lication in this city, and shall also petition Con- 
gress for the incorporation of this Society. 

"Article 18. The first general meeting of this 
Society shall be in the city of Washington, on 
the first Wednesday in May next, and thereafter 
at such times as the Society may direct. 

" On motion of Mr. Torry, of Massachusetts, 
it was 

'-Resolved, That the Board of Control of the 
Society be instructed to present a petition to the 
present Congress of the United States to set 
apart the Smithsonian bequest for the purpose 
of carrying out the Society." 

The following officers were elected to serve 
until the regular election in May next: 

President — James M. Garnett. 

Corresponding Secretary — John S. Skinner. 

Recording Secretary — John F. Callan. 

Treasurer — Edward Dyer. 

Board of Control — Levi Woodbury, Elisha 
Whittlesey, Alexander Hunter, John A. Smith, 
W. J. Stone. 

One Vice-President was chosen from each 
State in the Union, and Mr. Edmund Ruffin 
was elected to represent the State of Virginia. 
The Vice-Presidents of Virginia, Maryland, Dis- 
trict of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, 
are, ex-officio, members of the Board of Control. 
The friends of this institution are very sanguine 
of its success, and of its beneficial effects upon 
American Agriculture. It is not, however, 
without its oponenls, whom late events have 
rendered suspicious of mammoth schemes of any 
kind. Some think that it is destined, in a short 
lived and brilliant existence, to swallow up those 
county and neighborhood societies, that are now 
exciting so much interest, and doing so much 
good throughout the country. It is objected, 
also, that the question of incorporation has a 
tendency to ingulf the subject of Agriculture in 
the foul pool of party politics, by bringing to bear 
upon it the most exciting political question of 



the day, the power of the General Government 
to pass acts of incorporation. 

On the other hand it is urged, that a great 
National Association, with large funds at their 
command, by the extensive exhibition which 
they will be able to concenrate at a central 
point, will give new eclat, and impart a new im- 
pulse, to Agriculture ; that the establishment of 
an experimental farm, will induce the test of new 
discoveries, too expensive for private trial, that 
the national collection of models, essays, &c. &c. 
will form a source of unbounded instruction and 
amusement to ihe scientific farmer, who may 
visit the repository. In short, as is generally 
the case, extravagant expectations are formed 
on the one hand, and unnecessary fears enter- 
tained on the other. Our own opinion is, that 
the whole matter will prove a very harmless 
affair. At any rate, we are satisfied to take the 
advice of an old and experienced friend, and 
"judge the tree by its fruit." 



DICKENS (BOZ?) HOGS.' 
Since the publication of the article over his 
name, we have received a note from General 
Richardson, stating the following as the weight 
of another lot of hogs of Mr. Dicken's stock, 
which he thinks a much fairer average of their 
capabilities than the one he has furnished in the 
article alluded to. That lot indeed is expressly 
stated to have been an inferior one, selected un- 
der disadvantages. These attained the following 
weights at eleven months old, under the ordinary 
farm keep, viz: 175— 180— 198— 218— 234 lbs. 
Although these weights are not very great, com- 
pared with what some of the Bcrkshires have 
been made to attain, the General thinks they are 
fully large enough for the Virginia Farmer, and 
that no Berkshires would have exceeded them 
with similar treatment. 



HOUSE PAINTING. 

Roofs of houses that are covered with shin- 
gles,are most generally painted wiih the cheapest 
kinds of oil paint, such as American yellow 
ochre, and lamp-black mixed with cheap refuse 
oil, and immediately covered or sprinkled over 
with sand. Tarred sheets of coarse paper, laid 
over the shingles, has in some cases proved an 
economical mode of preservaiion. When the 
outside of an old house is to be painted, if the 
clapboards or sheathing, have become very rough 
by exposure to the weather, ihe surface may be 
coated with a cheap composition of glue sizing 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



95 



and whiting, or calcined plaster of paris, and if 
immediately painted over with oil paint, to pro- 
tect it from the weather, this preparation will 
prove durable, and an immense saving of ex- 
pense of oil, &c. — Jim. Meek. 




It is with great reluctance that we intrude 
ourselves upon our readers ; most especially, at 
this time of universal and unexampled pressure, 
do we dislike to tax the kindness of our friends. 
But as a matter of necessity, we are compelled 
to request their assistance in enlarging our list 
of subscribers. We know that many, actuated 
by the most partial feelings of personal regard, 
estimate our little work for above its merits. 
Many to whom we are personally unknown 
have afforded us the most flattering assurances, 
that they considered the Planter a great acqui- 
sition to the agriculture of the South. 

We have labored zealously and unceasingly, 
as we believe the work will testify, to collect for 
our readers a condensed account of all the agri- 
cultural improvements of the day. To read the 
great flood of essays with which the agricultural 
world is deluged, to pore over an essay of pages 
to collect only a single idea, involves a degree 
of labor and consumes a quantity of time, of 
which the inexperienced reader will form a poor 
conception. In fact, if the task is well performed, 
it leaves no time for an}' other occupation. W 7 e 
have pursued no other, and are dependant upon 
the Planter alone for our livelihood. For sixteen 
months, we have been engaged, day and night, 
for this work, without putting a dollar in our 
pocket. We have lived upon the prospect of 
future reward ; we begin to long for more sub- 
stantial fare, and think it is almost time we had 
received it. 

Will not the " Old Dominion" sustain a paper 
devoted heart and soul to her interests? 

All we ask, for the present, is a living ; four 
thousand subscribers will afford it. Shall we 
not have them ? Are there not to be found four 
thousand men, in Virginia alone, who will rally 
to the support of such an undertaking. A friend, 



to whom we privately said, a few weeks since, 
what we say publicly now, wrote us a little 
while afterwards — "I enclose you sixteen dol- 
lars which I have beat up in my neighborhood." 
If each of our friends, if each of the friends of 
agriculture, would only "beat up" in his neigh- 
borhood, how easily the thing could be effected. 
We flatter ourselves the work only wants to be 
known, to ensure us a subscription, commensu- 
rate with our moderate wants. Will you, reader, 
assist us in its dissemination? Will you men- 
tion the subject to your neighbor? Will you 
tell him, with a little stretch of conscience, that 
every number is worth the price of subscription ; 
that although the times are hard, that is only 
the greater reason he should be careful lo get 
the value of his money, and that he can make 
no better investment than in the purchase of an 
agricultural paper? An exchange paper was 
so kind lately as to estimate the value of each 
article in a number of the Planter at one dollar. 
At this rate, he would be making money fast 
enough to satisfy the most insatiate. 

Over and above the pride of sustaining a 
State paper, we would suggest to our readers 
that their own interest is materially concerned 
in extending our subscription. 

There is one department of our paper for 
which education has somewhat fitted us, and to 
which we design to pay particular attention, ihe 
improvements that are daily made in agricul- 
tural implements and machines. To exhibit these 
as they should be done, requires expensive en- 
gravings, and when our subscription justifies it, 
we think, by enlarging this department, we can 
greatly increase the interest of the paper. 

Come, then, for our sake, for the sake of agri- 
culture, and for your own sake, beat vp and see 
what you can do in } r our neighborhood. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

Several communications are necessarily laid 
over to our next. W 7 e are much obliged to 
" Collonus" for his article upon the cultivation of 
corn, but were obliged to defer it for want of the 
engraving, which was not quite completed when 
we went to press. Time and tide, and the 
Planter hereafter, wait for no man. 

The article from A. D. is well written, and 
withal incontrovertible, but it is of so general a 
character, that it must yield to information more 
specific and practical, with which we are crowded. 



96 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



Richmond Markets, March 26, 1842. 



Butter — Mountain butter, wholesale 12^ a 16 
cents for firkin ; 20 cents for roll. 

Cotton — 8 a 9 cents per lb. 

Cotton Yarns — Richmond and Manchester, 
(factory prices,) Nos. 4, 5 and 6, 20c; 7, 8 
and 9, 21c; 10, 11 and 12, 22c; 13 and 14, 
23c; 15 and 16, 24c; 17,25c; 18,26c; 19, 
28; and 20, 28 cents. 

Cattle — For cattle on the hoof, from $4 to 
$5 50, are the general prices. Mutton — 
There is great variation in the quality ; indif- 
ferent sheep bring only from $1 to $2, while 
the finer qualities bring from that to $5 per 
head. 

Cheese — 8| a 9 cents per lb. very scarce. 

Feathers — 38 a 40 cents per lb. for live geese. 

Fish— Mackerel, No. 3, $7. Herrings— No. 1, 
North Carolina, $3 50 ; No. 2, $3 ; Poto- 
mac cut, $3 25. Shad, $8 50 per barrel. 

Flour — Demand limited ; sales at $5 87^ on 
the bank. 

Grain — Wheat $1 05 a 1 15, prices now paid 
for good red and white. Corn, 50 to 52^ cts. 
per bushel. Oats, 50 cents. Some few sales 
from wagons and depot at. 55 cents. Very 
little grain coming into market. 

Hides — Green 5 cts. per lb.; Spanish 13 a 16. 

1 R0N — Pig, $25 to $35 ; Swedes, $100 per ton. 
English, $85 to $90; Tredegar, (Richmond 
manufactory,) $90 ; Up Country bar, $75 a 
$80 per ton. 

Lumber — Clear white pine $36 ; refuse clear 
32b. merchantable $22 ; refuse last sale at 
$14; flooring $15 a $20 per M. 

Lime — Thomaston 95 cents. 

Meal — 65 to 70 cents per bushel. 

Provisions — Bacon — Smilhfield and city cured 
7 cents ; Baltimore and Western 5 a 6 cents ; 
oldsides 2J a 4£ cents; old shoulders 2 a 4 
cents. Lard, 6 a 7 1-2. All slow of sale. 

Plaster — On the Basin bank $5 50. 

Steel — American blistered $135 to $140 per 
ton. 

Tobacco — Receipts continue light. While we 
do not alter our quotations, prices we think 
have a downward tendency. Lugs $2 25 a 
$2 50 a 2 75. $5 a $6 general sales. Fine 
manufacturing $6£ a $9. 

FREIGHTS. 

New York — Flour, per bbl. 25 cts. — very little 
going. Coal, 8 a 85 cents per bushel. To- 
bacco, $2 50 per hhd.; boxes 20 cts.; kegs 
25 cents. 

Philadelphia — Flour, none going. Tobacco, 
$2 50 per hhd.; 20 cts. for boxes ; 25 cts. for 
kegs, none going. Coal, 7 cents per bushel, 
Richmond measure. 

On the Canal — To Lynchburg and interme- 
diate places, 10 cents per 100 lbs. 



EXCHANGE. 
Foreign — On London 15 per cent, premium. 
Domestic — New York Checks, 7 5 premium. 

Philadelphia, 7 premium. 

Baltimore, 1\ premium. 

Norih Carolina Bank Notes, par. 

South Carolina, 4 premium. 

Savannah, 2 premium. 

Augusta, 2 premium. 

Alabama, 15 a 20 discount. 

Tennessee, 15 discount. 

Specie, 5 a h\ premium. 



CONTEXTS OF NO. IV. 

Corn — Report of the Agricultural Society of 
Elizabeth City on the cultivation of corn, p. 73. 
Horses — Treatment of, on a journey, p. 76. 
Candles — Directions for making, p. 76; 
Shoeing Horses — Directions for, p. 77. 
Fencing — A new mode of makina a fancy fence, 

P- 77 - 
Potato — Observations on varieties and mode of 

cultivation, p. 77. 

Boiler — Mr. Pedder's. described with a cut, p. 78. 

Orchard — Mr. Randall's management of, p. 79. 

Grass — New kind recommended by Col. Hamp- 
ton, p. 80. 

Farming — More profitable in America than Eng- 
land, p. 80. 

Silk — Reasons in favor of its cultivation in Ame- 
rica, p 80. 

Hogs — Relative value of Berkshires, p. 81. 

Cement — Of rice, p. 82. 

Wood — How to render fire proof, p. 83. 

Lime — Prevent murrain and botts, p. S3. 

Gate — Mr. Smith's plan, with a cut, p. S4. 

Straw — Should be salted, p. 86. 

Seeds — Received for distribution from the Patent 
Office, p. 86. 

Painting — Houses should be painted in winter 
rather than summer, p. 86. 

Piggery — Account of Mr. Pierce's, p. 86. 

Toothache — To cure, p. 87. 

Homony Mortar — Cheap plan of making, p. 87. 

Manure — Report of South Carolina Agricultural 
Society, p. 87. 

Measures — A table of, p. 68. 

Ea^ly Vegetables — How to transplant, p. S9. 

Warts— Cure for, p. 89. 

Tobacco— Mr. Dodge's circular, p. 89. 

Hay — Made of green corn, p. 90. 

Wheat — Transformation of seed, p. 90. 

Manure — Mr. E. Ruffin's experiments, p. 90. 

Manures — The proper manner of applj ing quan- 
tity, &c. p. 91. 

Butter — Mr. Lansing's management of, p. 92. 

Eggs — How to make hens lay, p. 92. 

Potatoes— Should not be cooked fcr hogs, p. 92. 

Jigricu'tural Society of the United States— Con- 
stitution, &c. p. 93. 

House Painting — p. 94.