THE 



Southern Planter 



DEVOTED TO 



AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, LIVE STOCK AND THE HOUSEHOLD. 



W. ORMOND, 
C. KNIGHT, 
C. JACKSON, 



Proprietor. 
Editor. 
Advertising Agent. 



|.th Year. 



NOVEMBER, 1883. 



No. 11. 



GOITTEITTS 



523 

is 

537 
538 



•mers and Farming in Virginia in the Olden Time 

he American System of Agriculture," and its Abuses ■■•■ 

w to Stop a Newspaper. "' 

e Best Fence — A Suggestion - ....".........' 539 

rrow Heels in Horses. ....... 539 

e Proper Fertilizer for Wheat " ""'"' 542 

e Food of the World '" 543 

der Brook ; or, Three-Acre Farm 545 

e Way Mrs. Wilkins went to the State Fair ""' &4? 

g^er Mighty Happy ...."."...... 548 

h Ponds for Farms ""* ' "///////. 551 

leat an- Cheat '„"""".."""'"" 551 

eat Again ~ 552 

tish Bread-Making "•"•",• 'I'Xl "1" "... 552 

'ects of Food upon the Flavor and Quality ot Meat •••••••• g5g 

ite for the Planter ' __ 555 

gging Muck :" ."\ 556 

•pips for Central or Piedmont Virginia '.'."..!"".'.'." 557 

in Seeding [''" 559 

iking Home Comfortable __ ggQ 

rmer's Homes 5Q1 

nd Improvement, and a New Implement '"".'.'".""" 563 

1 Acre .".."......!!..... 563 

Correction, &c 554 

ib White, the Game Bird of America '".','..'.. 565 

e Merino a Mutton Sheep ggg 

rmers, Arbitrate— Don't Litigate " 



Editorial : 

me Figures about Lotteries. 
Tie Comments 



567 
569 



Editorial Notes : 
1 .g Ladies as Farmers ; Hydro-Carbon Fuel ; The First Gun ; Growth of a Large 



- try ; 
Dropped., 



Books and 



Magazines; New Advertisements; Advertisements 

571 — 57 



Bichmond : J. *W. Ferg-usson & Son, Printers. 



$ si • 



THE 

Virginia Fire and Marine 

INSURANCE COMPANY, 

OF RICHMONTI, 'VIItGmSTI.A. 



ASSETS, - $557,000.00. 



Insures against Fire and Lightning. 



HALF A CENTURY IN ACTIVE AND 
SUCCESSFUL OPERATION. 




A HOME INSTITUTION.! 

This old Virginia Institution offers solid security to those desiring Insurance. The 
Company has paid Hundreds of Thousands in losses in this State, and nearly 
Three Millions in all parts of the country. 

All Descriptions of Property in Country or Town — private or public — insured 
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DIRECTORS. 

W. L. COWARDIN, - - - President. 

E. 0. Nolting, E. B. Addison, G. W. Au.en, 

W. S. Donnan, Thomas Potts, D. 0. Davis. 

Home Office, No. 1015 Main Street, Bichmoud, Va. 

W. L. COWARDIN, President 

WM. H. MCCARTHY, Secretary. 

^CORRESPONDENCE SO LI C ITE D.°©a 



■THE- 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 

DEVOTED TO 

Agriculture, Horticulture, Live Stock and the Household. 



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


T. W. ORMOND, 

W. C. KNIGHT, 


Proprietor. 
Editor. 


44th Tear. RICHMOND, NOVEMBER, 1883. 


No. 11. 



FARMERS AND FARMING IN VIRGINIA IN THE OLDEN TIME. 



[1. Letter from Col. Rich ? d I. Gaines, of Charlotte county, on the subject of land 
improvement. 

2. Letter from Col. Hill Carter, of Shirley, on the subject of wheat culture.] 

Wardsfork, Charlotte, December ist, 1832. 

Dear Sir, — Your communication has been received, and I am 
sorry that it was not in my power to have given it an immediate 
answer, as the most favourable time to procure leaves for ma- 
nure will soon be over ; for one load of leaves in the fall is 
worth two after they have laid on the ground for some time, 
alternately drenched by the rains and dried by the winds, until 
they have lost all their strength. Leaves, like all other vegeta- 
ble substances, are valuable for manure if applied soon after 
they have come to perfection. 

The reason so many persons have fallen out with leaves as 
manure, is simply because they do not know how, or when, to 
use them. As to your first enquiry (how do you haul them 
most economically), I would observe, that I prefer a cart drawn 
by one yoke of oxen. The load being light, one yoke is suffi- 
cient, and the cart can be turned about with more convenience 
40 



524 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [November 



in the woods and with less injury to the young trees, which it 
has become important now in this country to preserve. The 
leaves should be raked together when wet, as you can rake and 
haul a much greater quantity when they are in that condition 
than when dry. Secondly (as to what sort of land are they 
best suited), I would observe, that they are much more valuable 
when applied to red clay soils, that are disposed to be stiff, than 
grey light lands, as their tendency is to make the land open and 
light, independent of their nutritive qualities. 

They should be spread as thick as they can be covered with 
a two-horse plough. Thirdly, do I use them fresh or after they 
are decomposed in the stables, farm-yard, &c. ? I use them in 
both ways, but think them most valuable when spread fresh on 
the land and turned under. I suppose I have not hauled less 
than ioo loads this season, and am not half done. I am at this 
time casting them on my next year's shift for corn. I keep 
before the ploughs, covering every galded or weak spot in the 
field. My land is improving very fast under this plan, which 
has been practised but for a few years. It may be proper to 
observe, also, that I use gypsum on my corn in the spring and 
find that it acts better on the littered parts of the field than any 
other, which you no doubt have discovered if you have used it 
at all. You have no doubt heard persons say that they had no 
faith in gypsum. But the reason was they had used it improp- 
erly some way or other; either the plaster had lost its virtue, or 
they had put it on a soil totally unsuited to its nature as a ma- 
nure. Gypsum, having nothing more than the sulphate of lime, 
will not act on a coarse acid soil, for if there is more acid in the 
soil than will decompose the lime, it destroys its quickening and 
invigorating properties, and renders it entirely inefficient. I 
believe my experience and observation bears me out in the as- 
sertion, that plaster will not act on soils that produce the differ- 
ent kinds of sorrels (to-wit: sheep sorrel, horse sorrel, &c , &c.),. 
or any other vegetation in which acid is the predominating 
quality. 

I am glad to hear that you have abandoned that abominable 
profession — the law — and are now giving your time and talents 
to the noble, interesting and delightful pursuit of agriculture, 
for the more ardently you pursue it the more ample will be your 
pleasure and compensation. It is a profession upon which all 
others are but dependents, and consequently yields to its vota- 
ries more real satisfaction and comfort than all the other pro- 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 525 

fessions combined. But this may be probably considered a di- 
gression, and I will therefore close. 
Accept assurances of regard, &c, 

R. I. Gaines. 



Shirley, Oct. ist, 1843. 

Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 7th instant was received a few 
days ago, and I will with pleasure reply to your queries on the 
subject of agriculture, although I am confident you are much 
more competent to instruct me than I am to instruct you. 

***.**- j n re ply t your first query, viz. : "At what 
period of the summer were your fallows performed?" I always 
begin to plough the fallow field, or more properly, the clover 
field, as soon as we finish thrashing wheat, which is generally 
from the ist to the 10th of August, and we generally finish it 
in five or six weeks; we take great pains in fallowing, which we 
do with three strong mules or horses, a driver or ploughman, 
and a boy to each plough ; the ploughman directs the plough, 
the boy with a stiff forked stick clears the clover, weeds, &c, 
before the plough, to keep it from choking, which, with a heavy 
ox chain, turns every particle of vegetation under, so as to make 
a perfectly clean surface to sow wheat upon. 

In reply to your second, "If you have observed any ad- 
vantage in any precise time of ploughing your clover fields, 
what is the period ? " I have invariably found the early fallow- 
ing, that is, the first ploughing, to make the best wheat when 
the land, &c, was equal, but I rarely fallow earlier than ist of 
August, and never re-fallow, as I consider it decidedly injurious, 
fallowing as late as we do. If the land in a wet season be- 
comes grassy, we keep the grass under with harrows, but never 
re-plough. 

Your third query, viz. : " Is your ploughing done with 2, 3 or 
4 horses, was replied to in the first answer. I will add, though, 
that 3 good horses or mules are competent to manage the 
largest size Davis plough, the plough of all others I prefer. 

In reply to your fourth query, " What are the operations be- 
tween fallowing and seeding, if any, and how do you get in the 
wheat ? " The only operation between fallowing and seeding 
is to harrow well the land after it has laid as long as we can 
allow it to remain to receive the rains (and the more run to- 
gether by rain the better), before seeding time. I always get 
in my wheat with heavy 25 (12 inches long and 1 inch square), 



526 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 

iron teeth harrows, and harrow most effectually, so much so that 
my neighbors frequently tell me I drag my land to death. 

We water furrow, and drain our wheat land when it is inclined 
to be wet, most effectually, and roll when it-is inclined to spew, 
though we have very little land that spews ; our ditching and 
draining is very perfect, having learned the necessity of good 
ditching, &c, in reclaiming swamp land. 

In reply to your fifth query, "How much wheat do you sow 
to the acre?" That depends upon the land and kind of wheat ; 
on strong land we sow from 2 to 3 bushels to the acre of the 
large grained wheats, and from 1^ to 2 of the small grained 
wheats ; on moderate land we sow half-bushel less to the acre. 

In reply to your sixth query, "What have you found to be 
the safest limits for beginning and ending the seeding operation ?" 
In our neighborhood we cannot begin with impunity earlier than 
the 5th of October, and we sow to very little purpose after the 
25th of October. The ten best days in the whole seeding sea- 
son are from the 10th to 20th of October. 

In reply to your* seventh query, "What proportion of your 
manure is used on your fallow, and what on your corn, and at 
what rate per acre ? " I use all my manure on the clover fallow, 
at the rate of 25 wagon loads to the acre, and haul it out as 
early as I can in the spring, and top dress the clover whenever 
it is at all indifferent, so as to insure a good and uniform clover 
ley, in fact a heavy clover ley, for without a heavy clover ley we 
never have heavy crops of wheat in our neighbourhood. When 
the clover is so heavy as to require harrowing down before 
ploughing in, we are sure to have a good crop of wheat if we 
have no disaster ; we then harrow the clover up one side and 
down the other, the way it is to be ploughed, by turning the 
harrow on its back, so as not to choak, and then a good plough- 
man, a boy with the forked stick, and an ox chain to each plough, 
makes clean work and easy sowing in seeding time. We gen- 
erally manure about one-third of the fallow by top dressing the 
clover in April or May, of course manuring the most inferior 
parts. I formerly hauled out and ploughed in the manure while 
fallowing, but latterly I have prefered to top dress in the spring 
on the clover intended for fallow. 

Your eighth query is answered in my last reply, viz. : " Is 
your manure on fallow used before or after ploughing?" 

Your ninth query, "To what extent have you used marl or 
lime on the fields reaped last harvest? " The cornfield was all 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 527 

marled the spring before the wheat was sown, but the fallow 
has never been either limed or marled. I use oyster shell lime 
at the rate of ioo bushels per acre, and marl of 50 per cent, of 
calcareous matter at the rate of 200 bushels to the acre, which 
replies to your tenth query. 

In reply to your eleventh query, I never graze or mow the 
clover field intended for fallow, but graze very closely the vol- 
unteer clover field, which goes in corn the year succeeding the 
pasture year. 

In reply to your twelfth query, I always sow a gallon of clover 
seed to the acre. 

In reply to your thirteenth query, on the subject of gypsum. 
I always plaster the clover as soon as the seed comes up in the 
spring, at the rate of one bushel, and frequently repeat it the 
next year if the clover looks umpromising. Plaster of Paris 
and clover should always go hand in hand. If I were to be de- 
barred from all manures except one, I should certainly stick to 
the gypsum. 

On the subject of my present rotation of crops, I am now 
under the 5-field rotation, viz. ; 

1 st. — Clover fallow wheat. 
2d. — Volunteer clover, pastured. 
3d. — Corn. 
We sow a third of the cornfield ) 4*.— Cornfield wheat and oats 

in oats, as it is generally too late > , p, ( Top dressed as far as 

to sow the entire cornfield in oats. I 5*Xl- L-lOVer. < . manU j. e pr>es 



The clover fallow wheat seeds itself in clover, and makes a 
very good crop of clover for grazing in the next or pasture 
year, and the pasturing manures the land sufficiently for corn 
the succeeding year, and is quite an ameliorating year, owing 
to the deposits of dung and urine of the stock, and the top 
dressing with the remains of our straw, always having more 
than we can pass through the farm-pen, stables, &c, which we 
use as a top dressing on the pasture in the spring and summer 
while grazing it, and which strawed part always makes the best 
fall pasture, particularly of a very dry year, as it shades the 
land and makes it retain the moisture, and on that part the pas- 
ture never fails in a drought, the grass grows up through the 
straw. 

I have now been three years in this rotation, and I am very 
much pleased with it; it gives a great deal of pasture, keeps 



528 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [November 

everything on the plantation fat, and is a very improving sys- 
tem. It is the 5. field rotation which Archer Harrison, a most 
excellent manager, called the " beau ideal of a system," and I 
prefer it to any I ever tried, and I have tried several. My crops 
of corn have improved under it more than my wheat crops 
even, for it enables me to pitch a crop of corn now without any 
difficulty after the year's pasturing, and formerly, when I planted 
after fallow wheat, instead of pasture, I could hardly ever get 
a crop of corn to stand at all for the insects. 

It is an excellent system for wheat, corn, oats and grass; I 
could have fattened 100 head of hogs annually, besides my 
plantation stock for three years past, so abundant has been the 
grass under this system. 

I fear I have been very diffuse and tiresome, but I have tried 
to be as concise as I could, to be intelligible, but I am afraid I 
failed in the last as well as the other. 

Most respectfully your very obedient servant, 
To Genl. J. H. Cocke, Bremo. Hill Carter. 



"THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE" AND ITS ABUSES. 

I For the Southern Planter.] 

It cannot be gainsaid that the most characteristic feature of Amer- 
ican Agriculture is, that it has been moving steadily westward, passing 
over one, two and three degrees of longitude in a decade, until now it 
rests at the base of the Rocky mountains. From the Report of the 
Public Lands Commission to Congress, lately issued, the amount of 
arable lands still remaining subject to occupation under the Homestead 
and Pre-emption Acts, is barely sufficient to meet the demand of set- 
tlers for a year or two to come. " A later estimate places it at 25 years, 
including railway grants and that in the hands of speculators." If 
this be true, the system of cultivating lands to exhaustion, below the 
point of remuneration, and of going West to purchase cheap virgin 
lands, with fresh rich soils, must soon be abandoned. The " breaking 
down " system must be given up and the " building up " process 
adopted in its place. 

This "system" has not failed to attract the attention of enlightened 
European agriculturists and political economists, who have character- 
ized it derisively as "The American System," and have foreshadowed 
the evil consequences which must follow. In the May number of the 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 529 



Princeton Review for 1882, there is an article by Francis A. Walker, 
late Superintendent of the Tenth Census, entitled "American Agricul- 
ture," replete with important information and suggestions to the farm- 
ers of the old States, in regard to this subject. That the exhausting of 
the fertility of the soils of the old States, and repairing to fresh soils 
in the West and South, has brought upon us the just opprobium of 
all European farmers, he is prepared to admit, but that this condition 
of things is the result of causes entirely different from any that have 
ever operated in European agriculture; he also explains, "Of the 
many causes that might be mentioned as fostering this ' system,' the 
tenure of land has been one of the most potent. The excellent laws 
for the registration of titles, and the transfer of real property in all the 
States, the liberal policy of the government in regard to the public 
lands, and the great readiness of the people to buy or to sell, to go South 
or to go West, as a chance of profit may appear, bave largely con- 
tributed to bring about the conditions in question." 

" It is approximately estimated that the cultivated area of land in 
the United States consists of three million eight hundred thousand 
farms, 60 or 70 per cent, of which are cultivated by the owners; rep- 
resenting also a mingling of large, medium and small properties, in 
which those of medium size predominate. While the characters of 
the men who are the cultivators of these farms are very different, north 
and south of the Potomac river, they are all alike animated by the 
same spirit, viz. : To make all that is possible out of the soil cultivated, 
then to sell and purchase other richer and cheaper lands in the West 
or South. Since 1870, the number of farms in the thirteen slave States 
has increased 65 per cent, [a condition which Mr. Edward Atkinson 
contends is peculiarly favorable " to the cultivation of cotton." Against 
this " breaking down " system in the old states there have been excep- 
tional efforts made in many portions to bring out the capabilities of 
the soil and climate, in their adaptation to the cultivation of different 
crops, and great improvements have been affected. The " breaking 
down " system of haste and exhaustion has been made to give way to 
the " building up " process of " repair and balance." But far greater 
efforts at improvement in this direction will be required to meet the 
demand of the future. For it is evident that the tide of population 
which has flowed so steadily and so rapidly from the exhausted to the 
fertile soils further West, must return gradually to the Atlantic slope, 
from which it started. As there is a period between "Tides," called 
"Slack Water," so it may be with this tidal wave of population. It 
may remain for a time near the Rocky Mountains, whose elevated and 



530 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [November 

arid plains may be made productive by irrigation, still the reflux 
to the Atlantic slope is inevitable. The result of this condition 
of things must be a great falling off in the productions of the country, 
unless the "building up process of repair" in farming in the old- 
States be speedily adopted. So far as the natural adaptation of soil 
and climate is concerned, no country in the world is better suited for 
mixed farming, and for sustaining a large population to the square 
mile, than that comprised in the Southern Atlantic slope. "While the 
lands have been worked down, under a scourging system, below the 
point of remuneration, they possess naturally good soils, and it is a 
fact which may be taken as an axiom, "that soils originally good can 
never be exhausted," and they rapidly recover under ameliorating 
agencies. The incessant "breaking down" and oxidation of the ele- 
ments of the soils in the old States have been definitely proportioned 
to the amount of the products taken from them during the many years 
they have been cultivated. Witness the lands in the tidewater and 
granite sections of Virginia, from which such immense quantities of 
tobacco have been taken in the course of two hundred years. This, and 
other products, have gone to build up and enrich the soils of the 
countries where they have been consumed, at the expense of the land 
on which they were raised. Unless some regular process of " repair " 
or " return " of the elements taken off in these products has been made, 
the soil must necessarily have been exhausted below the point of re- 
munerative cultivation, and such we find is generally the case. While 
it is true that this class of lands left out of cultivation for a few years 
improve, from the increase of vegetable matter, the incessant oxidation 
a*nd chemical changes going on in the soil, the fertility thus induced, 
is far from being equal to restore its lost balance. Other and more 
potent ameliorating agencies are required to bring out fully the capa- 
bilities of the soil and climate in their adaptations to the cultivation of 
any single crop, or order of crops. A 'rough canvass of the capabili- 
ties of lands of any district is easily made, and a process of eliminating 
crops hopelessly useless is soon adopted. But among the great 
variety cultivated in any region, justly to discriminate between the 
good, bad, and the very good, and to reject those which, though within 
the limit of tolerance, and in the long run not profitable, demands long 
and careful experimentation. Beyond this is the selection of varieties 
within the retained species of crops, in which alone may reside the 
possibilities of success or failure, the fortunate choice often making all 
the difference between profit and loss. To perform this work satisfac- 
torily while cultivating an order of crops, requires mental enterprise,. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 531 



a natural fondness for farming, and a ready apprehension, combined 
with persistency and a sound judgment. 

In Europe, the knowledge of soils and climate on which the Cultiva- 
tion of the laud is based, and the ameliorating systems of improvement 
in use, are the result of the accumulated experience of hundreds of years. 
An orderly succession of all the plants cultivated, and manures best 
adapted for the highest production of each, is recognised as absolutely 
necessary, in order to make a fair return to the soil for the crop taken 
off, and to prevent its deterioration. 

In this country no such ameliorating systems have existed, except in 
certain portions of the old States. Where the soils have been worked 
down below the point of remuneration, commercial fertilizers have 
been resorted to as the principal means of obtaining profit and im- 
provement. These fertilizers being highly ammoniated and nitroge- 
nous, have been costly, and from the nature of their constitution and 
the condition of the soil, uncertain in their effects — one season with 
another — as well as too soluble and evanescent to produce permanent 
improvement of the land. By their promiscuous and ill-judged use on 
all kinds of land, great pecuniary losses have been sustained and little 
or no benefit to the soil has been derived. The experiments of Mr. 
Lawes and of Mr. Ville in continuous cropping of wheat on the same 
land, with so-called " complete " and highly ammoniated mixtures, un- 
doubtedly attest the possibility of such a system. But it should be 
borne in mind that the " subjects " upon which these experiments have 
been conducted present climatic and other conditions as wide apart 
from those which have obtained in this country as the poles. Here, 
Peruvian guano and the highest priced ammoniated fertilizers have 
been used promiscuously on thousands of acres of land cultivated in 
corn, wheat and tobacco, with soils sandy, clayey, wet, dry, drained and 
undrained, hilly, level, rough, rocky, cloddy, in tilth and out of tilth,, 
regardless of everything but the hope of obtaining a small profit after 
paying for the fertilizers. How this hope has been realized and the 
truth of the experiment attested in a large majority of cases, the ex- 
perience of many Virginia farmers will unfold. On the other hand, 
we believe that with an orderly system of crops, thorough drainage and 
cultivation, and a due regard to the nature and condition of the soil,, 
highly ammoniated fertilizers may be used with profit and improve- 
ment to the land, one season with another. In mixed farming they 
may be used to supplement domestic manures, also, with great benefit. 
But as the principal means of improving worn out lands on a large scale, 
no system has proved more costly and disastrous. According to Mr. 



532 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 



Lawes, seasons, rather than the condition of the soils, have been the 
chief factor in his results with nitrogenous fertilizers; but his soils are 
naturaHy so good, and their physical condition so perfect, that no fair 
comparison can be made with the conditions that obtain in this country. 
As a matter of fact, whether the time of the exhaustion of the lands 
in the United States, under "the American System," be in the near, 
or the remote future ; whether the reflux of population from the Rocky 
Mountains to the Atlantic slope, be in this or the next century, it is 
certain that the lands of the West, cultivated under this system, must 
deteriorate by degrees, and their products decrease from year to year, 
thereby affecting the products of the whole country to such an extent 
as to make it of the greatest importance, that the worn-out lands of the 
States on the Atlantic slope should be systematically improved, and 
cultivated with a certainty of an increase in value and profit. As to 
the system to be adopted, a knowledge of the soil and climate, adapta- 
tion of crops and experience in cultivation, in every locality, must de- 
termine. This will be greatly aided by a judicious system of experi- 
ments, in testing new and promising subjects, taking care not to be 
discouraged too soon by accidents or failui*es; nor yet too swift, in 
drawing inferences from successes or failures. Any system adopted, 
to be worth anything, will task the intellectual powers of the man 
who executes it, and call for the closest observation and attention. The 
bed rock, the soil, the drainage, the exposure, and the natural vegeta- 
tion, all require careful study in any system of improvement. Special 
varieties among all the species of plants cultivated call for special at- 
tention and observation, as well as new species for domestic uses and 
the improvement of the land. Since the settlement of Jamestown, 
and within the region east of the Blue Ridge, all the cereal, grass, root, 
leguminoid and textile plants (except sorghum), now in the country, 
have been cultivated, as well as tobacco, cotton and rice, more or less 
successfully. According to Prof. Brewer, those tried and rejected from 
agriculture in the New England States were hemp, indigo, rice, cotton, 
madder, millet, spelt, lentils and lucerne. But it is not so much a ne- 
cessity to have new species or kinds of plants as it is to exercise greater 
care in the selection of the varieties in use. These are important inci- 
dents, but the main point is the proper system of improvement of the 
land to be adopted. To improve worn-out land, the first thing to be 
borne in mind is, that the land must be in proper physical condition, 
and the process of "giving" must for sometime over-balance, and 
always balance, the process of "taking away." "Repair" of some 
kind must always follow "waste" in any kind of crop. These indi- 



1883.] 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 533 



cations may be fulfilled best by thorough drainage, thorough plowing ; 
the use of lime, carbonate and phosphate, on a liberal scale; a rotation 
of crops, in which the leguminoid and other green fallow crops come 
in regularly, as improvers ; the keeping a fair proportion of stocky the 
free use of domestic manures, and the supplemental use of artificial 
or commercial fertilizers with judicious care. The permanent im- 
provement of the lands in every section of this State will be more 
rapid under the foregoing system than by any that can be adopted with 
commercial fertilizers alone. The theory as well as the practice on 
which this system is based, is one of " mixed farming" and stock rais- 
ing, by which one crop is made to supplement as far as possible the 
loss entailed by another, and domestic manures and commercial fertil- 
izers are made to supplement the losses entailed by each in rotation. 
But objection is made that this is a slow and tedious process, entirely 
inapplicable to the improvement of lands on a large scale. Time will 
not be taken to expose the falsity of this objection. 

Of the many systems recommended for the improvement of worn-out 
lands on a large scale, by means of commercial fertilizers, the one first 
made known by the late lamented and talented Dr. St. Julien Ravenel, of 
Charleston, 8. C, is based upon the soundest principles of natural science. 
It rests in the assumption that a large proportion of wornout land is 
in the condition of a caput mortuum or "deadhead," incapable of pro- 
ducing any but the lowest kinds of vegetation, a condition which may 
be likened to a ledge of granite rocks gradually disintegrating into a 
soil, through the agency of rain-water charged with carbonic acid, and 
developing as its first forms of vegetation the mosses and lichens that 
creep upon its surface, gradually preparing the way by decay for the 
development of other and higher plants. Such is nature's plan in the 
original formation of soils— first, the disintegration of the rock ; second, 
the growth and decay of the simplest forms of vegetation, and thence 
on to higher forms, until humous or mould is accumulated in sufficient 
quantity to constitute what is known as a fruitful soil, a soil possessing 
all the essential elements of plant food, as well as the physical condi- 
tions necessary for the development of the highest plants. It was upon 
this plan of Nature that Dr. Ravenel proceeded to improve the ex- 
hausted sandy lands in the vicinity of, Charleston, a plan now exten- 
sively adopted throughout the Carolinas, with the best results. Recog- 
nizing the fact that these soils were deprived by long cultivation in 
cotton of all the available organic and inorganic elements of plant food, 
with nothing left but the insoluble minerals, constituting the soil, and 
the immediate necessity of supplying soluble elements to produce plants 



534 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 



of any kind, he incorporated with the soil a compound which he called 
"ash elements,'" and sowed the land with leguminous seeds (vetches 
and peas), these plants being specially adapted to sandy lands, as well 
as to the special object he had in view. This plan, I have said, is founded 
on the principle that the soil is a caput mortuum, and that you must put 
into it, in the most economical forms, all the elements of which plants 
consist. The inorganic elements (potash, Nsoda, lime, magnesia and 
phosphoric acid) are furnished in the compound known as "ash elements" 
in a very finely comminuted condition ; while the organic elements 
(carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen) must be furnished from the 
air and subsoil by means of the leguminous plants growing on and in- 
corporated with the soil. Being deep and gross feeders, leguminous 
plants take from the subsoil and the atmosphere a large proportion of 
their constituent elements, a capacity recognized as based upon the 
fact that different kinds of plants have different capacities for making 
use of the stores of plant food that the soil and atmosphere contain. 
One of the most important of these plant-food elements is nitrogen, 
which is also one of the most costly. Now, however much we may be 
in the dark as to how this is done, experience teaches that leguminous 
crops — like clover, peas, vetches, &c. — gather a supply of nitrogen 
where cereal crops will not thrive for the want of it ; "and this in face 
of the fact that leguminous plants contain a great deal of nitrogen and 
cereals relatively little." 

The important practical results of this process may be estimated by 
considering the following facts, which I quote from a former article, 
published on the same subject : 

1. The application of the compound known as "ash elements," fur- 
nishes the exhausted soil with an immediate supply of inorganic food 
elements in a soluble form for the use of the plant. 

2. The leguminoid plants grown upon the soil thus prepared, take 
from the soil below, as far as their roots extend, and from the air above 
in which their leaves are spread, nearly all the elements useful to crops, 
along with nitrogen, and return them to the soil. In plowing in the 
whole plant as it stands, we restore to the surface soil the elements 
previously out of the reach of the cereal plant. 

3. Vegetable matter allowed to decay in the open air undergoes a 
loss, both of organic and inorganic matter. Submitted to fermenta- 
tion, as in the barnyard, there is also a large loss. Even passed through 
animals as food it undergoes loss. But in green crops, plowed in, it is 
decomposed without loss. In no other form can the same crops convey 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 535 

to the soil an equal amount of enriching matter as that of green leaves 
and stems of plants, grown on the land and plowed into the soil. 

4. The decomposition of green crops in the soil is very rapid, and 
they are especially advantageous, in that both the organic and inor- 
ganic elements of plant-food are accumulated in that portion of the 
surface soil most readily in reach of the fibrous roots of cereal and grami- 
naceous plants. 

5. Experience teaches that there is scarcely any soil worth cultiva- 
ting that may not be improved by this process (based, as I have said, 
upon the principle that certain plants draw a considerable part of their 
sustenance from the atmosphere, and contain in their substance not 
only all they have drawn from the soil, but a large part of what they 
have taken from the air. The plowing in of these plants adds to the 
soil, necessarily, more than was taken from it, and makes it richer in 
all the elements of plant-food). 

6. The repetition of this process by means of an orderly system of 
rotation of crops is not only the best means of restoring worn-out 
lands, but of keeping them and carrying them up to the highest state 
of fertility. 

On the sandy soils of the South Carolina coast the lamented Rave- 
nel, some ten or twelve years ago, succeeded iu producing the most as- 
tonishing results by the use of his "ash element" and phosphates 
with the native vetch or partridge pea, and was the first to illustrate, 
practically, this means of restoring fertility to worn-out lands — a means 
by which all the ash elements of which cereal plants are composed are 
applied to the soil in the most economical form, while the atmosphere 
is made to supply nitrogen and carbon through the instrumentality of 
leguminous plants. 

In 1874-75, long before I had seen or heard of Dr. Ravenel's experi- 
ments, acting upon the same principle, I reclaimed laud in a condition 
even worse than that operated on by him, covering on area of nearly 
five acres, denuded of its surface-soil to make an adjacent railway em- 
bankment from eighteen inches to over three feet. The greater por- 
tion of it was covered with water during the winter, and was utterly 
devoid of vegetation in summer. After thorough draining, the process 
pursued was, thorough plowing, the application of eighty bushels of 
gas-house lime to the acre and the sowing of peas and plowing them 
in, with from 200 to 300 pounds of a mixture of plaster, salt and ashes 
[from Stewart & Palmer's Saltworks] and from 100 to 200 pounds of 
fine ground Charleston phosphate. In the spring of 1878 the land 
was cultivated in corn, followed by wheat, yielding eighteen bushels 



536 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [November 

per acre, and a stand of clover and grass which has averaged over a 
ton and a-half of hay per acre every year since. I mention this to 
show how even the most impracticable kind of land may be perma- 
nently improved by this system. In the Tidewater sections of the At- 
lantic slope, where marl can be obtained, it is a sin and a shame that it 
is not used along with fine ground phosphates, peas and clover to a 
greater extent. Where the marl cannot be obtained, the ash element, 
or a mixture of the fine ground phosphate and kainite with peas, will 
be found the cheapest and best substitutes. The original formula of 
the ash element used by Dr. Ravenel was : Fine ground phosphate, 
800 pounds; marl, 600 pounds; kainite, 400 pounds; acid phosphate, 
200 pounds ; and this produced the remarkable results to which I have 
alluded. Recent improvements in pulverizing the phosphate rock into 
an impalpable powder, called "floats" must add greatly to its efficient 
and more speedy action in the soil, and (in my opinion) do away with 
the necessity of manufacturing superphosphate and the expense of sul- 
phuric acid. All the experiments I have conducted indicate that 
worn-out lands treated in this system can be improved cheaper and 
more permanently than by any other, the "intensive system" to the 
contrary notwithstanding. Sir J. B. Lawes, the greatest advocate of 
the use of concentrated nitrogenous fertilizers, in a letter to the Coun- 
try Grentleman, April 13th, 1882, says: "One fact is perfectly clear, 
that whatever may be the source of the nitrogen in clover, the plant 
furnishes that substance in the cheapest possible manner, and so long 
as good crops of clover can be obtained, the farmer need not have re- 
course to any costly artificial compound for its supply." What he says 
in regard to clover is equally applicable to peas. But, says the farmer, 
"I cannot get clover to grow on my land." I answer, who ever saw 
clover fail to grow on a calcareous soil, other things being equal ? 
Then, use lime in some form, and in as large quantities as possible, 
along with peas; turn the peas in, and sow wheat and clover seed and 
plaster the next spring without grazing. The experiments that I have 
made indicate that good crops of clover can be obtained more cheaply 
by the free use of the fine ground Charleston phosphates mixed with 
kainite, or used in the form of ash element, than by any other fertil- 
izer. I admit that, to make full crops of wheat on ordinary land, we 
must have a certain amount of available nitrogen in the fertilizer, but 
for corn, clover and grasses and the permanent improvement of the 
land, the highly ammoniated fertilizers may be dispensed with. 

What our farmers need is an orderly and systematic method of using 
the Charleston fine ground phosphates with kainite, mixed with their 



1883.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 537 

domestic manures and other materials, all through the year, to be ap- 
plied to their crops in the spring and fall. To the farmers of the Tide- 
water section, the use of the fine ground phosphates, along with com- 
posts of marl, muck and vegetable matters, cannot fail to be highly 
beneficial in securing crops of clover and in securing fertility to the 
soil. In other sections, the phosphates and kainite, used in composts 
and with peas, will effect the same result used in larger quantities. 
We have found no substitute as yet for the cotton seed used by our 
Southern neighbors in composts. Well-rotted 6table manure is good 
enough if it can be obtained in sufficient quantity. The systematic 
use of these composts, made with fine ground phosphates, kainite and 
cotton seed, is largely practiced in North and South Carolina in the 
profitable cultivation of lands hitherto regarded as too poor to work in 
corn and cotton, and I am fully persuaded that the same process will 
work as well with us. 

Let us go to work, then, with order and system, to improve our 
lands, to diversify our crops, to give more care to stock, the saving of 
manures and the economical use of fertilizers with green crops, so as 
to make up for the waving fertility of the West, to keep our people at 
home, to build up the waste places in the land, and in restoring fertility, 
to make it the finest country in the world for the well-being and com- 
fort of mankind. Jno. R. Page. 
University of Virginia, Sept. 24th, 1883. 



HOW TO STOP A NEWSPAPER. 



The following from one of our exchanges so fully and clearly ex- 
presses our views on the subject, that we copy it without comment: 
"You have an undoubted right to stop a newspaper when you feel dis- 
posed, upon payment of all arrearages. Do not hesitate to do so on 
account of ' tenderness ' for the editor. Don't you suppose he would 
quit buying sugar of you, or meat or clothing, dry goods, etc., if he 
thought he was not getting the worth of his money, and why should 
you not exercise the same privilege with him? And when you dis- 
continue a paper, do so manfully. Don't be so spiteful as to throw it 
back to the postmaster with a contemptuous ' I don't want it any 
longer ! ' and have refused written on the margin and have the paper 
returned to the editor. No gentleman ever stopped it in that way, no 
matter if his head is covered with gray hairs, that should be honorable. 
If you do not longer wish to receive a newspaper, write a note to the 
editor, like a man, saying so — and be sure that arrearages are paid. 
This is the way to stop a newspaper." — Carlisle {Pa.) Herald. 



538 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 



THE BEST FENCE-A SUGGESTION. 



[For the Southern Planter.] 

The best fence for the farmer is hard to decide upon, as localities and 
the abundance and convenience of timber vary so much. Where tim- 
ber is scarce and not easily accessible, no doubt the " barbed wire " 
fence is, in the end, the cheapest. I have lately seen on a farm in 
Henrico, owned by Mr. Blackur, of Amelia Co., a fence of this kind 
with one wire on cedar posts, and a heart pine plank at the top. This 
seems sufficient to turn all stock away but hogs, and the plank being 
prominent will prevent animals from wounding themselves against the 
wire. "Where hogs have to be guarded against, or kept in the field, 
then two planks at the bottom must be used. This fence is more secure 
and more durable than any other, and will turn not only stock, but 
fox hunters, who sometimes play the mischief with fences. Besides, it 
is secure against fires, and being entirely straight, takes up less room 
than rail fences. I must beg Mr. Blackur, if this meets his eye, that 
he will give us the cost of his fence. 

The suggestion I have to make is, that young farmers, or old ones 
if they are willing to work for posterity * should plant out every eight 
feet young cedars or locusts, to which hereafter to attach the wires. 
This will ultimately diminish costs, and make a very permanent fence — 
the cedar for lower Virginia and the locust for either section. The latter 
can easily be raised from the seed, and is a rapid growth. Neither tree 
" draws" the land to any extent — in fact, the locust, like the walnut, 
seems to improve it. 

I will add to the above that the osage orange draws the land so 
badly, and its annual trimming is so troublesome and expensive, that 
I do not consider that it makes a desirable enclosure. 



I intended to put my name to the paper on the subject of "Improve- 
ment of Lands in Eastern Virginia," which appeared in the October 
number of the Planter, that I might not seem to avoid responsibility 
for any of the statements it contained, but forgot to do so. An error 
of some importance was made in the article, which might lead some 
one to sow clover as late as 15th October. I am made to say, " but 

*We hope our readers are not like an old acquaintance of the writers, who, when his 
father-in-law was urging him to set out some trees, replied, he would never live to get 
the benefit of them ; he was then told he should do it for the sake of posterity ; he re- 
joined, posterity never did anything for him, and he was not going to bother himself 
about posterity. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 539 



with oats (i. e. clover) may be seeded as late as 15th October." It should 

read Winter oats may be seeded, &c. 

Th. Pollard. 
Henrico, Va. 

NARROW HEELS IN HORSES. 



[For the Southern Planter.] 

To prevent and cure narrow heels in horses and mules, which is pro- 
duced by bad shoeing, trim the hoof sufficiently (not too much), so as to 
fit properly the shoe to the hoof, and let the shoe be large enough to 
come out well to the outer rim of the hoof. Never burn the hoof to 
fit the shoe. After fitting the shoe as above, drive in the two nails 
nearest the toe of the hoof. These two front nails place the shoe ex- 
actly where needed ; next drive in one nail on each side next to the 
two already at the toe ; next drive in the fourth and fifth ; and lastly, 
drive in the two next to the heel. By this means the third and fourth 
nails open or expand the foot a little, the fifth and sixth nails ex- 
pand it still more, and the last two, which are the seventh and eighth 
nails, complete the expansion of the hoof to the extent desired, and 
give the relief from cramped heels in every instance. Try it for 

humanity's sake. 

Geo. Watt. 



THE PROPER FERTILIZER FOR WHEAT. 



[For the Southern Planter.] 

On the 15th day of June last, my friend W. H. Benton, of Loudoun 
Co., came to my house (we started to cut wheat that day). One of my 
neighbors accompanied him from the courthouse to my house. "We 
pursuaded him to accompany him home that evening ; he brought him 
back next morning. His visit enabled him to see my neighbor's crop 
of wheat and the one adjoining him; he also brought him through my 
nearest neighbor's place, where he saw the largest crop of wheat, at 
least in this county. He remarked at my house, that he had seen four 
crops of wheat since he had been here, better than anything he had 
seen in his county this season. How will that do for Amelia lands as 
wheat lands ? 

One crop consisted of about one-fourth tobacco land, which, how- 
ever, had but one crop of tobacco grown on it, and therefore can 
scarcely be called tobacco, " lot land." One-fourth corn land and the 
balance fallow land, on ten acres of which the present was the third 
41 



540 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 

crop of wheat, successively, namely, in 1881, 1882 and 1883. On the 
corn land we used on the corn at planting 300 pounds per acre of 
Charleston rock, and perhaps 200 pounds more per acre at laying by 
time and wheat seeding, which of course was on the poorest parts of 
the field; this was all the fertilizer used on the corn land. 

The tobacco lot received all our farm-pen manure, 300 or 400 pounds 
of rock per acre, and chemicals and other ammoniated fertilizers to 
give the tobacco a start. 

One of the fallow lots received 300 pounds of rock, at the seeding; 
this lot, however, was an afterthought, and not fallowed until last 
week of September. The other fallow lot, on which this was the third 
successive wheat crop, received on its very best portion 300 pounds per 
acre of Stearns' Wheat Fertilizer; one land Stearns' fertilizer equal 
to 300 pounds of Charleston rock in cost; one land Peruvian guano 
equal in cost to 300 pounds Charleston rock, the balance of the lot 300 
pounds per acre of Charleston rock. There was, however, only three 
bags of Stearns' fertilizer used. 

The entire cost of fertilizer used on the wheat at seeding was as fol- 
lows : 

4 tons of Charleston rock, at $18 per ton $ 72 00 

3 bags of Stearns' Wheat Fertilizer VI 00 

100 pounds of Peruvian Guano 4 00 

Total $ 88 00 

It ought to be stated that the Hessian fly injured our crop very seri- 
ously; in some places to the extent of three-fourths of the crop. 

Mr. Dunn included in his seeding three of his regular tobacco lots, 
on one of which he grew a crop of tobacco last year, and applied his 
farm-pen manure and a good application of fertilizer* The other two 
lots had rested in clover. He used $250 worth of fertilizers at wheat 
seeding. Some Eureka, some Orient, some an Acid Phosphate com- 
pound, and some Charleston rock compound. He seeded 97 bushels 
and made 1500 bushels. 

Mr. John Wingo had his tobacco lot in wheat, which was manured 
and fertilized for the tobacco as usual, and he used four tons of Stearns' 
Wheat Fertilizer at wheat seeding, at a cost of $170. He seeded 47 
bushels and made about 600 bushels. 

Mr. Jefferson had his tobacco lot in wheat, which was manured and 
fertilized as is his usual wont, and used four tons of Stearns' Wheat 
Fertilizer at wheat seeding, at a cost of $165. He seeded 120 bushels 
and made 1100 bushels. 

Mr. J. A. Wallace had a good portion of his best tobacco lots in 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 541 

wheat, which, though not in tobacco last year, had been treated most 
liberally to bone meal whenever cropped for years, and had responded 
very satisfactorily in tobacco, wheat, clover and ensilage whenever 
planted. He used four tons of AVestern Bone, at a cost of $150. He 
seeded 47 bushels of wheat and made 611. 

Mr. P. B. Crowder had a large crop of tobacco last year (some 80,000 
hills), which was manured and fertilized as was his usual wont, and he 
used four or five tons of Western Bone, at a cost of $160, at wheat seed- 
ing. He made 650 bushels of wheat from 47 seeded. 

A comparison of the cost of fertilizers used at wheat seeding, and 
result in wheat, is as follows : 

Mr. Dunn seeded 97 bushels, used $250 fertilizer, made 1500 bushels. 



Mr. Wingo " 47 

Mr. Jefferson " 120 

Mr. J. A. Wallace li 47 

Mr. P. B. Crowder 47 

Mr. Stacy " 46 



170 
165 
150 
160 
88 



" 600 


u 


" 1100 


(I 


" 611 


11 


" 650 


ii 


" 650 


li 


G. B. 


Stacy. 



Let those interested judge for themselves. 

[This is an interesting statement of facts connected with the culture of wheat in one 
neighborhood in Amelia county — this State. We only regret that the author did not 
state the number of acres in each crop, so that the yield per acre could be seen as well 
as the yield per bushel of seed. 

We have endeavored, through the pages of the Planter, to enforce the importance of 
high culture, which means that the land should be well fertilized, if its condition de- 
mands it; that the land shall be thoroughly drained, broken and pulverized; that the 
seed shall be carefully selected and cleaned, and not more than a bushel to the acre used, 
which should be evenly distributed and neatly covered by two harrowings, if sown broad- 
cast. If the drill is used, which is best, the same preparation is required, and should 
precede it. With proper care, we think it easy to make an average of twenty bushels to 
the acre, or twenty bushels for one sown. — Ed. S. P.] 



How much is skimmed milk worth for feeding purposes ? This is an 
important question in butter-making districts, and quite often the pos- 
sible use of skimmed milk determines the profit or loss of the dairy. 
"With young, growing pigs, an addition of the skimmed milk from a 
cow in full flow of milk for each pig will keep them growing with 
very little corn. It is quite as well, however, to have two or three pigs 
to every cow, and supplement the feed with a greater proportion of 
grain. For the amount that they will eat no kind of stock will make 
so profitable use of milk as laying hens. 

There are complaints in many quarters that wet weather, when pota- 
toes were rotting, has caused a general prevalence of rot. If the tubers 
are at all affected, they should be dug early and stored in a cool place. 



542 SOUTHERN PLANTER. / |N° vemDer 



THE FOOD OF THE WORLD 



The food of the world must be made and furnished when needed. 
The farmer must feed all from the sand grains, the rain, the dew, the 
heat, the subtle elements of plant-food in his keeping, by aid of nature's- 
magical alchemy. He builds wiser than he knows. He makes teem- 
ing crops and bounteous harvests. The hills and vales are green with 
grass or yellow with grain. The tasseled corn, the long rows of vege- 
tables, the varied orchard products, are poured with lavish plenty from 
Autumn's cornucopia. The barns and granaries are filled. The ele- 
vators crowded to bursting. Transportation is taxed to its utmost. 
Streets are filled with market wagons, stores are filled with food pro- 
ducts and necessities. Thousands are busy handling and every family 
is supplied and every mouth filled. From the sunny south, the far west,, 
the lakes, the isles of the ocean, the other continents come the multi- 
tudinous products of the field and flock the orchard and vineyard, de- 
mand causing supply and supply following demand. The farmer not 
only feeds all but furnishes the raw material to clothe all, whether it be 
the snowy cotton of the Carolinas, the warm wools of the west or the 
silk of the eastern empires. Millions of spindles grow hot with activ- 
ity, millions of operatives are at work, the looms turn out their beau- 
tiful fabrics and the bustling industry of manufacture is supplied. De- 
mand calls for still more and better clothing and the farmer feeds all. 
Great cities are built up, vast water powers utilized, homes for tens of 
thousands go up year by year, capital accumulates and the farmer digs 
it nearly all from the brown soil. The furnaces are aglow, the quarry 
yields its wealth of stone, of slate, of lime. The mine gives forth the 
metal, and the farmer feeds all. 

The fisherman, the herdsman, the hunter, are but small allies. They 
help somewhat, but the great burden of feeding the world falls on the 
farmer. New areas with long accumulated fertility are sought year by 
year for wheat growing. For scores of years the world's bread will be 
produced from the great natural wheat lands. There are vast areas of 
such undeveloped in the far west and northwest, on the Pacific slope 
and in the British possessions north of the United States. When these 
fail, away in the future, the rich lands of South America now only used 
for natural pasturage may be layed under contribution. The world 
demands cheap bread. In order to be cheap it must be abundant. 
Some substitute for wheat may be found or utilized. Science and in- 
genuity develop wonders. Let no one eat less or tremble in fear of fa- 
mine. The world will be fed. Famine in civilized countries are things 
of the past. Seed time and harvest shall not fail. Plenty and scarcity 
may alternate, drouth and excessive rainfall be experienced, cold and 
heat endured, but famine grim and gaunt can never sweep civilized 
countries as in olden times. Cheap and rapid transportation places pro- 
ducts of distant climes wherever needed. Steam works little less than 
miracles. Ships trace every line of commerce. Iron rails span all em- 
pires and well nigh encircle the earth with great trunk lines. The tel- 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER, 543 

egraph encircles the globe with iron nerves, and the telephone expedites 
exchange. The wheels of a busy commerce turn with the pressure 
of exchange, and the farmer produces the food of the world. 

But food production is not the only function the farmer has. He is 
an important member in the forces that make up the motor of the so- 
cial and industrial and even the educational fabric. He has duties be- 
yond digging the earth for food and the time is at hand when his mind 
is open to the fact. Our agricultural masses are emerging slowly but 
surely from the background and gradually taking hold of the great 
questions of the nation. They are not so easily deceived as formerly. 
The smooth tongue of the politician does not so easily sway. The so- 
phistry of the designing is seen through more and more. There is a 
progress towards better things. Schools and the press are learning 
the rudiments of agriculture in order to teach. The time of improve- 
ment and better ways is at hand. The tendency is upward. The far- 
mer feels the force of his undeveloped powers struggling within him. 
He rises to seek the light and lives to some nobler thoughts and objects 
than in the past. — J. W. Lang in Maine Farmer. 



ALDER BROOK ; OR, THREE ACRE FARM. 



"Sam, you do not mean that you, re going to leave your place at Hol- 
eoms' to try and get a living on two or three acres of poor land your 
father left?" 

"Yes, Jim, that's just what I have made up my mind to do." 

"Well you may as well speak for quarters at the poor farm, for it is 
there you'll fetch up in a few years if you stick to your folly. Just 
think on't; here you're getting thirty-five dollars a month. When 
will you ever see a quarter part of that off of a three acre farm ? Now, 
Sam, just you take au honest look ahead before you leap into such a 
blank prospect as that." 

"Well, Jim, I have been studing the thing over for some time past. 
I have been at Holcom's three years and have done my level best. I 
have not lost a fortnight in the three years. Early and late I have 
been at my post, you know your self, and I have not been extravagant, 
and how much do you suppose I have to show for it?" 

"Well, I don't suppose it is a great fortune. It costs us something 
for board and clothes I know here in the village more than it would 
on a farm; then there are expenses we can't account for, so the money 
gets away. I know it does with me." 

I have managed to save just a hundred dollars a year." 

"You've done well, Sam. I can't show even that much ; but how 
much do you expect to show at the end of three year's farming on a 
three acre farm? You'd better think of that. Then there's another 
thing to be thought of. I've always thought you'd win in the race 
between you and the young 'squire for the parson's daughter ? but I 
shall give up all hope if you persist in your folly." 



544 SOUTHERN PLANTER, [November 



"Sorry, Jim, for your sake; but wbat must be must be. Time'll 
tell. We generally kuow who's elected after election. The farm is a 
fixed fact with me." 

"Well old boy, you have my heartfelt sympathies. Good-by." 

"Success to you both in busiuess aud in love, Jim." 

"The skies are bright." 

With a shake of the hands the two old friends parted. Old they 
were in one sense, as they had been associates from childhood. They 
were about the same age, btween twenty-five and twenty-seven. 

James Gray ford was the son of a village doctor, and Samuel Dodge 
the son of the village carpenter in their native town. Sam, as his com- 
panion called him, as did everybody else — as he and everybody called 
his companion Jim — was the man of all work at Holcom's who was 
trader, public house keeper and post-master, and almost everything 
else as occasion required in the little country town where he lived. 
Singletree, the name of the village, lay mostly in a little fertile valley 
on, a small stream known then as Alder Brook. 

Sam's father was dead and his mother depended mostly on him and 
the scanty products of the farm, with one cow and a few hens and a 
pig. The three-acre farm touched the brook for a short space, but 
broadened as it extended to a rather rocky hillside. The location was- 
a pleasant one and looked across the little valley to the villiage church 
and the parsonage near it. 

There were older heads than Jim's that thought Sam was missing 
it "mazingly." Some said if he'd taken a notion to go west and take 
a farm of some size, as he might with the money he had, he would 
have shown some sense and enterprise. The young Squire seemed to 
take courage at his rival's folly, and some said it was "all day" with 
Sam, meaning rather all night or darkness to his hopes. 

But somehow after all, things seemed to remain in statu quo, or in the 
old fix. Celia Dexter was young and her mother was a prudent wo- 
man. She thought seventeen was a little early for Celia to have any 
pronounced preference among the young gentlemen of the town, and 
chose to have her civil and in a sense, social and free with all. She 
may have had her preference and Celia herself may, but the scales after 
all were held pretty evenly. It seemed as though but a little might 
make this or that side kick the beam. 

"Well Sam, you persist in leaving me then," said Holcoms, as Sam 
was about to leave at the end of the week — at which his notice trans- 
pired. 

"Yes, sir," said Sam. 

"I am sorry to have you go," said Holcoms. "Haven't I always used 
you well Sam ?" 

"Always," said Sam, with a rising in his throat. "I have never had 
the least cause of complaint." 

"And I never expect to get another man to take your place. You 
insist on going to farming?" 

"Yes, sir," said Sam. 

"Well. There's old Bill; he's old to be sure; but there's a number 



1883.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 545 



of years good work in him on a farm, and I don't like to have him fall 
into new°hands to handle, and if you'll take him I'll give him to you. 
"Give him to me !" repeated Sam with much surprise and evident 
joy. u Yes, he's yours, and now Sam, if you ever get into a tight place 
and need a little help, come to me. Goodby boy! There's old Bill 
with his harness on ; horse and harness are yours. I've horses enough 
without him." 

Somehow Sam couldn't even express his thanks, but he brushed a tear 
from his eyes as Holcoms released his hand and he went and took old 
Bill by the bit and led him away. This was a prize he had not looked 
for. The" manner of the gift and the consciousness that he may have 
earned it, so often having worked, when most hired hands would have 
refused, in no manner interfered with his self-respect. He had_ antici- 
pated some difficulty in finding a horse to suit him and old Bill was 
just the horse he wanted. 

It was the last day of September, 1878, that Sam left Holcoms. His 
plans were already matured. He had made arrangements with the 
agent of one of the" largest and best nurseries in the country, situated in 
Geneva, X Y., for 500 currant bushes and the same number of rasp- 
berries and blackberry plants. His mother had had remarkable suc- 
cess with her poultry that summer, and this gave Sam encouragement 
greatly to enlarge this branch of his three-acre farm operations. _ 

For a vear Sam worked early and late and there was need of it, for 
in addition to his other small fruits, the following spring he had order- 
ed 1000 strawberry plants. The poultry yard was the greatest source 
of income the first year, and owing to his unremitted care both of 
the fowls and of the fertilizer they produced, Sam found his purse 
kept tolerably well replenished and his means of improving his acres 
more than half provided for. The second year Sam had more than he 
could do and gave employment to a small army of boys and_ girls who 
were glad of the chance to make a little spare change in picking and 
roxing berries, and old Bill made regular trips every day to the city, 
ten miles distant, to market the products of the three-acre farm. 

The second year Sam added three acres more to bis farm, and a new 
member to his" family in the charming Celia Dexter, as his wife, and 
the additions to both farm and household still continue. 
Mass. Plowman. 



The Way Mrs. Wilkins Went to the State Fair. 

It was a great day in the life of Mrs. Wilkins when she started in 
company with her husband to visit the State Fair held a hundred miles 
away. A farmer's wife for a score of years, the opportunities for pleas- 
ure seeking of any kind had not been very numerous, but now as her 
children were old and trusty enough to be left for a short time, they 
were going to see a little of the world. She had scandalized her grow- 
ing up girfs by wearing simply a nice black alapaca instead of her new 
silk dre3S, "I am going to see and not to be seen," she declared to them, 



546 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [Novembe 



: 



and I am not going to risk spoiling my very best clothes pushino- 
through a crowd, I only care to look respectable enough not to attract 
attention." Neither were the girls ashamed of her as they remarked 
her tidy appearance aud animated looks, as she drove away to the de- 
pot some miles distant. Reaching the city and being refreshed by a 
good dinner she and her husband repaired to the fair ground. On en- 
tering, Farmer Wilkins took one gallant tramp around the grounds 
with his wife, and glanced at the cattle, sheep, swine and poultry, 
passed hastily through the agricultural and floral halls, when Mrs 
Wilkins came to a stand, "See here, Henry," said she, "this won't do for 
either of us. We both want to see and enjoy all of this show that we 
can and you would enjoy best seeing things that I don't care for, so 
let us appoint a place to meet at five or six o'clock and till then we can 
both look up what we most wish to see." The arrangement was made 
with business like promptness and Mr. Wilkins started off to inspect 
the machinery, and find some male acquaintance with which to dis- 
cuss the fine exhibition of stock, two things in which he was especially 
interested. Mrs. Wilkins, contrary to what perhaps might have been 
expected of her, started for Fine Arts Hall. "I can see rag carpets 
and canned fruits put in brine and such things enough at our Country 
Fairs, and big pumkins and squashes too; but such an array of pictures 
I may never have the chance to see again in my life, and I'll pay my 
respects to them first." She was glad as she slowly pushed her way 
through the erowd that she had not a party of three or four friends to 
keep hold of, and to distract her attention from sight seeing in her 
fear of losing hold of them. She gave herself up entirelv to the enjoy- 
ment _ of the pictnres which had been brought by public spirited 
inhabitants of the city from their splendid homes, to add to the attrac- 
tions of the exhibition. Rare and costly nany of them were, some 
of them a hundred or two years old. 

Then she went to the Horticultural Hall where plants and flowers 
filled every inch of space, and went slowly through noting everything 
around her. She had never seen half the varieties before and, perhaps^ 
had never even heard the names of some of them, but nonetheless 
did her heart warm at the sight of nature's loveliness. 

At the appointed hour she met her husband and thev wisely decided 
to take things coolly and get rested for the morrow. Early morning 
saw them again on the grounds taking a leisurely trip around the 
grounds getting a general idea of the whole, then they seperated to fol- 
low their different inclinations. Mrs. Wilkins took her way once more 
through the Fine Arts Hall, and sgain and again through the day she 
returned to view the pictures over anew, and found that each time she 
noticed something new about them. If her chances for observation 
had been few, she had a cultivated taste that quickly learned how to 
appreciate anything new, that had merit about it. By way of variety 
when she became tired she would seat herself where she had a view of 
the motley crowd and amuse herself by noting the different countenan- 
ces, and styles of dress; the handsome, the homely, the grave, the 
gaudily dressed, all came in for a share of her attention. 



L883.] 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 547 



She made one mental comment on the ladies in the crowd and that 
maa that those who were plainly dressed looked better after a half day s 
struo-o-le with the crowd than those who had more costly and elaborate 

'° In the afternoon Mr. Wilkins took her about the city to see the dif- 
ferent sights the town afforded, availing themselves ot the use oi the 
street cars liberally enough, so that every change was a refreshment. 
At the close of the third day they reached home again. 

"I don't feel a bit tired," said Mrs. Wilkins, as she laid aside her 
bommet, "I feel as if for three days I had been out of the body, 1 have 
seen so many things that were new, and have such a collection of love- 
ly pictures in my memory to call up in future; if every one has enjoyed 
the fair as I have, the monev laid out on it has been well spent. 

The good sense with which she had managed her trip, as well as the 
rarity of her excursions, had something to do with her pleasure in it 
probablv, but the moral of it is, that when such exhibitions reach plain 
citizens in the way they did Mr/and Mrs. Wilkins, the good they ac- 
complish reaches far beyond the merely material benefits which are 
apparently the most important things aimed at.— B. C. £>. in Mural 
New Yorker. 



NIGGER MIGHTY HAPPY. 



BY J. A. MACON. 

Hog start a-runnin' when de overseer callin' ; 
"Whipperwill holler when de jew-draps fallin' ; 
Duck keep a quackin' when de hard rain po'in' , 
Crows flock togedder when de young corn growin' ; 
Pig gwine to squeal when de milk-maid churnin' ; 
Nigger mighty happy when de blackberries turnin' 1 
Squirrel go to jumpin' when de scaly bark's comin' ; 
Bee-martin sail when de honey-bee hummin' ; 
Lean horse nicker when de punkin vine spreadin' ; 
Rabbit back his ear when de cabbage stalk headin' ; 
Rooster start a crowin' when de broad day breakin' ; 
Nigger mighty happy when de hoe cake bakin' ; 

Big fish flutter when he done cotch de cricket ; 

Bullfrog lively when he singin' in de thicket ; 

Mule git slicker when de plantin' time over ; 

Colt mighty gaily when you turn him in de clover ; 

And it come mighty happy to de nigger-man nater. 

When he soppin' in de gravy wid a big yam tater ! 

Black snake waitin' while de ole hen hatchin' ; 

Sparrer-hawk lookin' while de little chicken scratchin' ; 

Big owl jolly when de little bird singin' ; 

'Pussum gwine to clam whar de ripe simmon swingin' ; 

Nigger mighty happy, ef he ain't wuf a dollar, 

When he startin' out co'tin' wid a tall stan'in' collar. 

— The Century, N. Y. 



548 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [November 



FISH PONDS FOR FARMS. 



Having indicated the possibility of farms having a pond for fishes 
and enjoying a dish of sweet fish at times, we want to show how this 
can be done at little expense and labor. Let us see how they can be 
improved and stocked: We stated in a previous letter that an acre of 
water can be made to produce more than an acre of land. A farmer 
writing to an Ohio paper says : 

"We write from practical experience in this matter, having in earlier 
days caught many a nice string offish in a pond that was formerly a 
swamp. During one day in August the owner, with two of his boys, 
went in it with a plough, road scraper, and shovels, and in a short 
time had a pond of nearly an acre in extent. This he stocked Avith 
fish common to the sluggish streams of the neighborhood, and procured 
others at some distance from the farm. For years thereafter it proved 
to be the best acre on the farm." 

While we do not advocate so cheaply made a pond as this mainly on 
the principle that "that which costs nothing is of no value," still, this 
is better than no pond, and if a few trees and flowering shrubs are 
planted around it would make a pleasant, shady spot in the summer 
heat. If some aquatic plants are put in the bottom of the pond, they 
will furnish feed for fish, and produce flowers on the surface. Your 
unsightly swamp or slough becomes a picture as well as a means of 
enjoyment and profit. Where springs exist, as described in my pre- 
vious letter, some means must be provided to carry off* the surplus wa- 
ter, especially if the lower portion of the pond is a deep ditch or slough. 
Let this be gradually shaped to an oval form, leaving about six feet 
wide to form your dam. If the head of your water will not exceed 
five feet, a simple dam and embankment of clayey earth will be suffi- 
cient. Let the dam be solidly constructed by putting a tree across for 
the breastwork. Square up this piece of timber, and let it be of sufficient 
length to be embedded into the earth some feet on each side of the ditch 
or dyke. For the dam get good solid boards, set upright edge to edge. 
If hardwood planks can be obtained, elm or alder wood, so much the 
better will your dam be built. We should advise a bottom stringer 
to be put in; a tree squared up will form the best support. Inside this 
stringer dig a ditch two feet deep, and let the planks come to the bot- 
tom of this trench; puddle and ram them into position with clay and' 
make a firm bottom. Build up an inclined slope of clay and stones. 
As you ascend, puddle and beat the clay into position against the planks. 
Get your road scrapers to work, and on this clay run up some of the 
mud and silt from the bottom of the pond. This all will give you a 
dam with a pond that will increase the value of your farm. A trough 
or sluice must be provided to carry off the surplus water. Experi- 
ment must govern you in its construction. A simple trough, a foot 
wide, four inches deep, will carry* off a large quantity of water. Let 
the top of your dam around the wings be well rammed and beaten with 
clay, so as to prevent any leakage of water. 



L883. SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 549 



Into such a pond it will be necessary to put a few aquatic plants of 
such kind as will attract flies and larva?, thus enabling young fish fry 
o obtain food in a natural state. Also plant willows near the dam. 
The roots will spread into the earth, binding it together, and also pro- 
ride hiding places for young fish. 

Our readers will recall the fact that to successfully increase fish and 
ceep them up to a good standard in size, we must provide proper food 
or them. We do this by putting in minnows and fish of such kinds as 
are prolific, yet of small value as food fishes. These, in turn, will "form 
bod for fishes." To feed these minnows we put in aquatic plants that 
attract insects. We will name a few that are common : Potamogeton, 
Myriophyllum, (Water-millfoii), Utricularia (Bladder-wort), Common. 
Water-Lily, Polygonum, Amphibium, Pennsylvanicum, Nasturtium 
officinale (Water Cress'jZizania aquatica (Water Oats, or Indian Rice), 
Sagittaria (Arrow-head), a fine calla-like growing plant. 

If we wish to introduce some insect life in our pond, we examine the 
weeds pulled from the bottom of some neighboring take or stream, and 
find them teeming with minute creatures. Let us watch the min- 
nows and small fry around these weeds ! How carefully they nose 
around them, pushing the leaves aside. These minnows live on these 
infusoria. Pull a bucketful of the weeds, carry them to your pond, 
lay the roots on the soft mud, put a stone across the roots and you will 
find the weeds soon growing. The few minnows we have put in have 
found the weeds and are getting a feast. Your minnows will increase 
and multiply. Get some yellow perch, a few pickerel, and half-a-dozen 
small bass. We can not commend the sun-fish, simply because he is a 
cheeky gormand snapping up everything that comes across his way, hav- 
ing a decided fondness for spawn of all kinds. There are better fish to be 
had — but he has one advantage to commend him — he will live in al- 
most any water. 

The best table fishes for ponds having springs in them are the bass, 
the yellow perch, and pickerel; put in a few bull-heads or pouts, they 
are good food fry. 

Many farms in these times have a windmill on them for furnishing 
water for stock, and supplying the house from the well instead of the 
laborious pumping by hand. By all means lay on a pipe to the fish- 
pond. It will pay. The fish named will live in water pumped from 
the well even though impregnated somewhat with sulphur or iron. Per- 
haps the soil on a farm may be gravelly, and not bearing soil in which the 
small blood red worms are found; such soil needs "stocking." From 
some stream or lake we dip up a paddle full of mud. A careful exam- 
ination proves it to be full ofminute worms and other forms of infuso- 
ria] life. Deposit some of this mud in your pond, and you have fish 
food for another class of fry. Let us follow nature in her plan. Her 
courses are simple, few, and generally direct. She adopts a means to 
an end, and varies little in her aims. 

It is useless to attempt to stock a pond witn trout, because these 
love the dashing, seething brook. It is useless to put the carp in a 
pond with the bass family, because the latter are a carnivorous family 



550 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 

and must live on fish-fry. The carp must be bred in ponds especially 
prepared for them and after breeding must be kept separate from the 
young fry. 

Finally, keep your pond clean. Do not make it a place for the cattle 
to wade in and drop their excrements. In time, put a fence around it. 
Plant some species of pines near to it. A few maples or rock elms 
will add to its beauty and afford a graceful shade. Plant some willows 
along its sides close to the water. These, overhanging, will afford the 
fish a shadow from the sun's rays, and their roots will make a good 
spawning bed; though a proper bed should be made in season and left 
in the water. A mat of brush fastened in a frame-work of wood, and 
sunk to the bottom, forms a good spawning bed for members of the 
perch family. 

Let some attention be given every spring and fall to your pond. 
Repair all damage. Look to your "finny stock;" some times feed 
with carcasses that are the "results of accidents" (abortions, etc.) on 
every farm. Let this be done in nature's own way. Drive a stake into 
a pond to fasten such things to, and in a few hours the swarms offish in 
your pond are looking for maggots, of which they are very fond. 

Let me couusel in conclusion : Never allow a net to be cast in your 
pond. Teach your boys and girls to take their fish in the correct 
manner "with a rod and line." If the fish increase too rapidly, then 
have a family pic-nic ; invite your friends and neighbors, and have a 
grand, good time cooking your fish near the pond, and have one good 
day's sport beside this best acre on your farm. 

If your boy chooses some girl for his companion because she knows 
how to catch and theu cook her fish, rest assured he has chosen well, 
and she will make him a good wife. Angling never spoils any man, 
but makes him better for his days of rest, and often leads his thoughts 
into fields hitherto a blank to him, and is the first step into the study 
of natural history. 

If the plant I have named herein can not be found to stock your 
pond, address a letter to D. T. Curtis, care of Joseph Beck & Sons, Bos- 
ton, Mass., and they will be pleased to furnish the plants at the cost of 
about 25 cts. per root. These plants can not, as a rule, be found at 
florists. They are usually kept in botanical collections. 

In presenting these items for consideration, I have not followed pet 
theories, but facts, as I have found them. Recent developments have 
proved the carp an expensive luxury. The pond and its inhabitants, 
as I have presented it, can be made a "thing of beauty and a joy" for 
a lifetime. — Norman in Prairie Farmer. 



Unless the urine of horses is saved the manure heap will lose its 
•most valuable ingredient. The strong smell of ammonia in horse 
stables is from the liquid rather than from the solid excrement. Hence 
the floor should be so tight as not to allow any horse urine to escape, 
or the stable should be in the basement on a cemented floor. 



L883.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 551 



WHEAT AND CHEAT. 



Ladue, Mo., August 12, 1883. 

Editor Republican, — In your issue of August 9, " H. G.," of Jefferson 
county, and "One who knows whereof he speaks," evidently have set- 
tled the wheat and cheat question ; may be they have. We are neither 
botanists nor egotists, but will the gentlemen please rise and explain? 
We have been raising wheat extensively for the past fifteen years in 
one of the best wheat districts in the State of Missouri, and here are 
two examples that have come directly under our observation, proving 
without a doubt that wheat will turn to cheat. 

We had two fields of wheat sown out of the same garner; one was 
sod land, never having had any crop on it before, the other has been 
under cultivation for a number of years. During the fall the Persian 
fly got into the sod wheat and injured it, but did not kill the stalk. In 
the spring the wheat looked well, but at harvest it was so nearly all 
cheat that it was not worth cutting. The other field scarcely had a 
head of cheat and made a large yield, so it is evident that we did not 
sow the cheat. 

Last fall while drilling I spilled a sack of wheat in the field. It came 
up very thick and at harvest there was not a single head of wheat in 
it, it all being cheat, while the balance of the field was almost entirely 
free from cheat. Now if these are not two good examples of where wheat 
turned to cheat, I would like to know the reason, and if they do not 
sufficiently satisfy the minds of Messrs. " H. G." and " One who knows 
whereof he speaks," I could give them more just as good reasons or 
examples. Carrington. 



CHEAT AGAIN. 

Waverly, Mo., August 12, 1883. 

Editor Republican, — I have noticed lately in your paper several arti- 
cles on the subject of cheat, as it is called — that wheat never does turn 
to cheat. Certainly those gentlemen must be very short-sighted as not 
to know it does under certain circumstances where the ground is too 
wet, which is unfavorable to its development and thereby produces a 
different growth. Doubtless those chemical elements that are neces- 
sary to produce wheat are lost or changed. 

Now for the proof. I sowed ten acres of wheat broadcast on new 
land, and running across the land was a swag containing about one- 
quarter of an acre. The swag, when I broke up, was very dry and 
mellow, and I sowed from the same wheat the whole ten acres. It 
came up well and grew off finely. The winter was cold and the spring 
was wet, cold late in the spring. On the dry land I raised a fine crop 
of wheat with not one straw of cheat, and on the swag there was not 
one straw of wheat, but a heavy crop of cheat. 

Dr. J. M. Warren. 



552 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 



BRITISH BREAD-MAKING. 



The first process in making bread is the inducing of the necessary- 
fermentation or leavening. Since the time of the early Jews there has 
been very little change in the process, which is still a matter of expe- 
rience and personal skill, and done very much by rule-of-thumb. On 
the success of the fermentation depends the sweetness and lightness of 
the bread. To show how differently the same process is performed, 
Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester may be instanced. In the Scotch 
towns the fermentation is slow, extending over about twelve hours, and 
the yeast used is made by the baker daily — in Glasgow from part of 
the previous day's yeast with a proportion of malt added; while in 
Edinburgh hops are used in addition to the malt. The preparation of 
the yeast and setting of the sponge, as it is technically called, require 
particular experience and skill, the changes of weather and tempera-: 
ture quickly affecting their success. For the same quantity of bread, 
twice as much of the fermenting; material is used in Edinburgh as in. 
Glasgow, the former being denominated a halt-sponge, and the latter a 
quarter-sponge. The dough in both cases is stiff, and the main differ- 
ence is that the Glasgow loaf is larger and lighter in texture for its 
weight, while the Edinburgh loaf is said to be sweeter, from the fer- 
mentation being arrested before so much chemical change takes place. I 
In Manchester, again, a quick fermentation is produced in one and one- 
half or two hours, by the use of dried yeast prepared by the distillers 
of Holland and Germany, and the proportion of the whole ingredients 
subjected to the preliminary fermentation, is very much larger than 
in either the half or quarter sponges in vogue in Scotland; while the 
dough when finished is weak and soft, and requires that each loaf be 
baked in a separate vessel or pan of iron, a mode not necessary for ordi- 
nary loaves in Scotland. No doubt there are variations between these 
three methods of fermenting in use, but these are cited as showing the i 
variety of modes used to commence the apparently simple process of 
converting the three ingredients, flour, salt, and water, into baker's 
bread. On the Continent it is still frequently the practice to leaven 
bread with a piece of dough kept for some days. — Chambers's Journal. 



EFFECTS OF FOOD UPON THE FLAVOR AND^QUALITY OF MEAT. 



The best animal food comes from localities where the peculiarities of 
the soil are such as to develop rich and high flavored herbage. It hap- 
pens that such peculiarities exist high up on the Alps, and on some of 
the elevated parts of the British Isles, where the grasses are rich and 
aromatic to an extent notably greater than on the lands lying lower, 
while on the elevated portions of New England and New York, as 
compared with the lowlands and the blue grass region of Kentucky, the 
reverse is true. No ; much exercise is not the basis of superior animal 
food. It may seem, at first glance, that the severe exercise which gives 



1883] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 553 

great strength and power of endurance to the muscles, and which con- 
tributes to vigorous health and the strongest hold on life, would also 
be most favorable to high quality of food in the bodies of such animals; 
but it does not follow that what is best for the welfare of a living ani- 
mal is best for the welfare of the one who is going to eat the animal. 
The welfares of the two clash strongly at some points, and the result of 
laborious exercise on the part of the animal is one of them. It is not 
so much severe exercise as good food and pure air that contribute most 
to excellence in animal food. Pure air is one of the most essential. 
Its importance is well illustrated in the difference between wild fowl 
and tame. The partridge, grouse, and prairie chickens, which are 
comparable to our gallinaceous fowls, are vastly superior to our domes- 
tic hen, not because they are better fed, nor because they have more 
exercise, but because they breathe purer air. Next to pork, the flesh 
of domestic fowls is most uncleanly and impure. Besides injury from 
over-fattening, and from mingling offensive matter with their food by 
being fed in filthy places, the most odjectionable thing is their breath- 
ing the effluvia of the roo3t, over which most of them are compelled to 
sit till the marrow of their bones becomes saturated with the malarious 
infections of their offal. This is enough to make all the difference be- 
tween wild meat and tame. The close stable, the sty and the roost, 
are the bane of domestic meats. — Prof. L. B. Arnold, in New York 
Tribune. 



WRITE FOR THE PLANTER. 



[A paraphrase from the Lancaster (Pa.) Farmer.] 

It will pass into history, that for a period of forty-four years at least, 
Virginia has had an agricultural journal published within its territory, 
which has'received a respectable recognition all over the Union — indeed, 
could we have afforded to exchange with all who have anxiously solic- 
ited an exchange, it would have exhausted our entire issue — and yet, 
if an omission, neglect, or refusal to write for the Planter may be legit- 
imately interpreted as an evidence to that effect, our journal has never 
yet received a decent home recognition. Nothing is really incorpora- 
ted with, and becomes a practical part of human character in this life 
and is thus transmitted to the other life — except so far as it is received 
and diffused — except there is an -efflux corresponding to the mflux of 
human thought, affection and knowledge. The physical man could no 
more be built up, strengthened, and rendered effective, by the mere 
taking of food into the stomach, without digestion, assimilation and 
secretion, than the mental or social man can by merely absorbing and 
never imparting that which has been absorbed — often selfishly absorbed. 
A dying man once exclaimed in his last gasp, "All that I have in the 
hour of death, is that which I gave in the hours of health." Our torch 
does not burn less brilliantly by lighting the torch of our neighbor. 
Light should not be hidden under a bed or under a bushel, but it should 
so shine that it may be seen of men, and surely every one, intelligent 



554 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [November 

or otherwise, may have some light that would be of value to others to 
know. This light should not be imparted, or given out, in occasional 
spasms, few and far between, but should be habitually given out, just 
as it has been received. The expiration should be in correspondence 
with the inspiration, and become as much a daily habit of life as eat- 
ing and drinking, or sleeping and waking. 

It cannot be possible that our farmers of Virginia do not think, and 
feel and know, or that their minds are uncultivatable deserts, destitute 
of herb or fruit or flower. It cannot be possible that they have no ex-: 
periences or make no intelligent observations in relation to their hon- 
orable avocations. The abundant and excellent productions of the 
state, all point in an opposite direction; but they do not seem to fully 
apprehend that in telling what they do know and what they experience, 
not only helps their neighbors, but that it is also a moral, and intellect- 
ual and a physical benefit to themselves. Many who could write for: 
their local journal, no doubt think, that if they cannot write along ar- 
ticle it would be useless to write a short one, but this is a great mistake. 
It is trief articles — articles illustrating a single idea — that are most de-j 
sired, not only by the average reader, but also by themselves. The 
civilized world is a vast seminary, and every man, woman and child in 
it is, or ought to be a student, no matter whether their years are ten or 
a hundred. As long as reason occupies the empire of the human mind, 
there will be something to learn and something to teach to others: and 
no matter how aged the individual may become, if he can exercise his 
faculties at all he will practically realize that ''it is better to wear out 
than to rust out." 

Of course, every one should be left in rational freedom on this sub- ' 
ject, and hence there should be no compulsion, save that self-compul- 
sion which every intelligent creature feels or ought to feel, as a 
stimulant to simple duty. Reason as we will in the present condition of 
the civilized world, there are many duties which society owes to itself, 
which are only performed at the beck of self-compulsion. This only 
illustrates that with all our boasted "virtue, liberty and independence," 
we are still not in that state of freedom "which the truth makes free;" 
we have yet to learn that a voluntary and cheerful performance of duty 
is the result of culture — in other words, a habit directed by thoughtful 
method. We squander too much time on things trivial or morally 
hurtful. We have not a proper appreciation of the love of life, or we' 
would not thoughtlessly waste the very stuff that life is made of in 
"killing time." In conclusion, we would respectfully and feelingly 
admonish our patrons to try if only for once, to write for the Planter \ 
and note its soothing and beneficent effects. 



Beans are not eaten whole by any kind of stock excepting sheep. 
But by grinding and mixing with corn or oatmeal, beans unfit for sale 
may be profitably fed to cattle, horses and pigs. They are very strong 
food, and as stock become used to them the proportion of bean meal 
may be increased. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 555 



DIGGING MUCK 



In many localities, this can only be done at a season of the year 
when the streams are low, which is usually in the hot weather, though 
sometimes October and November find the streams as low, or lower 
than August or September, but to delay digging muck until cool 
weather is to run the risk of not digging at all, for it often happens 
that a heavy rain in September will fill up the streams so that the water 
in the meadows will be too high to dig muck except on the top, which, 
while it gives better muck, is a great waste of land. When possible to 
do so, it is usually best to dig as deep as the muck can be easily thrown 
out, say four feet deep, thus getting eight cords to the acre. 

So many mistakes have been made in the use of muck that many 
farmers have abandoned its use entirely, but when used intelligently 
it is a very important aid to him, and no good farmer will refuse to use 
it. To cart large quantities of wet muck into the barnyard as was the 
custom twenty -five years ago was a waste of time, as it added but very 
little to the value of the manure, especially if it was to be applied to 
heavy land. When farmers began to use muck liberally, they did not 
investigate enough *to learn the fact, that muck is a material that is un- 
fit for plant food, until it has been changed from its natural condition, 
or that while it may be very beneficial to one kind of soil, to a differ- 
ent kind it may be injurious. 

Careful observation and many experiments have convinced many in- 
telligent farmers that, to a limited extent, muck is very valuable, pro- 
viding it be in the right state, and is applied to the right soil, in a proper 
manner. While many deposits of muck are found to be of but little 
value, if not positively injurious when used green, nearly all deposits 
are found to be good when permitted to become well dried, whether 
it be used as an absorbent or applied directly to the land. It is now 
very generally admitted that it is a waste of time to cart into the barn 
yard, even of dry muck more than is necessary to absorb the liquids. 
]f any more is to be used it should be applied directly to the land and 
composted with the soil. Well decomposed muck is found to be very 
beneficial to light land. 

The farmer should always have at least three year's supply of muck 
on hand, thus giving it time to become well dried and pulverized. 
One load of this is worth a dozen of green muck just dug out. Before 
the rainy season sets in, the farmer should house dry muck enough to use 
as an absorbent during the wet and freezing weather — Mass. Plowman. 



The well-known fact that a cow will give more milk and make more 
butter on a bright, sun-shiny day than during one of a dull, dark 
character is a strong argument in favor of having our winter stables 
so arranged that the animals get the benefit of plenty of sunshine. 
If possible, have the cows on the south side of the barn, and provide 
plenty of windows. 
42 



556 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 



APPLES FOR CENTRAL OR PIEDMONT VIRGINIA. 



Notwithstanding the unrivalled facilities for profitable fruit culture 
in this region, there are here, as in others, narrow valleys with low hills- 
adjacent that are unsuited to orchards, and the owners of such situa- 
tions had better plant sparingly. Yet, the grape, strawberry, goose- 
berry, blackberry, dewberry, &c, are cultivated in such places with 
great advantage. 

In addition to our list of suitable varieties, we appeal to a list of 
ironclads (apples), that will not only stand the frosts of such arctic 
places, but afford a plentiful supply for family use and for cider, and 
these ironclads are useful in all exposed places : 

Summer. — Early Harvest, Red or stripped June, Early Red Margaret, 
Summer Queen, Golden Dixie, Red Astrachan, American S. Pearman, 
Summer Hagloe, Summer Rose, Keswick Codling. 

Autumn. — Fall Pippin, Porter, Fall Cheese (Mangum), Annate, 
Mother, Cuthbert, Yellow Bellflower, Buckingham, Gravenstein, Van- 
devere, Rambo, Autumn Bough, Maiden's Blush, Jersey Sweet, Dom- 
inie, Rhode Island Greening, Fall Wine, Cogswell, ^Virginia Cheese. 

Winter. — Winesap, Albemare Pippin, Pilot, Rawle's Genet, Lim- 
bertwig, Abram, Winter Pearmain, Nickajack, Pryor's Red (Big Hill) 
London Pippin, Lady Apple, Matilda, Back's Hardtimes, American 
Golden Russet, Winter S. Paradise, Grimes' Golden, Shockley, York 
Imperial, Virginia Greening, Smith's Cider, Howe's Virginia Crab, 
King of Tompkins Co., Winter Pearmain. 

List for Frosty and Exposed Places. 

William's Favorite (July to September) ; Tetofsky (summer) ; Porter 
(early autum) ; Fameues (late fall); Danver's Winter Sweet (January 
to April); Large Red Siberian Crab; Montreaf Beauty (crab). 

Tetofsky is a Russian summer apple, adapted to all cold or frosty 
situations. It is an excellent apple for home use and for market. The 
fruit is of medium size, fair and smooth, nearly round, aud beautifully 
striped with red. Flesh white and juicy with agreeable acid, or rather 
sub-acid flavor. It is an annual bearer and well adapted to the coldest 
apple regions. — Mural Messenger. 



J. Fitz. 



Kesivielc, Va. 



The result of freeing the Erie Canal from tolls is a great increase 
in tonnage the present season. While this brings Western produce 
more cheaply to Eastern markets, it promotes such a condition of 
prosperity that even Eastern farmers cannot fail to be benefited. 
In fact, many Eastern farmers are buyers of Western-grown grain, 
which they can sometimes buy more cheaply than they can grow, and 
are thus directly benefited by the reduction in freight rates. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 557 



THIN SEEDING. 



If you will favor me, I will present a few facts demonstrative of the 
decided advantages of thin over thick seeding of wheat. In my last 
I gave some striking proofs of its superiority, and intimated that I 
might continue the subject. Seeding time is approaching, and the con- 
sideration of the question is in order. If it can be shown that less 
seed to the acre would produce as much, if not more, than the amount 
usually sown, we are learning a profitable lesson and are saving money. 
It is a matter of simple dollars and cents that if we gain by seeding 
one-half the general quantity to the acre, in the crop, we are making 
in two ways ; augmenting product, and having twice as much to sell 
or use. My supposition is that much seed is squandered and money 
lost. I propose first to maintain this ground by the logic of fact and 
experiment. What better reasoning do we want ? Figures do not lie! 
Mr. Armstrong, of the Elmira Farmers' Club, says : "Let us see what 
a bushel of seed may do ? A kernel of wheat in the fruit becomes 
thirty-eight or more ; most varieties give as much as thirty-five kernels 
to each full head. Then, if each kernel of the bushel of said seed gives 
thirty-fold in the yield, the bushel must give thirty-fold. But this is 
the lowest limit of capacity of the fruitful seed, for it is based on the 
lowest product, one ear for each kernel of seed. When the soil is lim- 
ited to wheat, and is well fitted for the seed, a single kernel, by tilling, 
may produce thirty heads. In good growth it should never average 
less than four or five stalks and as many heads. Take the lower num- 
ber, and the bushel of seed, if the kernel reaches a moderate limit of 
production, must give in a crop of 120 bushels. But this is never 
raised on an acre of land, hence the conclusion that some part of the 
seed is wasted, even when but one bushel is sown. That is to say, 
sowing one bushel per acre pre-supposes waste, and it may, therefore, 
be assumed that, when two bushels are sown while less than one is re- 
quired, one bushel is wasted. By this process of reasoning, the con- 
clusion that 20,000,000 bushels are wasted annually in seeding is inevi- 
table, if it be assumed that as many acres are sown annually with two 
bushels to the acre." The Rural New Yorker says : " Considering 
the question of thin and thick seeding of grain, there is this to be said : 
Every garden, whether vegetable or flower, shows that those plants 
which have plenty of room are larger and more vigorous than those 
which are crowded, even though the soil is no richer, or even poorer. 
Every part of the plant receives its share of the sun and air. The 
richer the soil, then the more room, within certain limits, a given 
plant requires. To sow three bushels of wheat per acre m strong 
ground, well prepared, would be to crowd the plants, and fYas to de- 
prive them of the air, light and moisture necessary for thei. full devel- 
opment. Half, perhaps one-third, of that amount of seed vould, un- 
der such conditions, furnish the needs of a healthy existence. We 
should then have larger stems, larger heads, and heavier grain, and an 
increased power of resisting disease and the attacks of insect pests." 



558 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 

In the National Agricultural Report for 1867 is the following : " An 
article by an English farmer presents a large number of facts, obtained 
by an extensive correspondence with farmers in the land who have 
tested thick and thin sowing of wheat during previous years. The 
testimony is so strongly in favor of thin sowing that it appears won- 
derful that English farmers have not adopted the system generally. 
The requisitions are that the land shall be in the best tilth, the seed of 
the best character and the variety pure ; also that it be planted so as to 
give each seed one square foot of soil. It appears from the experiments 
mentioned that the more grains sown the fewer the number of ears to 
each grain per acre. By special culture of small spots, a crop at the 
rate of 108 bushels per acre has been produced, and another of 162 
bushels per acre. The general yield is stated to be at least doubled by 
thin sowing. By thin sowing it must be understood that but one seed 
was dropped in a place. J. J. Mechi, of England, says that the thick 
sowing of wheat is a great National calamity ; that more crops fail to 
yield well from too much seed sown than too little manure. Liebig 
justly says that the greatest enemy to a wheat plant is another wheat 
plant for the very obvious reason that both require the same food. 
Small heads and kernels, and weak, flabby straw, are the natural con- 
sequences of this competition. For several years I tried one bushel of 
wheat per acre, both drilled. The difference in favor of the one bushel 
was equal to a rent of thirty shillings ($7.50) per acre." Agricultural 
Report for 1873 says : " In West Virginia we sowed one-eighth of an 
acre in wheat for experimental purposes — variety, Fultz ; quantity of 
seed, one gallon ; rate, one bushel per acre. At harvest it was not 
much thinner than where the usual quantity had been sown — one and 
one-half bushels. The yield quite surprised us, being 180 pounds of 
wheat and 224 pounds of straw, equal to an average of twenty-four 
bushels per acre; while the wheat seeded one-half thicker, on similar 
soil, yielded fifteen bushels per acre, a gain of nine bushels per acre in 
the yield of thin over thick seeding, and a-half bushel of seed saved 
besides. By thin seeding I mean a bushel of seed, or less than a 
bushel, to the acre." An Englishman, by finding one very superior 
head of wheat and selecting the largest grain, in a few years is said to 
have harvested 100 bushels from one acre. Report for 1868, page 417, 
says; "An experiment, made by the Farmers' Club, Minnesota, 
demonstrates the great advantage in giving sufficient room for devel- 
opment of wheat. Field 1 — Two bushels seed per acre, from one to 
four iuches in depth. Field 2 — Five pecks per acre, two and one-half 
inches deep. Fields — Three pecks, eighteen iuches apart. Results: 
No. 1 — Good wheat, heads medium in length, well filled, and standing 
thick on ground ; unequal in growth, some straws five and six feet in 
length, others two feet; some heads very green, others ripe; estimated 
yield twenty to twenty-five bushels per acre. No. 2 — Had a better 
color during growth than No. 1, and was very even in straw and degree 
of ripeness ; heads about even, of extra length, bundles very heavy ; 
estimated yield thirty bushels per acre. No. 3 — Only three pecks per 
acre, extra at all times ; its unusual deep green color and broad leaves 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 559 

attracting much attention. No one supposed it the same kind of grain 
as lots 1 and 2. It stooled out much more than either of the others, 
and was uniform in ripeness and length of straw; estimated yield 
thirty-five to forty bushels per acre. The Club concluded that they 
had "been in the habit of using too much seed for spring wheat." 
President Hoffman, of the Elmira Farmers' Club, claims that land 
that will not yield a full crop with five pecks to the acre is not fit for 
wheat. — Rusticus, in Farming World. 
Fayette county, Ky. 

[Every reader of the Planter knows what our theory is, and practice has been, in re- 
spect to thin seeding of wheat. It is too late to discuss the subject now, but we clip the 
foregoing from the Farming World with the hope that it may furnish food for thought 
and a matured judgment before the time for sowing the crop of 1884. — Ed. S. P.] 



MAKING HOME COMFORTABLE. 



In order to make a farm home comfortable, attractive atid salable, 
three things are essential. These are grass, flowers and fruit. Com- 
fort during the heated term of summer is a first consideration. A 
cool place of resort at mid-day is a place to be desired, and which but 
few small farmers possess. A neat, closely-clipped grass lawn, shaded 
by the deep green foliage of the maple or other deciduous trees, an- 
swers admirably for this purpose. AVhile it is true that but few over- 
worked farmers and over-worked wives ever become so apparently 
aristocratic as to provide for a few hours of pleasurable relaxation, it 
i3 nevertheless true that a good lawn can be made at comparatively 
little expense, and with a good lawn mower, like the Buckeye, can be 
easily kept in excellent order if mowed every two weeks during the 
growing season. 

If without such a lawn, begin the formation of one immediately. 
The grading and manuring of the surface, and the thorough inter- 
mixture of the materials used with the soil, will fit it admirably for the 
reception of seed, either in September, October or November, or very 
early next spring. The kind of grass seed to use will depend upon 
the location. As a rule, the grasses which make the best pastures in 
the neighborhood will make the best lawns. To the north of, and in 
the northern portion of the cotton-growing belt, we recommend the 
Kentucky blue-grass for lawns. Sow from two to three bushels to the 
acre. We have seen very successful lawns made with an equal weight 
of Kentucky blue-grass, red-top and white clover seed, the quantity re- 
quired being about a-half bushel to each one hundred feet square. 

As soon as the grass ie well rooted, a few flower beds should be cut 
in the sod. These should be near the house, but not located so as to 
hinder free access to and from the lawn. The beds can be of oval 
shape, or that of the oak leaf, or of any simple but irregular form. 
Small rockeries, as usually constructed, are unsightly, and not to be 
tolerated. In arranging trees and flowers, consult Vick's Floral Guide. 



560 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 

Tan-bark is an excellent material for the making of walks, as such 
walks are much cooler and more pleasant to both foot and eye than 
when coarse gravel is used. Groups of trees are much to be preferred 
to rows. Very much can be done by properly planting them. Two 
or three trees are sometimes set together, so that when they grow up 
they will form natural seat backs. Oak trees are excellent for this 
purpose. 

In conclusion, it may be as well to remark that the number of walks 
and flower beds should be limited to only what seem to be actually 
necessary. Better have a plain lawn, with here and there a shade tree, 
than to make the labor recmired to keep it in order, an irksome task. 
The less trouble it is to be clean about a place, the cleaner it will be 
kept. — Farm and Fireside (Ky). 



FARMERS' HOMES. 



There is no subject more important for a farmer to consider than 
the oue why boys who are brought up on farms are usually so anxious 
to leave home. It is no doubt true that large cities possess an almost 
irresistible attraction to very many, but that does not account suffi- 
ciently for the giving up the almost certainty of an independent, hon- 
orable, affluent and pleasant career for a chimerical prospect of great 
gain, or to settle down as merchants' clerks, mechanics or hewers of 
wood and drawers of water in our villages, towns and cities. In these 
days of daily newspapers, almost perfect mail-communication, the elec- 
tric telegraph and fast trains the most that is enjoyable in the city is 
shared by the intelligent aud enterprising farmer, while he has not to 
endure the many disadvantages of city life ; and it is in his power to 
secure to himself almost everything that makes life worth living. 
And just here is the key to the whole matter. There are a large num- 
ber of farmers who seem to ignore the bright and beautiful side of 
life. To them grass was made alone for cattle to eat, not for men to 
look at and enjoy; to them flowers are weeds, books a suare, rest and 
comfort idleness and self-indulgence. They give their cattle the very 
best attention, but let their children take care of themselves and find 
their own amusements — a task as difficult under the circumstances as 
that given by the Egyptians to the Israelites, of making bricks without 
straw. The home is comfortless; there is nothing to interest in the 
long winter evenings; everything is dull, weary, monotonous, and the 
younger generation are only too anxious to escape from it ; and the 
only refuge seems to be the city, which swallows them up as greedily 
as the ocean its wrecks. 

The remedy is obvious. Handsome, comfortable houses — not merely 
a number of furnished rooms, but comfortable, home-like houses — 
snugly embowered in miniature parks, with neat lawns and flower- and 
vegetable-gardens; good common-school education for the children, 
who ought to be taught the principles of growth and successful farm- 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 561 

ing, thus classing it with the sciences ; newspapers, music, an occa- 
sional visit to the cities to see what they are like and how disagreeable 
they are — such things as these will keep the children on the farm. 
This is no fancy sketch, and is consistent with the best and most 
profitable farming, for here, as everywhere else, the best wins, after 
all. — Farmers Friend and Planters Guide. 



LAND IMPROVEMENT, AND A NEW IMPLEMENT. 

Mantua, October 6th, 1883. 
Col. Knight, Editor Southern Planter: 

Your very excellent periodical, full of most valuable information to 
the farmer, reaches me quite promptly each month, and I assure you, 
were it in my power, I would induce every farmer in the State to take 
it. The cost is but little in comparison with its value. While the 
scientist, as well as the practical farmer, may differ in regard to some 
of the important features of agriculture, I suppose all will agree to be 
convinced when the demonstration is so plain that the speculator must 
give way to practical results. I am still using, with marked results, 
the dissolved South Carolina rock and kainit (1,700 pounds and 300 
pounds), and while my neighbors persist in using the ammoniated 
goods, and now that fish chum is so cheap and plenty, are perfuming 
the whole country with it. I am grazing fifty head of stock cattle on 
abundance of grass, produced by thorough cultivation and acid phos- 
phate and kainit, and a neighbor has not grass enough to supply, in 
most instances, the small amount of stock he keeps to work his ex- 
hausted land. Well, I suppose he may say that is his business, and 
not mine. But may I not ask the question, Is it not every one's busi- 
ness to try not to bring discredit upon his neighborhood, and if it is 
desirable to make poor land fertile, and that can be done economically 
and quickly, and by so doing you give credit and increased value to 
your neighborhood, is it not the positive duty of every man to use his 
best endeavors to bring about such a desirable result as promptly as 
possible ? I have all of my land, except that which is in corn and that 
just now prepared for wheat, in grass — English blue-grass, timothy and 
clover, aud this upon a farm that was entirely without grass three years 
since. My wheat, taken from lands that gave one and a-half barrels 
corn and one and a-half bushels wheat three years ago, turned out 
this season from fifteen to twenty bushels per acre, portions of the 
field giving over twenty bushels per acre, and the field is beautifully 
Bet in clover. 



562 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[November 



When I took possession of this farm it had not sufficient grass to feed 
twenty head of cattle. It has, this year, fed over one hundred. I have 
bought and sold over twelve hundred dollars worth, and have now on 
hand over that amount of stock cattle. I am raising the finest Devons 
I have ever seen. My bull is as perfect an animal, I think, as can be 
produced, and his get are invariably like him, even when from common 
cows. He is the finest stock animal I know of, and I am sure will out* 
weigh any full bred Devon in the county. 

I have at last completed arrangements for the building of my com- 
bined machine, and propose exhibiting it at the State Fair. I here 
send you my circular and also a cut, showing, only partially, the ma- 
chine. With this grass-seeder in the hands of every farmer and proper 
cultivation given the lands of Virginia, agriculture will soon make a 
more favorable appearance than it has ever done. 

Yours truly, T. R, Crane. 




[We give herewith a cut of the new implement referred to in Mr. Crane's communi- 
cation. 

Its objects are thus described : 

"The inventor, who is a practical farmer, found out long since, that the only way to 
secure a good set of clover on fall sown wheat, was to first harrow the ground imme- 
diately after the frost left it in the spring ; then sow the seed and then roll ; but the 
weather being so variable in early spring, he experienced great difficulty in accomplish- 
ing the three items, viz. : harrow, sow and roll, before the weather would change, and, 
owing to this difficulty, he applied his mind to the getting up of a combined machine 
that would complete the whole operation at one time. 

"This machine is eight feet wide, and will go over, with a good pair of horses, easily 
twenty-five acres per day. Tt will be built of different sizes, for both one and two horses,, 
and is strictly a broad-cast seeder " — Ed. S. P.] 



Nothing so narrows the play-ground of wit as when individual opin- 
ions and love of truth stand therein as fixed, solid pillars. — Jean PauL 



1883.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER 563 



AN ACRE. 



One acre of ground in lawn and garden is sufficient to maintain a 

family cow in any village or rural locality. One who knows how it is 

done, and has done it for several years, describes the methods by which 

it is accomplished: "A quarter of an acre is in garden— strawberries, 

currants, grapes, raspberries, blackberries, and gooseberries. There 

are six apple trees, and fourteen pear trees. All but the garden is in 

crrass, chiefly orchard grass. I am already feeding down a small piece 

Zt orchard grass under some apple trees the third time by tethering 

the cows upon it. Some of the ^rass I have just cut the second time, 

and some give a third cutting. Fifty rows of sweet corn for table use 

are now beginning to yield boiling ears, and the stalks and husks go 

to the cow. There are pea vines, bean vines, beet tops, small potatoes, 

and other wastes to help feed the cow luxuriously, and in this way the 

family cow may be kept in abundance throughout the year upon one 

acre/while her manure will keep the whole acre growing richer every 

year, and will provide a liberal quantity for the flower beds and the 

shrubs, and dwarf pears on the lawn. A very large quantity of the 

best manure is made by throwing the weeds with all the soil attached 

to them, the leaves that are raked up, and the wood ashes from the 

house together with as much soil as may be needed, into a shallow; pit 

in the cowyard, and leading the drainage from the manure gutter into 

it. If a farm were only managed as one manages the garden, every 

acre mi^ht easily pay a hundred dollars; but the labor is not to be had, 

and one pair of hands cannot do it for more than five or six acres. 

But the time will come when it must be done; when the land becomes 

fully occupied, and this great country has its 500,000,000 of inhabitants, 

a number which it can sustain with the greatest ease, with a thorough 

system of cultivation."— The Dairy. 



A CORRECTION, &c. 



Washington, D. C, Sept. 26, 1883. 

Editor Southern Planter: ... 

I was somewhat surprised to note my letter addressed to Dr. Jillzey 
in regard to "floats," in the Southern Planter for October; but the only 
regre° I have is, that your typo detached the words, "save experiment- 
ally" in the third paragraph, from the first sentence to which it belonged. 
I have always contended that the immigrant should follow the general 
course pursued by the farmers among whom he settles, and should de- 
viate therefrom only experimentally, and this idea will I think be con- 
veyed by amending my letter as indicated above. 

It is a fair presumption that intelligent men of all sections of our 
country are alike in keen, shrewd judgment and observation, or what 
directly concerns their pocket, hence a new comer, whether in the 
South or North, who ignores the experience of his new neighbors- 



564 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [Novembei 

founded on changed conditions of soil and climate, and applies only 
his own preconceived notions, will sooner or later come to grief. If 
will be merely a question of the extent of his capital till he resorts to 
the general cursing indicated by Dr. Ellzey. I have seen many farm- 
ing failures on the part of immigrants locating South and they are at- 
tributable more to following former courses than to all other causes 
combined. For instance, a market gardener near Richmond Va., plowed 
his new truck patch 15 or 18 inches deep just as he had done his gardens 
near New York where frost served to ameliorate to greater extent than 
is possible with manures. Of course he soon gave up his venture and 
returned North a "sadder if not a wiser" man. Had he asked his 
brother truckers for information he would have succeeded in the end, 
but he knew better than they in his own conceit and reaped a fool's 
reward. With a travelling observation and experience in nearly all 
the States of the Union, I have reached the conclusion that Virginia 
offers as great agricultural inducements to the shrewd, cautious and 
sagacious immigrant as any other State. Certainly Kansas, Colorado, 
Iowa, Missouri, etc, have no superior general advantages for the above 
class of men, and as much wealth can be dug out of one acre by such 
immigrants in the course of 10 or 15 years as from those in the Wes- 
tern States. The only difference to be found lies in the altered condi- 
tions of soil and climate from those states where longer winters and 
shorter summers give more frost and changed practices. Caution is 
imperatively needed, for the northern manner of handling soils, etc., 
will here inevitably produce disaster. To do as the intelligent native 
does, excepting experimentally, will invariably bring success in the end. 

R. S. Lacet. 



BOB WHITE, THE GAME BIRD OF AMERICA. 



[In our issue for September we made brief notice of the August numher of the Century, 
and a special mention of one of its leading and beautifully illustrated articles with the 
heading above. We now make a quotation which will be seasonable and interesting to 
farmers who allow themselves occasional recreations in partridge hunting.] 

"To become a successful shot at Bob White, the sportsman should 
bear in mind that Bob, immediately after he has sprung, flies with a 
velocity which probably exceeds that of any other bird; and also that, 
unless fairly hit, he can carry off a large number of pellets. When a 
covey springs it rises at a considerable angle with the ground. Hence, 
in shooting at a bird in a flushed covey, the sportsman of unsteady 
nerve and sluggish muscles is apt to undershoot, the bird rising with 
such velocity that by the time the gunner has brought his gun into po- 
sition the bird has passed above his line of sight. As a rule, I think 
that about one second generally elapses between the instant of spring- 
ing of the bird and the moment of fire. This interval gives the bird 
time to gain a moderately horizontal line of flight, and allows the sports- 
man to get a fair aim. 



1883.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 565 

"In shooting at an incoming bird, let him be out of sight and just 
below the rib of your gun at the moment of firing. At a bird going 
overhead, wait till he has passed well over ; then shoot under him. At 
straightway shots hold a little high, so that you just catch a glimpse 
of the bird over your barrels. 

"In shooting at cross shots, it should be understood that the velocity 
of an ounce of Xo. 8 shot driven with three drams of powder is near 
to 900 feet per second. In that second a Bob White, if under full 
headway, will go 88 feet, if we estimate the velocity of his flight so 
low as only a mile a minute. If he is flying directly across your line 
of sight and thirty yards off, the shot will take one-tenth of a second 
to reach that distance, and in one-tenth of a second the bird has gone 
over eight and eight-tenths feet. So, if we should fire a snap-shot 
■directly at a cross-flying bird thirty yards distant, the centre of the 
cloud of shot would fall about nine feet behind him, and he would 
pass by unscatched. To kill hitn 'clean,' you must hold nine feet a head 
of him. To some sportsmen, nine feet may seem a great distance to 
•mold ahead' on a cross flying bird thirty yards away, but not to those 
who have noticed attentively the relations of the line of their aim to 
the position of the bird at the very moment they hear the report of their 
gun. Also, estimations of distances in the air beside a small and 
quickly moving object are very unreliable, and often when the sports- 
man thinks he has fired only one foot ahead of a bird he has really 
held ahead three feet. Let some one suspend horizontally in the air an 
unfamiliar object thai must be distant from fence rails and other things 
whose dimensions you know, and then guess its length. You will, 
after a few trials, be satisfied that the estimation of actual lengths at 
thirty yards is very loose guess-work. 

"A beginner who, out of three shots, can bring one Bob White to 
bag, need not be discouraged or ashamed; with sufficient practice, be 
may one day kill one out of two birds fired at. The sportsman who 
does not select his shots (and no man really a sportsman can do that), 
but takes his chances in the open and in covert on all birds which offer 
a probability of success to hi3 skill, and who, the season through, brings 
to his bag three out of five birds fired at, is an accomplished sports- 
man. If he can make three successful shots out of four, he is a pheno- 
menal marksman." 



THE MERINO A MUTTON SHEEP. 



The Western Rural, in an article on the merino as a mutton sheep, 
has this to say : 

The mutton breeds are all right and profitable. But as we recently 
said the Merino is a mutton sheep when practically considered. Nine 
hundred and ninety-nine consumers out of a thousand never inquire at 
the market for anything but mutton, and when they get it, they never 
atop to inquire if it once had long, medium or short wool upon it. In 
fact, they do not know enough to rn?ke such inquiry. It is meat they 



566 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [Novembe: 



are after, and not wool. The Merino carcass finds its way into tht- 
market just as a Southdown or Cotswold carcass does, and are consum 
ed just as the carcasses of the latter are. But we observe in one of oui 
exchanges that a correspondent says that he knows from experience 
that he can make more money out of Merino mutton than he can out 
of the mutton of the mutton breeds. That is certainly going further 
than we have ever dared to go, and to tell the truth, we dare not go so 
far now. We have no doubt that under some circumstances it would 
be true, but under circumstances particularly favorable to the mutton 
breeds they would no doubt pay best. 



FARMERS, ARBITRATE— DON'T LITIGATE. 

The law favors arbitration as a peaceable and inexpensive method 
of settling difficulties. In many of the States there are statutory pro- 
visions by which a judgment of the court may be rendered on the award 
or finding of arbitrators concerning a matter duly submitted to them. 
It is almost always possible to take a case out of court and submit it 
to referees at any stage of its progress. In the absence of any statutory 
provisions, it is always lawful for parties to agree to submit their dif- 
ferences to arbitrators, and abide by their decision. The agreement to- 
do so may be either oral or written, but the latter is the best way. The 
form is not essential, except that the meaning should be carefully ex- 
pressed. It is customary, in addition to the agreement, for the parties 
to execute to each other an arbitration bond, conditioned on each party 
performing the award given by the arbitrators, whatever it may be. 
If the award is properly made, it then becomes binding on the parties. 

Arbitration is well worth considering by farmers, who find themselves- 
in dispute about some simple question of fact, as, for instance, the 
amount of damage which A's breechy cattle have done to B's corn, or 
as to what was the value of A's sheep which were killed by B's bad 
dog. Such questions can generally be quickly, cheaply, and justly set- 
tled by one or more fair-minded neighbors, and the expense, delay, 
and aggravation of a suit in court may thus be avoided. 

This article from the Agriculturist, the sentiments of which we approve, reminds us 
of a personal history. In the year 1870 we had a controversy with a tenant, and were forced 
to have a warrant levied for rent due This act on our part very much exasperated the 
tenant and he employed General Henry A. "Wise, a man of note, as his counsel and then 
bragged that he would throw us out of court. Circumstances caused our tenant to change 
his pugnacious efforts, and we received from him a proposition to arbitrate the matter. 
We promptly replied that nothing would be more agreeable, and if he would name his 
arbitrators we would name ours, and the two should choose the third. He named Gen. 
Wise, his counsel, and he was promptly accepted as ours also; so that he was the sole 
judge in the case. When the time came for the case to be tried in the General's office,, 
both parties being present, the General seemed to be in doubt about his position, and 
remarked, "if I am to play the part of a lawyer, then I must do my damndest for my 
client, but if I am to play the part of a judge, then I am a seeker after the truth." On 
that principle, we replied, that we preferred he should act the part of a judge. Our ad- 
versary assenting, the General then remarked, this is the first time I have had the honor 
of wearing the iudicial ermine," and proceeded with the case. The court's judgment 
was in our favor, as we were sure it be, and thus a tedious and expensive litigatio°n was 
avoided. We may remark, that the distinguished General and Ex-Governor was true to- 
his character— he knew what truth and justice were, and followed them, but as a law- 
yer he knew, as well, his obligations to his client.— Ed. S. P.] 



L883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 567 

Editorial. 

SOME FIGURES ABOUT LOTTERIES. 

It may appear out of place for us to speak of the subject of our head- 
ing but *heu we see the number of persons who are unwisely, if not 
sinfully, investing in lottery schemes-possibly some readers of the 
Planter-we may be pardoned for assuming the role of a mentor in the 
matter. AVe do net propose to speak of the subject in its moral aspects, 
for these, like other matters of conscience, are best left to the judgment 
and heart of each individual. Yet we may say that lotteries are a very 
seductive form of gambling, and in respect to the question of chance, 
as we believe, are less sure and promising for gain than Faro and other 
ostracised games. We know nothing of Faro personally, for we never 
saw the game played, and only know of it by what we have learned 
from others, but we know something of lotteries. In years gone by 
when they were legal under the statutes of our State, we were induced 
to buy our first ticket in company with the Lieutenant-Governor of our 
State Our ticket drew §500, and only missed the capital prize by a 
fio-ure (and there were many chances against the possession of this 
figure), but the Governor's was a blank. The money having come easy, 
w°e then and there, invested one-half, $250, in other tickets, but all were 
blanks when the drawings were announced. This sickened us of lotter- 
ies until a few years past, the semi-annual drawings of the Louisiana lot- 
tery said to be under the personal supervision of Generals Beauregard 
and' Early, arrested attention. With two friends a pool was made of 
three tickets, one of which drew $50, and from this fund ten tickets 
were taken in the succeeding monthly drawing, all of which were 

' Now seeing that this Louisiana lottery is proscribed by the Post-office 
Department, two questions have arisen : 

1 How two such distinguished and honored men as Generals Beaure- 
gard and Early can lend themselves to an unfair or illegal enterprise? 
Their names, more than anything else, have sustained this lottery, and 
they owe it to the country, whose favorites they are, to look into the 
minutest details, and if their judgments and consciences do not sustain 
them then to withdraw the support which they now give. The names 
of these gentlemen are given as a guaranty of the fairness of the dratv- 
ings; but admitting this to its fullest extent brings us to our figures, 

or second point. 

2. There can be no reason for unfair or fraudulent acts in the man- 



66 S SOUTHERN PLANTER, [November 



agement of the drawings, for the chances are so much against the 
ticket-holder and in favor of the lottery company, it would be the 
basest turpitude to do otherwise than conduct the drawings fairly and 
in conformity with published schemes. So it is that such men as Gen- 
erals Beauregard and Early can attest the fairness of the drawings of 
the Louisiana lottery. The published schemes of this lottery show 
that in its monthly drawings there are 100,000 tickets, worth f 5 each, 
or a total of $500,000, and that there are 1,967 prizes, amounting to 
$265,500. This gives an excess of $234,500 if all tickets are sold and 
all prizes paid. But suppose that one-half the tickets are sold, the 
other half remains in the hands of the company, and it has an equal 
chance with all ticket-holders to have the capital and other prizes repre- 
sented in the unsold tickets; and so with any other proportion of 
tickets which may be sold the chances are always in favor of the lottery.. 

But let us see how the ticket-holder stands in other respects. With 
100,000 tickets and 1,967 prizes he has about fifty chances to one of 
getting any prize at all ; but one in 100,000 of getting the capital, and 
proportionately less for others until the general average of fifty to one 
is reached. 

We have heard it said that the 100,000 tickets are not put in the' 
wheel, and this seems probable, for it would be a great labor to do it, 
but only 1,000, made up, possibly, by a chance selection of ten from 
the series of centesimal numbers. If this be so, the ticket-holder's 
chance is again reduced ninety to one. To explain : A has a ticket 
numbered 1251, and there are 100 tickets between 1200 and 1300, 
of which only ten are taken for the wheel, then ninety of his chances 
are gone, so far, at least, as the drawn capitals are concerned, and he 
can only come in for the small benefit of terminal numbers, which are 
alike doubtful and remote. 

_ The great odds which appear to be against the purchaser of a lottery 
ticket ought to satisfy a reasonable person that he has no chance to 
gain money, but an easy way to lose it. 

Our purpose in this article is not to denounce the Louisiana lottery 
more than any other, but to express the candid opinion that all are se- 
ductive ; cannot, in any way, be commended, and are fruitful of evil 
influences. 

Lotteries derive their support mainly from the middle and laboring 
classes, who are least able to waste their money. The tempting bait 
comes to them with peculiar force; as, without computing the immense 
chances against them, they read the attractive advertisements and 
blindly hope that the investment of a dollar or two of their hard earned 
money will be multiplied unto them a thousand fold. How vain a 
hope! Let the thousands who are supporting lotteries speak! not to 
the public, but to their own judgments and experience, and say whether 
what we have written is not true, and then refrain from the pursuit of 
an ignis fatuus. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 569 



SOME COMMENTS. 



REPORTS OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA. 

In the October No. of the Planter we find the following from the 
worthy Secretary of the Virginia State Agricultural Society, Mr. Geo. 
W. Mayo : 

" By the premium crop awards, farmers can, through the statements accompanying 
the samples, ascertain what manures, modes and implements of cultivation and charac- 
ter of soil, have yielded the best results in each variety, and the time, labor and expense 
attendant." 

Now, how are the farmers to get at the information above referred 
to ? Will it be affixed to the specimen crops which receive the pre- 
miums, or must the farmers resort to the Secretary's office to read 
"the statements accompanying the samples," or will they be found in 
the published reports of the Society ? 

It is "high time" that the Society was taking steps to have the Re- 
ports of ^Proceedings published, and it is the duty of the members 
of the Society generally to attend its night meetings and participate 
in the discussions, and it is time they were heeding this duty, instead 
of resorting to the theatre and other places of amusement. By doing 
so, they will give the Society something worth publishing in their 
Transactions. In 1881, the writer attended, in Philadelphia, an exhi- 
bition of the International Association of Sheep and Wool Growing 
in the United States. For three nights, from " tea-time" to 11 o'clock, 
the members of the Society assembled in large force, and carried on 
interesting discussions on the subject which had called them together; 
and these discussions were afterwards published, together with essays 
read before the meetings. 

BLUESTONE FOR SMUT IN WHEAT. 

We notice in the Report of the Superintendent of Government 
Earms and Operations in the Madras (India) Presidency {Southern 
Planter, page 513, October No.), the following for smut in wheat : 
" For fifty pounds of wheat take three pounds of sulphate of copper 
(bluestone), which dissolve in one quart of hot water ; when the solu- 
tion is cold, pour it over the wheat (for seed)," &c. This must be a 
mistake, and might mislead some inexperienced farmer. Three pounds 
of bluestone will not dissolve in one quart of water ; aud if it could, 
it would probably destroy the wheat germ, as it is an active caustic in. 
such strength. Pollard. 

It has long been believed by many members and friends of the State 
Agricultural Society, that much of its usefulness is impaired by the 
non-publication of its Transactions. Beyond the mere privilege of 
sight-seeing at its fairs nothing is given to the public, and there is much 
kept from view and left to sleep in the dust of the Secretary's office. 
The statements required by the rules as to premium farm and garden 
crops, orchard and domestic products, together with the special reports 



570 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [November 



of judges which are often— and always should be— made, would furnish 
a fund of practical information ; and if placed before the farmers of 
the country would tend to make them earnest friends of, and workers 
for, the support of the Society. These views we have, in our official 
connection with the Society, frequently presented and urged, but in 
the absence of any aid from the State, which is common in other States, 
it has been more a question of pecuniary means than otherwise. We 
will now say publicly, what we have said privately, that until the So- 
ciety adopts a regular and denned method for the publication of its 
Transactions, the columns of the Planter will be open, without charge, 
for the publication of all matter as the results of its exhibitions, 
which may be collated and supplied by the Secretary, with the appro-^ 
val of the President. 

We say further, that we are glad to hear that steps will be taken to 
have a competent stenographer to report the discussions in the general 
meetings of the Society during the Pair week, and these will also be 
published in the Planter. In one of these meetings, several years ago, 
the question was introduced as to the best means of restoring our im-i 
poverished lands, and for two consecutive night-sessions the subject 
was earnestly and well discussed with much benefit to those who were 
present; but as to the bulk of the farmers of the State and country, 
it was as breath dissipated by the winds. 

The pertinent questions of our correspondent should arrest the atten- 
tion of the Society in its next general meeting. 

An earnest and faithful friend of the Society, and a life member, 
finding that he will not be able to attend the next annual meetings, has 
sent us a communication addressed to the Society, with a request that 
it be read and considered. We have placed it in the hands of Secre- 
tary Mayo, and bespeak for it a careful consideration. 

As to the other subject presented by Dr. Pollard's communication, 
our readers will notice that in July, August and September we gave 
our views and experience in respect to the best method for preventing 
smut in wheat. To soak the seed for ten or twelve hours in a strong 
brine, made of common salt, is all that is ^necessary. We have used 
hluestone, but prefer salt because it is more handy, more readily dis- 
solved, and fully as efficient. When hluestone was used there was no 
weighing or measuring. Water sufficient to cover the wheat was one 
point, and dissolved bluestone enough to present a decided taste by the 
tip of the finger on the tongue was the other. We agree with Dr. P., 
that our notice of the subject in our last issue, taken from the Report 
of the Experimental Farm in British India, which gives three pounds of 
bluestone, dissolved in a quart of hot water, for fifty pounds of wheat, 
is excessive and destructive; but we think there is some typographical 
error, and it is well that the Doctor has called attention to it. 



iiiiiiimMiim 



1883.] 



SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 



571 



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8&~ Reading notices, 25 cents per line, of brevier 
type. 

EDITORIAL NOTES 



FARMERS, 
Come to the State Fair, and call at the 
Planter's office on the grounds. 



Young Ladies as Farmers — About a year 
ago we had occasion to introduce to the 
readers of the Planter a young lady of more 
than ordinary accomplishments and educa- 
tional acquirements as a practical farmer. 
Having by the death of her father come 
into possession of a good farm, she found 
that she would have to entrust it to the man- 
agement of a man whom she might select, 
and take the chances of his skill and fidel- 
ity, or to undertake the work herself. She 
chose the latter course, and we have had 
very favorable accounts of her energy and 
success. 

We now clip from an exchange the spec- 
ification of another case : 

A Lady Farmer. — L. S. Coffin, a railroad 
commissioner of Iowa, " whose influence 
is always on the right side," owns an 800 
acre farm, one of the best in the State, 
which during his absence from home is 
largely managed by his daughter Miss Car- 
43 



rie, who delights in out-door life, "well 
educated and described as haying few 
equals anywhere as a practical agriculturist 
and stock-raiser." 



Hydro-Carbon Fuel. — We are pleased 
to learn that our friend E. Gr. Booth, the 
owner for the U. S. of the Carter's Patent 
hydro-carbon Retort will make at the State 
Fair a full and interesting exhibition of 
this novel invention for making water a 
practical aDd cheap fuel in comparison with 
wood and coal. He will have as we are in- 
formed by his agent, Capt. Benedict, a steam 
fire engine showing its use in this connec- 
tion, also two steam boilers, one 23 horse 
power, and one of a smaller size for agri- 
cultural purposes. 

We have in former issues of the Planter 
mentioned, at length, this utilization of iva- 
ter decomposition into its original elements 
of by hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen, the 
most inflammable of all gases and yielding 
the greatest amount of heat, is about to be- 
come an important agent as fuel for fire, as it 
is for extinguishing it. An amount of carbon 
is required to produce the chemical division 
of the elements of water and this is furnish- 
ed by crude petroleum. How far its use will 
supersede other fuel may be regarded as 
an open question, but the present outlook 
is in its favor. Come to the Fair and judge 
for yourselves. 

The First Gun. — We have just purchas- 
ed a lot of new material and will in a short 
time discard the "patent sheet," and pub- 
lish an "all at home paper." It will take 
a little time to get things in proper shape, 
bat we trust that our patrons will bear with 
us a few weeks longer. 

The above extract is taken fromtheiVbtto- 
way Weekly News published at Black's and 
White's, a flourishing railroad town in our 
native county. About a year ago we ven- 
tured to suggest to our brethren of the 
press in the rural districts, to discard the 
patent outsides so far as was necessary 
to adapt their papers to the local agricul- 
ture. These papers have their local features 
in all respects except agriculture, and we 
did not like to see this great interest ignor- 
ed in similar respect. 
We advised and still advise, that an in- 



572 



SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



[November 



side column or two should be devoted to 
farming topics, and that the farmers of the 
district should be invited to contribute in 
such a way as to awaken and promote a lo- 
cal interest in agriculture. 



What are your symptoms, sufferer? Are 
they a furred tongue, headache, oppression 
after eating„constipation? If so, you are 
dyspeptic and bilious, and nothing will meet 
your case so efficiently as Simmons Liver 
Regulator. 



Decline of man. Nervousness, Weakness, 
Dyspepsia, Impotence, Sexual Debility, 
cured by "Wells' Health Renewer." $1. 

The proprietors of Kendall's Spavin Cure 
challenge the whole world to produce its 
equal as a cure for rheumatism or any other 
deep-seated pain. It stands without a rival. 

Consumption Cured.— An old physician, 
retired from practice, having had placed in 
his hands by an East India missionary the 
formula of a simple vegetable remedy for 
the speedy and permanent cure of Con- 
sumption, Bronchitis, Catarrh, Asthma, 
and all Throat and Lung Affections, also 
a positive and radical cure for Nervous De- 
bility and all Nervous Complaints, after 
having tested its wonderful curative powers 
in thousands of cases, has felt it his duty 
to make it known to his suffering fellows. 
Actuated by this motive, and a desire to 
relieve human suffering, I will send free of 
charge, to all who desire it, this recipe, in 
German, French, or English, with full di- 
rections for preparing and using. Sent by 
mail by addressing with stamp, naming this 
paper. W. B. Noyes, 149 Power's Block, 
Rochester, N. Y. 



Growth ofa Large Industry. — Such has 
been the growth of the business of Wm. 
Knabe & Co., piano manufacturers, that 
even their immense factories have not been 
large enough for them. To accommodate 
this increasing business they have leased a 
large and convenient building just opposite 
their factories. The building was formerly 
used as a tobacco factory, and its size suits 
well for the purpose to which it will now be 
put. The building is on the southwest cor- 
ner of Eutaw and West streets, fronting 155 
feet on West street and 45 feet deep, with 
an engine house 40 by 45 feet. It is four 
stories in height, with a basement. By this 
extensive addition the firm will be able to 



increase its production to 70 pianos a week. 
— Baltimore American. 



BOOKS AND MAGAZINES. 
Bee-Keeping for Profit. — A new system 

of Bee Management, by Mrs. Lizzie E. 

Cotton, West Gorham, Me. Price, $1. 

This is a neat 1'Ule publication, which 
treats practically, and in an intelligent man- 
ner, of the whole subject of bee-keeping un- 
der distinctive heads: such as "Honey 
Bees," "The Controllable Hive, &c," 
" Feeding," "Hiving and Swarming," 
"Anger of Bees," "Bee Moth," and many 
other subjects connected with a proper un- 
derstanding of bees, their habits, and uses. 
See her advertisement in this issue of the 
Planter. 

Copp's U. S. Salary List and Civil Ser- 
vice Rules. — Our many readers will wel- 
come the solid information contained in the 
160 pages of this recently-issued book. It 
is prepared by Henry N. Copp, a lawyer of 
Washington, D. C. All the Government 
salaries are given from President Arthur's 
$50,000 to postmasters with $500, officials 
of the Treasury, Interior, War and Navy 
Departments, Custom Houses, Post Offices, 
and fully 20,000 federal offices arranged by 
States and Territories. Specimen examin- 
ation questions for admittance to the Civil 
Service throughout the country are added. 
The price of the book is only 35 cents. 

The Art Amateur for October. — We 
have so often spoken of this excellent pub- 
lication that we can scarcely say more in 
commendation, for each monthly issue 
seems to exceed in the beauty of illustra- 
ted subjects its predecessors. Montague 
Marks, Publisher, 23 Union square, New 
York ; $4 a year. 

Edwin Alden and Brother's Catalogue 
of the Newspapers of the United 
States. , 

We have received this substantial and 
well bound volume. As a Directory, it 
ranks among the first of its class. Its ar- 
rangement is good, so that easy reference 
can be made, and any existing paper or 
journal, wherever located, can be promptly 
found. E. Alden & Bros., Publishers, 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 



1883.] 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



573 



We have been favored by Prof. Baird 
•with the last Report of the Smithsonian 
Institution. It contains 839 pages, which 
are filled with important and interesting 
matter in many departments of knowledge, 
and much that an educated farmer can 
well appropriate. Its illustrations of In- 
dian mounds and other subjects are es- 
pecially interesting to the readers, or stu- 
dents, of the ancient relics of our country. 
The paper on Tuckdhoe, or Indian Bread, 
is drawn, to a large extent, from the old 
histories of Virginia. Prof. Baird will ac- 
cept our thanks for the book. Ask for it 
through your Congressman. It comes free 
of charge. 

Dio Lewis's Monthly. — We have the 
third number of this new Monthly — 112 
pages. It is rather unique in its get-up, in 
respect to paper and typography, but both 
are good, and its contents is varied and at- 
tractive. Price, $2.50 per year. Address, 
Dio Lewis, Editor, New York city. 

The November number of the North 
American Review contains, among other ex- 
cellent articles, one on John Brown, by 
the Rev. David N. Utter, which is calcu- 
lated to seriously affect the popular esti- 
mate of the hero of Osawatomie. If we 
had space we could tell something of this 
hero from a personal acquaintance formed 
when he traversed Virginia in the summer 
of 1859 under an assumed name. 

Address at the Nineteenth Session of 
the American Pomological Society, 
held in Philadelphia, Pa., September 12, 
13, 14, 1883, by Marshall P. Wilder. 
The venerable author of this Address 
has favored us with a copy, for which he 
will accept thanks. The Planter has gone 
to him for years, and we knowtthat there 
is not a more honored name connected 
with the horticultural and agricultural pro- 
gress of the United States. We quote 
from the morning edition of the Boston 
Journal : 

" Without over-estimate, it may be ques- 
tioned if there is one man in America 
whose life covers so wide a scope and such 



varied objects, in all of which he is con- 
spicuous, as the Hon. Marshall P. Wil- 
der ; and hardly one could be found to 
evoke such an assemblage as that which 
greeted his eighty-fifth birth-day on Satur- 
day evening at the Parker House." Hi3 
life nearly spans the century, and it is 
gratifying to see such useful men honored 
and respected in all parts of our country. 

Contagious Diseases of Domesticated 
Animals, from the Department of Ag- 
riculture, Washington, D. C. 
The Department has issued no book of 
greater importance than this. Its inves- 
tigations seem to be complete, and cover 
the whole country. It should be in the 
hands of all cattle breeders and dealers. 

Report of the Condition of Crops for 
September, by the Department of Ag- 
riculture at Washington. 
For Virginia the Report is as follows : 
Corn, 70; wheat, 98; rye, 98; oats, 84: 
buck-wheat, 70 ; potatoes, 86 ; tobacco, 65 : 
cotton, 72 ; sorghum, 80 ; apples, 80 : 
peaches, 85; grapes, 96; hogs, 97. 

Abstract of the Minutes of the Meeting 
of the National Fertilizer Associa- 
tion, August 29, 1883. 
We are indebted to our friend, John Ott, 
of this city, for this pamphlet. 

Every Saturday is again on our table 
after a temporary absence. It is an excel- 
lent weekly and family paper. Its ener- 
getic city editor, R. G. Agee, is always on 
the path for news and whatever will con- 
tribute to the value of his publication. 
Price, $2.60 per annum. 

Commissioner Loring's Circular gives 
notice that a convention will be held at 
Chicago on the 15th and 16th of Novem- 
ber, instant, "for conference concerning 
contagious diseases among our domestic 
animals," and reports and addresses' will be 
made and delivered on various aspects of 
the question. 

"Agricultural, live stock, and dairy as- 
sociations are invited to send representa- 
tives, and all persons interested in breed- 
ing, rearing, transporting, importing, or 
exporting any class of farm animals will 
be welcomed to the Convention." 




574 



SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



[November 



N. W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper 

Annual for 1883. 

We have received this book, which con- 
tains about 800 pages, aud is neatly and 
substantially bound. It is a complete com- 
pendium of all the daily and weekly news- 
papers of the United States and Canadian 
Provinces, as well as the monthly and other 
publications. It has also much statistical 
information in respect to every county in 
the United States, as also of the cities and 
towns. Price, $3. Address N. W. Ayer 
& Sox, Times Building, Philadelphia. 

Complimentary Tickets Received. — 
We extend our thanks to the Piedmont 
Agricultural Society, omitted in our last 
issue ; the Southern Exhibition at Louis- 
ville, Ky. ; the North Carolina State So- 
ciety, and the Scott Tobacco Association, 
Georgetown, Ky. , for complimentary invi- 
tations to attend their respective Fairs. 

Catalogues Received. — Pedigree Black- 
berry, originated and grown by William 
Parry', Parry P. 0., New Jersey. 

Strawberries, Raspberries and other Smatf 
Fruits, Grapes, etc , by William Parry', 
Parry P. 0., New Jersey. 

Small Fruits a Specialty, by John S. 
Collins, Moorestown, New Jersey. 



NEW ADVERTISEMENTS. 

John E. Doherty, Merchant Tailor, 822 
east Main street, renews his advertisement 
for a year. In a former issue we spoke 
frankly, and we are sure knowingly, after 
fifteen years dealing with him. As a mer- 
chant tailor, no man, or firm in the South 
or as we may say, elsewhere exceeds him 
in the quality of his goods, in proportionate 
cheapness, and satisfactory fitting of the 
clothing furnished. His stock of cloths, 
and cassimeres is well selected, and is not 
excelled if equaled by any establishment 
in his line, South or North. 

Wooldridge, Travers & Co., renew 
for one year their advertisement of Orchilla 
Guano, This guano is shipped here from 
the Orchilla Islands in bulk, and is unma- 
nipulated after arrival, except so far as 
sieving, and probably some drying are ne- 



cessary to fit it for bagging and use. It is 
very rich in the phosphates, and peculiar- 
ly adapted to the grain and grass crops. 
The reported results, of which we have seen 
many, places it very high among the best 
fertilizers now used. Address Messrs. W. 
T. & Co. Baltimore, Md., or Capt. C. G. 
Snead, importer's agent, Richmond Va. 

Frederick A. Osborn advertises pleas- 
ure carriages of all kinds. Mr. 0. is a son 
of an old friend of ours who did a similar 
business here long before the Confederate 
war under the firm of Osborn & Hitchcock . 
The first family-carriage we ever used was 
purchased of him, and its style and finished 
workmanship led to many other purchases 
in our portion of the State. 

The son who has now established a new 
business in our city, is doubtless a "chip 
of the old block," and, as such, we can, 
and do, cheerfully recommend him. 

Joseph M. Blair, family grocer. In July 
last Mr. Blair moved into one of the elegant 
stores of the Pace Block, and seems to be 
doing a thriving business ; and this he de- 
serves to do, if energy, courtesy, and capa- 
city in himself aud all his employees have 
any claims on the public. It is unnecessa- 
ry to say that his goods are well selected 
and of the best quality. Family tea, a cov- 
eted article generally, is one of his special- 
ties. 

As we do not drink tea, coffee being our 

favorite, we cannot bear personal testimony 

but we do, now and then, take a bottle of 

Blair's Own whiskey which is "number 
one." 

G. Percy Hawes. This is a man little 
in stature but big in energy, integrity and 
enterprise. Less than sixty day s ago his ma- 
chine shops were entirely destroyed by fire, 
but they are now rebuilt and supplied with 
the best machinery and appliances for his 
business. 

Whoever wants saws of any kind, from 

the largest circular to the smallest keyhole 

or old saws repaired, or edged tools for any 

purpose, should apply to this establish- 
ment. 

Habliston & Brother, have been dealers 
in and manufacturers of, furniture for more 



1883. 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



575 



than forty years in this city. There is no 
establishment which excels them in the ex- 
tent, variety, beauty and fitness of the stock 
which they always carry. It is scarcely 
possible for one to go into their ware-rooms 
and leave without finding what is wanted, 
and at satisfactory prices. And besides this 
no business-men have a higher personal 
standing for just and fair dealings. 

Berkshire Hogs. See E. L. Hoffman's 
advertisement. 

Monarch Lightning Sawing Machine, by 
C. H. Fuller Chicago Illinois. 

J. S. Collins Moorestowx N. J., adver- 
tises pear trees through N. W. Ayer & Son. 
Philadelphia. 

Photo-Copying Agents, through G. P. 
Powell & Co., Cincinnati, 0. 



Three years ago St. Julian, the great Cal- 
ifornia trotter, was unknown ; the same 
may be said of Kendall's Spavin Cure. 
Now both have a world wide reputation. 
Why? Because they both have merit. 
One is a great trotter, the other is the most 
successful remedy ever discovered to be 
used on man or beast. Read advt. 



Rheumatism is the most terrible disease 
that has ever afflicted humanity, yet it in- 
stantly yields to the powerful drugs that 
Kendall's Spavin Cure is composed of. 
Read advt. 



.ADVERTISEMENTS DROPPED 

1. Angelo Pearl Painting, by the An- 
gelo Portrait Company, Detroit, Michigan. 

2. Money can be made it c, from the 
Empire Manufacturing Company, Brook- 
lyn, E. D., N. Y. 

Bills have been repeatedly rendered in 
the case of each of these advertisements, 
and replies urged, but we hear nothing. 

This conduct is suspicious, and we there- 
fore drop them from our columns, and warn 
our associates of the press that advance pay- 
ments should be demanded of these parties 
— a precaution we overlooked. Beware of 
them ! 



Get it, sure! Wells' "Rough on Rats" 
Almanac, at druggists, or mail for 2c. 
stamp. E. S. Wells, Jersey City. 



Healthfulxess can be preserved in ma- 
larial districts by the powerful tonic and 
alterative effect of a daily dose of Simmons 
Liver Regulator, the true malarial anti- 
dote. 

DARBY'S 

PROPHYLACTIC FLUID. 

#For the prevention and treatment of 

DIPHTHERIA, SCARLET FEVER, 

SMALLPOX, YELLOW FEVER, 

MALARIA, &c. 

The free use of the Fluid will do more to 

arrest and cure these diseases than any 

known preparation. 

Darby's Prophylactic Fluid, a safeguard 
against all Pestilence, Infection, Con- 
tagion and Epidemics. 
Use as a Gargle for the Throat, as a Wash 
for the Person, and as a Disinfectant 
for the House. 
A CERTAIN REMEDY AGAINST ALL 
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 

Neutralizes at once all noxious odors 
and gases. Destroys the germs of diseases 
and septic (putrescent) floating impercepti- 
ble in the air or such as have effected a 
lodgment in the throat or on the person. 
PERFECTLY HARMLESS USED 
INTERN ALL Y or EXTERN ALL Y. 
J. H. ZEILIN & CO., Proprietors,_ 
Manufacturing Chemists, Philadelphia. 
£5irPrice, 50 cents per bottle. Pint bot- 
tles, SI. nov ly 



GROCER 



303 Main Street (Pace's Block), RICHMOND, VA. 

Take pleasure in announcing that he has the Handsomest and Largest Fancy 
Grocery in the South, occupying three spacious floors, which will be laden at all 
times with the purest and most seasonable goods. As heretofore, my efforts will be to 
serve and satisfy the public. No one shall leave my establishment without having full 
value for every dollar invested. Orders are requested for the purest goods at the lowest 
prices. Samples sent upon application. Shipments carefully and promptly made. 



BOOKS! 

The largest assortment of books (new and 
old) in all the Departments of Litera- 
ture (Agricultural Works a specialty) in 
the Southern States is at 1302 and 1304 
Main street, Richmond, Va. 

J. W. RANDOLPH & ENGLISH, 

oct 2t 



Are you DEAF? 

FERRIS' RESTORATIVE will invariably cure 
you. It is endorsed by all home and foreign physi- 
cians and scientists. It cures where all other means 
tail. Don't neglect to send for circulars ; it will pay 
you. Ask your Druggist for it. EDWIN FEK- 
RIS & CO., Piker Building, Cincinnati, O. jaly 



Premium Chester White, 
Berkshire and Poland China 
Pigs, Fine Setter Dogs, 
, Scotch Shepherds and Fox 
3*53? ^^JU Hounds, bred and for sale 
=—=s*aP^g5^0» by ALEX. PEOPLES, West 
Chester, Chester county, Pa. Send stamp for circu- 
lar and price-list. fo i y 

DR. HENRY FROLINgT" 

ANALYTICAL & CONSULTING CHEMIST 

Laboratory: 17 South Twelfth Street, 
RICHMOND, VA. 



BEL JVC ONT 

Stock & Stud Farm. 

I continue to breed Thoroughbred, Riding, 
Trotting, Light and Heavy Draft Horses. 
The best families of Shorthorn Cattle and 
Berkshire Swine for sale at prices and 
terms to induce sales without jockeying. 
Those stallions not sold early in the year 
may be farmed on sound business terms to 
suit clubs, individuals and patrons. 

S. W. FICKLIN, 

jan Near Charlottesville, Va. 




we win sena you a watch or a ctiatn 
BY MAIL OR EXPRESS, COD., to be 
examined before paying any money 

and If not satisfactory, returned at 
our expense. We manufacture all 
our watches and save you 30 per 
cent. Catalogue of 250 styles free. 
Every Watch Warranted. Address 

STANDARD AMERICAN WATCH CO., 

PITTSBURGH, PA. . 



Oct ly 



A remarkable remedy for Stomach, Liver, 
Kidney or Bladder Disorders, Jaundice, 
Chills, Malaria, Sick Headache, Indiges- 
tion and Costiveness. 

Mailed free to any address upon receipt of 
price, $1. W. S. PILCHER, Agent, 
Broad and Pine streets, 

au!2t RICHMOND, VA. 




EUREKA.! 

Is the Standard Incubator the world over. 
Made by J. L. CAMPBELL, West Eliza- 
beth, Al legheny Co., Penn. jely 

89,999 PEACH TKBE8AUM 

runeiie s of new and old Strawberries 
.£ ^^ . aI Ji^. G . r ?P ei ii Raspberries, etc! 




bniihl WI.UW I Lll 

|5™ Blackoerry, early, hardv, Rood. 
WSingLe hill yielded J 3 quarts at one 



ss 



DIXIE SHIRTS! 

FINE DRESS SHIRTS a specialty. 

UNDERWEAR of all kinds ready made 
or to measure at short notice. Write for 
prices and printed blanks for self-measure- 
ment. We employ the most experienced 
cutters and skilled operators. We use the 
most improved steam machinery in our 
factory. 

We guarantee the quality and fit of every 
garment that goes from our factory. Cor- 
respondence solicited. 

H. T. MILLER &, CO., 

MANUFACTURERS, 

Cor. Ninth aM Main Sts.,RictooM.Va. 

[oct ly] 

"HTTP TT^TTTmTQ Registered stock, Sows 
AJ£Uw;i.U.UiAldiO. in farrow, and Pigs of 
all ages. K L. HOFFMAN, Banker Hill, W. Va 
novSt 



SOUTH U 




ESTABLISHED IN 1870. 

STONO-PHOSPHATE COMPANY, 

CHARLESTON, S. CL 
WE OFPEE TO THE PLANTERS 

p UU ROOK 

GROUND TO A POWDER AS FINE AS WHEAT FLOUR- 

"PHOSPHATE FLOATS," 

FOR APPLICATION TO 

GRAIN, GRASSES, AND FOR COMPOSTING 

The Rock is subjected to FREQUENT ANALYSIS by the Company's Chemist, 
and is of the BEST QUALITY. 

For TERMS, etc, address the Company. 

SAMPLE sent by mail upon application. 
del2m 



DTJV^L & JNOJblTON'S 

Celebrated Horse Tonic, 

For improving the condition of Horses, Mules, Cattle and Hogs, giving them an appe- 
tite and relieving them of Bots and Worms, Hidebound Surfeit and Distemper and all 
diseases to which a horse is subject internally. It is a certain cure for Hog Cholera 
given in half teaspoonful doses twice a day well mixed in the feed. From a large num- 
ber of certificates, we select the following : 
Mr E P Reeves • Richmond, Va. 

Dear Sir,— I have be-n using your Duval & Norton's Horse Tonic for the last eighteen 
months, and find it the best medicine I have ever used for improving the general health 
and appetite of horses in bad condition. Respectfully, „,,,,, 

RO. VAUGHAN, Manager Richmond City Railway Stables. 

HOG CHOLERA. 
The '-Horse Tonic" is a certain remedy for the above dangerous disease— the proprie- 
tor will warrant it to cure. Read the following : 
Mp J P Duval ■ Chesterfield Co. 

Dear Sir,— I take pleasure in saying that I have made a most valuable discovery-it is 
this: that your Horse Tonic will certainly cure the fatal disease called Hog Cholera. 
Last month, finding that I had about a half bottle of your " Horse Tonic" left on hand, 
I thought I would try it ; and I did not lose one of my hogs after I commenced the use 
of it ; but before I began with the tonic, I had lost eight or ten ; and I think I should 
have lost nearly all of them if I had not used your very valuable remedy _ 

Very respectfully, JN0 - *>• WrbOUMJJ. 

The excellence of this medicine is testified to by numerous gentlemen of standing, 
amongst them Prof. Ben. S. Ewell, of Williamsburg Va ; Thomas W. Turner, Franklin 
Street Stables, Richmond; Col. Wm. Watts, of Big Lick, Roanoke county, Va. 

Prepared only by E. P. REEVE, 602 E. Marshall Street, Richmond, Va. 
seply 



R. L. Christian. ^ l White- 

CHRISTIAN & WHITE, 



Here you will find the largest and finest assortment of the finest of 

FAMILY GROCERIES, WINES, LIQUORS, CIGARS, &c. 

South of New York. They are Agents of Hotopp's Celebrated Premium Virginia 
CLARETS, Portner's TIVOLI LAGER BEER, and Werners AMERICAN CHAM- 
PAGNE, and keep always in stock a full line of the leading and most popular brands of 
Table Wines and Imported Champagnes. oct 3t 




ANDRET 



PEDIGREE 

SEEDS! 

THE U. S. MAIL BRINGS US TO YOUR DOOR! 

The most extensive Seed Growers in America. Founded 1 784. Dron us a Postal Card 
for our PRICED CATALOGUE. Address simply LANDKETH, PHILADELPHIA: 



The Session begins on the FIRST OF OCTOBER, and continues until the Thursday 
before the fourth day of July ensuing. 

The Institution is organized in separate Schools on the Eclectic Svstem, embracing 
FULL COURSES OF INSTRUCTION IN LITERATURE AND SCIENCE, and in 
the PROFESSIONS OF LAW, MEDICINE, 

ENGINEERING AND AGRICULTURE. 

THE EXPENSES of the student (except such as enter the practical laboratories) ex- 
clusive of the cost of text-books, clothing and pocket money, a.e from $356 to $391, ac- 
cording to Schools selected; or, for those who economize by messing, these expenses 
are from $266 to $300. No charge for tuition candidates for the ministry unable to meet 
the expense. 

Apply for Catalogues to W. A. Winston, Secretary, P. 0. University of Virginia, Al- 
bemarle county, Va. JAMES F. HARRISON, M. D., Chairman of the Faculty. 

seply 



GRAPE 



POCKXINGTON,DUCH- 

ESS, LADY WASHING- 
TON, VERGENNIiS, 

moore's karly,.h;f. 
ferson, early vic- 
tor, brighton. 



Also other Small Fruits, arid all older "varie- 
ties Grapes, Extraquality. Warranted trne. 
Cheap by mail. Low Kates to Dealers. 

au 9t 




PE? F lU TI QQ £- KGE - T — - K '•? AMERICA 



.Prices reduced. Illus.Catalojrue/ree' 
T. S. HUBBARD, Fredonlo, N. T. 




ATLASH E 

INDIANAPOLIS, IND., U. S. A. 



MANUEACTUBEES OF 

STEAM ENGINES 
m BOILERS. 

CARRY ENGINES and BOILERS IN STOCKfor IMMEDIATE DELIVERY 




HABLISTON & BROTHER 

905 MAIN STREET, 

ARE NOW EXHIBITING A SPLENDID LINE OF 



Our recent additions include a very choice selection of NEW PATTERNS cakdated 
to please the taste of the most fastidious buyers. 



MOSES & CLBMONS, 

MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS IN 

BONE FERTILIZEBS* 



IB IR^UST JDS- 
Baldwin & Co's American Dissolved Bones— For Tobacco. 
Baldwin & Co's Bone Compound— For Wheat, Corn and Cotton. 
Baldwin & Co's Georgia Grange Dissolved Bone, with Potash. 
Avalon American Dissolved Bones, 
Avalon Dissolved Bones. 
Also, PURE BONE MEAL. 

These goods are of the very highest grade, and are recommended with entire 
confidence to consumers. Circulars will be mailed to parties seeking informa- 
to, on application. MO f&B & CLEMONgi 

[ sep 3t] Shocke Slip, Richmond, Va. 



P. O. Box 126. 



VIRGINIA AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL 




3 iPflTP 



ymmmm 

THE ELEVENTH SESSION BEGINS SEPT. 6th- 

200 State SMents Pay No Tuition. Necessary Expenses for 10 Months, $132. 

Apply to your County Superintendent of Schools, or address 



sep3t 



T. N. CONRAD, President, 

BLACKSBURG, VA. 



BJES"VO r DEPARTURE ! 

Coleman's Patent Harness 

(Patented April 2, 1878.) 

JA^V^^^S^^n^ a ° d P">P"etor of the Patent Right for North Carolina. 
JAJUJiib M. BRANCH, General Sales Agent. 



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More work can be done with this Harness than anv other, and with Greater ease to the toam „. it „„„„ ■. 
them to be placed nearer the load, thereby requiring less power to move it Ther being no ^hiffletreeTor 

traces to load down the ulnw.hpim nn m r,i.(»f.hoi.^; n »™ «._ .mi.. 

friction on 1 

shoulders, 

perfections u ... . . , , . , - . . . ,■, . 

becomes easy. For Gins, Threshers, Lead of Wagons, Horse Cars, &c , it can be used to advfntage" g 

GE 3F3. TIPI O A.TE© . 
Powhatan Co., Va., Oct. 11th, 1883. 




Mr. L. H. Finney 

Dear Sir,— I have thoroughly tried the Patent 
Harness you are selling, and it affords me much 
pleasure to say that it will do all you claimed for it. 
I cannot now mention its many advantages over the 
41 old way," but will give it as iny opinion that any 
farmer who will give it five minutes' trial will be 
convinced that he cannot afford to be without it. 
Yours truly, M. W. Hancock. 

Powhatan Co., Va., Oct. 10th, 1883. 
Mr. L. H. Finney : 

Dear Sir,— Having tested, by trial, the merits of 
your Harness, I unhesitatingly recommend it to 
every farmer who has two or more horses. It has 
only to be tried to be appreciated. Am satisfied you 
are not asking too much for it, since I would pay 
double the price asked rather than farm without it. 
Yours, &c, G. B. Hancock. 

Henrico Co., Va , Sept. 28, 1883 
John Tribble, General Sales Agent : 

Dear Sir,— It is with pleasure I certify to the merits 
of Coleman's Harness. I find a great decrease of 
draft and chaffing of teams, also less wear on the 
point of the plow. Have given it a fair trial for two 
•weeks, and if I could not replace them would not 
take double what I gave for them. The draft being 
equally distributed, prevents bruising or galling of 
shoulders. I bought six sets. 

Respectfully, W. T. Ratcliffe. 



Belmead. Powhatan Co., Va., Oct 4, 1883. 
L. H. Finney, Esq. : 

Dear Sir,—\ have carefully tried the Patent Har- 
ness to the plow and wagon, and am very favorably 
impressed with it. It is very valuable for plowing 
ditch hanks near fences, in orchards, &c, as well as 
to the lead of a wagon in woods or other places and 
in turning at the ends of lands it is very preferable 
to the whiffletrees and traces. It does not scar and 
rub the team, as is often the case with the old gear 
In taking up or lengthening the main chain, it has 
a great advantage over the old way, as it can be done 
instantly. I now have two sets and shall want 
three more. Yours, very truly, 

Richard Meech. 

*„ Charleston, S. C, April 18, 1881. 
I have used Coleman's Patent Harness all the win- 
ter on ray mules, ginning at my plantation in 
Orangeburg county, and the more I use it the better 
I like it. Two mules with this harness work my 
Gin with as much ease as three did with the ordi- 
nary harness, and with much more com fort, as it does 
not rub nor chafe them at all. I have also used it to 
my double plow, and cannot imagine anything equal 
to it It is certainly the greatest improvement in 
the harness line I have ever seen. 

Paul S. Felder, 
Agent of the State Grange of So. Ca. 



Automatic Gate Latch. 

The watchwords of success and the leading fea- 
tures of ibis popular latch are— 

1st SIMPLICITY— because of the absence 01 
pullets, wises, speings, or other attachments lia- 
ble to get out of order. 

2d. DURABILITY— since it is made ot mallea- 

BL M X E°SE OF MOVEMENT— to fully understand 
which, it is only to be contrasted with the worry 
and annoyance due to an effort to disengage a 
wooden- latch made tight either by the "swelling 
of the wet timber, or the sagging of the gale, or both. 
(A five-year child can always unlock this 

^trf UNIVERSAL ADAPTIVENESS to either 
«ide of any gate, and to the sagging of the gate. 

oth SECURITY against stock depredation, 
which is absolute and positive when instructions 

%h! U CERTAINTY OF LOCK^G-this is the 
combined result of its automatic action together 
with the absence of friction and the protection 
against the freezing up of the catch-plate. 

7th CHEAPNESS, which is estimated upon the 
"basis 'of the foregoing claims; all of which have 
>>een sustained wherever used. 
S®=.A liberal discount on all sales of four and over. 
Especially remunerative terms to Agents. 

READ THE FOLLOWING : 
Dear Sirs — Flease find check for the five Automatic 
Gate Latches. I have now had some of them in use 
on mv farm for three or four weeks, and am very 
much pleased with them. In my opinion, they are 
everything you claim for them. I don t think they 
can'be improved upon. It seems to me to be aper- 
fecl gate latch. (Signed) 

BoydUm, Va. June 25, 1883. Geo. B. Finch. 

I have two of your Automatic Gate Latches in use. 
Thev are doing well. Their cheapness and svn- 
Vlicuy ought to <h> away with ^others^use. 

Belmont, Va., Sept. 6th, 18S3. 

For Circular and Price-List, address 

AUTOMATIC GATE LATCH COIPAM 



oct3t 



1422 Main St., Richmond, Va. 



G 1 . HE. MILLERj 

408 E. Marshall Street, Richmond, Va. 

All kinds of SEWIiNG MACHINERY 

repaired. Needles and Attachments, &c, 

for sale. °^J1L_ 

"ROBERT^ DURNALL & HICKS, 
STOCK FARIAS 

Near WEST CHESTER, Chester Co,, Pa. 



Dutch Friesian Cattle 

•ENORMAN 
PERCHERON 



GORMAN WORSES 

Desire to call the attention of gentlemen and 
dealers to their stock as above, confident that 
they have as fine lots as have been brought to 
this country, all having been selected by a mem- 
ber of our firm in person, who visited the best 
hf-rds in Holland; and under the guidance of one 
of the mo»t experienced horsemen in France made 
Selections from the best horses . m Normandy. 
Write for Catalogue and any information to 
JOHN H. HICKS, Box 684, West Chester, Pa. 

octSt 



• WILSON JUNIOR PEDIGREE • 

BLACKBERRY 

The largest, best and 

most productive Early 
Blackberry, %% inches 
around, from seed of se- 
lected Wilson's Early. 

KIEFFER HYBRID 

?m TREES 

800,000 
[PEACH TREES 




Strawberries, 
Raspbei-ries, 
Grapes, &c.,&c. 



II 



Catalogue with! C D C C 

Colored Plates t HEX 

WIVh PARRY, 

PAK.RYP.O.,NoJ- 



BERKSHIRE AND JERSEY RED 

Pigs & Hogs 

FOB. SALE I 

Berkshire Pigs, two months old. SI. 
Berkshire Sows, with pigs by Jersey Boar, 
weighing from 100 to 250 pounds, 10c. per 
nound, nett, delivered on the cars. 
V C. R CULLEN, 

au 4t 1305 Main St., Richmond, Va. 

grTpe^Tines 

FOB, SALE I 

Two years old and well rooted. Very low. 
\ddress EMIL F. HENKENIUS, Bum- 
pass, Louisa Co.. Va. sep3 L 

"Dr. GEORGE B. STEEL, 

:Jfflfiifffii8Dfe 

723 Main Street, Richmond, Va. 
Cius. L. Steel, M. D., D. D. S., Assistant, 
oct It 

tssm B ^& f? & Return to us with TEH 
TleiA Rliif CTS.^.™n'U ? etbymaiJ 
1 1181 WWA a GOLDEN BOX 0?tS8QDS 

BJBthan anything el^mAinewa. 
^^ Need mi capital. MAoung,17J^ 

OCt 6t 



myt^gels^£n^™. r AJ^ut,^ £ ^ 5rfe; 



C. F. JOHNSTON, 



918 Main Street, Richmond, Va. 

Pianos, Organs, and Musical Instruments 
of all kinds. . 

Books, Stationery, Sheet Music, &c.,_&c 
Subscriptions received to all publications 
at office rates. Send for Catalogue of 5- 
cent Music. oct lt; 



VIRGINIA. 

Agricultural & Mechanical 
Collage farm, 

BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA. 

Shorthorn Bull Calves For Sale- 
pedigree guaranteed— price, $75.00. 

Southdown Buck Lambs For Sale 
— pure blood— price, $15.00. 

Berkshire and Jersey Bed Pigs 
For Sale— pure blood— price, $10 a pair. 
China Geese, - - - $ 5 00 a pair. 
Pekin Ducks, - - 3 00 per trio. 

Bronze Turkej's, - - 10 00 " 
Plymouth Rock Chickens, 3 00 
Pure Game Chickens, - 5 00 " 
English Dorking Chickens, 3 00 " 

Address, 

THOS. N. CONRAD. 
oet 3t Blacksburg. Va 



SAMPLE COPIES 



OF THE 



"SOUTHHWEST" 

The Leading Agricultural Paper of the 

Mississippi Valley. A Journa! which 

should be in every family. 

ONLY FiFTY CENTS A YEAR. 

TO CLUB RAISERS. 

Send for our special offer to workers. 
The most liberal and satisfactory offer ever 
made for getting subscribers. 

Address "SOUTH & WEST, 

oct tf St. Louis. Mo. 



"THE BEST IS THE CHEAPEST." 

MILLS, fell III ft ES Horse Powai, 

nov!2t 



COShotCun 



C3 




^Revolvers, 
^Rifles, 
[ ' ^Etc. 

Address ^^^^H 

'Great Wester? _ 

GunWorka, Pittsburgh/Pa* 



C3-, ^KT_ J03STES, 

dentist! 

Office : No. 807 Franklin St., bet. 
Eighth and Ninth. 
Elegant rooms ; uses best materials ; gentle, quick 
•and thorough work ; long experience, and prices re- 
duced. Uses gas and chloroform in extracting teeth 
nov ]v 



not, life is sweeping bv, go and dare 
before you die, something mighty 
and sublime leave behind to conquer 
lime. •fGG a week in your own town. 
No risk. Everything new. Capital 
We will furnish you everything, 
fortunes. Ladies maKe as much 



REST 

So outfit free. 

not required. 

Many are makiu_ 

as men, and boys and girls make great pay. Reade 

if you want business at which vou can make "reat 

pay all the time, write for particulars to H Hal- 

lett & Co., Portland, Maine. j'anly 

STANDARD 

CARRIAGE REPOSITORY 

1505 Franklin Street. 

Custom-made work. Buggies, Pba?tons, Carriages 
and Farm Wagons at wholesale factory prices. All 
work warranted. ap ly 



F. Stearns' 1Y0.I Fertilizer 

To the Farmers of Virginia : 
oT^?,"I> 1 f^ u 'T: We comin "e to manufacture this 
lr^ RIOR FERTILIZER, composed of PURE 
i!Vo,r / l, Ah (Partially dissolved) combined with 
IISH GUANO, ANIMAL MATTER, and POTASH 
(muriate). 

We grind the bone and fish ourselves, and can 
™£,™I its purity. Nothing can be better for 
TOBACCO and ALL SPRING CROPS, as testified to 
by the best farmers in Virginia, who have used it 
Price, S40 per ton on board cars in Richmond. 

Our PURE BONE MEAL, ground fine, on hand 
and for sale at the same price. 

Send in your orders at an earlv day, as our stock 
will be limited, Address 

STEARNS & HALSEY, 
No. 15 Fifteenth street, Richmond, Va. 



Franklin Stearns, ) 
J. Morton Halsey. ; 



sep tf 



422 BR0AlJ street, ^nn 
NEW STORE-NEW GOODS! 

J. M. WERTHEIMER 

4:2 Broad Street, between Fourth and 
Fifth Streets, 
(opposite Fourqurean, Price, Temple & Co. 
Having withdrawn from the firm of Heller & Co 
oli Broad street, I inform my friends and the public 
ln general that I have established mvself at above 
place, where I shall commence with an entire new 
stock of BOOTS, SHOES, TRUNKS, &c , and shall 
only keep such goods as will give entire satisfaction. 
1 hanking ior the very large patronage of the past 
I solicit the same for the future at mv new stand 
J. M. WERTHEIMER, 
422 Broad St., bet. Fourth and Fifth, 
" ot ■" "P- l-'ou rqii rean. Price. Temple & Co 

CRAPE VINES! 

Jefferson, Lady .Washington, Pocklington, Del- 
J.',V.". , ' < ''„ < atawbllj Concords. Etc. LOW Kit 
THAN THE LOWEST. Price list lVee, .with . lith- 

EVERETT BROWN & C0.fe«t?l: 

au 3t 



J. T. GATE WOOD, 



HEALER IK 



MANHOOD 




ght ®mtvm, 

LIQUORS AND FEED. 

116 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Va. 

Families having a surplus of anything produced 
In the Dairr, Barnyard or Garden, will do well to 
advise with me. Correspondence solicited. auly 

P. A. SUBLETT. W. M. CARY. 

SUBLETT & CARY, 

Commission Merchants 

No. 113 South Twelfth Street, 
RICHMOND, VA. 

Specialties: Tobacco, Cotton, Flour, Grain and 
Forage. Grain Sacks furnished to order. 

J. F. Jacob and B. Lorraine, of Richmond, Ta., 
and Nat Feazer, of Orange County, Ta., respect- 
fully solicit the patronage of their friends. aul2t 

OF HSRl? 

CENTENNIAL. 

Send/or Catalogvt. 

«**r,T*r™« SAWMILLS 

STEAM ENGINES, 

LB.FARQt'HAB.Iork.P... 

Cheapest and best for all pur 
■poses — sLmple^strong, anddu 
rable. Also Horse Pow- 
ers and Gin Gear. 

Saw, Getst Aim Cob 
Mills, Giu3, Pbesses 
asdMachkjeet gener- 
ally. Inquiriesprornptty 
answered. 

VertioalEngineSjWith or without s _ 
wheels, very eonveni- ^*V 3 **" £ 

ent, economical and "(s^fe^-^., . i 
complete in every de- 
• tail, best and 
£ j» cheapest Vert- 
J3i( icalinthe/ 
Wl/&b. world. Fig. 
\i is engine 
Jinnse-Fig. 
L 2 ready for 
toad. 

The Farquhar Separator 

Warranted) 

Pwna. 
Woria, 

Torfc, Pa. 

Lightest draft, 
most d j rable. 
£.— .plr-it. mcmt 

economic nl 

tad p-rfect hi 
rsa, .Vrttnaa " 
p3m, cleans it 

tidj ..--_,_-/ i 

and fe$BBW£§£k ™ s 

n3*05ST PfilSE H.'t Jtt tmffi w.sl 81L7SB HEDAA 

AWAMEI \t£3i&Et&B&w AT 

"*:." ABATORS. ^^^^^^^ P8I1S EXBOSlM. 

- --' —N«tT»»"l OiUlogua. •*AirMl.d..B.i l 'arsu*ar. *or*,P* 

nov tf 

| JJj/ r«<t«Ti matt. Full Description 
Moody's Now Tailor System of 

DreSS Cuttin? »0ODt ft CO, Cincinnati, 









FREE 

nov 12t 



KNOW THYSELF., 

A BOOK FOR EVERY MAN. 
YOUNG, MIDDLE-AGED AND OLD. 

The untold miseries that result from in- 
discretion in early life ma-- be alleviated 
and cured. Those who doubt this asser- 
tion should purchase ar.d read the new 
medical work published by the Peabody 
Medical Institute, Boston, entitled the 
Science of Life : or, Self Preserva- 
tion. It is not only a complete and per- 
fect treatise on Manhood, Exhausted Vi- 
tality, Nervous and Physical Debility, Pre- 
mature Decline in man, Errors of Youth, 
etc. , but it contains one hundred and twen- 
ty-five prescriptions for acute and chronic 
diseases, each one of which, is inval- 
uable, so proved by the author, whose ex- 
perience for twenty-one years is such as 
probably never before fell to the lot of any 
physician. It contains 300 pages, bound 
in beautiful embossed covers, full gilt, em- 
bellished with the very finest steel engrav- 
ings, guaranteed to be a finer work in every 
sense — mechanical, literary or profession- 
al—than any other work retailed in this 
country for §2.50, or the money will be re- 
funded. Price, only $1.25 by mail. Gold 
Medal awarded the author by the National 
Medical Association. Illustrated sample 
sent on receipt of six cents. Send now. 

Address PEABODY MEDICAL IN- 
STITUTE, or Dr. W. H. PARKER, No. 
4 Bulfinch street, Boston, Mass. The au- 
thor may be consulted on all diseases re- 
quiring skill and experience. jaly 

THOROUGHBRED 

SHORTHORN CATTLE. 

MERINO SHEEP and BERKSHIRE 
PIGS. Bred and for sale, at moderate 
prices, by S. S. BRADFORD, 

j a i — i y Culpeper, Va. 

■ ail _*% ■■ people are always on the lookout for 
lAf l\ L chances to increase their earnings, 
UU I jV r su-\ in time become wealthy; those 
f f |yb who do not improve their opportu- 
nities remain in poverty. We offer a great chance 
to make money. We want many men, women, boys 
and girls to work for us right in their own localities. 
Any one can do the work properly from the first 
start. The business will pay more than ten times 
ordinary wages. Expensive outfit furnished free. 
No one who engages fails t o make money rapidly 
You can devote your whole time to the work, or only 
your spare moments. Full information and all'that 
is needed sent free. Address Stinsos & Co., Port- 
land, Maine. J a Q lv 




IT CURES 

SPAVINS, SPLINTS, CURBS, RING-BONES 



All Similar Blemishes, 

And Remotes the Bunch Without Blistering. 

For man it is now known to be ONE OF THE BEST, if not THE BEST LINIMENT 
EVER DISCOVERED. 

The most successful remedy ever discovered, as it is certain in its effects, and does not 
blister. Also excellent for human flesh. Read proof below : 

[From the Akron Commercial. Ohio, of November 25th, 1882.] 

Readers of the Commercial cannot well forget that a large space has for years been taken up bv Kendall's 
advertisements— especially of a certain Spavin Cure. We have had dealings with Dr. Kendall for many 
years, and we know of some large business houses in cities near by, who have also dealt with him for many 
years and the truth is fully and faithfully proven, not only that he is a good honest man, and that his cele- 
brated Spavin Cure is not only all that it is recommended to be, but that the English language is not capable 
oi recommending it too highly. r 

Kendall's Spavin Cure will cure spavins. There are hundreds of cases in which that has been proven to 
our certain knowledge, but, after all, if any person confines the usefulness of this celebrated medicine to 
curing spavins alone, they make a big mistake. It is the best medicine known as an outward application 
for rheumatism in the human family It is good for pains and aches, swellings and lameness, and is just as 
safely applied to men, women and children as it is to horses. We know that there are other good liniments, 
out we do believe this Spavin Cure to be far better than any ever invented. 

Send address for Illustrated Circular which, we think, gives positive proof of its 
virtues. No remedy has ever met with such unqualified success to our knowledge, for 
beasts as well as man. 

Price, $1 per bottle, or six bottles. All druggists have or can get it for you, or it 
will be sent to any address, on receipt of price, by the proprietors. 

Dr. B. J . KENDA LL & CO., Enosbur gh Palls, Vermont. 

Franklin Davis. Edward H. Bissell. 

RECHMOg^D NURSERIES. 
FRAltEMM DAVIS A CO. 

400 Acres in Nursery stock ! 100 in Orcliarcls ! 100 in Small Frnits ! 

We offer to our customers an immense stock of APPLES, PEACHES, CHERRIES, 
APRICOTS, GRA PES, &c— all the standard sorts. Also, the new varieties of FRUITS* 
ORNAMENTAL TREES, SHRUBS, ROSES, &c, Wholesale and Retail. To dealers 
we can offer stock on favorable terms, and the best facilities for packing and shipping. 
Catalogues mailed on application. 

FRANKLIN DAVIS & CO., 

sep 6t Office : 1013 Main St., RICHMOND, VA. 

BECKWITH'S ANTI-DYSPEPTIC PILLS 

The best and most reliable Anti- Dyspeptic Medicine ever offered to the Public. 

For more than seventy years this medicine has maintained its high reputation. No 
remedy was ever offered to the public sustained by such forcible certificates of wonderful 
remedial properties. Presidents of the United States, Judges of the Supreme Court, 
Governors of States, United States Senators and Physicians of the highest standing are 
among those who attest their value from personal tests. 

E. R. Beckwith, Pharmacist, now manufactures these invaluable pills from the Origi- 
nal Recipe of his grandfather, Dr. John Beckwith. 

40 l?ills in a.Box-Price, 25 Cents. 

Sufferers from DISORDERED STOMACH or DERANGED LIVER, with their at- 
tendant complications, will find relief from theBe pills. Sold by Druggists Generally. 

E. R. BECKWITH, Pharmacist 

fe tf Cor. Market and Halifax Sts., Petersburg, Va. 




We continue to 
act as solicitors for 
patents, caveats, 
trade-marks, copyrights, etc., for 
the United States, and to obtain pat- 
ents in Canada, England, France, 
Germany, and all other countries. 
Thirty- six years' practice. No 
charge for examination of models or draw- 
ings. Advice bv mail free. . 

Patents obtained through us are noticed m 
the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, which has 
-he largest circulation, and is the most influ- 
ential newspaper of its kind published m the 
world. The advantages of such a notice every 
patentee understands. 

This large and splendidlv illustrated news- 
paper is published WEEKLY at S3.20 a year 
andis admitted to be the best paper devoted 
to science, mechanics, inventions, engineering 
works, and other departments of industrial 
progress, published in any country. Single 
copies by mail, 10 cents. Sold by all news- 

Address, Munn & Co., publishers of Scien- 
tific American, 261 Broadway, New York. 
Handbook about patents mailed free 



edgwickSteelWireFence 





are =ent anywhere on. trial to operate 'against alt 
ether Presaes, the custom- 
er keeping the one that 
suits best. No one baa ever 
dared ehow up any other 
Press, as Lederick's Preas 

• i9 known to be beyond 
. competition, and will bale 
, with twice the rapidity of 

• any other. The only way 
i inferior machines can be 
Isold Is to deceive the In- 

esnerlenced by ridiculously 
false statements, and thus 
sell without Bight or seeing, 
and swindle the purchaser. 
P Working any other Press 
f alongside of Dederick's ai- 
rways sells the purchaser a 
aDederick Press, and all 
„,Jknow It too well to show 
np Address for circular and location of Western 
and Southern storehouses and Agents. 

P. K, DEDEEICK & CO., Albany, N.Y. 

JERSEY RED PIGS 

From largest herd South, which took eight 
premiums and great sweepstakes as finest 
herd in Virginia at State Fairs, 1881-'82. 
This hog is free from disease, a natural 
grazier, prolific and early to mature, and 
in the Western markets brings a higher 
price than any other breed. 

T. LOVELOCK, 
mh ly Gordonsville, Va. 




Is the only general purpose Wire Fence in U89,b6ing 
Strong Net- Work Without Barbs. Itwill turn dogs, pigs, 
sheep, and poultry, as well as the most vicious stock, 
without injury to either fenoe or stock. II is jUBt tha feno» 
for farms, gardens, stock ranges and railroads, ana very 
neat for lawns, parks, school lots and cemeteries. Covered 
■with rust-proof paint (or gal vani zed) it will last a life.tima. 
It is Superior to Boards or Barbed Wire in every respect. 
We ask for it a fair trial, knowing it will wear itseir 
Into favor. The Sedgwick dates, made of wrought- 
iion pipe and steel wire, defy all competltlonln neatness, 
strength and durability. We also make the best and 
chetpest All Iron Automatic or Self-Opsnlng Oats, also 
Cheapest and Neatest All Iron Fence. Best Wiro 
StreteSier and Post Auger. Also manutac- 
ture Russell's excellent Wind Engines for 
pumping water, or geared engines for grinding 
and other li»ht work. For prices and particulars ask 
hardware dealers, or address, mentioning paper, 
SEDGWICK BROS. Mf'rs. Blcbmond, In* 

e ly 

S— a a a week made at borne by the industrious. 
f 'I Best business now before the public. 
I S Capita] not needed. We will start you, 
I __i Men, women, boys and girls wanted 
everywhere to work for us. Now is the time. You 
can work in spare time, or you can give your whole 
time to the business. No other business will pay 
you nearly as well. No one can fail to make enor- 
mous pay, by engaging at once. Costly outfit and 
terms free. Money made fast, easily and honorably. 
Address True & Co.. Augusta, Me. janly 





Dana's White Metallic Ear Marking Label, stamped 
to order with name, or name and address and num- 
bers. It is reliable, cheap and convenient. Sells at 
sight and gives perfect satisfaction. Illustrated 
Price-List and samples free. Agents wanted. 

C. H. DANA, West Lebanon, N. H. 
de _____ 

SOUTHERN AC<XIMATE1> REGIS- 
TERED JERSEYS for sale at fair prices. 
Eight registered Jersey cows, from 4 to 8 years old, 
bred to choice registered bulls. Also imported bull 
Jersey Express No. 5771 ; solid color, black points ; 
dropped December 20th, 1879 : and several registered 
bull calves, from 6 to 9 months old, two from im- 
ported sire and dams, and both solid, fancy colors. 
Also, 6 pure-bred unregistered Jersey heifers, from G 
to 16 months old, all from good butter stock. Ad- 
dress ROWE'S CO-OPEPvATIVE STOCK FARM, 
Fredericksburg, Va. jantf 



•x_£;£S asr_,w- 

|EI(_.S!_IC TEUS3 

3 Has a Pad differing from n\ ! othe- L, 
\ is cm> shape, with Self-Adjastbz 
I Bal 1 in center, adapicl tself to all 
' n&ttious of the body, while the 
Bui li n the c^ppreau ^3 taefc the 
2d taattoee jnei ae operso awon Id! 
■with IhQ Finger. With lighS 
pressure the Hernials held securely 
Bavand night, and a radical cure certain, UIb easy, durable, 
ftBi cheap. Sent by mail. Circulars free, 

EGGLESTOH TBUS3 CO« Chicago. I1L 




fely 




FRED. A- OSBOR.N, 

CARRIAGES OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. 

HARNESS, WHIPS, Etc. 

No. 72G East Main Street, Richmond, Va. 

Factory: New Haven, Conn. 
[nov 3t] 



WEBSTER' 

UNABRIDGED. 

In Sheep, Russia and Turkey Bindings. 




NEW 



W°Jr 



W£BST£^ 

'WABR/DCetW--—- 
f DICTION A HyiJsUPPLEMEHT 




THE STANDARD. 

/""* C" II Webster— it has 118,000 Words, 
%JF Mit JL 3000 Engravings, and a New 

Biographical Dictionary. 

fflTXT* Standard in Gov't Printing Office. 

JL XX JD 32,000 copies in Public Schools. 

Sale 20 to 1 of any other series. 

*^%THCimaidtomakea Family intelligent. 

-PJjal Best liplp for SCHOLARS, 

TEACHERS and SCHOOLS. 

Webster is Standard Authority with the U. S. 

Supreme Court. Recommended by the State 

Sup'ts of Schools of 36 States. 

" A LIBRARY IN ITSELF." 

The latest edition, in the quantity of matter it 
contains, is believed to be the largest volume 
published. It has 3000 more Words in its vo- 
cabulary than are found in any other Am. Diet'y, 
and nearly 3 times the number of Engravings. 
The Unabridged is now supplied, at a small ad- 
ditional cost, with DENISON'S 

PATENT REFERENCE INDEX, 

"The greatest improvement in book-making that 

has been made in a hundred years." 
G. & C. MERRIAM & CO., Pub'rs, Springfield, Mass. 
no It 

KNAB 

PIANOFORTES. 

UNEQUALLED IN 

ToEe.ToucLW oriMnsliii) and Durability. 

WILLIAM KNABE & CO. 

Nos. 204 and 206 West Baltimore Street, 
Baltimore. No. 112 Fifth Avenue, N. Y. 

nov3t 




Sawing Made Easy 

Monarch Lightning Sawing Machine! 



A Great Saving: at 
.Labor <fe Money , 




A boy 16 years old can saw logs FAST and EAST Miles 
Murray, Portnge, Mich .writes- "Am much pleased with 
the MONARCH LIGHTNING SAWING MACHINE. 
I sawed oft a .'.0- inch lojj in 2 minutes. " Forsawinglogs 
into suitable lenprths for fnmily stove- wood, and all sorts 
of loer-cuttinff, it is peerless and unrivaled Illustrated 
Catalog^, Free. AGENTS WANTED. Mention this 
P a "' r 4^ c| r; s sMO,WARCH MANUFACTURING 
CO., 133 E. Randolph Et., Chicago, 111. 
nov6t 

HONEY BEES! 

The New System of Bee-Keeping-. 

Every one who has a Farm or Garden can keep 
Bees on my plan with good profit. I have invented 
a Hive and New System of Bee Management, which 
completely changes the whole process of Bee-Keep- 
ing, and renders the business pleasant and profitable. 
I have received One Hundred Dollars Profit, from 
sale of Box Honey from One Hive of Bees in one 
year. Illustrated Circular of Full Particulars Free. 
Address Mrs. LIZZIE E. COTTON, West Gorham, 
Maine. nov 4t 

CHESAPEAKE! AND OHIO RAILWAY 

Opened through the beautiful BLUE 
GRASS region of Kentucky to Louisville 
and Cincinnati. Connecting at these cities 
with all of the Great Lines of Railways 
diverging for 

Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago. 

Kansas City, Nashville, Mem- 
phis, and all principal points 

"West, South, and Southwest. 

SOLID TRAINS with Pullman Sleeping 
Coaches, run through daily between Wash- 
ington, Richmond, Charlottesville, Waynes- 
boro, Staunton, Clifton Forge and Louis- 
ville and Cincinnati without change. 

SHORTEST & MOST DIRECT ROUTE 

and the only route without transfers. 
Avoiding the uncertainty by other routes 
of making connections. 

For rates and full information, call on 
the nearest Chesapeake and Ohio agent, or 
address 

C. W. Smith, H. W. Fuller, 

Gen'l Manager. Gen'l Pass'r Agent. 

PHOTO. COPYING AGENTS ! 

Splendid portraits of any size or kind finished in 
the most artistic manner, from any kind of small 
pictures. Reliable agents wanted in every county 
in the United States. Profits Large. Address THE 
AMERICAN COPYING CO., 55 Genessee street, 
Auburn, N, Y. nov 2t 




G. P. HA WES 

(Successor to MILLER & HAWES) , 
SOUTHERN 




CIRCULAR AND OTHER SAWS, MACHINERY, EDGE TOOLS, 

TOBACCO, STRAW-CUTTER, BOOK-BINDING, PLANER AND 

OTHER KNIVES. 

1426 and 1428 Cary St,, Richmond, Va, 



Burnt Saws Repaired. 

sep2t 



Special Attention to Repairs of all Kinds. 



JOHN E. DOHERTY, 

822 EAST MAIN STREET, 

Solicits an examination of his 

Fine Stock of Foreign G-oods 

FOR FALL AND WINTER. 

UNEXCELLED FOR VARIETY, STYLE AND QUALITY by any offered in this 
market. Will be made by skilled workmen in the LATEST AND MOST APPROVED 
STYLES at PRICES THAT MUST SUIT. 

N. B. — SHIRTS, COLLARS and CUFFS made to order as heretofore and satisfac- 
tion guaranteed. 



DIPHTHERIA 



CROUP, ASTHMA, BRONCHITIS. 

JOHNSON'S ANODYNE LINIMENT will posi- 
tively prevent these terrible diseases, and will cure nine 
cases oat of ten. Information that will save many lives, 
sent free by mail. Don't delay a moment '■ Prevention ia 
better than cure. I- S. Johnson & Co., Boston, Mass. 



delyeot 



S IBLEY'S SEEDS 

Of AIX PLANTS, for ALL CROPS, for ALL CLI- 
MATES. All are tested; cnly the best sent out. 
Grain and Farm Seed Manual ; History and best methods 
of culture of Grains, Root Crops, Grasses, Fodder Crops, Tree« 
Planting, etc. only lOcts. Annual Catalogue and Price List of PHOB ^FPnt 
several thousand varieties, FREE. > ruu " »""»• 

mursffos HIRAM SIBLEY & CO. Rochester, N.Y„ Chicago, III. 





p$ 



MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS IN 



AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND IMPLEMENTS, 

THRESHING MACHINERY for Horse or Steam Power. 
HAY AND COTTON PRESSES FOR HAND OR POWER. 

The Celebrated 1?. K. Dederick's Patent 

Perpetual 

Hay 
Press. 

We also keep in stock and can furnish promptly the INGERSOL CHAIN AND BAR 
PRESSES. 




For BELT 
and 



LEVER. 



GRAI 

BICKFORD 



HUFFMAN 
GRAI N 

AND 

GUANO 
DRILL! 



AND GUANO DRILLS. 

Sows perfectly 
CORN, 

PEAS, 

Small Grain, 

CLOVER, 

and other 
GRASS SEEDS! 




"Farmer's Favorite." 

Money and time saved by the use of a good Drill. It wastes no fertilizer, but puts it with the grain. It 
puts the grain regular, and covers it nicely. Send your order in early and get the best. 

Cane TVEills and Evaporators. 




MOST POPULAR. 



This Cane 
Machinery is 
found to be 
the best; gets 
most molasses 
from a given 
quantity of 
cane and re- 
quire 8 less 
power than 
any other. 



Victor Mill. Cook Evaporator. 

STEAM ENGINES, SAW MILLS AND <5RIST MILLS. 
STUDEBAKER, MITCHELL, FISH, AND OTHER WAGONS. 

Unequalled for strength and light draft. FEED CUTTERS for ensilage or dry forage. OLIVER CHILLED- 
PLOWS, PLASTER SOWERS, MANURE SPREADERS, ROLLERS, WELL FIXTURES, CORN SHEL- 
LERS, <t-C , &c. AVe keep on hand a full stock of all styles BARBED FENCE WIRES. 

B©- Send for Illustrated Catalogue. P. 0. Box 8, RICHMOND, VA. 




X>Sli*J -L xxx -^ , . - OPPHTLLA GUANO as the most 

We wish to call your attention to the men {* °f ORC HI LLA U .^ 

wondeSil grain and grass producer ■^.^JPggJJ ^ the bes t chemists in the 

four or five years by a single appjoataon. Caribbean Sea, and comes to us di- 

THE CHEMISTS ENDORSE II. 

The Department of Agriculture of the State of V^nia J^\£SSSL!. 
Dr J M. Blanton, have recently undertaken the analysis ° * . p f w . L Gas . 

fold in the State. The ^«**JS^UA^^ Season ,° f l 8 ?' ft" 
cotse, the well-known Chemist of the BJJW"™^!, different brands of Fertih- 
fSbe'en published. It embraees the analy ais of m NgJ^ as developed by the 
zers and certifies to the actual value ot their "n™^ remarkable results : 
Z an r alVsTs. A reference f^^^S^^XS^ prices asked for them! 
I ^erSe ae^llluelxceed^rlce asked, the excess, in very few instances, 

reaches 10 per cent. rfflLLA GUA NO, the certificate of the chemist is "Actual 
3. In the case of OKLmiAiA ^ua , h ice aske d for it ! . 

value $41.12," which is more than 50 Percent, over i f furnished us privately 

This official statement is only •W^^^ffl re: notably Prof. Mallet, 

by other chemists of high reputation in Virg g »^ •hewhere ^ ^y rf ^ 

^ P ^ ab a D n e alyze r d f by a him, wl Sv^Proftylor's, by the same calculation, was 
$ ^e 3 fre permitted to copy a portion of a private letter from Prof. JOHN R. PAGE, 
of the University of Virginia, as to practical results . 

University of Virginia, January 23, 1883. 
***** I have used Orchilla Guano very successfully on root^crops, 

S ' s ctriea oTb the *L*e and atmoephere before the crop ea. ose ,, 
"htm often result, in no profit and no permanent improvement to .be land. I 
have n 3 ed the OrctillaGnaaotbi. fall on "^ ^ JoHH R . Pi0E . 

Send for onr LITTLE BOOK tf+&S£SS&&'ittttL 
, IMPOBTBES 

64 Buchanan's Wharf, - BALTIMORE. 

CHAS. G. SNEAD, Importers' Agent, RICHMOND. Va. 



W. H. Palmer, Pres. B. C. Wherry, Jr., Sec. 0. F. Weisiger, Jr., Ass't Sec. 



:f\e:el:e: -a.:n":d hve^:fli untie. 



VIRGINIA HOME 

RICHMOND. VIEGINIA. 



Office in Company's Building, No. 1014 Main St. 

DIRECTOR. 

W. B. Isaacs. P. W. Grubbs. John Enders. Edward Cohen. 

Jno. C. Williams. R. E. Blankexship. Geo. K. Crutchfield. T. Wm. Pemberton. 
Jas. T. Gray. Moses Millhiser. 

seply 

INCORPORATED lUXT 1865. 



ffgttfia JJtortc §mmmw fc 

OFFICE— 1006 MAIN STREET, RICHMOND, VA. 
CASH CAPITAL, - - - . - #800,000. 

Insures Dwellings, Stores, Merchandize, and other property against loss or damage by fire 

DIRECTORS.— J- L- Bacon, President ; Titos. \V. McCance, Vice-President. Wm. H. Haxall, James 
Alfred Jones, A. D. Williams, A. Osterloh. 

Robt. E. Richardson, Sec. Ba/.il Gordon, Jr., Ass't See. Jno, B. Grant, Solicitor. 

4S = "Agents in all the prominent Cities, Towns, and Villages of Virginia seply 



^^OF VIRGINIA. ==- 

(INCORPORATED 1794) 
INSUIRES BY PERPETUAL OR A IT Iff UAL POLICY. 

Office, Cor. of Tenth and Bank Streets. 

HERBERT A. CLAIBORNE, Principal Agent. 

F. D- STEGER, Secretary. T. BOLLING, Jr., Assistant Secretary. 

JOHN BLAIR, Collector. oct ly 






3TABLISHED 1865. STANDARD GUARANTEED. 

ALLISON & ADDISON, 

MANUFACTURERS OF 




"STAR BRAND" SPECIAL COMPLETE MANURES 

FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING CROPS: 

OBACCO, WHEAT, COTTOX, COBS, OATS, VEGETABLES A! GRASS, 

Pure Flour of Raw Bone, Acid Phosphate, Ground Phosphate Rock, Sulphuric Acid. 

DEALERS IN 

German Kainit or Potash, Nitrate of Soda, Plcnter, Ir. 

)FFIGE-1322 Cary Street. i PIPUMnNn VA 

'A.CTORY-Opposite Roeketts,/ I\l Vn Ifl WW 1/, W *■%■ 

fi£g = ' All orders and communications promptly atten led to. fe tt 



ASHLEY PHOSPHATE GO. 

^CHARLESTON, S. O..: 

SOLUBLE GUANO- Highly Ammoniated. 

DISSOLVED BONE— Very High Grade. 

ACID PHOSPHATE— For Composting, 

ASH ELEMENT— For Cotton, Wheat, Peas, &c. 

FLOATS— Phosphate Rock, reduced to an Impalpable Powder by the Due 
Atomizer.'of Highest Grade. SAMPLE sent on application. 

SMALL-GRAIN SPECIFIC— Rich in Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, 

Potash, Magnesia and Soda. 
GENUINE LEOPOLDSHALL KAINIT. 

The above FERTILIZERS are of very high grade, as shorn by the Official Reports 
of North CarJina, South Carolina and Georgia. 

f»For Terms, Hand-Rooks, Agricultural Pri ners, and good Articles on Flo its, Peas and 
Ash Element, Kain ; ,|u.c, address the 

ASHLEY PHO PHATE lOMPANYj 

N. B.— Special'induceinentsjfbr Cash Orlers. } ; [6mjy] 



WIM YOU FLOW 



GET ON TRIAL THE 

WATT CHILLEEl 



THEY ARE SUPERIOR IN EVERY ESSENTIAL OF 

STRENGTH, DURABILITY, ECONOMY, LIGHT DRAUGHT, 

PERFECT BURIAL OF VEGETATION, THOROUGE DISINTEGRATION 01 
THE SOIL, FREEDOM FROM CHOKING. Warranted to be as represented, 
sold subject to approval by trial. Return at our expense if not satisfactory. 

WATT No. D E and No. A B Jr. PLOWS are the favorites in the Cottoi 
States. They are the only perfect combined Turning and Cultivating Plows made. Th| 
BEST and the CHEAPEST for Corn, Cotton, Tobacco and Vegetables. 

Jg-Send for Illustrated Circulars.^ 

FARM WAGONS 

made of the best material and fin- 
ished in the most attractive manner. 
We are' prepared to furnish at prices 
as low as any first-class Wagon can 
be sold. Every Wagon warranted 
for twelve months. All expecting to 
purchase Wagons will find it to theiw 
interest to examine our stock and, 
price.. 




CORN SHELLERS 

shell clean 



for HAND or POWER, separating! 
Corn frc en Cob, and guaranteed to 
FAN ATTACHMENTS for blowing out chaff and dust. 



ROSS GIANT ENSILAGE CUTTERS 

HAVE RECEIVED over 240 MEDALS 
AND HIGH AWARDS OF MERIT. 

Successful at every competing trial at cut- 
ting. Will do more work with less power 
than any other Cuttew made. THIS WE 
GUAR iNTEE, and .arrant every one to 
give satisfaction. We furnish these Cutters 
with a capacity of TEN TONS per HOUR; 
down to fodder cutters of one-man power. 
We can meet the varied wants and tastes of 
all, in size, price and make. 




On receipt nf six cents in postage, we will mail a HANDSOME BOOK ON 
ENSILAGE, of seventy pages, bound in cloth. 

ALL INTERESTED in the use and sale of IMPROVED IMPLEMENTS 
AND FARMING TOOLS, including Adjustable Iron-Fram- ,ff r -'", * vs »nd Horse 
Hoes, Walking and Ruling Cultivators, Mowers, Reapers and Tin... , "" el Hakes, 
Farm Wagons, Grain Drills, Broadcast Seed Sov. # Jj. Harrows of various patterns, 
Plows, Plow Castings, and plow material of all kinus. :• invito'' *o send 'or Special 
Circular and Price-List. ■, 

WAT T &CALL, - ■ Richmond Va. 



SOUTHERN PLANTER (1882) 



* Vol. 44 



July- Dec. 1883 
Missing: no. 12 



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