— THE- 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 

DEVOTED TO 

Agriculture, Horticulture, Live Stock and the Household. 



Agriculture 
Tillage and 


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


T. W. ORMOND, 
W. C. KNIGHT, 






Proprietor. 
Editor. 


44th Year. 




EICHMOOT), MARCH, 1883. 


1^0.3. 



FARMERS AND FARMING IN VIRGINIA IN THE OLDEN TIME. 



No. 8. 



1. Letter from John Brown, Esq., to Col. Cabell, in relation to the Burnet Grass. 

2. Letter from Philip Tabb, Esq., to Gen. J. H. Cocke, in regard to corn culture in 

Gloucester county. 

3. Letter from Randolph 'Harrison, Esq., to Gen. J. H. Cocke, in respect to bis farm, 

the General being then in the Military Service during the war with England. 

Goochland, 2nd February, 1808. 
Mr. Cabell, — In answer to your quaeries relative to Burnet 
seedy i^c.j September or February is the bebt time to sow this seed — 
one -peck to the acre is plenty. If you sow in September on wheat, 
after getting your wheat in the ground by plowing or harrowing, 
you will then sow your Burnet seed, and give them one slite 
harrowing, as they should not be covered deep. If you sow in 
February or March on oats, you will sow the same way as on 
wheat in the fall. It is best to prepare the land well by plow- 
ing, for grass seed as well as for wheat. It will answer to sow 
on wheat in February, or early in March. It will grow best in 
rich land; but, the good quality of this grass is that it will grow 
9 



108 SOUTHERIT PLANTER. [March 

in poor land, such as will not bring clover or any other grass 
that cattle will eat. I think in rich land that will bring clover 
well, I would give the clover the preference ; but I sow both on 
the same land for grazing. Burnet will come earlier in the 
spring, and continue to give food later in the fall than clover, 
and if the winter is not very hard, it will keep green and grow 
all the winter. It's a good grass for sheep. Our sheep are 
now all, or nearly so, good mutton, and have not been fed with 
anything this winter; and we have a large stock. I am not able 
to say how long the seed will keep well, but I suppose for four 
years, if they were kept dry, and perhaps longer. I have plenty 
of seed — all of the last year's crop. The price is 6s, a bushel. 
There were so many applications (last fall was twelve months), 
that I took care of the seed and saved all I could. If any of 
your neighbors want any seed, you may tell them they can get 
furnished here. My brother, who lives in Warminster, wrote me 
for forty bushels about fifteen months past, he said, for some 
friends of his, but at that time I had none to spare. 

Yours, with respect, John Brown. 



ToDDSBURG, 22nd September, 1808. 

Dear Sir, — Your favor of the 1 2th I have received, and though 
I do not admire paper communications, generally, on the sub- 
ject, I proceed, with pleasure, to answer your quaeries, which, 
being explicit and clear, simplifies the answers. 

I have no doubt but the bedding sistem, if properly executed, 
would have the happiest effect on the lands you describe, and 
with which I am not altogether unacquainted. This mode is 
certainly economical, as it respects labour, and no doubt is en- 
tertained here of its saving the land if it does not improve it. 
The lands intended for corn is bedded by the first and only 
plowing anterior to planting, between the months of November 
and April, and is performed by four furroughs ; the width of the 
row being proportioned to the ability of the plow to take up 
the whole space, and we find that five and a-half feet is the 
proper distance for ours. 

Respecting the height of the beds, we are governed by the 
conveneance of the plow, taking care that the two first fur- 
roughs is well laped to furnish sufficient depth of pulverised 
earth to receive the corn. 

The top of the bed is prepared for planting in two different 
ways ; one by running the plow on the bed, leaning it to the 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 109 

left, that the bar may operate so as to make a trench, in which 
the corn is droped from eighteen inches to two feet, as the 
strenghtof the land may require, to leave one stalk only in that 
distance, and is called drilling. The other is done with the hoe, 
placing the earth in a proper state to receive the corn at the dis- 
tance of from three and a-half to four and a-half feet, intended 
for two stalks together. In strong land, I prefer the later ; in 
weak, the former. The first plowing after planting is per- 
formed, immediately after the corn is up, and may be done by 
two furroughs (I never use more myself), the mole-board for 
that purpose being set out a few inches, the earth to be thrown 
from the corn so as barely to meet in the middle. 

The corn should be immediately wed after it's well up and 
standing. The second plowing should be performed by the bar 
share (we use no other at any time) so soon as the plants have 
attained strenght sufficient to bear earth, which should but 
slightly reach it from the ridge of the furrough, using long 
swingle barrs, that the horses may walk on different sides of the 
row, to prevent treading on the plants. This operation of earth- 
ing should be performed, as soon as the corn will permit, with 
one furrough only on each side the corn, as the corn is in danger 
of falling as well as being injured by much rain in that state. 
The residue of the broaken earth left between the rows after 
the two first furroughs, is taken up by former furroughs, and 
forms a good bed for the corn to mature in. You see, by this 
statement, that four furroughs breaks up the land in the first 
instance; two takes away the earth preparitory for weeding, 
and six replaces the bed, making twelve in all for one crop. It 
is usual with us to run a harrow after the last plowing, to pre- 
pare the land for small grain. The use of the hoe is sometimes 
dispensed with after weeding. Our best planters generally give 
the corn a slight hoeing immediately before and after harvest 

Fields intended for the foregoing mode of culture should be 
laid off with care, it being peculiarly inconvenient to alter the 
rows, and the plowing is done better and with greater facility 
after the lands have been once properly beded, as in every 
breaking thereafter the furroughs will be coupled in the hollow 
between the beds. I hope for the pleasure of seeing you here 
before you can proceed far on your proposed plan^ when we can 
communicate with more ease, for writing goes hard with me. 

I beg you to be assured of my esteem. 

Philip Tabb. 



110 SOUTHERN^ PLA:N"TER. [March 



Bremo, 1 2th July, 1813. 
Gen. J. H. Cocke: 

My Dear Sir^ — Amidst your ardent and oppressive military 
labours, I am sure it will be interesting to you to hear someting 
of your agricultural concerns, and altho I cannot expect to add 
much to the information you receive from Mrs. Cocke's weekly 
reports, yet, by descending more to particulars, I may give you 
some satisfaction on subjects not in the scope of her communi- 
cations. I came up this morning early enough to spend two or 
three hours in riding through your river estate, and to entertain 
a short conversation with each of your overseers. Your crop 
of wheat, as far as I could judge, is well saved and well secured 
in shocks at each place, tho Thomas tells me he sustained some 
loss in his bearded wheat crop (which I did not see) by cutting 
it rather too late. A violent gust on the 3rd instant deranged 
the shocks very much, but a day of close labour has reinstated 
them. Pettit suffered great loss in his oats, which were layed 
flat by the gust, but I believe were saved as well as could be ex- 
pected under such circumstances. The crop of tobacco at both 
places very unpromising ; the crop of corn well stalked, and of 
a fine colour — a very promising crop. Ihomas has plowed 
over all his corn and tobacco at both places, turned out his 
horses, and put all his hands to the hoe. The best of his to- 
bacco is hilled, and, after finishing his own, he will probably hill 
the balance of the tobacco early in the next week. Pettit's 
business is more behind hand, owing, probably, to the trouble 
he had with his oats. I do not think he will finish plowing his 
corn and tobacco this week, since more than half his corn and 
the greater part of his slash tobacco is now to plow. A. W. 
More came to Thomas', while I was in the low grounds, for the 
purpose of repairing their machines. I suggested to them the 
propriety of pushing the threshing business as early as possible, 
both because the situation of their tobacco will enable them to 
dispatch that business with more convenience early than late, 
and because it will keep better than if threshed when the weavil 
is in an advanced stage. They complained of the want of 
room, and I suggested to them the propriety of devoting a to- 
bacco-house to the purpose of putting it away in the chalf. 
Should you write to them, I think you will do well to urge them 
on the subject of taking advantage of the circumstance of 
threshing while the crop of tobacco can but spare the labour. 
Thomas desired me to say to you that he is informed of your 



1883.J SOUTHERIN" PLANTER. Ill 

having employed a man in his place, and wishes to know 
whether you have or not. It is with reluctance I trouble you 
on a subject like this. You will discharge it as you think right. 
And now, my friend, let me assure you of my earnest prayer 
for your health and success in your arduous and perilous efforts 
in your country's cause; it is the cause of freedom — the cause 
of the world. My boys have all left me ; God grant them 
power to acquit themselves with honour and a safe return to 
their parents and friends. Mrs. Cocke is well and as cheerful 
as a tender and aflfectionate wife can be in the absence of a fond 
husband. All the rest of your family are well. I lament that 
it Is not in my power to visit her often. But my sons' business 
at Elk Hill and my own at Lirkinghole, Have devolved on me 
by their absence in the service. To you this will plead my ex- 
cuse. Farewel. 

Yours truly, Randolph Harrison. 



The Arctic J^ight. — Lieut. Schwatka, since his return from an ex- 
pedition in search of Sir John Franklin's ill-fated company, combats 
the prevalent opinion that the Arctic winter, especially in the higher 
latitudes, is a period of total darkness. In latitude eighty-three de- 
grees twenty minutes twenty seconds north — the highest point ever 
reached by man — there are four hours and forty-two minutes of twi- 
light on December 22, the shortest day in the year in the IMorthern 
Hemisphere. In latitude eighty-two degrees twenty-seven minutes 
north, the highest point where white men have wintered, there are six 
hours and two minutes in the shortest day ; and latitude eighty-four 
degrees twenty-seven minutes north, 172 geographical miles nearer 
the !N"orth Pole than Markham reached, and 328 geographical miles 
from that point, must yet be obtained before the true Plutonic zone, or 
that one in which there is no twilight whatsoever, even upon the 
shortest day of the year, can be said to have been entered by man. Of 
course, about the beginning and ending of this twihght, it is very 
fe^eble and easily extinguished by even the slightest mists, but it never- 
theless exists, and is quite appreciable on clear cold days, or nights, 
properly speaking. The l!^orth Pole itself is only shrouded in perfect 
darkness from November 13 to January 29, a period of seventy-seven 
days. Supposing that the sun has set (supposing a circumpolar sea or 
body of water unlimited to vision) on September 24, not to rise until 
March 18 for that particular point, giving a period of about iifty days 
of uniformly varying twilight, the Pole has about 188 days of continu- 
ous daylight, 100 days of varying twilight, and seventy-seven of perfect 
inky darkness (save when the moon has a northern declination), the 
period of a typical year. During a period of a little over four days, the 
sun rises continuously on both the J^orth and South Poles at the same 
time, owing to refraction parallax, semidiameter and dip of the horizon. 



112 SOUTHEEIS' PLAI^TER. [March 



THE CHAPMAN FARM. 



Mr. Editor^ — I have seen several pieces in the agricultural papers 
recently about that "Bonanza" farming done over in Fauquier county 
last year on the '* Chapman Farm." Though I have read many differ- 
ent statements of the operations of the Dakotah Dalrymples, yet I have 
found nothing in all their grand operations that would compare in 
results with what has been recorded in this case. Ten thousand dol- 
lars made with three hands ! ! perhaps four, counting day labor. Is it 
not " prodigious?" The " sun do move! ! " J^ot wishing in any way 
to reflect on the veracity of these statements, we (farmers) would like 
to learn how this thing was done. Every trivial operation would be of 
vast interest to us who have been slumbering on the outskirts of the 
" intensive " system. We want to know what kind of labor was em- 
ployed on the " Chapman Farm " — was it white or colored ? If the 
latter, we want to know how it was managed so as to squeeze such mar- 
vellous results out of them. I have been working negro labor all my 
long life; in days of slavery I found it possible to realize profit out of 
itj but since the days of "freedom," I feel uncommonly lucky every 
time I can coax them to make enough on my farm, with free use of 
teams and tools, to pay themselves at the end of the year. Let us hear 
some more from the " Chapman Farm.^' 

19th January/, 1883. R. 'Wood. 



DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



Editor Southern Planter^ — During the hard freeze of 1880 and 1881, 
I lost four of my best sheep, fat and heavy with twins. I could see that 
the head was the trouble, but had not available remedy. One of my 
neighbors told me afterwards that he saved some of his affected in the 
same way by pouring kerosene into the nostril, the oil reaching the 
worm and destroying it, or opening the mucous canal so that it was 
relieved. A few weeks ago I found one of mine affected in this way, 
the head thrown back and falling on its side, and kicking as if dying. 
I poured the coal oil into its nose, and in an hour it was better and fol- 
lowing the flock. Another, that was taken in my absence from home, 
died. It was fat and about to bring twin lambs. The coal oil is harm- 
less, and there may be something in it. Isaac H. Christian. 



The superstition in which we were brought up never loses its power 
over us, even after we understand it. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 113 



THICK AND THIN SEEDING. 



Editor of Southern Planter^ — Thin seeding, by which I mean from 
one peck to one bushel of wheat per acre, has often been recommended 
and tried in England, but has generally been abandoned, and the prac- 
tice is to sow from IJ to 2J bushels per acre. If land is very fertile, 
and wheat had no enemies to contend against, such as weeds, birds, 
wire-worm, it is almost impossible to say how small a quantity of seed 
would be sufficient to grow a large crop. But farmers have to deal 
with things as they are. Upon my permanent wheat field, which is 
now sown with its fortieth crop in succession, the quantity of seed sown 
is two bushels per acre. It is drilled, as nearly as the weather will 
permit, during the last week in October. As difibrent portions of the 
field are in extremely different states of fertility, the quantity of seed 
being the same in all the experiments, we have a good opportunity of 
judging the circumstances under which the quantity of seed used is too 
much or too little. Upon the land which never receives manure, and 
which now grows about thirteen bushels per acre, it is tolerably evident 
that the seed might be increased with advantage ; although the land is 
kept free from weeds, the crop stands very thin upon the ground. 
Upon the various experiments, where the manures applied are sufficient 
to grow crops'which shall not exceed thirty bushels per acre, I should 
say that two bushels of seed are about the right quantity. On other 
experiments the manures applied are sufficient, under favorable condi- 
tions of weather, to grow a crop of between fifty and sixty bushels per 
acre. In these cases the crop stands too thick upon the ground, and it 
would, I think, be benefitted by a reduction of seed from two bushels 
to 11 to IJ bushels. There is one advantage in a thick standing crop, 
which, in this country, at all events, should not be lost sight of, a thick 
crop keeps down weeds. When a thin-seeded crop tillers very much, 
the wheat grows in bunches with large spaces unoccupied ; these be- 
come filled with weeds, and the expense of hoeing is often incurred. 
While, therefore less seed is required when land is in high condition, 
I think it may be said that in England practical farmers do not think 
it advisable to use a less quantity of seed than from one and one-half 
to two bushels per acre. 

Mothampstead, England, J. B. Lawes. 



The average number of swine in the United Kingdom is about 
2,250,000. 



114 SOUTHEKN PLANTER. [March 



COMMENTS ON TOBACCO, Etc. 



Editor Southern Planter, — " Old Farmer " says he goes for corn, 
wheat and tobacco, and that corn is well-suited to our soil and climate, 
and, with deep and frequent tillage, never fails ; the wheat crop at six 
or eight bushels brings some income, and on a clover field well plas- 
tered, etc., we get from twenty to thirty bushels ; that crop is more cer- 
tain than wheat on clover fallow, and the land improved under this 
system. IS'ow if this be true, and I believe it is, why cannot the small 
farmer have corn and wheat to sell as well as at the I^orth, where 
tobacco is, with few exceptions, raised ? Why all this barren waste, if 
tobacco has not impoverished the soil ? Is it not rather the good farm- 
ing, thorough preparation of the soil, thorough tillage, and making an 
application of large quantities of manure ; the growing and turning in 
of good crops of clover, with all the operations ot the farm conducted 
with industry and intelligence, and thus th6 farmers who improve their 
farms make better crops, live better, and leave a larger estate for their 
children in defiance of the tobacco raising. That tobacco is a poison, 
no sane man will deny, notwithstanding the *' bulls of popes and coun- 
terblasts of kings," and the "curse of the Lord against the house of 
sin," and being in more general use does not prove its utility or justify 
its culture, as it is only a luxury and a nuisance, leaving 4;he land like 
the user, the worse for its use, as it destroys the earth-worm by its 
baneful effects in poisoning the ground, thereby preventing the air 
penetrating and permeating the soil, which is as essential to vegetation 
as to animal life. 

Again, he thinks that plaster has not failed to show its usual effects, 
except on land saturated with plaster. I have tried it on new ground 
and old alike, and have found no beneficial effects from its use, and 
have not found the first man in this section who has, and no one pre- 
sumes to use it only to test it. And let us inquire which is best to 
build, barns or silos ; and which is cheapest, to herdle cattle or build 
permanent fences for your cattle? 

Keysville, Va. ISTuB. 



Several small living sea-fish have been sent by mail on a four days' 
journey. They were packed in damp sea-weed, and all but one sur- 
vived the trip and came out in good condition. 

Fkom the dissection of fifty lions in Algeria, it was found that the 
lungs of twenty were affected, one-half of them were almost gone, show- 
ing the prevalence of consumption among them. . 



1883.] SOUTHERlSr PLANTER. 115 



THE THINKING FARMER. 



The value of an education is not simply in the facts it teaches rela- 
ting to spelling, arithmetic, geography, etc., but in the capacity it de- 
velopes to think, study, compare and reason. Some men need very 
little of what is called education, being born with more education than 
thousands of college graduates possess, or ever will. They quickly ac- 
quire such rudiments of learning as the common schools supply, and 
use them as stepping-stones in the work of getting ahead in the world, 
and in striving through merit — sometimes without moral merit — for 
the places of honor. The ability to observe closely, to criticise and 
compare, deduce logical conclusions and to remember what they have 
learned are often natural gifts rather than acquired ones, and from this 
class come those who are known as "self made men." They are think- 
ers and reasoners, and they become leaders because they are bold 
enough not to accept the opinions of others unless satisfied of their 
correctness. They form opinions and stand by them, and they become 
leaders when they can present these opinions with force enough to carry 
conviction to others. 

Farmers are perhaps more numerous than any other voting class in 
the country, and yet they have thus far exercised very little influence, 
not only in shaping its policy, but in protecting their own rights against 
encroachment. They are preyed upon by almost every class of busi- 
ness men, sneered at when they timidly protest that they are neglected, 
and insulted often when they are bold enough not to be cowed into si- 
lence by those whose ordinary profits all come from their vocation. 
!N"ow, why is this ? They have the voting power to get every grievance 
redressed and to make their calling universally respected — and why is 
it not done ? Because the great mass of them lack the thoughtful and 
pushing energy of men in business life, and are routine men, disposed 
to go on as they have done and sneer at suggested improvements. An 
educated farmer they look up as something unnatural. What need, 
they ask, to educate a man to plant potatoes or beans, turn over the 
sod for corn, or compost manure ? How will liberal education fit a far- 
mer to build a haystack or milk a cow ? Such questions they regard often as 
"stunners" — and so they are ? They stun the persons asked because they 
show a density of ignorance which it is almost hopeless to attempt to en- 
lighten. It is about as stunning as to tell an astronomer that if the earth 
revolved daily on its axis "everything would fall off." The hope of influ- 
encing such men is very slight indeed, so far as argument is concerned, 
but the argument of success by educated men is far more hopeful ; and 



116 SOUTHERlsr PLA:N^TER. [March 

ia addition, the new and better influences surrounding farmers' sons at 
the present day are full of encouragement to those who desire to see 
agriculture intellectually advanced. 

The value of greater intelligence to the farmer is not merely in ad- 
ding to his crops or in getting better prices for them, though that is 
vastly important, but largely in making him useful as a citizen. When 
he once thinks and reasons for himself, in addition to observing closely, 
he will not much longer be a tool of politicians. He is so now, in a large 
measure, because in spite of his political power he has almost no influ- 
ence in shaping the legislation of the country, and of curing that leg- 
islation of much of its evils. It is only recently that the farmer has 
begun to assert his in<lependence of parties and to vote according to 
his best judgment rather than at the dictates of some caucus or the 
"regular convention." Were landed proprietors half so intellectually 
active and as well informed as lawyers, how long would that rather 
unscrupulous fraternity rule the country, most of them too as the agents 
of monopolists, whose aim is to plunder the farmer to the full extent 
that he will bear ? How long would they avow a purpose to support the 
regular ticket, no matter what names it should bear? How long would 
they claim that their neighbors and friends, and in many cases their 
relatives also, were allied to a party which was aiming to destroy 
the country, and whose candidates were necessarily bad men. These 
are in a measure superstitious, and unworthy of intelligent men. The 
preference for measures which we may all justly feel should blind no 
one to the fact that the motives of others under similar circumstances 
are just as good as our own, and that we may be mistaken as well as 
they. Besides, experience shows that bad men are to be found in all 
parties, — that such men are energetic and unscrupulous, — that they 
push themselves into the leadership often, and that therefore we cannot 
safely promise in advance adhesion to a party ticket and that the short- 
est way sometimes to a great reform is to vote direct for the party 
most opposed to it ! That seems a little strange at first thought, but it 
is true nevertheless. Give your enemy full rope and he will often 
hang himself. Give the country and your party a thorough taste of 
the evils you want reformed and it will often make converts rapidly. 
Farmers often tear down old houses and live poorly and inconveniently 
while a new one is building ; and so a party out of order, oft' the track, 
or badly officered, can be improved by permitting the other party a 
short rule. 

Here then is a great field for an intelligent race of farmers — better 
government; less extravagance, less corruption in office; lawyers to 



1883.] SOUTHER:^^ planter. 117 



the rear; crime punished so that lynch law is not needed; taxes equit- 
ably adjusted ; monopolies made subservient to the powers that created 
them; the civil service made approximately pure in all branches, and 
office-seeking discouraged. Once get a Congress and a President in 
power animated mainly by a desire to promote the public welfare rather 
than their own, and they will grapple with the statesmanlike problems 
that politicians now shun and put them in the way of solution. The 
farmer, then, who sneers at high intelligence in his class as being of no 
use is immensely wide of the mark. He is a citizen as well as a far- 
mer, and a blind, ignorant, led constituency is about as dangerous as 
a corrupt one, and is about as inexcusable. 

In repelling such considerations it is sometimes urged that the far- 
mer has no time to give to matters of state — that he is a w^orker, for- 
ced to be so by his surroundings, and that this largely unfits him for 
independent thought and action in political matters. But when he 
is educated and intelligent, he will not be so much of a mere worker ; 
he will work more with his head and less with his hands, and leave the 
last to those who, cannot or will not rise above such a position. A far- 
mer is none the less a farmer because he employs great capital in farm- 
ing, and has scores, hundreds or even thousands of men under him 
to go or come at his bidding, while he rarely or never "labors" with 
his own hands. The spread of intelligence will dispel that superstition 
also, and will prove that agriculture is a business pursuit as well as 
merchandizing or railroading- The thinking farmer has already got 
beyond it. Philadelphia Weekly Press. 



SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 



AN OLD FARMER S IDEAS OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC AND 
PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE IN AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Editor. — Science and practice must go hand in hand. The De- 
cember number of the Planter contained an interesting essay, from Dr. 
Page, Professor of Agriculture, at the University of Virginia. I have 
read and considered this essay with that care which its importance re- 
quires. As an old farmer I am not satisfied that scientific agriculture, 
without practice, is worth the time and money spent in its acquirement. 
Dr. Page shows that the word failure must be written against every 
effort to impart a suitable agricultural education. Every farmer knows 
that successful farming depends on practical knowledge and experience; 
and that the knowledge of all the sciences will not supply their place. 



118 SOUTHERN PLAE^TER. [March 

I am no enemy to scientific agriculture. It should go hand in hand 
with practice. One of our best farmers expressed the truth of the 
whole matter when he came out of the hall where Dr. ^ had de- 
livered an address on scientific agriculture, and remarked Dr. 

spoke very well, but that if the Dr. had to make his living by farming 
he would die of starvation in less than ^ve years. ' And it must be so. 
All the work of the farm is practical. If the crop of corn is put in 
the house before it is dry it will spoil. Every practical farmer knows 
this, and he divides his house into narrow apartments, the corn is ven- 
tilated, dries out, and is safe. If we take a crop of tobacco, science 
will not aid us in its management — it will be ruined without practical 
knowledge. Will science teach the proper soil and exposure of a plant 
bed ; how to treat the young plants, how to cut and cure the crop, in 
what order it should be taken down, how to prepare it for market? In 
this way I could show that the work of a farm was dependent on prac- 
tical experience and that botany, geology, applied chemistry, biology, 
zoology, &c., had very little to do with the making and preservation of 
crops. I admit that all the departments of science are very important 
to the farmer with practical experience. They suggest and guide and 
control many of his operations. It may tell us that such a field lacks 
a proper proportion of potash, phosphate lime is wanting in another ; and 
it may tell us our crops consist of certain substances, that manure 
contains these substances, and if applied it will make these crops grow. 
It is satisfactory to know the reason of this, and why it is that plants 
and animals grow by furnishing them suitable food. Is there no way 
to unite the science and practice of agriculture ? The obvious plan seems 
to have a farm attached to the school presided over by an expert and 
skillful farmer whose duty it should be to shovv to each schollar the 
various manipulations and the best methods of managing all crops. 
Let him learn them how to cut out a beef and how to scald a hog. 
Does science teach that if the water is little too hot the hair will not 
slip, that it is set, and must be shaved oft' with a knife ? Everj^ farmer 
should know these things and they must be taught. Do any of the 
graduates of any agricultural school know that in building a stack of 
grain or hay it must be kept fullest in the middle, and well trod down ? 
Do they know how to tie up and shock wheat? Do they know 
how to whet a scythe? Do they know that if the blade is whetted up 
and down it will not cut oft" the straw clean, as it should be whetted 
from the heel to the point? Do they know how to lengthen or shorten 
the plow gear so that the plow will not cut too deep or too shallow ? 
Do they know how to put up a rail fence so that some of the rails will not 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 119 

project at the corners to Bnagthe stock? Do they know how to put up a 
stone fence so it will stand, and that the long rocks ought to be put cross- 
wise the fence to act as braces, and if this is done it will not tumble by set- 
tling? Do they know how to square a house ? Science teaches them that 
the hypothenuse of right angle triangle is equal to the square of the two 
sides, but they have never seen the application of this rule, thus they 
build a house pointing every way but the right way. Experience teaches 
us that with a ten foot pole a house can be squared in five minutes. We 
measure eight feet on one sill and make a notch, six feet on the other sill 
and make a notch. If the ten foot pole just reaches from notch to notch 
that corner is square, the other three corners treated in same way wdll 
be square, and also house. Old Farmer. 



FARMERS' ACCOUNTS. 



There are probably no class of men, says the New York Observer^ 
who live more strictly according to their means, and more uniformly 
make both ends meet at the close of the year, than farmers. But there 
are comparatively few who are as strict in keeping their accounts as 
those who are engaged in mercantile or mechanical business. And yet 
there is no reason why they should not be as systematical in recording 
their incomes and their outgoes as any others. As one of the least 
weighty considerations, it would afford an interesting occupation for 
occasional leisure moments and an interesting matter of review at the 
close of a season or of the year. But in an economical point of view 
the advantage would be much greater. If every one who has a farm 
or a garden were to put down the amount of his expenses from day to 
day, but separately, what he expends upon a particular crop, or upon 
a particular field or tract of land, be it large or small, and on the op- 
posite side of the balance sheet the returns in product and in 
money of what he raises; and if this was done in connection with 
every crop and each one of his fields separately, it would enable 
him at a glance to determine on what portions of his place, or on what 
particular crops, he could lay out his money and his labor to the great- 
est pecuniary advantage. 

One of the chief hindrances to success in any branch of business is 
a want of system, and keeping an accurate account of expenditures 
and receipts would at once be followed by systematic results. The 
winter season is a good time for each one to lay his plans in this res- 
pect, to prepare his books, and so be prepared for a more systematic 



120 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [March 

prosecution of the work of the year. Those who have adopted the 
plan of keeping the most minute record of all their operations, have 
found it to be not only a source of great satisfaction, but of great profit, 
we recommend the plan to all, whether their business is on a large or a 
small scale. 



THE WHEAT BELT AND WHEAT PRODUCTION. 



It occurs to us that we hear a good deal less nonsense now than for- 
merly about the " Wheat Belt." It is only a few years ago that learned 
disquisitions on the shifting of the wheat belt were as common as the 
editorials on the "Causes of the Late Defeat'' have been during the 
past month. This journal always combated the idea that climatic, or 
any other, unpreventable changes had anything to do with the shifting 
of the localities of greatest wheat production. We have many times 
pointed out that continuous cropping of the soil to wheat would inevi- 
tably lead to small and inferior crops. Show us a locality where wheat 
is the mainstay of the agricultural population, and we will show you 
a district where wheat will soon be a rare crop. It is not necessary 
to recite the history of the Genesse valley, and of nearly all the older 
States of the Union. The change from a wheat growing to a non- 
wheat growing section is going on to-day in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, 
and Minnesota. Farmers have fondly imagined that the soil was inex- 
haustible ; and if ever there was excuse for such a fallacious belief, it 
exists in reference to the soil of some parts of the IlTorthwest. But it 
cannot be gainsaid that wheat is an exhausting crop. It is not like to- 
bacco, that seems to poison the soil, but as wheat contains in proper 
proportions every element necessary to sustain human life and activity, 
something which cannot be predicted of any other cereal, it stands to 
reason that it must speedily exhaust the soil of vital elements necessary 
to the perfection of the wheat berry. There are, it is true, some soils 
that have raised wheat year after year. The " American Bottom " in 
Illinois may be cited as an example ; but its time of deterioration must 
come sooner or later, no matter how long deferred. 

The statistics of wheat production during the last ten years show 
conclusively that there is no such thing as a climatic shifting of the 
wheat belt, and that whatever changes take place in this particular 
arise from the cause just stated — long continued cropping of the soil 
to wheat. It is only a couple of years ago when wheat raising was 
abandoned iu parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio ; but now there is 
scarcely a county in either of these three States which does not pro- 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 121 

duce a respectable amount of wheat. The facts are simply these : 
Years ago when the country was new, the soil produced prodigious 
crops of wheat. The virgin prairie seemed anxious to repay the set- 
tler who braved the perils of the frontier life. In return, the intelli- 
gent settler continued to sow wheat until nature put in her veto. Then 
the settler or his son declared that wheat could not be raised any lon- 
ger in that section, and went to planting corn and oats. Another gene- 
ration has found that the soil has recuperated ; and it does not need a 
prophet to foretell that the soil will go through another experience of 
over-cropping the deterioration until the farming population learn the 
logic, the common sense of rotation of crops. A map of the greatest 
centres of wheat production would be interesting. It would show for 
one thing, that new land produces large cops ; that old land that has 
been cropped to wheat for years also produces large crops. It would 
also show that from Minnesota to Tennessee there are no climatic in- 
fluences that prevent the raising of wheat, the difficulty is in the soil 
and its tillers. — American Miller. 



MARL. 



Ud. So. Planter : — I clip the following from the Agricultural Reports 
for 1871. It will be interesting to the people who have marl to exper- 
iment with. Unfortunately very few people in the best farming sec- 
tions of this country and others have marl, or can get it. It was for- 
merly brought at considerable expense, but in large quantities, from 
Prince George county, across the river. 

No one doubts the benefit derived from marl. There are large ac- 
essible deposits in some sections of these counties, but the people who 
have it don't, seem to value it as we do who have it not, or their lands 
don't need it so much. A deposit such as that at St. Peter's church in 
New Kent county, or at the Burnt Ordinary, in James City, would be 
a fortune to a man owning it, in the neighborhood of Wilcox Wharf 
in this county. 

" Nitrogenized marl in compost. — The following is a statement of an 
experiment by Mr. Bortier, an eminent Belgian agriculturist : Com- 
mencing in spring, a large quantity of stable manure was spread in a 
barn yard under cover, and divided into three equal parts. 

"The first was left to be trampled by stock. The second portion was 
kept from the stock : and the third portion was put in alternate layers 



122 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

with marl ; the latter being in weight, about three per cent, of the ma- 
nure. 

"In September, these manures were applied on three plots of loamy 
land of uniform character. For four successive crops, without further 
manuring, the plot dressed with the marl compost produced 10 per 
cent more than either of the other plots. Chemical analj^sis disclosed 
the fermentation of nitric acid in the marl thus treated ; and further 
experiment showed an additional advantage gained by mixing old p[a8- 
ter and mortar with the marl before composting. 

In this experiment 1000 parts of marl, placed in layers among stable 
manure for two months, was found to contain, by analysis, 0.69 part 
of nitric acid. Subtracting the nitrogen originally contributed in the 
plaster and mortar, the nitric acid formed in the marl was more than 
double that obtained in the other experiments. In Mr. Bortier's opin- 
ion the particles of limestone thus nitrogenized continued for years to 
absorb atmospheric nitrogen, and to communicate fertility to the soil." 

Would not the same thing occur if the marl and stable manure were 
applied to the soil direct, without the labor of composting ? 

Isaac H. Christian. 



AUGUSTA SOIL, AND SOUTH CAROLINA PHOSPHATES. 

One familiar with that portion of Augusta county closing the line 
of the Scottsville and Staunton turnpike, and Chesapeake and Ohio 
railroads, that run parallel with each other, will observe a wonderful 
change in its appearance since the war. There has been no portion of 
the country that gives evidence of greater improvement than this, un- 
less that extending down South River, from Waynesboro, and embra- 
cing the section around ISTew Hope, embracing an area of six or eight 
miles square. In conversing with several of the most judicious and 
observant farmers, as to the cause, all concur in the belief it has been 
because of the judicious use of fertilizers. Grass is relied upon as one of 
the paying crops, in the shape of hay, and it is questionable if a greater 
average yield per acre, in an ordinary season, can be found in any sec- 
tion of country, and we are very sure the quality cannot be improved 
upon. We observed through all this section referred to last summer 
in the finest fields of grass, that unmistakable indication of the 
want of lime^ the large patches of sorrel that killed out the grass, and. 
recognizable at a great distance in the red appearance it presented. 
Among the best farmers in Pennsylvania this and the running and tall 



1883. SOUTHERN PLANTER. 123 

briar were deemed unerring indications, and a heavy application of 
from 50 to 150 bushels per acre would be made on the sod^ where they 
always preferred to apply it. Our farmers will not come up to the true 
standard of success, until each one of them has his lime-kiln. 

The general appearance of the wheat through all this region induces 
the belief that the dry weather, the fly and red-rust all combined have 
made some impression, and the promise is not as encouraging as this 
time last fall by a considerable difference. We heard an idea in refer- 
ence to the effect of red rust on wheat on new or fresh land, advanced 
by an old farmer, observant, sensible and one of the most successful, 
that was entirely new to us. He said that for many years he had ob- 
served that it injured wheat on such lands always, and often to produce 
almost a failure. We do not understand the philosophy of it, and state 
the fact to call attention to it, and have the question investigated, and 
if correct, that the antidote may be provided. We have found within a 
few days that our farmers are economizing their fodder by this simple 
arrangement, w^hilst having the machine to thresh their clover seed, 
with a cutting and lacerating attachment their fodder is cut, and stowed 
away in their mows, put in the mangers for cattle, sheep or horses, and 
in such shape, it is easily masticated, and instead of the blade and 
shuck being stripped off, and the stalk left, all is within the reach of 
the animal to be converted into food, and manure, whereas the stalk 
for the latter purpose has been slow of decomposition, and inconveni- 
ent to handle, what now with the improved mower, hay tedder, rake, 
baling process, &c., a revolution has been effected, and the profit arising 
from the hay crop rivals that arising from wheat ,and the land improves 
more rapidly, and the farm wears a more sightly and handsome aspect. 
Why cannot our Eastern Virginia farmers see the benefits of their 
mode of husbandry and take courage? Let them not say, after seeing 
the example Judge Fullerton and others have set them, that it cannot 
be done Let them follow in the lead of that illustrious Georgian, Mr. 
Furman and take courage, with the motto nil desperandum. — Augusta.. 



COST AND PROFIT OF RAISING WHEAT. 



Uds. Oountry G-entleman — In a talk with one of the most intelligent- 
farmers in this vicinity, not long since, he remarked that the great dif- 
ficulty in the way of improved farming, or larger crops (he was speak- 
ing of the wheat crop in particular), is that generally farmers are un- 
willing to believe that there is any more net profit in a large crop, thaa^ 
10 



124 SOUTHER]^ PLANTER. [March 

in the small one. In other words, they think the extra crop raised will 
no more than pay for the extra labor, care and manure that it takes to 
produce it, leaving them no better off* at the end of the year in the one 
case than in the other. 

This is all wrong. As well might a railroad company, having a 
good track and plenty of cars, say it would not pay them to increase 
their gross receipts by paying out more money for brakemen, engineers 
and coal. Capital invested in labor and manure, on the farm, will pay 
as large a net profit as the same capital would invested in any other le- 
gitimate business, provided it is under as skillful management in the 
former as in the latter. The truth of the matter is that there is not.much 
net profit in farming, railroading, manufacturing, or any other business 
that is only run to half its capacity. If a man raises 30 bushels of 
wheat per acre, under good management, there will be more net profit 
in the last 15 bushels than in the first. But mere assertions amount 
to little ; let us try and get some facts to back them up. 

A writer in the last Ohio agricultural report says that, according to 
carefully collected reports of official figures of the Agricultural De- 
partment in Washington, and the single States, and of reliable practical 
farmers, the cost of production for one acre under wheat is to the aver- 
age American farmer — 

To plowing, harrowing, &c §2.00 

Manure, or higher expense on the rent of laud, taxes, &c 2.00 

Seed 1.50 

Sowing 50 

All harvest work, threshing and marketing 2.50 

Land rent 2.00 



$10.50 

He also states that the last agricultural reports of Illinois,'Indiana and 
Ohio concur perfectly with him in these estimates, and that the average 
yield from 1870 to 1880, inclusive, on one acre under wheat, in all the 
States of the Union, has been fixed at 13 bushels, and that the average 
price for the same time was about $1.06. The money value, then of 
an average acre of wheat in the United States for ten years has been 
$13 78. Take from this the cost of production, and we have a net 
profit of $3.28 an acre. 

But there are many thousands of good farmers in the United States 
who are applying manure and labor freely to their wheat land, and 
raising much more than an average crop. If their crops were taken 



1883.] SOUTHERIS' PLANTER. 125 

out of the general average, it must be evident to every one that there 
are millions and millions of acres, which, even at the very low estimate 
given above for labor and rent, would show no net profit at all. I have 
searched agricultural reports, books and papers in vain, to find any 
statements of cost of production and net profits that covered a se- 
ries of consecutive years, where labor and manure were applied so as to 
raise a crop two or three times as large as the general average. There 
are plenty of statements showing the net profits of single crops, but we 
want the net profit for a term of years on the same farm. In the ab- 
sence of any other figures, I will give some from my own farm, although 
they do not cover many years as I wish they did. The average cost of 
raising an acre of wheat, for the last four years, has been — 

Plowing $1.50 

6 harrowings, Thomas harrow $1.00^ 

4 cultivatings 2.00 V 3.50 

2 rollings 50 J 

Seed 1.84 

Harvesting 2.69 

Drawing in 2.16 

Threshing 3.56 

Manure 5.00 

Use of land 6.00 

Use of barn 1.00 

Marketing 1.41 

Interest 50 

$26.16 

The average yield for the four years has been 35J bushels. The 
average price, sold right from the machine (no speculation), was $1.17 
I have fourfd no difiiculty in getting $8 an acre for straw by feeding it 
out with grain, but as some has been used for bedding I will put it in 
at $6 an acre, which is less than it has actually brought. We have, 
then, the average yield in dollars for one acre, for the last four years — 

Wheat $41.24 

Straw 6.00 

Total $47.24 

Cost of production 29.16 

:^et profit $18.08 

In these figures hand labor is counted at cost, and a man and team 



126 SOUTHERTnT planter. [March 

at $3 per day, which covers cost, use of tools and depreciation. There 
is no charge for drilling, as the seed is sown by an attachment to the 
cultivator while working the land. No manure was applied directly 
to the wheat crop, but a fair proportion of what w^as put on preceding 
hoed crops is charged. So then w-e have the bulk of the wheat crop 
raised at little or no profit. In an average crop, by taking a very low 
price for our labor and use of land, we can squeeze out a net profit of 
$3.28 an acre; while with a crop of 35 bushels per acre, we can pay 
our help liberally and not over work them ; get a good round price for 
our team work; enough rent for our land so that we can afford to im- 
prove it, and still have |18 cash left in our pockets as the net profit 
from each acre. Take your choice ! 

You may think that I should not have made any account of the 
straw in my table, as there was none made in the average table. In 
the latter case some other things are left out also, such as use of barn 
and interest, w^hich would go toward balancing the value of the small 
quantity of straw that an average crop of wheat produces. Again, if 
i. had to harvest, draw in, thresh and market an acre of wheat for 
$2.50, I should certainly want the straw thrown in. There are few 
farms in the Eastern or Middle States where the straw from a large 
crop of wheat, cut early and fed with grain, cannot be made to bring 
at least $8 per acre. Even if the straw is used only for bedding and 
manure, it has a value for this purpose, and if we charge the wheat 
crop with the manure it uses, it should certainly have credit for the 
straw. 

I consider the items given in the table under the head of "Working 
Land," as among the most important essentials for a large crop of 
wheat. The good book says: "As a man sows, so shall he reap," and 
this is emphatically true of wheat-raising. I have succeeded in one 
instance in increasing the yield on the same land from 23 to ^3 bushels, 
and in another from 23 to 35 bushels, by thorough working of the 
land alone, no manure having been applied to the land between the 
two crops, except to half an acre- Good seed put in early also helps 
one to raise a large crop without manure. In the Country Gentle- 
man for Dec. 28th. W. J. F., in an article on the available supply of 
nitrogen,- says "ammonia is of less moment to very early sown fall 
wheat," and goes on to give the scientific reason. He hits the nail 
squarely on the head, as usual. By the way, that article alone is worth 
the price of the paper for a year. 

Summit County, 0. T. B. Terry. 



1883.] souther:^' planter. 127 



ENSILAGE. 



The Planter asks for the experience of Virginia farmers as to the 
value of ensilage. I propose to acid my mite, though I do not regard 
mj'self as a graduate-farmer. A celebrated farmer of this county once 
said, it takes a man thirty years to become a good farmer, and unless 
he is very shrewd and careful he will not know much about it then. 
Well, according to this good old farmer I am hardly a third on the 
way ; nevertheless, I hope to learn more and more as I progress through 
the long course, and I think I make a little progress ; for since the agi- 
tation of the ensilage question I have been favorably impressed with its 
theory, though doubtful as to its practical value, until after timid trial 
I feel convinced that ensilage occupies a most important place in the 
system of stock-feeding and that it is entirely and cheaply practicable 
in this part of Virginia, and I should think in any part of the South 
where it is properly put in the silo. 

In the summer of 1880 I mowed some second growth grass (clover, 
timothy, and herdsgrass mixed) for the purpose of curing into hay. 
It commenced raining on it soon afterwards and I allowed it to lay on 
the ground for forty-eight hours in the rain (a drizzle) and then con- 
cluded I would try some of it as ensilage. I had a little root pit that 
measured 6J feet each way and 6J feet deep and I determined to fill it 
with the grass that had been mowed forty-eight hours — just placing it 
carefully in the pit without any further cutting — all of which was 
wrong. It should have been placed in the pit as soon as mowed and not 
after acetic fermentation had commenced, but I had not read the de- 
tails of the subject, and did not at that time know^ any better, and was 
rewarded on opening the pit January 20th, following, by such 2i> fail- 
ure as your correspondent, J. A. Lynham, in the February Planter de- 
scribes as ^ensilage. But could he see and smell and feed the silos of 
ensilage I put up in 1881 and 1882, I am sure he would write an article 
much better than I can, on the great feeding '-^ value of ensilage.''^ 

I said my first experiment was n failure and so I firmly believed just 
as Mr. Lynham believes of the whole system. About a foot on top 
and all around the sides appeared to be entirely ruined and was thrown 
aside as such, the inner part had a most undescribable odor that adher- 
ed to every passer by and permeated the surrounding atmosphere and 
entered the house and buildings. Well, thought I, this is enough en- 
silage for me, but I concluded to try the cattle, most of which devoured 
it very greedily, though they were amply provided with corn-fodder, 
hay and meal. They ate the spoiled (?) "stuff" before they would 



128 SOUTHERI^ PLANTER. [March 

touch meal placed in the troughs at the same time, and on the second 
day every one of them devoured it greedily and my little silo was soon 
emptied. I then had the top which had been thrown off, and was now 
dry, thrown into the barn lot for manure and imagine my surprise at 
seeing horses, cattle and hogs, all eating it up clean. These statements 
are reliable, and though they seem incredible, can be verified by eye- 
witnesses with myself. And after noticing these strange facts I began 
to wonder if the stock were not better judges of the value of ensilage 
than I was, and I was obliged to answer affirmatively. I thought on the 
subject a good deal and finally procured Bailey's "Book of Ensilage," 
and after a careful perusal of the book and all its details, determined 
on a further experiment. Just here I would state that I do not live in 
a stock country, and do not practice feeding except as a branch of my 
business, which is mainly that of growing tobacco and wheat, with 
corn, oats, hay, rye, &c., in addition. I like, however, to keep all the 
stock I can attend to properly and I find that, be the feed ever so good 
the cattle tire of it during the latter part of the winter. Particularly 
is this the case with sheep, and right here, at this tiring point, is where 
the value of ensilage comes in, and I have never in my life seen a feed 
of any kind more greedily devoured by both sheep and cattle than well 
preserved ensilage. 

I know that chemists of great learning and ability write against en- 
silage, they cannot theoretically manage its results. 

I know also that chemists of great learning and abilitj^ have written 
elegant and plausible theories on other subjects and have been practically 
mistaken, and I believe such is the case with ensilage, and I hope they 
may yet see the necessity of taking the glossy cattle and the fine healthy 
sheep and lambs into the laboratory and be enabled to determine with 
accuracy that the great improvement so manifest over dry feed is due 
to the amazing "value of ensilage." 

And now a few words as to the expense of ensilage. I have found 
it very cheap. My silo consists of a single square hole dug in. the ground 
and has no masonry of any kind about it. The soil is solid clay for 
4 J feet in depth — after that a more porous soil extends all through to 
the bottom. Its dimensions are 12x13x10 J ft. deep, and it cost me |4.00 
to dig it. The walls are very smooth and exactly perpendicular, to al- 
low it to settle evenly. I dug it under an old house, so the roof did 
not cost me anything, and I use the house for storing dry feed after the 
ensilage has been put in the silo — of course using the dry feed out first- 
One acre of good lovvgrounds planted in rows 3J feet apart and as 
thick as any cornp-lanter will drop it, will produce enough corn to fill 



1883.] SOUTHER]^ PLANTER. 129 

my silo — and this quantity will feed nine cows about three months. 
1 only worked my corn once with the "Brown" wheat cultivator, and 
if it is grown near the silo, with ten hands and a fifteen inch cutter, 
driven by power I can fill the silo in one day. . So our friend Lynham 
and Judge Christian will see that ensilage is not a 'luxury reserved en- 
tirely for the riehJ' Of course in some soils that would cave or where 
water would rise in the silo, masonry would have to be used and the 
first cost increased by that much. Where the soil is firm enough to 
stand no masonry whatever is necessary, and the ensilage keeps perfectly 
and possesses a flavor relishedhy every one who passes it, and producing 
a fine flow of milk and rich yellow butter that brings a price above 
any market it is oflered on, and I have never been able to supply the 
demand for it. 

As to ensilage being 80 per cent, water. What if it is ? Does not 
grass, the best food in the world, possess a very large percentage of 
water? Does not milk, on which the young of nearly all animals live 
and grow more rapidly than at any other period, consist almost en- 
tirely of water ? And is not pure water one of the most important ele- 
ments of animal growth ? 

I have neglected to say that I plant about June 10th, and 
cut in August when in full bloom and house as fast as cut 
down, not allowing the corn time to wilt a particle before it goes into 
the silo. Hence I think the plan may be followed in the South, as it 
is usually very hot when I put mine away. Being a tobacco grower 
August is the only leisure month I have to depend on for any time for 
this work, and the work is done before the husy fall sets in. 

If the work is rapidly done and the weight immediately applied, the 
air is excluded; and fermentation cannot go on without the presence of 
three agents, heat, air, and moisture, consequently the outside tempera- 
ture cannot afiTect the mass, as it cannot penetrate its air-tight bulk. 

Amelia Co., Va. C. N. S. 



ON THE CHE^/llSTRY OF HAY AND ENSILAGE. 

At a recent meeting of the London Chemical Society, Mr. Toms 
read a paper as above. The author has analyzed various samples of 
hay, and contrasted them with analyses of "ensilage" — i. e., grass bur- 
ied while green in a water tight pit or "silo" and subjected to pressure. 
It is well known to chemists that hay making is not a mere drying of 
grass, but that a fermentation also takes place, which develops the 



130 S0UTHEK:N' PLA:N'TER. [March 

well known perfume of hay, and daring which the grass loses its green 
color. A specimen of good hay dried contained : 

Fatty matters 2.17 

Free acetic acid 1.80 

Sugar 3.42 

Starch 12.46 

Gum and mucilage 27.25 

A specimen of brown hay from the same rick as the last, but from 
a portion of the stack which had been heated, contained : 

Fatty matters 4.26 

Aldehyd, which formed a mirror with ammonia-sil- 
ver nitrate trace. 

Free acetic acid 5.38 

Sugar 6.94 

Starch 3.42 

Gum and mucilage 24.77 

More than two-thirds of the starch had thus disappeared, and ap- 
parently had been converted into sugar, etc. Three specimens of en- 
silage were examined. One differed very little from ordinary grass. 
The second was brown, and smelt strongly of tobacco; it contained 
more acetic acid and sugar, but less starch. The third specimen rep- 
resented fodder which had been buried eighteen months; it still con- 
tained starch-sugar, but was not acid, and was mouldy. 

Mr. O'SuUivan did not think the author had proved the presence of 
starch in the hay and ensilage, because other substances, such as gum 
and mucilage, when boiled with dilute sulphuric acid, furnished cupric 
oxide reducing substances. 

Dr. Gilbert said during his recent visit to America he had heard a 
good deal about "ensilage," and the process seemed to be thought 
much of in that country. The crops, too, of succulent maize, etc., 
seemed well suited for it. It was essential for a good result to put all 
the materials as quickly as possible in the ^'silo," and put on a pres- 
sure of 100 to 150 pounds per square foot almost immediately. He 
suggested that unless samples of ensilage taken for analyses were kept 
under pressure during transit the product might be completely chan- 
ged. The process was very suitable for the preservation of the pulp 
from the sugar beet. — Scientific American. 



The man that works at home helps society at large with somewhat 
,more of certainty than he who devotes himself to charities. 



1883.] SOUTHEEX PLAISTTER. 131 

NITROGEN IN OHIO. 



JEds. Country Gentleman — Under this head, in a recent issue, appeared 
an article from the pen of aiy friend, W. I. Chamberlain, about which 
I wish to say a little. I had not the advantage of a college education, 
and shall not attempt to refute his position, but will suggest that an 
analysis in the chemist's laboratory v/ill not always correspond with 
one in the field. We will take as an example !N"o. 64, in the table of 
the Ohio State Board's analyses of pure ground bone. It analyzed 
$45.64 per ton, and I believe sells at about $48. Then we will take 
No. 73, acid or rock phosphate, containing no nitrogen, or but a trace. 
It analyses $32.19 cents per ton, and sells for about the same, thus ma- 
king a difference of about $16 per ton, or about enough to buy another 
half ton. It is a notorious fact that these two numbers (manures) have 
been used side by side in this section repeatedly, and almost invariably 
in favor of the rock phosphate, and applied at the same number of 
pounds per acre. I see also, in a recent issue, that M. IT. E., from 
Irondale, 0., reports the same experience. 

Last fall I met a man on the hunt for rock phosphate like some which 
a neighbor of his had used. He said he knew it did better than bone 
had done for him. Thus we can see there is a vast saving in the ex- 
pense column. It is a noteworthy fact that while people are left to their 
own choice, they will take an article for $32 in preference to one at 
$48, if they are satisfied that one is as valuable, pound for pound, as 
the other when tried in the field. 

My friend. Secretary Chamberlain, says that commercial fertilizers ap- 
pear to have come to stay, and they doubtless have, and so have the rock 
or acid phosphate while they behave as they have done so far. They 
will effect a vast saving of money. I have seen some of the most sur- 
prising instances of its effect on quite poor land, where we might very 
reasonably look for nitrogen to be demanded. Indeed the develop- 
ment of the straw looked as if there might have been ammonia ap- 
plied to it. In my observations I have come to the conclusion that 
many farms would be better if their straw piles would take fire and 
burn up — at least so much as was not needed to absorb liquids. If we 
find our charts are leading astray, in this nitrogen question, certainly, 
as good sailors, we should not change our bearings, in order that we 
may avoid collisions. It certainly seems to me that future cultivators 
will look over our feeble efforts, and can point to sad blunders we 
have made, and these fertilizer analyses will not be exempt from their 
criticisms. Let us preserve them as free from contempt as possible. 

Barnesville, 0., In Country Gentleman, 



132 SOUTHERN PLAInTTER. [March 



TIME TO SOW CLOVER AND ORCHARD GRASS. 



Editor Southern Planter. — The question often arises when is the best 
time to sow the spring grasses? Experience has taught me that just as 
soon as the hard freezes of winter are over, w^hich is generally in Feb- 
ruary, sometimes as late as March. Most farmers contend that you 
should wait until you can drag on your wheat or winter oats; but I 
find that the seed sown in February, drag or no drag, rarely ever fail 
to come and make a good stand, and those sown late, and the drag and 
roller both used, often die out in midsummer, soon after the grain is 
cut off. I don't think I ever fail with mine in February, and gener- 
ally the ground is so wet we cannot drag, and I often have seen the 
seed lay on top the ground until I almost despaired of them, but when 
the ground got in order to suit those who wait to drag, my seed would 
be sprouted and growing before theirs were in the ground. I have 
some nice lots that had to stand the long drouth of 1881, and seed I sowed 
dragged and rolled the same year in March, failed to stand the hot dry 
weather. I have tried the plan of sowing in February for three years, 
and succeeded each year, and shall do the same this year. It is a strange 
thing to me that every farmer does not avail himself of the great help 
a nice grass lot would be. Most any of our high lands manured will 
bring fair crops of clover and orchard grass. I don't see how they can 
can be done without. If sown early and alone, and lightly top-dressed, 
they hardly ever fail to make a good stand, even as late as the last of 
April. Top-dressing I consider a safe insurance for a good stand, and 
if repeated every winter or early spring, the grass will stand on only 
tolerably fair land for ^yq or six years, and I have yet to see a grass 
in this country that is better for grazing. You can graze it on good 
land most of the winter until April, cut a crop of hay, then graze 
again in the fall. Why our people don't ship hay from Virginia instead 
of to Virginia I can't see. I am often discouraged in writing for agri- 
cultural papers, with the thought that what is the use, the people that 
you want to impress are the very people that don't read. Our poor old 
Virginia is so given to old ruts and old fogyism that they think it a 
weakness to take an agricultural paper, and call those who do take 
them, or write for them, hook farmers ; but there is one thing I have 
observed, and that is, where you find progress in farming you find a 
reading man and farm papers; but how to reach this non-reading 
people is the mystery to me, and I hope, Mr. Editor, you will solve it for 
me. 

I will try and answer your questions on ensilage in your last num- 
ber, w^hen I sell my lot of thirty-two beef cattle now feeding on it. 

Manchester, Va. F. Guy. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLAIS^TER. 183 

FEEDING VALUE OF ENSILAGE. 



We have inquiries concerning the feeding value of ensilage, some 
of which show some confusion of mind in regard to the subject. 
Bearing in mind a few general principles will help to a better un- 
derstanding : 

1st. The value of food preserved in a silo depends very greatly on 
what was put in — its nature and condition. The material used and 
the degree of maturity of the crop will greatly affect the value. 

2nd. Putting grass, corn stalks, or other substance in a silo, does 
not add anything to the nutriment contained in the material. We 
cannot take out w^hat we did not put in. Cutting and storing the green 
food in a silo may make it more digestible ; may, and often does make 
it more palatable than when the food is dried in the open air. Let- 
ting the moisture dry from the meadow grass or from green corn-stalks, 
in itself, should not make these substances less desirable as food. In 
fact, it does make them less palatable. Preserving much of this moist- 
ure in the ensilaged ffiod may be a help. 

3rd. If fermentation goes on in the silo to any considerable extent, 
there is absolute loss of food value. 

4th. Reason and experience alike lead us to conclude that we can- 
not make ensilaged grass or corn-stalks alone fully take the place of 
good grain feed. The latter should be given in connection with the 
former. 

5th. Reason and experience alike show that almost any palatable, 
nutritious, succulent plant, kept in a silo, with reasonable exclusion of 
the air, makes a palatable and fairly satisfactory food. — Breeder's Qa- 
zette, Chicago. 

FAITHLESS ADVERTISING. 



BuMPASs, Va. Jan. 31st. 1883. 
Bear Sir. — You did not send me the January number of the Plan- 
ter. Please send it as there is an article I particularly wish to see, and 
do not wish to break my file. I also wish you to expose a fraud. In the 
Planter, last spring, T. M. Smith, Fresh Pond, N. Y. was advertising 
pure bred fowls and eggs. I sent to him for two sittings, one of Ply- 
mouth Rocks, and one of Partridge Cochins. He sent some eggs from 
which I got three chicks, two of them perfectly white, the other nearly 
so, all perfect mongrels, and very small, almost like Bantams. I hope 
you will expose him for the protection of other farmers. Use my name 
if you like. Please be sure to send me the January Planter. 

Very respectfully, J. 0. Smith 

[We insert the above card from Mr. Smith as we wish every opportunity afiforded to ex- 
pose faithless advertising. — Ed. S. P. 



134 S0UTHEE:N' planter. [March 



UNDERDRAINING. 



To the Editor of the Southern Planter : 

As I have had a good deal of experience and some observation in draining, 
I will make a suggestion to Mr. William Tayloe, of King George, who asks 
for information thereanent in the Planter of October last (at p. 184.) I had 
designedly put off what I had to say until now, thinking that it would appear 
in the February number, at which time I knew the state of his land would 
incline him to take advice, that might not necessitate too heavy a drain on 
his pocket, more readily than at a time when the need might not appear so 
great. 

I regret to learn from you that my communication is too late for the Febru- 
ary number, but I offer it to you notwithstanding, as the facts stated may be 
of some use in guiding Mr. Tayloe and others to some of the principles which 
underlie the important art of land drainage. 

If the surface soil be a dense, stiff clay, resting on a deep stratum of the 
same material, and that lying upon another stratum of water glutted sand or 
gravel, and the surface be level, then the only thing to do is to bed the land — 
30-feet beds are best — to lime it and clover it and so deepen the soil, and then 
grass it as much and cultivate it as little as you can. 

If the land be rolling, I have not much to say in addition to, or criticism of, 
what you have already said ; but little more, indeed, than to confirm your re- 
marks by giving some of my own experience. 

The land I operated on was a clay stratum, resting on a wet, gravelly sand, 
from which the water came upwards by capillary action and rendered the soil 
wet and miry in the winter. I drained it completely by ditches four feet deep, 
with holes bored with a two inch marl auger six feet down, tapping the satu- 
rated stratum, so that the water rose and overflowed the lips of the orifice. 
These holes were filled with gravel — small stones not larger than a pigeon's 
egg — to keep the walls of the holes from caving. Tiles were then laid along 
the bottom of the ditch, which was then compactly covered up. The water 
forced its way into the tiles, and at the outlet of the ditch formed a spring, 
whose flow only ceased in a severe drought. 

If the work had been more thoroughly done, the spring, I am convinced, 
would have been never-failing. As it was, it produced a serious effect upon a 
well thirty-three feet deep which penetrated the wet stratum and rested on solid 
rock, lowering it several feet in very dry weather, and causing an insufficient 
supply of water for household purposes. 

If this clay had rested on a dry sand, it would have been drained by a 
precisely opposite operation : a sufficient number of these holes carried down to 
the sand and filled up with small stone would have discharged the superfluous 
water into the sand. This I have seen. The mansion at Spring Garden, on 
the Pamunky, in the county of Hanover, stood upon a small, level plateau. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 135 

At its foot was a stopping place for carriages. The pawing and trampling of 
horses standing in that place, had excavated and puddled it until every rain 
made a pond there. In 1834, ray kinsman, the late Hon. Wra. H. Roane, 
then residing there, bored down some ten feet with a marl auger, and filled the 
hole as I have described. The effect was to drain the place perfectly, though 
carriages stopped there as before. It was the recollection of this that sug- 
gested to me the opposite and more laborious, but successful plan, at Summer 
Hill, in 1856. 

In confirmation of the Spring Garden plan, I remember that our excellent 
friend, the late Hon. Wiiloughby Newton, of Westmoreland, once stated that 
by boring holes — of a less depth with a post-hole auger, whose shank he had 
elongated — in the water furrows, where the depressions had caused the water 
to gather, that he had got rid of it without difficulty. 

This statement he made at one of those charming meetings which you, Mr. 
Editor, so well remember, when the pleasures of a day at the Fair Grounds 
were renewed in evening discussions, which can never be forgotten by those 
who heard them, nor remembered by any of us without a sigh. There never 
can be anything like them again. And one of the most agreeable and intelli- 
gent of those gentlemen of that happy time, was Mr. Ed. T. Tayloe, of Powha- 
tan, in the county of King George. 

In conclusion, I would say that your own judicious articles on this subject 
have rendered it unnecessary tnat I should say any more, perhaps useless for 
me to have said anything. Your friend, 

January 20, 1883. Fkank : G. Puffin. 

[We welcome the reply of Col. Ruffin to the enquiries of our correspondent, Mr. 
Tayloe, though somewhat delayed. The subject is one of vital importance to farmers, 
and, therefore, is always in order as to the time for its consideration. Col. R.'s facile 
pen, practical experience, and devotion to all methods of agricultural improvement, 
give sufficient guaranty that all he writes will be fairly appreciated by the farmers of 
Virginia— Ed. S. P.] 



POTATO ROT— ITS CAUSES. 



Editor Southern Planter, — In the February number of your valuable paper, 
Mr. J. H. Berkeley, of Hanover county, Va., assigns four reasons for the 
potato rot in the fall of 1882, and asks, "Will not Mr. John Washington, of 
Caroline county, give his opinion on the subject? (and this crop, I think, has 
been a specialty with him.)" 

For convenience, I will reply in the form of a letter to Mr. B. For sixteen 
years I have raised late Irish potatoes as a paying crop ; only one year during 
that period were they not salable. I expect to raise them so long as potatoes 
are imported into Virginia for home demand — this, too, although the potato 
crop is not a "specialty" with me at present. But grass and Jersey cattle are. 
I think, with proper preparation, manuring and cultivation of the soil, and 



136 SOUTHERINT PLANTER. [March 

care to plant good and pure seed, potatoes can be raised as cheaply, and of 
equal if not better quality in Virginia, as at the I^orth or West. Hence, I do 
not think your crop "of 174 bushels per acre unusual" — at least, should not be 
so. I know that 250 to 300 bushels per acre can be raised ; and, in this con- 
nection, advise that you plant the whole potato, and do not plant earlier than 
June. Also try the difference between seed of half pound and over, each, with 
smaller seed. Never plant less than four to five inches deep in furrow. 

Now as to causes of potato rot. I can speak of my crop in some confidence. 
The first reason you assign may be good ; the second I think not a good reas-on. 
I mounded Peerless potatoes in September and October, and one of my neigh- 
bors mounded in October and November. Another neighbor mounded his 
Peach Blow in October (of the latter I will say more.) None of these had the 
rot. They were subject, in bulk, to the "warm weather" that yours were. 

I do not Gonciir in your third reason. My Peach Blow potatoes were not 
over large. "The hollow or black-heart" is in the centre; the rot appeared on 
the surface. I think your potatoes had the rot when dug, as mine had, and the 
bulking of them only developed it rapidly. 

Your fourth reason "frosted." My crop was not frosted, and some were dug 
after yours were. 

Additional facts : My Peerless potatoes did not rot, nor did the Peerless 
raised by ray neighbors, although in some cases dug late in November. Again : 
One neip'hbor, who purchased his seed of me, planted in light and sandy soil, 
and dug in October, and mounded in the field. His potatoes (Peach Blow) had 
no signs of rot and have none at this writing. Again : About the 15th of Oc- 
tober a friend came to see me, and desired some Peach Blow potatoes to take 
home. A large basket was gathered. They were sound and perfect at that 
time. The ground was then wet and the weather damp, but cool. Then we 
had for weeks, with slight intervals, rains, fogs, dews, with sultry and damp 
atmosphere. My potatoes were then about matured. The stalk, not the leaf, 
of the vine was kept green by the dampness. They remained for weeks in a 
bed of mud We raise in this section two varieties of potatoes — Peerless and 
Peach Blow. Of the two, I conclude, first, that the rot was confined to the 
Peach Blow. Secondly, its direct cause was the wet, warm and sultry weather 
immediately after the potatoes matured. Thirdly, this cause might have been 
relieved by earlier digging. I felt the danger at the time, and took the risk at 
the cost of 500 to 600 bushels of large spoilt potatoes. These were carried to 
the stock in wagon loads, after giving them a few small feeds. This is my first 
experience of the potato rot, and hope to be more prompt should it return. 

I do not think the seed planted had anything to do with it. My seed were 
the Jersey variety, only two years from New Jersey, and carefully assorted, 
both in the field and again in April, and again in June when planted. Neg- 
lecting to dig the Peach Blow potatoes in October, I think, was the occasion of 
their decay. My Peerless were dug and shipped before the 15th of October. 
The best implement for the potato field that I have found, is the " Malta 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 137 

Wheeled Cultivator." With four shovels, and the horses stradling the furrows, 
it covers beautifully as fast as two quick hands will drop. Nine days after 
planting, harrow once or twice. After the potatoes are up along the furrow, 
start the cultivator with bull-tongue next to the potato. Repeat this every 
week, running the bull-tongue or shovel each time further from the vine, until 
the crop is cultivated. From five to seven acres in potatoes is a day's work. 

A word, in conclusion, to Mr. Editor, who, in his note, expressed the opinion 
"that potato fields are fertilized exclusively with nitrogenous manures, such as 
stable and other rich farm manures," &c. 

My potato field was fertilized, in part, with stable and farm-pen manure ; a 
portion had no manure, except ashes, applied to the entire field, from four to 
six bushels per acre ; potash or kainit, 200 pounds per acre to about two-thirds 
of the field, in alternate strips. The entire field was also limed. The rot was 
as bad in those parts of the field not manured as in those manured. The dif- 
ference, and only difference, was in the heavy and light, and high and low 
places in the field. The rot was worse in the heaviest soil and in lowest places. 
One rocky knoll (manured) was freer from rot than any other part of the field. 

Again : I endorse the views of F. R. C. (p. 70) " Mantua Farm," who, with 
others, have inscribed on their banner " nitrogen is too expensive ; " the atmos- 
phere which enriches the earth cpn tains a sufficient quantity for plant food. 
A beneficent God has given to man two inexhaustible storehouses of nitrogen. 
One, the earth and its vegetable products; the other, the air that encircles the 
earth. Utilize them ! John Washington. 

Spring Mill Farm, February 6, 1883. 



POULTRY. 



Editor Southern Planter, — Some of your readers in this region were 
much interested in reading an article in your January number, headed 
** Poultry raising a profitable employment for women," by Mrs. Annie 
S. Carr, of Frensburg, N. Y. But they have not the necessary appli- 
ances suggested for hatching, know nothing of their construction or 
where they can be obtained. I write on behalf of these enquirers in 
order to elicit something from yourself — some of your correspondents, 
or Mrs. Carr herself, by which they may make trial of her very suc- 
cessful method. A knowledge of this method would doubtless inter- 
est many others. I hope the appeal I make will not be suffered to pass 
over in silence. 

It is lamentable to think how few avenues are open to profitable em- 
ployment for females and others incapable of active labor, and at a 
time too when it is more than ever desirable and even necessary that 
every one should do all he or she can for an independent and comfor- 
table support. 



138 SOUTHERl^ PLANTER. [March 

Manj of our lady friends are making commendable efforts to qualify 
themselves for teaching. Many are thus employed, and are thus being 
useful and securing independence. But a majority I presume, for want of 
inclination or qualification, are not thus employed. Some engage in 
sewing, but are poorly paid, and in most cases cannot get sufficient 
patronage. Indeed, it is lamentable that females are not as well paid 
for the same work, equally as well done, as males. From these and 
other considerations that might be named, I argue that they are public 
benefactors who shall suggest as many subjects of laudable and profit- 
able emploj^ment for the class of society as possible, and at the same 
time explain how they may be successfully followed. 

Fluvanna. M. B. S. 

AN EMQUIRY. 



Ed. So. Planter. — Please tell me, if you can, why it is the custom in 
tide water Virginia (at least in all this section) to cultivate corn in beds 
with a turn plow rather than flat with shovels ? 

I would not trespass on your valuable time, for I. know an editor is al- 
ways busy, but I have been taught so much by the Planter^ I cannot 
refrain from bringing my troubles to you. Permit me to add, that I 
consider the Planter now better than I have ever known it to be. Ho- 
ping that you will answer my query either privately, or in your col- 
umns, I am very truly yours 

Moss Neck, Caroline Co Va. J. P. Corbin. 

P. S. I would also like very much to know something more of Ja- 
pan clover — Lespedeza. 

The method of cultivating corn, referred to by our correspondent, universally prevail 
in the Tidewater and middle sections of the State. The flat and checked culture is 
equally prevalent in the Valley, and to some extent, in the Piedmont section. We are un- 
able to give a satisfactory reason for its adoption and general use in the first sections 
named. Tidewater lands are usually flat, with slight undulations, and hence this method 
of culture was deemed advantageous for drainage. So far as drainage was, or is subserv- 
ed by the method, it furnishes a good argument in its support. But, however, with 
most farmers, we fear a different and less satisfactory reason, prevails. The drill system, 
and bedded rows, permit a convenient, but a bad, method of covering up with a turn 
plow grass and weeds which have been suffered to accumulate in the corn field, much to 
the injury of the crop, and to an extent that a cultivator or shovel plow, useful in flat cul- 
ture, would be of no value. We have often seen high bed-furrows thrown up along corn 
rows, when drainage did not at all require them, and the tongues of grass lapping up be- 
tween the hill were tongues of fire to burn up the crop. We do not approve of this 
method of culture, and if any of our readers can justify it, they should, and, we hope, 
will answer the enquiry of our correspondent. On the level fields of the Tidewater sec- 
tion, it is, in most instances, best to lay up the lands into fifteen or thirty feet beds when 
fallowed, but the culture of the corn on the beds should be flat. 

As to Lespedeza, we call on our friend, Capt. Richard Irby, to respond, as he has given 
the subject more consideration than any other person we know of. — Ed. S. P. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 189 



THE VALUE OF ENSILAGE.'' 



As requested on page 93, February number of Southern Planter, 
the following enquiries are answered : 

No. 1. Location of silo with reference to feeding- rooms? Answer, 
About twenty yards distant. ^No. 2. Form of silo? Answer, Paral- 
lelogram. No. 3. Dimensions of silo? Answer, 24x6x8 (last depth). 

No. 4. Walls of silo — materials and construction? Answer, Lined and 
floored with inch-plank. No. 5. Cover ? Answer, Virginia fodder- 
house (made of top-fodder). No. 6. Weight — materials used for, 

amount required and how applied? Answer, Rock — sixteen oxcart- 
loads, put on top plants. No. 7. Cost of silo? Answer^ T^ug it with 

my own hands. No. 8. Crops used for ensilage ? Answer, Corn. 

No. 9. Method of planting and cultivation? Answer, Li three-feet 
drills — worked twice with Watt plow. No. 10. State of develop- 
ment at which fodder is most valuable for ensilage ? Answer, When 

shooting and tasselling. No. 11. Weight of fodder produced per 

acre? Answer, Have never w^eighed any. No. 12. Kind of corn 

best suited for ensilage ? Answer, Never tried but one kind — Goard 

seed. No. 13. Value of sweet corn as compared with field varieties? 

Answer, Do not know\ No. 14. Preparation of fodder for silo — 

machinery used? Answer, Cut in inch lengths by *' Sinclair" No. 8 

Fodder Cutter, bought of H. M. Smith & Co. No. 15. Filling silo ? 

Answer, Cutting-box at end of silo, so that cut fodder fell directly in ; 

levelled over and trampled. No. 16. Cost of tilling per ton of fodder 

put in ? Answer, Never estimated the cost. No. 17. Lapse of time 

before opening the silo? Answer, Filled in September, opened January 

1st. No. 18. Condition of ensilage when opened ? Answer, Very 

good. No. 19. Deterioration, if any, after opening? A^iswer, Can 

observe none. No. 20. Value of ensilage for milch cows ? Answer, 

Cannot answer. No. 21. Effects of ensilage on dairy products? 

Answer, Increases them. No. 22. Value of ensilage for other stock? 

Answer, Valuable for all stock in making them shed earlier and w^inter 

better. No. 23. Quantity consumed per head? Answer, Do not 

weigh or measure it. No. 24. Method of feeding — alone or with 

other food? Answer, Feed with meal, &c. ; but my cattle eat it with 

or without meal equally as well and greedily. No. 25. Condition of 

stock fed on ensilage, both as to gain or loss of w^eight and health ? 
Answer, It is my opinion they improve both in weight and health. 
No. 26. Profitableness of ensilage, all things considered ? Answer, It 
pays : 1st. The same amount of forage cannot be made on the same 
11 



140 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

area of land of anything else. 2d. The same amount of forage cannot 
be secured in such a small space, or as cheaply, of other kinds. 3d. It 
is like green food for cattle, and consequently much relished by them. 
4th. All things considered, in my opinion, it is cheap, healthy and 
profitable to the farmer, and the cattle enjoy it. 



Halifax Co.^ Va. 



Yours, &c., 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTH. 



No one circumstance pertaining to the history of the past more 
strikingly illustrates the extent of the resources of the country and the 
energy of its population than the recent industrial development of the 
South. In 1865, this section of our country found itself, as the result 
of four years' war, entirely prostrate, without industry, without tools, 
without money, credit, or crops ; deprived of local self government, 
and, to a great extent, of all political privileges, the flower of its youth 
in the hospitals or dead upon the battle-fiels, with society disorganized, 
and starvation imminent or actually present. But the year 1868, the 
third year of the free labor experiment, brought an improvement. The 
harvest was sufficiently abundant to furnish the people with cheap food 
and to produce a large surplus for the future and for export, while the 
value returned from the sale of the exportable product of that year, in 
the form of cotton, grain, sugar, tobacco, and naval stores, and the 
like, was large enough to lay a solid foundation for future success. 
That result of effbrt and industry brougbt to the people of the South, 
before so enfeebled, poor and discouraged, a large measure of strength 
and prosperity. Since that day it has restored and built railways ; it 
has enriched the soil and increased the quality and quantity of the 
great staple per acre, through the extensive use of fertilizers and im- 
proved tools and implements; it has multiplied that distributor of com- 
forts and necessities, the country store ; it has built manufactories, and 
is attaining a truer independence than could ever have been purchased 
through a victory at arms. 

The supply of labor in the South has not been sufficient to meet the 
demands of its new and various industries ; population is needed, and 
advantages to the immigrant are multiplied. To doubt that such a 
supply cannot be obtained is to doubt that the influences which have 
heretofore proved sufficient to control human action and direct the 
movement of population will continue to operate. But supposing the 
supply of labor and the population of the South to remain for many 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLA:N"TER. 141 

years as it is, and the circumstances attending production and develop- 
ment to be only moderately favorable, the South gives fair promise of 
deriving annually a greater amount of active surplus as the results of 
industry than any other section of the Union, and of thereby attaining 
to a degree of prosperity which will enable its population to become 
large consumers of the products of other States and countries. This 
in turn must tend to increase the general prosperity of the whole 
countr\% and to extend trade and commerce within its borders. 

Furthermore, the large amount of capital that has become available 
at the South has, in large part, been invested in local and domestic 
enterprises, and in the establishment of manufactures on an extensive 
scale. True diversity of employment has become to the South, for the 
first time, possible; and Southern capital can be advantageously ap- 
plied to the manufacture of agricultural tools and implements, leather, 
wagons, wooden ware, soap, starch, clothing and similar materials. 
These are manufactures in which iron, steel and cloth are raw mate- 
rials. They employ the largest amount of labor in proportion to 
product and capital, and warrant the payment of high wages. — New 
York Economist. 



THE CARE OF FARM MACHINERY, 



Nothing appeals more strongly to the interest of the farmer than a proper care of his 
tools and machinery. Virginia farmers, by our observation, give but little attention to 
this subject, and appear to be regardless, and unconscious, of the loss they sustain. 

The Ohio Farmer^ a good agricultural paper, says : 

We have noticed that plows last, on an average, about three years ; 
wagons, eight to ten years ; reapers, five to eight; drills, eight to ten. 
We think these figures are fully as large as the truth warrants. We 
know of many implements that have not lasted so long, and of many 
w^hich have lasted much longer. We to day can point to wagons that 
have been in constant and hard use for twenty years, reapers that have 
stood the wear and tear of liberal use for more than fifteen years, drills 
that have been in use as long, and other agricultural implements that 
have stood the wear of fully twice the average age of such implements. 
These implements were not made of unusually good materials, nor 
were they suflfered to lie idle. They were put to constant use. What, 
then, is the secret of their great endurance ? It is simply this — they 
were taken care of. When not in use they were put away, and pnt 
away properly. 

These implements not only lasted longer, but while they were in use 



142 SOUTHER]^ PLANTER. [March 

they very rarely failed. They were always ready for work. The reap- 
ers did not break down in the middle of harvest and compel all hands 
to lie idle while some one went to the railway station to get repairs; 
the drills did not fail just when the wheat ought to be sown ; the wag- 
ons were not always breaking down and occasioning delays and vexa- 
tion. Another thing may be said in their favor, and that is, that they 
always did good work. The reapers cut a smooth stubble and put the 
grain down in good condition; the plows did not refuse to scour; the 
drills put the wheat in just as a first class drill would; and these im- 
plements did good work not only while they were new, but till the last 
year they were in use. 



ASPARAGUS IN FLORIDA. 

Orange Co. Fla., December 1882. 
Editors of the Florida Dispatch : 

Having heard a gentleman who had traveled extensively through 
this State say that asparagus will not grow in Florida, I desire to know 
of you, or your numerous readers, whether such is the fact. I doubt, 
of course, as I have heard of no edible plant but that will grow here, 
under proper condition, and flourish. 

Reply. — The "ludicrosity" of our respected correspondent's query 
almost upset our editorial gravity. The asparagus officinalis is a "har- 
dy, perennial, maritime plant." It is indigenous to the shores of vari- 
ous countries of Europe and Asia, and has been naturalized in all coun- 
tries within the temperate zone. A sandy soil, slightly moist, and well 
enriched with manure, is most favorable to its perfect growth ; and 
though not indigenous or native to this continent or State, it grows 
beautifully in Florida, wherever it is properly planted and cared for. 
It is only a few years since it was gravely asked if Irish potatoes, or 
strawberries or cabbages would grow in Florida (?) — and now — for 
further particulars, see the Revv York market w^eekly reports. — Eds. 

We clip the above from the Florida Dispatch, 

"We do not like to see this sunny clime disparaged in any way. Its 
healthful climate, and its variety of products make Florida the pride 
of the country. We have just read in the Southern World di most in- 
teresting article, headed " what shall we eat," giving a graphic state- 
ment of what is found there in the way of birds and animals fit for the 
table, and the usual means of trapping and hunting them. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 143 



THE MAKING AND KEEPING OF CIDER. 



To make good cider, good, sound, well-ripened, clean apples must 
be used, and no others. It is better to crush them than to grate them. 
Everything about the mill with which the apples, pomace, or cider 
can come in contact must be clean — perfectly so. 

The apple juice, when expressed from the pomace, must be filtered 
so as to take out every particle of apple or other solid matter which 
may be floating in it. Cleanly washed sand is sometimes used, and 
animal charcoal ; but probably a mass of perfectly clean cotton or cot- 
ton cloth of many thicknesses, will be found as good as anything. The 
cider should be expressed from the pomace as quickly as possible after 
the apples are crushed, and the juice will be nearly as white as water 
if it is immediately filtered. If the pomace is allowed to stand some 
time after crushing the apples, before pressing, the cider wall be colored 
and not as good. 

When made as above, and filtered, the question is, how to keep and 
cure it fit for use. First, a clean cask., If it has been used for cider 
before, it must be wholly freed from the flavor of its previous contents. 
This may be done by burning out the inside; no other way is certain, 
though long soaking in water and washing may make a tolerably clean 
cask ; but it is better to use a new cask, or one that has been used for 
spirits. Before filling the cask, adapt a faucet to it, so that the contents 
can be drawn off" three or four inches above the bottom. Fill the cask 
perfectl}^ full, and place it in a cool cellar, where it will not be moved 
or in the least disturbed, and fit a bung v/ith a small aperture, so that 
gas may escape while fermentation is going on. Before fermentation 
has ceased, bung up perfectly tight with a small faucet, or its equiva- 
lent, through or near the bung, by which air may be admitted when 
necessary ; but this must not be opened except when it is impossible 
to draw through the lower faucet without admitting air, and then ad- 
mit as little as will answ^er. Cider fit for drinking cannot be made in 
warm weather, unless you have a much cooler place than farmers' cellars 
generally are, to store it in. A temperature below 50 is indispensable. 
With such places for storage as farmers are likely to have, cider should 
not be made until November. 

When made, filtered, and stored as before described, it should not be 
drawn from or in any way moved or meddled with until it is cured, 
which wuU not be until May following, and it will be stiU better to let 
it stand longer before drawing from it. 

You can draw from it some time before it w^ill be necessary to admit 



144 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [Mai^ch 

air through the faucet on the top of the cask, as the gas generated will 
force the cider out ; but when it ceases to do that, then a little air must 
be admitted from time to time through the upper faucet, which must 
be kept closed except when it is necessary to admit air to the cask. 
Cider made and kept and cured in this way will be more palatable and 
more wholesome than any wine, and is much safer to use in modera- 
tion than lager beer or ale. 

Thus it will be seen that to have good cider, we must have the pure 
juice of good, ripe apples, in a perfectly clean cask, placed in a position 
in a cool cellar where it will not be moved or jarred, and after the 
apple juice has gone through about three-quarters of its period of fer- 
mentation, tightly closed, and then left to cure until about May 1st. 
If the air faucet is carelessly left open, the cider is spoiled — -reduced 
to the condition in which we generally find cider, unfit to drink. 

If you want apple juice, or uncured cider, for use during the winter, 
set apart a cask sufiicient for the purpose, made and treated as above 
described. 

Most farmers can add to their receipts by using their sound apples 
which are too small or ill shaped to be merchantable, in the way in- 
dicated, and promote temperance and good health. — Oharles Houghton, 
in Country/ Grentleman. 

[The rationale of this process for making and keeping cider seems to us to be as near 
perfect as possible. We, therefore, commend it, and suggest its preservation. There is 
no better beverage than good cider. Better to our taste than the most costly champagne. 
And, again, it satisfies the appetite for strong drinks. It is then conservatory of the 
morals of the people. — Ed. S. P. ] 



KEEPING SWEET POTATOES. 



We observe the following Circular from the Southern Fertilizing Company, which con- 
tains some valuable rules on this important subject, and would advise farmers to lay it by 
for future use : 

To Our Friends, — Inquiries have been made of us from time to time> 
by our sweet potato growers, as to the best way to keep sweet potatoes 
so as to present them in good condition for sale in winter. To give 
the best practical answer possible we have consulted one of the most 
successful growers in New Jersey (Mr. F. S. Newcomb), whose potatoes 
go to New York for sale. The following is his reply: 

" In keeping sweet potatoes three points are to be observed, viz : 
1. They should be thoroughly dried in the field before being stored. 
If the ground is very damp (that is, w^et) when dug, and the day cloudy, 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 145 

it is difficult to dry them sufficiently, but on a clear day there is usually 
no trouble. 

2. The store-room must be a dry and well-ventilated place. A steady 
temperature of about 50°, Fahreinheit's thermometer, will usually give 
the best results, although a variation of 10° either way will do no harm. 
If kept much warmer than 60° the ends of the potatoes are apt to 
shrivel. The important point is to have a dry atmosphere, and this 
can be done by keeping a fire and having plenty of ventilation. 

3. The potatoes should be taken immediately from the field and 
placed in the store-room, where they will not he disturbed until ready to 
ship. If left to stand around in barns or other places, and handled 
over, they are almost sure not to keep well. 

"The store-room may be a dry cellar, or it may be entirely above 
ground. Here (in New Jersey) cemented cellars are used more than 
anything else, and they are usually under the dwelling-houses. If the 
house is heated by a furnace in the cellar this supplies the heat for the 
cellar, and, saying nothing about its sanitary effects, it is a very con- 
venient arrangement. 

" The potatoes are stored in large bins, with bottoms 3 to 4 inches 
from the floor, all made of slats. The bins are usually 4 to 6 feet wide, 
and any depth up to 7 feet. They may also be made in barrels, boxes, 
and trays. It does not seem to make much difference, in regard to 
their keeping, what they are put in, if the points above noted are care- 
fully observed. 

" The method herein set forth for keeping sweet potatoes has lately 
taken the name of 'kiln-drying', which is as good as any other. We 
know it does the work." 

It is hoped that our friends will profit by Mr. Newcomb's clear 
statement of the case. There is no reason why the magnificent sweet 
potatoes peculiar to the region around Richmond should not find a 
market at every important point North, the winter through, and real- 
ize to the growler the reward he should receive for his labor. 

Southern Feri'ilizing Company, 
Corner Qary and Virginia Streets, Richmond, Va, 



Well-dried fish guano contains fifteen times as much nitrogen as 
ordinary stable manure. The, use offish as manure dates from the 
earliest history of the country, and its discovery is attributed to the In- 
dians who used to plant a menhaden with every hill of corn. 



H6 SOUTHER]^ PLAN"TER. [March 



Editorial. 



SIR. JOHN B. LAWES. 



The communication in this issue of the Planter from Dr. Lawes, the 
most distinguished agriculturist in England, and we may say, in the 
world, will be read with interest. The discussions in the columns of 
the Planter of the important question as to the proper quantity of seed 
wheat to the acre, have induced Dr. Lawes to send us his views on the 
subject, for which we thank him. Our theory and experience in favor 
of thin seeding — say 3 to 4 pecks, are not at all shaken by the statement 
that the practice in England is to sow IJ to 2 bushels. One or more 
expressions in Dr. Lawes' article confirm our position; he says, "if 
land is very fertile, and wheat had no enemies to contend against, such 
as birds, weeds, wire-worms, &c., it would be difficult to say how small 
a quantity of seed would be sufficient to grow a large crop." Again : 
in speaking of land fertilized to the point sufficient for 50 to 60 bushels 
to the acre, he says, " the crop stands too thick upon the ground ; and 
it would, I think, be benefitted by a reduction of seed from 2 bushels 
to 1\ to 1| bushels." Our theory is, that the quantity of seed should 
be decreased with the fertility of the land. We may assume that If 
is a full maximum for the thinnest land which should be sown with 
wheat, and this quantity should be reduced according to increased fer- 
tility, until a minimum of one half to three fourths of a bushel is reach- 
ed and distributed by a good drill. One of the main conditions on 
which we base our advocacy of thi7i seeding seems to be strangely dis- 
cordant with the practice in England. This refers to the time of seed' 
ing. We are speaking for Virginia, but States north and south have 
their time according to their latitude. We hold that the best time for 
seeding wheat in Virginia is from the 25th September to 15th Octo- 
ber. The wheat, then, has from forty to sixty days of growing weather 
before it is checked by winter, and in this time it becomes well rooted, 
and if sufficiently thin to favor branching^ nature and good land will 
have furnished all that is required, and the spring growth will be too 
quick and vigorous for weeds or anything of that sort which are a 
pest to the English wheat-fields. Dr. Lawes further says, "Upon my 
permanent wheat-field, which is now with its fortieth crop in success- 
ion, the quantity of seed sown is two bushels per acre. It is drilled as 
nearly as the weather will permit during the last week in October.' 
Now this presents to our, mind a curious fact, about which we hope 



1883.] ' SOUTHERN PLANTER. ' 147 

the Doctor will enlig'hteri us at a future" time. His wheat field is about 
fifteen degrees further north than the centre line of Virginia, and in 
our country the higher latitudes are the earliest seeders. We should 
think that wheat sown in England as late as the last week in October, 
if it vegetates at all, would simply hyhernate, and have all its tillering, 
growth, &c. to accomplish the next year between the months of May 
and August. This practice of late seeding in England may explain 
some of the differences in opinion in respect to thin and thick seeding. 
We desire to ask Dr. Lawes a question or two in respect to his perma- 
nent field he speaks of. We understand it to be an experimental field 
which is supplied each year with specific manures to continue its capac- 
ity for producing the same crop. If otherwise, it would "knock into 
a cocked hat," (pardon the slang phrase) all our American ideas of 
a proper rotation. Is this field kept for experimental purposes? If so, 
what are its specific manures ? How far are nitrogenous manures used, 
and how far the phosphatic, &c. ? 



PROFITABLE FARMING. 



How to farm profitably is a question of paramount importance, for 
profit is the common standard of success. Let us, this new year, take 
a brief practical view of the subject. 

Profit in farming is made from growing large crops on small areas. 
The cost of fertilizer, labor, seed, &c., for a small area is less than that 
for a large, and as the cost per acre is decreased, of course there is a 
wider margin for profit. Of course, also, if one has the means to fer- 
tilize, and cultivate a large farm properly, and will do it, it will pay as 
well or better in proportion than the smaller; but so many attempt it 
who fail to do the work on the large area as it should be done, that it 
is safe as a general rule to say there is no profit in cultivating large 
farms. It is certain this is the case when it is attempted with inade- 
quate means. Many a large field, indeed most of them, is put into a 
small crib. A farmer does not realize much money from fifteen bush- 
els of wheat and corn to the acre, but if he gets thirty there is a chance 
for some profit. Is it not obviously the best to so fertilize and till the 
smaller area as to get from it the latter yield, or more ? — Petersburg 
Index-Appeal. 

There is a great deal of practical truth in what is said by our contem- 
porary. A great deal has been said and written about small farms. 
Much of it has been well said, but in the South the great question is, 
how to utilize, how to improve, how best to work and handle large 
farms — farms with from 600 to 3,000 acres of land, reduced by the 
war, process of grain-raising by detailed farms and damaged by in- 



148 SOUTHERl^ PLANTER. [Marcb 

ability to improve since the war. There are many such farms all over 
the South. The owners have been unable to sell them for anything 
like their value — many have been sacrificed — and men have been re- 
duced to poverty who had fine estates. What we need is information 
how best to handle and properly dispose of such estates. Southside 
Virginia, at the close of the war, was full of such valuable estates, and 
millions of dollars have been lost because the owners could not dispose 
of part of them at their real value, and because they were not able or 
did not know how best to manage them. The Index-Appeal well says, 
"profits in farming is made from growing large crops in small areas." 
This is one way. A man is easy told how to make rich and cultivate 
and manage 10, 20 or 50 acres, but when a man finds himself with 
2,000 acres of valuable land reduced in fertility, and for which there 
is no market at anything like its real value, what shall we do? Now 
to this we have given some attention for the benefit of our Southside 
friends. A New Worker suggested to us some years ago the solution 
of this question. Look to sheep and small cattle, and sell lambs and 
early beef in the Northern cities, and hold on to their lauds. To do 
this burn off the broom sedge and as fast as possible sow grass and 
make as much good pasture land as possible, cultivating only their 
richest lots and low grounds, and planting fruit suitable to the section. 
This is greatly preferable to selling off surplus lands at one fourth 
their value before the war. — Lynchburg Advance. 

We like to see such political papers as the Index-Appeal, and the 
Advance forget politics, occasionally, and turn their thoughts to agri- 
culture ; especially when each can express their ideas with such practi- 
cal force.-^EB. S. P. 



INCUBATORS. 



Oiie or more communications in this issue of the Planter give evi- 
dence of an awakened interest in the artificial process of hatching 
fowls. The article of our lady correspondent, from New York, in 
February, has given rise to much enquiry. She should, if acting in 
good faith, respond further to the enquiries which she has brought 
upon us. 

That artificial incubation is an established fact, there can be no 
doubt. The great poultry- farmers of France have, for many years, 
used no other process. The hens are kept laying and the incubators 
are kept hatching; and the statistical tables are wonderful as to results. 
As one item, it is stated that the flesh of more than one hundred broken- 
down horses, and others accidentally killed, is required for daily use 
on these farms. The flesh of other animals may also be required to 
meet the full demand, but we have no report on this point. The bulk 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER, 149 

of food used is grain, and flesh is only a seasoning, and, therefore, very 
small in comparison ; so that the capacity of those great incubators 
may well be wondered at. 

Farmers must not, however, let themselves be deceived. They must 
count the cost, but not too slowly, as many Virginians do, and thus be 
left in the rear. 

Put ah approved incubator at $100, with the necessary yard-fixtures 
to keep the chicks separated from the hens and old fowls, and for warm 
quarters equal to a mother's wings ; and then the question is. How far 
the profit from assured sales will meet a good interest on the invest- 
ment and afford relief in respect to worry and trouble under common 
methods ? 

As we see it, a farmer's wife who does not wish to make it a busi- 
ness to raise fowls for market, should not trouble herself with an in- 
cubator. 

We qu6te the following from a late issue of the New York World : 

"Artificial Incubators. — The possibilities presented by artificial 
incubators has of late awakened much interest in the subject of the 
artificial hatching of eggs, and not a few farmers and poultrymen have 
been found willing to take the risks involved in experiments in this 
line. The advice and suggestions of those who have successfully ex- 
perimented with incubators are of more or less assistance to amateurs. 
A. M. Halsted, Rye, N. Y., in the Bee and Poultry Magazine, gives his 
opinions about the sizes of incubators, and as he has experimented 
with a number of patents, these opinions are reproduced for the benefit 
of World readers. He favors the smaller or medium sizes, and objects 
to those holding over 300 to 500 eggs. His experience has taught 
him that as the size of the machine is increased, the percentage of 
hatch is decreased ; the reason is plain ; one can heat an inclosed sur- 
face of four square feet so that there is no apparent variation of tem- 
perature in any part of it. Increase that surface to eight square feet, 
and there will be a decided variation in the outside edges. Again, in- 
crease it to sixteen square feet, and the probabilities are that the varia- 
tion of temperature between the centre of the Q.gg chamber and the 
outer edge will be so great as to spoil many of the eggs in the outside 
rows. Professor J. Hasbrouck, who has given time and study to the 
subject of artificial hatching, names uniformity of temperature as the 
most important condition ; hence, he places a trustworthy regulator as 
the first essential of a good incubator. After repeated experiments, 
Professor Hasbrouck finds that eggs hatch equally well, other things 
being the same, if held fixedly at any point between 102 and 105 de- 
grees, or if the heat varies from 98 to 106 degrees, without remaining 
long at the extremes. He says: 'Very few eggs will start below 102 
degrees; none, I think, at 100 degrees, and for the first half of the in- 
cubating period few will endure 106 degrees many hours.' Some ope- 
rators advise a considerable increase of heat at about the middle of 



150 SOUTHERN PLAITTER. [March 

the hatching; others advise a reduction of temperature the latter half 
of the hatching. Professor Hasbrouck thinks it does not make a bit 
of difference whether one varies the temperature or keeps it just as it 
was at the beginning, so long as one keeps well within the safe lines — 
102 and 1)5 degrees.'' 



SORGHUM AND CISTERNS. 



Editor Southern Planter, — There has been a great deal said for and 
against sorgo as a paying crop to cultivate in this State and others by 
different witnesses. Perhaps all of them are correct from their stand- 
point. Sorgo pays us here about twice as much as any other crop that 
we cultivate, tobacco not excepted, only on land that will grow a very 
fine weed. 

I set out to ask you for a formula that will make a good fertilizer for 
the sorgo crop. It is well-known to all who have tried barn-yard ma- 
nures, that the sorgo is of an inferior quality. Is there anything that 
will give a good sorgo, and at the same time increase the quantity ? 
This is question ITo. 1. 

From time to time w^e see some one saying something about cistern 
water for family use, but he don't tell us how his cistern is built, how 
much it contains, where he gets his water, how he filters it, or how long 
it will keep ? These are questions E'o. 2. 

We would like to have some light on the subject through the Planter 
or privately, etc. Respectfully, 

Cana, N. C. Thos. F. Eaton. 

Will some of our readers respond? For ourself, to question first' 
will say that no specific manure is required for sorghum. Any fertilizer 
which is favorable to the corn crop will suit for sorghum. It is a gross 
feeder, and no manure will go amiss with it. The idea of our corres- 
pondent that ham-yard manure produces a plant of inferior quality, is 
new to us. All plants possess the power of assimilation in respect to 
food. Sorghum, we may say, is like the hog. It has a large appetite, 
and is not particular as to what supplies it ; but yet by its animal 
organism all things come out right, and it is our national food. 

In reply to question two, w*e say : That cisterns are of great use in 
sections where springs are scarce, and especially in localities near the 
sea where water is saline. 

1. Cisterns are built by digging in the ground ten to twelve feet 
deep. The excavation may be either square or round, but better 
square, for facility of arching and then covering over with earth a few 
feet to the general level of the ground. The walls are laid with hard 
bricks in a mortar of hydraulic cement ; and ofter paving the bot- 
tom in the same way, the whole is made water-tight by a coat of 



1883.] SOUTHEEN PLANTER. 151 

hydraulic lime on sides and bottom. An arch is then sprung from a 
bearing below the ground, so that its apex will be at least a foot below 
the general surface, and this arch should also be laid w^ith bricks and 
cement, with openings just large enough to admit the pipes by which 
the water is introduced. We have seen cisterns made by the excava- 
tion and walling as we have described, and then covered level with the 
surface of the ground with cross-beams and closely laid flooring. 

2. The quantity of water a cistern should contain is a matter to be 
determined by the probable demand on it. A cubic foot of w^ater is 
about eight gallons, so that the capacity of the cistern is easily deter- 
mined by its cubic measure. 

3. The cistern must be located near the side of the dwelling, or in a 
basement room, so that the rain-water from the roof may, by properly 
arranged pipes, be conducted into it. Of course there should be an 
over-flow pipe near the surface to take off the surplus water. 

4. The water requires no filtration, and will keep pure an indefinite 
period. It is lifted by a pump when wanted, and. this agitation and 
the renewed supply from occurring rains, with the close covering, will 
keep it pure. 



POTATOES. 



We find in the Eastern Virginian^ published at Onancock, Accomac 
county, a long and interesting article on the subject of potato-produc- 
tion in the counties of Accomac and Northampton. The article is 
headed, " A Land of Promise," and was taken from the Baltimore 
Rambler. We have made clippings from it, as they appear below, 
which exhibit the great resources of these two peninsular counties in 
respect to both Irish and sweet potatoes. The production of these 
crops show a net increase to the farmers of about $1,500,000 per annum. 
And then when we consider the adaptation of climate and soil to all 
the small fruits, and to this add the large yield from the fishing shores 
of the two counties, it would seem that " A Land of Promise " is no 
misnomer. 

The round, or Irish potato crop nets the farmer from |1.50 to $2.50 
per barrel, according to the general supply and demand of each season. 
The sweet potato crop about $1.50 per barrel ; that there is less fluctu- 
ation in the price of the " sweets " than the " rounds " is owing largely 
to the fact that the shipping period of the former lasts four months, 
while the latter crop is marketed in about two months. 

Below is appended some figures which are not claimed to be accu- 
rate, but approximate as nearly as possible the amount of sweet and 



152 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



round potatoes shipped from various points on the lower peninsula, in 
order to show the activity of the several localities in raising this profi- 
table crop. The estimate is no doubt considerably under the actual 
aggregate number of barrels raised in Accomac and Northampton 
counties. 



BAYSIDE. 



From Pocomoke River, 

" Guilford, . 

" Hunting Creek, 

" Onancock, 

" Pungoteague 

" Occahannock, 

" Nandua, . 

*' Naswadux, 

" Hungars, . 

" Cherrystone, 



SEASIDE. 



From Franklin City, 
" Powellton, 
" Matchapungo 
" Other points, 

Total, 



. 5,000 
. 40,000 
. 60,000 
. 200,000 
. 100,000 
. 100,000 
. 60,000 
. 20,000 
. 30,000 
. 75,000 



10,000 
20,000 
15, 00 
10,000 

745,000 



The w^ar left these people crippled in fortune and with a demoralized 
labor system. Yet in this one crop they have recovered all losses and 
have made themselves comparatively rich. The work has been done, 
too, in about fifteen years. What favored section in the West can 
make so good a showing? 

This exhibit, when coupled with the great results shown all over the 
peninsula in raising fruits, vegetables and berries, proves that the coun- 
try has magnificent resources. When viewed in the light of the further 
fact that the peninsula is only beginning to improve in its agricultural 
and truck-gardening methods, and that the soil is yet in the hands of 
people, who have not been taught thrifty habits and are operating upon 
their own limited financial resources, the great capabilities of the coun- 
try are emphatically demonstrated. 

Why is it, that intending emigrants and those desirous of bettering 
their fortunes by cultivating the soil pass by this desirable country and 
strike for the "howling West," is one of those mysteries which must 
be put down to fashion and prejudice. This peninsula is just the very 
country for the better sort of people to settle. Give it a large addi- 
tional population of thrifty, intelligent people and the capital they 
would carry there, and the peninsula would become a social and finan- 
cial Arcadia. 

One of the grandest things in having rights is that, being your 
rights, you can give them up. 



1883.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 153 



ROTATION. 

Editor Southern Planter, — I have been a reader of your very valuable 
farm magazine for a short time j)ast, and for the purpose of special in- 
formation applicable to myself, I will state my case and beg you to 
come to my assistance. 

I have a farm of 800 acres, divided into seven fields, with wood land 
not included. Some of the fields are in fair condition, others of them 
are poor. The crops here grown are corn, wheat, oats and tobacco. 
These are the market crops. I am inexperienced as a farmer, and I 
hear that there is a system of improving land known as the " rotation" 
plan. Will you please acquaint me with the ways of this rotation sys- 
tem, so that I may adopt it and work intelligently^ and not so much by 
chance, as is the custom round about? If you will kindly take notice 
of this letter and give me the benefit of your experience and advice, in 
an early issue of the Planter, you will do a great favor to a 

Bedford Co., Va. Friendly Subscriber. 

Our "Friendly Subscriber" has put upon us a great task, and we 
must claim to divide it with other friendly subscribers and readers of 
the Planter. To explain all the principles of rotation would require an 
essay, or much more writing than our present occupations will allow. 
We may, however, briefly condense our views : 

1. The crops named should commence and rotate somewhat in this 
way : Tobacco in field No. 1 should receive all the home-made manure, 
and be limited to so much surface as such manure will perfectly ferti- 
lize. The balance of the field should be sown in oats, with a sufiiciency 
of commercial fertilizer to give a fair crop. The oat stubble should be 
fallowed early in August, and after the tobacco is taken from the other 
part, the whole field should be prepared for wheat, which should be 
done by the 15th of October, and to ensure this the portion in oats 
should be seeded first to give time for the removal of the tobacco. On 
this crop of wheat a liberal amount of coaimercial fertilizer should be 
used on the oat land, and selected in reference to its supply of the 
phosphate of lime. On the same field, in the spring, say between the 
15th of March and Ist of April, after the wheat has been harrowed by 
a sharp two-horse harrow, clover seed should be sown at the rate of a 
gallon of seed to the acre. This completes the field for three years, for 
the clover should stand one year for hay or moderate grazing. 

2. Field No. 2 comes in and is treated in the sam^^ way, and so with 
No. 3 and others. 

3. In the end, when the rotation fairly comes on, it \7ill be found 
that there is one field in tobacco and oats, to be followed with wheat ; 
one of clover-fallow for wheat; making two in wheat, one in clover for 



154 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

hay, one in young clover, one in corn, and one for moderate pasturage. 

This is a rapid and brief statement of the case, as to which circum- 
stances may demand modifications. 

It may be said that the farmer is a " tub which must stand on its own 
bottom." In other words, that each one should know his situation and 
work intelligently for the best results in the production of crops, and 
the constant improvement of his land. 

The rotation suggested ignores special tobacco lots, which prevail in 
the tobacco region of Virginia, and therefore may not suit the views of 
many farmers. To those we would say, keep your tobacco lots as now, 
but sub-divide your other land into six fields and adopt a rotation for 
them which will afiPord grass and grain, and, at the same time, improve 
them. 



BUYING A HORSE. 



The Turf, Field and Farm^ than which there is no better authority 
on the subject, says that "in buying a horse first look at his head and 
eyes for signs of intelligence, temper, courage, and honesty. Unless a 
horse has brains you cannot teach him to do anything 'well. If bad 
qualities predominate in a horse, education only serves to enlarge and 
intensify them. The head is the indicator of disposition. A square 
muzzle, with large nostrils, evidences an ample breathing apparatus 
and lung power. Next, see that he is well under the jowl, with jaw- 
bones broad and wide apart under the throttle. Breadth and fullness 
between the ears and eyes are always desirable. The eyes should be 
full and hazel in color, ears small and thin and thrown well forward. 
The horse that turns his ears back every now and then is not to be 
trusted. He is either a biter or a kicker, and is sure to be vicious in 
other respects, and, being naturally viscious, can never be trained to 
anything well, and so a horse with a rounding nose, tapering forehead 
and a broad, full face below the ej^es is always treacherous and not to 
be depended on. Avoid the long legged, stilted animal — always choos- 
ing one with a short, straight back and rump, withers high and shoul- 
ders sloping, well set back and, with good depth of chest, fore legs 
short, hind legs straight, with low down hock, short pastern joints, and 
a round, mulish shaped foot. By observing the above directions a 
horse may be selected that is graceful in his movements, good-natured 
and serviceable — one that will be a prize to the owner. — Prince George 
'Enquirer. 



1883.] 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



155 



The Southern Planter. 



SUBSCRIPTION: $1.25 a year in advance, or 
$1.50 if not paid in advance. 



TERMS OF ADVERTISING. 

PAGE RATES. 





IMon. 


3 Mons. 


6 Mons. 


12 Mons. 


One-'Mghth page 
One-fourth page 
One-half page.. 
One page 


$ 2 50 
6 00 
9 00 
15 00 


$ 7 00 

12 00 

25 00 

■ 40 00 


$12 00 
22 50 
45 00 
80 00 


$ 20 00 
40 00 
80 00 
140 00 





COLUMN RATES. 






1 Mon. 


3 Mons. 


6 Mons. 


12 Mons. 


One inch 

Two inches 

Three inches.... 

Half column 

le column 


$ 1 50 

3 00 

4 00 

5 00 
9 00 


$ 4 00 

8 00 

10 GO 

12 00 

25 00 


$ 7 00 
14 00 
20 00 
25 00 
45 00 


$12 00 
24 00 
40 00 
50 00 
80 00 



iS®°" Special rates for cover. 

41^ Reading notices, 25 cents per line, of brevier 
type. 

EOirORlAL NOTES. 



OUR CITY SUBSCRIBERS. 
We must again appeal to our subscribers 
in the city to aid us in the matter of the 
prompt receipt of the Planter, which is al- 
ways issued a week before its date. There 
are three forms of delivery of mail mat- 
ters in the city ; first, through the rented 
boxes ; second, at the general delivery 
window ; and third, by the carriers. It 
seems strange that the U. S. postal laws 
discriminate against monthly journals in 
the city of their publication, but yet it is 
80. For instance, the Planter, after having 
been taxed with the usual newspaper post- 
age — two cents per pound — will be deliv- 
ered to subscribers throagh their rented 
boxes or the general delivery, but to such 
subscribers, as take their mail by the 
carriers^ a prepaid postage by stamp, 
18 required. The Planter''s subscription 
price has been in the past year reduced so 
low that we cannot afford to pay out thirty 
six cents a year, or three cents on each 
number, and prepay at that, to secure de- 
livery to subscribers whose convenience is 

12 



subserved by the carriers. We, therefore, 
say to such of our friends, call at the gen- 
eral delivery window of the post office a 
few days before the first of each month and 
get the Planter; or otherwise your name 
will have to be stricken from the roll, as 
we cannot afford to pay for readers. 



T. W. Wood's Field and Garden Seeds. 
We have received one of Mr. Wood's 
catalogues for 1883. It is neatly gotten up, 
and seems to embrace all varieties of seeds. 
The best of it is, that Mr. Wood, as we are 
told, raises his own seeds on his farm near 
this city, and gives personal attention to 
their purity as well as maturity. The 
great seed farms of the north are supply- 
ing the country, but we are glad to see that 
we have a man of sufficient pluck to open 
a competition under the advantages of cli- 
mate, and of soil, if judiciously selected. 
See Mr. Wood's advertisement. 



Seed Warehouse of Johnson & Stokes, 
114 Market Street, Philadelphia. — At- 
tention is invited to the advertisement of 
Messrs. Johnson & Stokes ; and we desire 
to acknowledge the receipt of their box of 
seeds. These seeds are neatly put up and, 
we believe, fresh and pure. The Cuban 
Queen watermelon, and the Golden Gem 
musk melon were especially acceptable. 
We have placed all the seeds in the hands 
of friends who will test and report upon 
them. This firm advertises through N. W. 
Ayer & Son, general agents, Philadelphia. 
Their catalogue is elaborate, and embraces 
all farm and garden seeds. 



Vennor's Almanac for 1883 has been 
laid on our table by Messrs. West, John- 
son, & Co., book-sellers of this city, and 
we know it will prove interesting to far- 
mers* families to whom the conditions of 
the weather are important. The book it- 
self is a little unique. It has for a vignette an 
owl peeping through, or out of, the moon. 
Many persons suppose Vennor to be a myth, 
or if a real person, a dried up old man, a 
little cranky about weather questions, but 
still after a long life has been able to col- 
lect together a number of weather prog- 



156 



SOUTHERI^ PLAI^TER. 



[March 



Dosticationa, which frequently receive ver- 
ification. The truth is, Mr. Vennor is a 
young man — less than forty— and a close 
student of meterology, having all the ap- 
pliances of science for observations. He 
has been well gifted in the accuracy of 
his work, and hence the reputation he has 
gained. 

Southern Exposition at Louisville, 
Kt. — There is to be an exposition at Lou- 
isville, Ky., commencing August 1st., and 
continuing one hundred days. Funds for 
the purpose have been raised up to this 
time to the amount of $252,000. We had 
hoped to see this Exposition in Richmond, 
but oar people are too slow. Our Louis- 
ville friends will be equal to the occasion, 
and we may look for something that, will 
be ahead of the great Atlanta Exposition. 
Our space will not allow us to go into de- 
tails. 

Turf, Field and Farm — This enterpri- 
sing j/owrna? which is devoted to the most 
popular literature of the turf and field, 
met with disaster by the great fire in Jan- 
uary 1882 in Park Row, N. Y. ; but it is 
now re-instated in its old position, and is 
conducted with unflagging zeal, and ability 
of the highest order in its line. It comes 
with regularity and is much appreciated. 

Pacific Fruit Growers. — We have re- 
ceived from one of our most interesting 
exchanges, The Pacific Rural Press, of 
San Francisco, California, a copy of the 
official "Report of the second annual 
meeting of California Fruit Growers, at 
San Jose, November 188 ^ pp. 84" 

This report contains a great deal of in- 
terest to fruit-growers, professional, and 
to farmers in every section of the country. 

It will be sent, postpaid, to any address 
for twenty-five cents, an application to the 
Pacific Rural Press, San Francisco. 

One of the most complete and artistic 
catalogues for 1883, is that of Wm. Rennie^ 
Toronto, Canada. Its list of field, garden, 
and flower seeds is very extensive. Its 
note« as to culture, &c., are so complete as 
to make it a good hand-book for farmers 
of tfee U. S. as well as of Canada. 



ADDITIONAL CATALOGUES 
RECEIVED. 

1. H. S. Anderson's semi-annual Cayuga 
Lake Nurseries, Union Springs, N. Y. Mr. 
Anderson is an old and reliable advertiser 
in the Planter. 

2. .1. M. Thorburn & Co's Annual for 
1883. 1.0 John St., New York. 

3. Vanderbilt's Seed and Illustrated List 
for 1888, 23 Fulton St., New York. 

4. Thorburn & Titus' Annual Catalogue 
for 1883, 158 Chambers St., New York. 

5. J. W. Manning's Catalogue of Hardy 
Herbaceous Plants, ' Ferns and Shrubs, 
Reading Nursery, Reading, Mass. 

6. Illustrated Catalogue of Field, Gar- 
den and Flower Seeds from Joseph Harris, 
Moreton Farm, Rochester, N. Y. 

7. Lovitfs Monmouth Nursery, Little Si- 
low, New Jersey. The Catalogue of this 
establishment is elegant and tasteful, and 
embraces all kinds of fruits. 

8. The Catalogue of J. A. Everitt, Wat- 
sontown, Pa., of Field and Garden Seed. 

9. Small Fiuit Plants, Trees, &c., Jno. 
S. Collins, Moorestown, N. J. 

10. Illustrated Catalogue of A. P. & M. 
B. Rowe's Co-operative Stock Farm, Fred- 
ericksburg, Va. 

11. Analyses of Fertilizers by the De- 
partment of Agriculture of Virginia; Dr 
J. M. Blanton, Commissioner. 

12. Second Biennial Report of the Di- 
rector of the North Carolina Agricultural 
Station. 

13. Proceedings in Memoriam of Judge 
R. C. L. Moncure and Judge Robert Ould. 
This interesting pamphlet was compiled 
and published by E. G. Booth, Esq., in 
testimony of his high appreciation of the 
decedents, and of his devotion to his native 
State. 



Southern Cultivator and Dixie Farmer 
AND OUR Planter will be clubbed to new 
subscribers at $2.25, net. We have so 
often mentioned the Cultivator as a lead- 
ing journal of the South, we cannot trust 
ourself to speak further of it now, as our 
ardor might transcend our space. We will 
say, however, that Mr. David Dickson, 



188^.] 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



157 



the great farmer of Georgia, will furnish 
the Cultivator with a series of articles, 
commencing with the March number, and 
every farmer who has heard of Mr. Dick- 
son and his practical methods, will say that 
each of said articles will be worth more 
than a year's subscription. 



The Old Commonwealth, Harrison- 
burg, Virginia, in a recent issue, has given 
the Planter a very flattering notice, for 
which it will accept the Planter''s thanks. 
We would be gla.d to have the clubbing 
rates of the Commonwealth vf'\\h the Plan- 
ter. This noticefcame too late tor our Feb- 
ruary issue. 

We have had other such notices from 
many of our Exchanges, of which we have 
not kept a record, -and they will all accept 
our thanks and send their clubbing rates. 

For new subscribers to the Planter, we 
will duh at $1 per annum. 



Fertilizers. — With this issue of the 
Planter the first month of spring is num- 
bered. The time has arrived for the com- 
mencement of active farm and garden work 
for the year. We hope that big piles of 
compost and other farm manures have been 
husbanded. On these, and good ©ultiva- 
tion, success mainly depends. Still a ju- 
dicious use and selection of commercial 
fertilizers will, in addition to home-made 
manure, increase products. See adver- 
tisements of the foMowing in the order of 
publication : 

1. Stono Phosphate Company. 

2. Ashly Phosphate Company. 
. 3. Allison & Addison. 

4. Southern Fertilizer Company. 

5. Stearns & Halsey. 

6. Ochilla Guano, by Wooldridge of Bal- 
timore. 

7. W. T. King, Plaster. 



The Address of Dr. Curry, General Agent 
of the Peabody Fund, before the Gene- 
ral Assembly of Alabama. 
We have rarely received a more inter- 
esting document than this. Its diction, 
vigor of thought, and the subject, ajl com- 
mend it. 



Land Plaster. — We call attention to 
the advertisement of W. T. King who is 
engaged in this city in grinding plaster 
from the best Nova Scotia Rock. Plaster 
was never cheaper than it is now, and ac- 
cording to our observation, there is no fer- 
tilizing agent more neglected by the far- 
mers. Its judicious use -as a conservator 
of the manure heap, a disinfectant in sta- 
bles and cattle yards, for broadcast appli- 
cation to clover and other grass fields, and 
in various other ways, makes it almost as 
necessary on any well regulated farm as 
salt, sugar, and coffee. 



J. W. Cardwell& CO. — We have receiv- 
ed the new catalogue of this well known 
agri-cultural implement house. It is neatly 
printed and illustrated with the machines 
and implements manufactured and sold by 
them. One feature of the growth of trade 
is the establishment of an agency at Dal- 
las, Texas. From the friendly relations 
of the Southern Planter and Texas Shift- 
ings our circulation is increasing in this 
far off Southern State, and we are also 
pleased to see that Virginia implements 
are in demand for its fertile fields. 



F. Stearn's No. 1 Fertilizer. — We call 
attention to the advertisement of Messrs. 
Stearns & Halsey. The high position which 
this fertilizer has taken is doubtless owing 
to the liberal use of the phosphatic and po- 
tassic elements. 



Kendall's Treatise on the Horse. — 
This excellent little book, of one hundred 
pages, treats of the diseases of the horse 
and the proper remedies It is liberally 
illustrated, so as to make the subject plain 
to the simplest mind. Every farmer should 
possess and keep one of these books at 
hand. We have made arrangements with 
the publishers which will enable us to keep 
a supply of them in our office. Further 
than this — we will mail postpaid a copy as ; 
a premium to every new subscriber to the • 
Planter, and will also send a copy to each k 
old subscriber who will pay his subscription 
for the current year prior to the 1st of: 
April next. We will also, on the receipt of • 
twenty five cents in postage stamps,^ or - 
otherwise, send the book post-paid to any..- 
address. Southern Planter. / 



THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY! 



CO ^ ^^^^Ns. >l •-< 

o 




P4 

CORN PLANTER! 

Order early if you would make sure of getting the above Planter, a8 we have not been 
able for two years to supply the demand, i. e., the demand has each year surpassed our 
expectations and exhausted the stock before the planting season was over. 

FOR, SPRIIXO OF 19S3 

We have the best line of cultivating implements in the city, including the following : 
Genuine Iron Age Cultivators, Genuine Planet, Jr., Cultivators, Horse Hoes, Seed 
Drills, Genuine Malta Double-Shovel Plows, Brown Wheel Cultivators (warranted su- 
perior to any in the market), Malta Wheel Cultivators, the New York Seed Drills. In 
short, a full line of implements for cultivators of the farm and garden. 

J|®*Special circulars sent on application of any implement wanted. 

H. M. SMITH &, C0„ 153! (Ill SIntt 

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 wa" 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. 

4:0 t»ills in a Box— Price, f2S Oents. 

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

E. R. BECKWITH, Pharmacist. 

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



WILLIAM L. BRADBURY 

NASON, ORANGE COUNTY, VA., 

IHFORTES. Bm. M MlBli MNT. 

OFFERS FOR SALE 

HIGH-CLASS REGISTERED 



JERSEY BULLS 



From six weeks to eighteen months old, and of the very choicest breeding — Alphea, 
Rex and Niobe blood. Also, one solid color young bull, squirrel grey, black points and 
tongue, not registered, for sale CHEAP. 

Some VERY FINE YOUNG BULLS of this useful breed for sale fit to head any herd. 

IMPORTED HAMPSHIREDOWNS (the best English Mutton Sheep). 

HIGH-CLASS COTSWOLDS (Long Wools). 

VERMONT MERINOS (Fine Wools). 

BUCKS, EWES and LAMBS for sale after June 1st. ORDER EARLY. 



JERSEY-RED PICS. 



SPRING PIGS ready for delivery in April, May and June. 

"Chicago buyers declare that they are willing to pay ten to fifteen cents per hundred 
more for Jersey Red hogs than for any other breed." — Chicago Breeders^ Gazette. 

ORDER EARLY. Money need not be sent until pigs are ready for delivery. 

EaGS FOR HATCHING 

— FROM — 

HODDANS, LIGHT BRAEIAS, SILVER SEABRIGHT BANTAMS. 

IIXUSTRATED CATALOGUE AND PRICE-LIST— FREE. 



Sept— ly 



Address WM. L BRADBURY, 

Nason, Orange County ,;Va. 



IT CURES 



im\ SPLINTS. CUBS. RIXG-BONES 



AND 



All Siixiilar BlemislnesBJ, 

Akd Remones the Buxcu Without Blistering. 




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

SAVED HIM EIGHTEEN HUNDRED DOLLAES. 

Dr. B. J. Kkmdall & Co. : Adams, N. Y., January 30, 1882. 

Gewts. — Haviug used a good deal of your Kdudall's Spavin Cure with great success, I rhought 1 world let 
you know what it lias done for me. Two years ago 1 had as speedy a colt as was ever raised in Jeflferson 
county. When I was breaking him, he kicked over the cross-bar and goi fast and tore one of his hind legs 
all to [lieces. I employed the best (arriers, hut they all said he was spoiled. He had a very large thorough- 
]»in, and I used two bottles of your KeiidalTs Spav.u Cure, and it tooi< the bunch entirtiy off, and he sold 
afterwards for if ; 800. I have used it for bone spavins and wiu^i galU, and it has always cured completely 
and left the leg smooth 

It is a splendid medicine for rheumatism. I have recommended it to a good many, and they all say it 
does the work. I was in Witherington & Kneeland's drug store, in Adams, the other day and saw a very 
fine picture you sent them I tried to buy it. butcould not ; they said if I would write to you that you would 
send me one. I wish you would, and I will do vou all the good I cat. 

Very respectfully, E. S. LYMAN. 

Send addref-s 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. KENDALL & CO., Enosburgh Falls, Vermont. 



mm(siim 



We claim our SiEEDS are unsurpassed in the world, and desire that all shall give them a trial to 



IJ.^-'JLllCO, VYC VVXii. 0^ia.\A AlV'V' *^ J AJJ.C*;XXj VAJ. J. ^\^\j* i^ v •>■ _ _ _ _ . 

INTRODUCTION BOX OF SEEDS, making a Complete Family Vegetable C4arden, 

containing' large size packets of all the best, new, and standard varieties, as follow^s:— 3 Remark- 
able New Cabbages, Roi/al German Drumhead, Earliest Favorite Savoy, Early Cannon Ball ; 3 Delicious 
New Melons, Cuban Queen, Sweet Icing—Water, and Golden <?em— Musk ; 2 Superior New Onions, South. 
port Yelloio Globe, Extra Early Red ; New Perfect Gem Squash ; Wonderful New Tomato, Early MayUoicer ; 
Earliest known Sweet Com, Marblehead; American Wonder Pea ; Ivory Pod Wax Bean ,- 'Philadelphia 
Prize Lettuce; Extra Early Egyptiari Beet; New Phila. Perfection Beet; Champion Moss Curled Parsley; 
Early French Breakfast Radish ; Golden Globe Summer Radish; Calif ornia Mammoth Winter Radish ; Improved 
Long Orange Carrot; Sugar Parsnip ; Mammoth Tours Pumpkin; Improved Green Prolific Cucumber; Long 
White Salsify; New Thick Leaved Spinach; Earliest Snow Ball Turnip. S^" Send a §il Bllilj or 
postage stamps in an ordinary letter, and you will receive the box by return mail, and if not satisfied, 
we vml return your money. 3 Boxes mailed for only $2.50. 



Q^^ 



contains liARGE PACKETS of each of the following Choice New Varieties: Cuban Queen 
Watermelon, sweet, luscious, and grows to enormous size, weighing over 100 lbs ; Montreal Improved 
Nutmeg Melon, the largest and finest musk-melon in cultivation ; Eclipse Beet, extra early, deep olood, 
fine turnip shape, very tender and sweet ; Southport Yellow Globe Onion, early, large ana fine flavor: 
Southport Red Globe Onion,la,Tge, handsome and best of all the red varieties: Royal German Drumhead 
Cabbage, handsome, large, late, sure heading variety, pronounced by all the finest in the world; Earliest 
Favorite Savoy Cabbage, surpassing the cauliflower in dehcious richness; Perfect Gem Sgicash, flesh sweet, 
•rich and dry, enorinously productive and best of keepers ; Mayflower Tomato, earUest, large, smooth, 
bright red variety, superior to all others in great beauty and productiveness, 3 Collectiona 
mailed for SI- With each of the above collections we enclose a present for your wife, mother, or 
daughter. Our FL.OWEK COL,I>ECTION, comprising Ten Packets of the Choicest Flower 
Seeds, sent post paid on receipt of 25 Cts. 5 Collections, S I . The above 3 Coninlete Collections 
(in aU 46 large packets) mailed for SI. 50. These lINPARAL.L.EIiEI> OFFERS should be 
taken advantage of at once. We warrant all our seeds strictly fresh and arenuinc. We supplied, last 
year, over 15,000 new customers, and have received hundreds of unsolicited letters sajarg our seeds 
were the best ever planted. Our New Illustrated Catalogue sent FREE to any address. 

JOHNSON & STOKES, SEED GROWERS; PHILADELPHIft,^ PA. 



.«f* 





are sent anywhere on trial to operate against all 
~ other Presses, the custom- 

er kooping the one th .t 
Buits best. No CQehiisevrp 
dared elicv/ up ary other 
Press, as Led crick's Press 
i3 known to be beyond 
competition, and will bale 
with twice the rapidity of 
any other. Tho only wpy 
[inferior mnchines can be 
I Bold is to deceive tho in- 
experienced by ridiculously 
f .;lse statements, and thus 
BcUwiUioutsiRhtor seeing, 
rnd swindle the purchaser. 
[Working any other Press 
' alongside of Dederick's al- 
iways sells the purchasers 
Dederick Press, and all 
I know it too well to show 
up. Address for circular and location Of Western 
and Southei-n etorehousea and Agents. 

P. K. DEDERICK & CO., Albany, IT.Y. 

^he State Fair Grounds 

Having rented the track and stables at these 
grounds, I will give pergonal atieniiou to training 
of horses on the track, the breaking of c >lls and 
stallions to harness, and the s anding of stallions, 
both trotting and thoroughbred, for the season. 
There are good lacilities for grazing: and watering 
stock. I have had twenty-eight years' exjierience in 
these matters, and acknowledge no superior. 

Address A. E 8PRAGUE, 

mh 6t Exchange Hotel. 

P. Stearns' Jsk).lEertilizer 



To the Farmers of Virginia : 

Gentlemen, — We continue to manufacture thi^ 
SUPERIOR FERTILIZKR, composed of PURK 
BONE MEAL (partially dissolved), ■ ombined with 
FISH GUANO, ANIMAL MATIER, and POT- 
ASH 'muriate). 

We grind the bone and fish ourselves, and can 
vouch for 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. Pi ice, 
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 ycur orders at an early day, as our stock 
will be limited. Address 

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

Franklin Stearns, 

J. Morton Halsey. f mh It 




MABI.EI> FREE. 

Our Illustrated Spring 
Catalogue of 

Seeds, Plants and 
Florists' Supplies. 

(Extra inducements to mar- 
ket gardeners.) 
Address MICHIGAN SEED COMPANY, 
mh It Detroit. Mich. 





IBLEY 

OF ALL PLANTS, FOR ALL CROPS, 
FOR ALL CLIMATES. 

We are the largest fanners, largest scet^ i?Tow- 

erH and largest seed dealers anywhere; he..ce 
have greatest facilities for jiroducing Best Seeds 
A I our Seeds are tested, and only the be;-t nent out. 
Our Annual Catalor/ue and Frice Listhvingii THE 
GHEATEST SEED STORE IN THE 
WOliliD TO YOUR OWN DOOR. It in- 
cl.Tdes all the desirable new and standard varieties 
of Flower, Vesj'etable, Field and Tree Seeds, and 
Plants. Sent FREE to any address. 

HIRAIVl SIBLEY Sl COo Seedsmen 

Rochester, N. Y. and Chicago, 111. 



IDO INTOT BXJ'Y 

JERSEY RED PIGS 

until you have read the price-list and testi- 
monials of the herd which carried ofiF the 

Great Sweepstakes Premium 

at the Virginia State Fair, and which is the 
largest herd South. Send for circular to 
T. LOVELOCK, 
rah ly Gordonsville, Va, 



Wl 



people are always on the lookout for 
chances to increase their earnings, 
and in time become wealthy; those 
who do not improve their opportu- 
nitiis "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 to make money rapidly 
You can devote your whole time to the woik, or only 
your spare moments. Full information and all that 
is needed sent free. Address Stinson & Co., Port- 
land, Maine. jahly 



PLOTS BY MAIL A SPECIALTY. 

Col. No. 1 — Strawberry — 10 Sharpless, 
10 Cumberland Triumph, 10 Miners' Gt. 
Prolific, 10 Mt. Vernon, and 10 Glendale. 

Col. No. 2 — Raspberry— Q Mammoth 
Cluster, 6 Turner, 3 Gregg, and 3 Cuthbert. 

Either collection, No. 1 or No. 2, sent 
by mail to any address on receipt of 81.00. 
Also, a general collection of Greenhouse 
and Bedding Plants. 

Send for spring price-list. Address 
.]. H. BELL. 

mhlt Harrisonburg, Va. 



AGENTS 



can now grasp a fortune. Ont- 
tit worth §10 free. Address E. G. 
RIDEOUT & CO., 10 Barclay St., N. Y. 



jauly 



Established 1865. Standard Guaranteed. 

AImImISON e^ ADDISON, 

MANUFACTURERS OF 




''STAR BRAND'' SPECIAL COMPLETE MANURES 

FOR EACH OP THE FOLLOWING CROPS: 

TOBACCO, WHEAT, COTTON, CORN, OATS, VEGETABLES AND GRASS. 

Pure Flour of Baw Bone, Acid Phosphate^ Ground Phosphate Bock, Sulphuric Acid. 

— dealers in — 
German Kainit or Potash, Nitrate of Soda, Plaster, &c. v 

OPFICE-J322 Gary Street. | D I ^ U RJI <^ M ■> %# A 

FA.CTOHY— Opposite Bocketts, j 1% I W n Iwl \Jf IM iJy W A%a 

All orders and communications promptly attended to. fe tf 



Wm. H. Palmer, Pres't. John Ott, Sec'y- John Enders, Vice-Pres't. 

THE SOUTHERN FERTILIZING COMPANY 

[ESTABLISHED 1866.] 

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 

Factory: 2001,2003,2005, 2007 Dock Street; Office: 1321 Gary Street. 

manufacture the celebrated 




"ANCHOR </ri > BRAND" 



PATENTED 

For COTTON, TOBACCO, WHEAT, CORN, OATS, 
PEANUTS, GARDEN TRUCKS, POTATOES, TUR- 
NIPS, and other Root Crops. 
These goods have had the fullest test of time, and continue to do the work expected 
of them. Will be glad to answer inquiries from farmers. Address 

fe3t SOUTHERN FERTILIZING CO., Richmond, Va. 



FERTILIZERS 



JOHlSr E. DOBEEI^TY, 

822 EAST »ZAZ»r STREET, 

Solicits an examination of his ^^ 

Fine StoclE of Foreign Goods 

FOR T^ALL AIVI> WUVTER. 

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 gnaranteed. 



Franklin Davis. 



Edward H. Bissell. 



RICHMOND NURSERIES. 
FRANKlsIM D/LVIS «£ GO. 

400 Acres in Nnrsery Stock! lOOinOrcWs! 100 In Small Frnlts! 

We offer to our customers an immense stock of APPLES, PEACHES, CHERRIES, 
APRICOTS, GRAPES, &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. 



dec — 4m 



FRANKLIN DAVIS 8l CO., 

Office: 1013 Main Street, RICHMOND, VA. 




_ •'^'v«v>JP*3i^J „ 

lanet Jr. Seed-DrUls,~Wheel-Hoes and Horse.Hoes are without an equal in the world 1 We have never before ofl 
them so perfect, or in such variety, nor published so clear and full a Descriptive Catalogue of them. We gnaranteeit to interest 
every one who plants seeds or cultivates the soil. It is a beautiful descriptive work, of thirty-two pages, with over Thirty Kew 
Engravings, showing the tools at work among Onions, Beans, Celery, &c., and also contains a chapter on the proper (^nltivation 
oft'rops. Send your own address, and ten neighbors' most interested in Farming and Gardening, and we will mail it free. 
8. L. AliLEli & CO., Patentees and Sole Manufacturers of the rLA^£T ill. (J001>6, Nos. 127 and 129 Catharine St., Phila., Fa. 

jan 6t 



The 
New 



Lquamv. 




Prentiss, 

Pockllnston, Duchess, Lady Wa8lilns;ton,Ter-^ 
Moore'a Early, Brisrhton, Jefferson, 



ties Grapes. LARGEST STOCK IN AMERICA. 

Extra qnality. Warranted trne. Cheap by mail. Low rates to dealers. Illustrated Catalogue free. T. S.Hubbard, Fredonia,y.Y. 



la 



sep — 9t 



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

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

EiraimiEB.inra and AaRzcuLTURS. 

THE EXPENSES of the student (except such as enter the practical laboratories), 
exclusive of the cost of text books, clothing and pocket money,'are from $356 to $391, 
according 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 F. W. Page, Secretary, P. 0. University of Virginia, Albe- 
marle county, Va. JAMES F. HARRISON, M. D., Chairman of the Faculty. 

apl 15— ly 




Catalogue 
and Prices of 



PEDIBREE S 




Sent Free to 
any Address. 



D. LAIMDRETH 1^ SONS ptit'ASlkTp^Jil^ 



feb2t 



DIPLOMA AWARDED BY VA. STATE ASRICULTURAL SOCIETY 

THIS LATCH NEVER FAILS TO LOCK. 

crcrq -^ oq cr 3 

?f !r >- CD o S w 
ra "1 ^ CD 




o ^ 



" v*i -^ 'J 

=^ CD «. u3J» 



g " ^p ^S Wb- 









f^CQ^ 



a^ ^?So^^ 



][^CHMOND,VA. 



^. ^ a ^ (D p 



Write to AUTOMATIC GATE LATCH, 1422 Main Street, RicMoM; Va. 




'«'*°|*^^"D Sowc^ 




Millions of dollars worth of SEED and VALUABLE TIME have been lost for the 
want of a perfect Broadcast Seed Sower that would do its work rapidly and well, ihe 
"STROW BRIDGE " fills the great want, exactly. The seed is not thrown up into tbe 
air to be driven by the wind in all directions, but it goes directly fo^;^1^e?tv)und where 
wanted It is the CHEAPEST, SIMPLEST and BEST BROADCAST SEED-SOWER 
in the market. A common-sense, labor-saving D^achine. It sows perfectfy al kinds ot 
Wheat, Rye, Flax, Barley. Oats. Buckwheat. Peas, Corn Hungarian Millet, Uover, 
Timothy; also Plaster, Lime, Salt, Guano, Ashes, and all the various Phosphates-in 
fact, everything requiring broadcasting-and does it more evenly and better than by any 
other method. 

THE " STROWBRIDGb" IS FULLY WARRANTED TO DO AS REPRESENTED. 

Read the following, which are sample testimonials, of which we have received hundreds from farmers who 
have used them and know what they are talking about : „ , •+ „ s 

ThP well-known firm of W M. Fields & Bro., Stock Breeders and Importers, Cedar I alls, Iowa, ^"te us a_ 
follows ''Wrhlvei™d the Broadcast Seed.T for several seasons, with entire satisfaction Have seeded an 
nX over'^ttfhuVd;eVa '^^^^^^^^ kinds of grain. We consider \h« f^tireiut'Krt'verTnd 

ment toanyfarm for either seeding any kind of small gi-aiQ »/ .ff'^^-Jt is a wonderful labor saver, ana 
materially Lllitates the farm -ork^ We cheerily recommend it to every oiie.^ ^^^^^^ ^ ^^^ 

\ ours respecttuiiy, Willowedge Farm, Fort Dodge, Iowa. 

P„^ RiCHMONL, Va., January 17, 1883. 

^S^7r,-f Sa^e t?st-ed the Strowbridge Broadcast Seed Sower in sowing rye, clover seed and plaster, and 
am fully satisfied with ii s work. It is all you claim for it. w . j . j^ x x^ i^^ . 



i»:ei.xoes, ^qo. 



Mannfactnred Dy the DES MOINES wraFAGMlNG COMPANY, DesMoineMowa. 

At whose warerooms the Broadcaster can be seen in operation. 



JULIEN BiNFORD. 



L. B. Tatum. 



A\r. r>. BL^IR & CO. 

(ESTABIiISBED 1829), 

Dealers ill Fancy G-roceries, Teas,¥ines and Liquors 

And Manufacturers' Agents for KEY WEST and other Pine Cigars, 

1109 Main Street, RICHMOND, VA. 

Proprietors of the Celebrated "B- SELECT," "GLENWOOD," ''MONTROSE" and 
''ALPHA" WHISKIES; also, HARVEST WHISKEY in Great Variety. 



ESTABLISHED ZXff 1870. 



STONO-PHOSPHATE COMPANY, 

CHCA-PULiESTOlSr, S- O- 
WE OFFER TO THE PLANTERS 







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 

ASHLEY PHOSPHAT£ CO. 

::ai3:-A.PtI-.EST03Sr, S- O.:: 



SOLUBLE GUANO— Highly Ammoniated. 

DISSOLVED BONE- ... ... ... Very High Grade. 

ACID PHOSPHATE— ... For CompostiDg. 

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 shown by the Official Reports 
of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 

For TERMS, ILLUSTRATED ALMANACS, &c., address 

THE oom:p»aivy. 

N. B. — Special inducements for Cash Orders. [6mjy] 



MANHOOD 




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. Jt 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 beafinerwork 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. ja ly 

D. Lanpil's Astoa and Catarrli Reiedy 

Mrs.W. T. Brown, Moure, Texas, writes : 
"I suffered with Asthma 30 years. 
Your Great Remedy completely 
cured me. I wish all Asthmatic 
l^iifferers to send their address and 
get a trial package Free ol <'harg:e. 
It relieves instantly, so the patient can 
rest and sleep comfortably. Full size 
box by mail, $1. Sold by druggists 
generally. Address D. LANGELL, Apple Creek, 
Wayne County, Ohio, Proprietor. mh It 

THOROUGHBRED 

SHORTHORN CATTLE. 

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

ja 1 — ly Culpeper, Va, 





We contintie to 
act as solicitors for 
patents, caveats, 
trade-marks, copyrigbta, 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 by mail free. 

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

This large and splendidly illustrated news- 
paper is published ^WEEKIiY at $3.20 a year, 
and is admitted to be the best paper devoted 
to science, mechanics, inventions, engineering 
works, and other departments of industrial 
progress, published m any country. Single 
copies by mail, 10 cents. Sold by all news- 
dealers. . 

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



COTTONSEED 

NEW SORTS! 



JOVES'IMPROVKB PROLIFIC— long sta- 
ple ; has produced 2 bales per acre as a common 
crop ; first prize at Atlanta Exposition. Pound 
per mail, 70c., bushel by ireight or express, $5. 

Mc K I B BI N H Y B KI D— short staple ; yields of 
1,500 and 2,000 lbs. and upwards per acre are re- 
ported ; very branching; first prize for best 12 
plants at Atlanta Exposition. Pound bj mail, 
70c.; bushel. $5. 

HERIiONO— short staple; has been thoroughly 
tested throughout the South ; 1)4 bales per acre a 
common yield. Pound by mail. 45c.; bushel, $3. 

OZIER SILK— long staple ; fine silky fibre; very 
branching; matures early; hardy; has yielded 
1,400 lbs. of lint cotton per acre. Pound by mail, 
45c.; bushel, $3. 

Improved Varieties of Cow Peas and 
other Southern crops, are specialties. We carry 
the largest stock of Tested Need for Mar- 
ket Oardeuers of any Seed House. Send for 
catalogues. 

HIRAM SIBLEY & CO., Seedsmen, 

Chicago, III. Rochester, N. T. 

^ ■«■ g^ a week made at home by the industrious. 
1[" # "l Best business now before the public, 
■n I # Capital not needed. We will start you. 
\^ I mm 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 
terms : 
Address True & Co., Augusta, Me. 



f>ay, by engaging at once. Costly outfit and 
ree. Money made fast, easily and honorably. 



janly 




CHEAPEST 

LANTS 



iS 



mm 



SEEDS! 

mn nnn thrifty plants 

fOUfUUU FOR SALE. Large sized, 
(purchaser's selection. ) AH labeled. We sell lO large 

'^EVER-BLOOMING ROSESforSI 



12 large shov 
HELIOTROPES, SI. 



tif ul| 

CiERANIUMSforJgl. 12 sweet 
12 handsome FUCH- 
SIAS, SI. 12 ornamental COL,EUS, SI, and 
many others. Nearly all of our collection of 500 
Superb Varieties Ci^fin IN ChQU CUVEN 
are priced at lOcts. ■9JL\}\3 111 UA5n AWAY 
for CLiUB ORDERS, besides numerous articles, 
sure to please the liadies, such as Shake- 
Complete Works, Dickens' Coiii- 
s Coiiii>Iete Works, 
rgan, Eadies' Toilet 



speare-s Uompiete wo 
plete Works, Macauley 
Sewing Machines, an O „ 

number of other valuable 

SEED ORDERS! 



Cases, and a largi 
articles. SPECIALi 



PREMIUMS FOR 

Our Splendidly Illustrated 84 page Catalogue, con- 
taining our cheapest collection of Plants and Seeds, 
and unrivalled premiums. FREE to all. livery- 
one seeing this will find a copy very interesting. 
II»"SEND FOR IT. l^Iention this Paper. 
I crnC^ St Oil cascade Rose Nursery, 
LLLIIo &i bill RICHMOND, Indiana. 

^^Je2t 

GRAPE VIMS A\D SIG\I{ IIAFLES 

FOB. SAXiB! 

I have some finely-rooted Concord Grape Vines 
for sale. Price, $-L per hundred ; (50 cents ])cr dozen 
packed and delivered in Richmond. Also, a few 
Norton rfeedling— price, $10 per hundred; $1.20 per 
dozen. Iv'ow is the time to set out Sugar Maple, tlie 
most beautiful of all shade trees. They are from 5)^ 
to 8 feet high, and finely rooted. Price, 75 cents 
for single one ; $6 per dozen, and $40 per hundred. 
1 have but a few left. 

Dr. THOMAS POLLARD 

fe tf G19 west Main St., Richmond, Va. 

THOROUGHBRED HORSES, 

KLnrtliorii Catile, Cotswold Sleep, 

.A.3SIIDiBE;R,K:SIiIPlE PIGS 

For Sale. Apply to R. J. HANCOCK. 

June ly Overton, Albemarle county, Va. 



leelWireFence 




Is the only gpneral purpose Wire Fence in use, being a 
Strong Ket-Work Without Barbs. It will turn dogs, pigs, 
sheep, and poultry, as well as the most vicious stock, 
without injury to either fence or stock. It is just the fenca 
for farms, gardens, stock ranges and railroads, and very 
neat for lawns, psirks, school lots and cemeteries. Covered 
with rust-proof p,ai lit for galvanized ■) it will last a life.time. 
It is Superior to Boards or Barbed Wire in every respect. 
We ask for it a fair trial, knowing it will wear itself 
lato favor. The Setlgwicls ^«tes. made of wrought- 
iro 1 pipe and steel wire, defy all competition in neatneaa. 
strength and dnratiiiity. We nlso make the best and 
cheapest All Iron Automatic or Self-Opening Gate, also 
Cheapest and Neatest All Iron Fence. For Prices and 
Particulars ask Hardware Dealers or address the Manu- 
facturers. Best Wire Stretphor assd Post 

)'(ention this paper. KieiiiiioiKi. la^ 

fe iy 



iiowWeTestSeedsJ 

Probably from the fact that our long- experience asl 
Practical Gardeners, made us realize the necessity morel 
Strongly than most seed dealers, we very early in ourf 
career as seedsmen inaugurated the practice of testing f 
all seeds before selling. From the small tests begun in 
1872, this practice has extended and become so sys- 
tematized that the past season it required tlie entire use I 
of one of our largest greenhouses for our seed tests dur- 
ing the fall and winter, and afterwards in spring in the | 
open ground we had set out many thousand plants, rep- 
resenting the stock in vegetable seeds alone of over 900 1 
growers. All these tests are carried on under the per- 
sonal supervision of PETER HENDERSON, and as the 
author of ^'Gardeniiit; for Profit " has hAd as long and 
as varied an experience as most men in operations con- 
nected with the soil, it will be seen that we are placed in 
a position to judge, not only as to the germinating prop- 
erties, hut what IS of far more importance, the purity of I 
and the kinds of seeds best suited for all gardening! 
purposes. If therefore you can buy seeds as cheaply r 
from us, and we think if you will compare prices you 
will find that you can — it will certainly be to your inter- 1 
est to do so. Our Cntnloeiie fnr 1883 of Everything I 
for the Garden is now iead\-. and will be mailed free | 
[ on application. 

PETER HENDERSON & CO., 

35 & 37 Cortlandt St., New York. 



fe 8t 




M QRQUP, ASTHr^A, BRONCKBTIS. 

^^i JOHNSON'S ANODXNE LOIMKNT will poai- 

- ^ tivelj prevent these terrible diseases, and will cure nine 

cases out of ten. Information that will save many Uves, 

sent free by mail. Don't delay a moment. Prevention is 

better than eure. I S. Joumson & Co., Boston, Mass. 



delyeot 






^V 



SBE0 



'«/* 



oM 



'V. 



■^m^m^^msst^i^emm 



My Voeetabic and ITlowcr Seed Cataleguc for 

1888 will ba sent EK'rE to all who apply. Customers of I 
last season need not wr.te for it. Ail seed sent from my f 
establishment warranted to be both fresh and true to name, f 
so far, that should it prove otherwise, 1 agree to reldl thf I 
order gratis. My collection of vegetable seed is one of | 
the most extensive to be found in any American catalogue, 
and a large part of it is of mv own growing. As tliel 
orieliinl. Introducer of J-.ar!y Olilo nnd Burbaiik 
Potatoes. Marbleh cad Early Corn, the Hubbard 
SquaNh, Marblehead Cabbnse, J'hinnoy's Melon, 
and a score of other now \'cgc'taMcs, I invite the jjatron-l 
age of the public. In the gardens and on the farms of| 
those tvhs plant my seed will be found my best advertise- 
ment. James J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, Mass. 



)n3t 



.v^: 



UAMQCI I I'he WoHt Remark- 
nMnOLLLiilileKaHphcrrypvcr 
Produced. Send for full account 
ai)rl a beautiful chrome of it. The 
finest stock in the U. S. of 

SMALL FRUITS, 

embracing all valuable varieiies, 
also a superior stock of Fruit 
Trees. Lovett's Small FruitH 
are the best. Catalogue, brilliant- 
ly iiluBtrated (colored plates), tell- 
ing how to get and grow them, 
honeHtuiescriptions, fair prices. 
The most beautiful and useful Fruit Catalogue ever 
published. J. T. LOVETT, IJttle Silver, N. J., 
Jntroducer of C'uthbert Raspberry <t Manchester Strawberry. 




free. 



fe2t 



DARBY'S 



PROPHyiACTIC 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 Provhylacttc Fluid, a safeguard 
against all Pestilence, Infection, Con- 
tagion and Epidemics. 
Use as a Gargle for the ThroaU as a Wash 
for the Person, and as a Disinfectant 
for the House. 
A CERTAIN R5'::M*:1>V' A^Af^'ST ALL. 
CONTAGI?»US niS£.4SES. '' 

Neutralizes at once all noxious odors 
and gases. Destroj'S the germs of diseases 
and septic (putrescent) floating irapereenti- 
ble in the air or such as have effected a 
lodgment in the throat or on the person 
PERFECTLY HARMLESS USED 
INTERNALLY or EXTERNALLY. 
J. H. ZEILIN & CO., Proprietors, 
Manufacturing Chemists, Philadelphia. 
Jj@"Price, 50 cents per bottle. Pint bot- 
tles, $L nov ly 



CLVEN^old Watches 

U SILI£.l>iliE^^*S;Saml FAJ^t^Y GOODS 

Gift with Every Book! 

^iUUU WIKM ETF.KY KOOO BOO«%S. 

Send 3e. .^tarnp for Catalogue. Agents Wanted. 
PHILADELPHIA PREMIQM BOOK CO., 
252 north Eighth street, Philadelphia, Pa. 
mch 1-5 12t 




Q' 



ueeiiT?.E South 

FARM MILLS 

For Stock Feed or Meal for 
Family use. 

a.0,000 x:bT -crsE. 

Write for Pamphlet. 

Simpson & Ganlt M'fg Co. 

Successors to Straub Mill Co. 
CINCINNATI. O. 



DS. 



For the Farm and Garden. All varieties. 
Best quality. Whiter Russian Spring Oats, 
Seed Potatoes, and all kinds of Grass and 
Clover Seeds Vegetable Plants. Descrip- 
tive Catalogues mailed free on application. 
T. W. WOOD, Seedsman, 

RICHMOND, VA. 
Cor. Sixth and Marshall streets. Branch 



Store, 1530 Main street. 



fe Bt 



Oil 



L* ery Tanner should 
J,.. , iiiat 8 ots. pej.' 
'''&\^ &EI BVjgyi'a^fcs G i bushel can Ve eaved 
"Wia. raising Corn, Zii cts. in Whtt.t, Lna 2 ct3. per 
lb. on Cotton by the uso of a _ „ ^^^-«. 

THOIM SlOOTIIIMa HARROW 

Also manufacture the FerA-i-ttMirULVliJKiy.Iill 
which conta.us '13 sh rp ^te^.l blades, covtrmir JO 
feet at each pweep. ^^ armnted the nicst powertiil 
Pulverizer ever invented. For ]iamph.et com a.n- 
ing' iilustraiious of both n;achiues it work, ai-d hun- 
dreds of names of thore who iif-e and recommend 
them, address THOMAS HAllEOWCO. Geneva.N.Y 

fe3t 

Sawing Made Easy. 

'~^ The New Improved 

MONARCH L1GI1(.NLN8 

Is the cheapest and best. 
A boy sixteen years old 
can saw logs/as* and easy, 

^ ^-— . - Sent on test trial. Sen<? 

postal for Illustraied Catalogue contalmng tr'stimon- 
fals and full particulars. AGENTS WA]VTEI>. 
Monarch Lightning Saw Go. , 163 Randolph St. , Chicago. 

j.in 4t 




GEOIOiA PiELOl 

CHOiGE SEED F,10M SELECTED fR'JlT. 

/KATTLESf^fAKE, (or STRIPED.) \ 

The Premium "Watermelons of the Wo'id ! Ref-d from 
choice crops of Ri -timo'id 'lo laty, and from .=;«lected 
large melnas of perfect qualities. Price, onnco 20 cents 
pound $2.00. Postage i6 cents ner lb. Address 

J. H. ALEXANDER?, 
Drug and Seed Store. Augusta, Georgia . 



jan 4t 



REST 

$0 oultjt Iree. 
net required. 



jan 3m 



not, life is sweeping by, go and dare 
before you die, something mighty 
and sublime leave behind to conquer 
time. §66 a week iu your own town. 
No risk. Everything new. Capital 
We will furnish you everything. 
Many are making fortunes. Ladies make as much 
as men, and boys and girls make great pay. Reader, 
if you want business at which you can make great 
pay all the time, write for particulars to H. Hal- 
LETT & Co., Portland, Maine. janly 



Artificial 
ar Orutn. 

^ As iHvented and worn by him 

perfectly restoring the hearing. .En» 
tirely deaf for thirty years, he hears wit^h 
them even whispers, distinctly. Are 
not obserrafele, and remain in posi- 
tion without aid. Descriptive Circular 
Free. CAUTION : Do not be deceived 
by bogus ear drums. Miiie is the only 
successful artificial Eajr Drum manu- 
factured. 

JOHN GARMORE, 

Filth & Race Sts., Cincinnati. O. 




Garmore's^ 



nov6t 







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 
Frice'List and samples free. Agents wanted. 

C. H. DANA, West I.ebauou» N. H. 
de 



Established 1840 

THE CELEBRATKD 

"BRADFORD" 

PORTABLE MILL. 

CORN, WHEAT & FEED, 

FM>UK MILL MACHINERY. 

Send for descriptive r.ircu- 
lar. Address plainly 

THOS.BRADFORO&CG. 

174, 17C, 178 W, Second St., 
CINCINNATI, O. 




jan3m 



SOUTHERIir AC€I.I»IATEI» R£01S- 
TERKD .iERSEY.S 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 ^J 0.5771; 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 solidt fancy colors. 
Also, & purebred unregistered Jersey heifers, from 6 
to 16 months old, all from good butter stock. Ad- 
dress ROWE'S CO-OPEKATIVE STOCK FA.KM, 
Fredericksburg, Va. jantf 



Stock & Stud Farm. 

I continue to breed Thoroughbred, Ridiij;. 
Trotting, Light and Heavy Draft Horst^ > 
The best families of Shorthorn Cattle {u.d 
Berkshire Swine for sale at prices Jino 
terms to induce sales without jockeying 
Those stallions not sold early in the year 
may be farmed on sound business terms lu 
suit clubs, individuals and patrons. 

S. W. FICKLIN, 
jan 'Near Charlottesville, Va. 

Notice to Farmers! 

In addition to my regular business, I am now 
grinding my "STANDARD" BRAND OF PLAS- 
TER, which is unequalled by any on the market, 
and which I intend shall become universally pop'i- 
lar on its own merits. Having carefully selected my 
lump, I can furnish the best quality, and having ilie 
capacity for grinding fifty tons per day, I can give 
cousumers the advantage of having it freshly ground, 
as I will not keep a supply on hand, but grind it af- 
ter receiving oiders on shortest notice. Price, Ac, 
on apllication. WILLIAM T. KING. 

3400 to 3500 Williamsburg, avenue, 

mh 3t PostoffiAe l;ox i. 




FARM & FEEO TRILLS 

The Cheapest and Best. 

Will Crush and Gnnd Any thing. 
Illustrat d Catiilogue FREE. 

AddressLJ.MILLEB, (Cincinnati, 0. 



nov4t 




|EIASTIC TSUSS 

I Has a Pad differing from al 1 otben, 
' Is cap shape, with Self -Adjusting 
Ball m ceuter, adapUi tself to all 
positions of tba body, while the 
lial i( n the rnp presses back the 
IntosthiesjnstasBporBOOwouId 
wiih the Finger. With light 
pressure the Hernials held aecural; 

Bayand eight, and a radical cure certain. I&la easy, dorabU 

md cheap. Sent by mail. Circulars free. 

EGQLESTON ISUSS CO.. CMcai?o. Ill* 

fe Iv 



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 
fail. Don't neglect to send for circulars; it will pay 
voii. Ask YOUR Druggist FOR IT. EDWIN FER- 
RIS & CO., Piker Building, Cincinnati, O. jaly 

Premium Chester White, 
Berkshire and Poland China 
Pigs, Fine Setter Dogs, 
Scotch Shepherds and Fox 
Hounds, bred and for sale 
by ALEX. PEOPLES, West 
Chester, Chester county, Pa. Send stamp for circu- 
lar and price-list. fe ly 




EGGS! 

town, Mass. 



For Hatching, from all the lead- 
ing varieties of Poultry. Send 
stamp for large illustrated circu- 
lar. Oak Lane Farm, Belcher- 
fe3t 



AN OFFER TO FARMERS. 

I. have invented a Self-Supporting Board Fence. 
Ne^ds no posts, can be made in the barn on rainy 
days; costs 30 cents a rod less than post and board 
leiice. It is not patented, but for 30 cents I will send 
Illustrated Fence Treatise, telling how to make 
it, and ONE of the following Premiums: 1st, a one 
foot boxwood pocket rule, 2d, Kendall's Horse Book, 
100 pages, 35 illustrations. 3d, one package of Sugar 
Trough Gourd. Acme Tomato, Prize Head Lettuce, 
Yerbena, and Phlox, or all of the above for 60 cents. 

Address WALDO F. BROWN, Box 75, Oxford, O. 

fe2t 

SMALL FRUIT PLANTS §5%'^-; 
l.OOO, Crescent Seedling $1.50, Sharpless 
l|$l.75. All the best and most profitable new 
varieties at very low rates. Pore Stock. First- 
class Plants. Send for Price-Lists. 

J. B. SLAYMAKER & SON, 
mh It Dover, Delaware. 




BEST MARKET PEAR 

PEACH, PLUM, PEAK, Ai'i'LE, 
QUINCE and other trees; SOsorts 

STRAWBERRIESSSv;;'^ 

Uownmg^Crescent^entuckt/, Sharpless 
.-SS per 1000. Raepberneg.BIacJt 
berries, Currants, 2U sorts of grare*. 
Loxce^t cash prices. Send for Catalogue 
J. S. COLLINS. Aloore»towu.JN. jr. 



janSt