THE 



S 



OUTHERN XLANTER 



P 



DEVOTED TO 



AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, LIVE STOCK AND THE HOUSEHOLD. 





Office, 26 Wilkerson's Hall, Ninth Street. 


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


- Proprietor. 
Editor. 
Advertising Agent. 


45th Year. 


MAY, 1884. No. 5 



CONTENTS: 

Science in Agriculture - „ 209 

Some Thoughts on Farm Management „ 212 

The "Virginia, Washington or Curtis" Breed of Sheep 214 

Pea-Fallow.- : 215 

The Farmer should Know Something of Mechanics 216 

Bone Dust and Wood Ashes - 217 

The Farmer and Politics 218 

Women Farmers.- 222 

Ground Pepper. „ 223 

Harness - - 225 

Phosphates and Superphosphates .... 226 

Value of Hay at Different Stages 228 

Manures 229 

Value of Salt to Crops 230 

Jersey Swine Association 231 

Wages in Cotton Mills 232 

The Profits of Sheep 232 

Do Plants Grow in the Night? 234 

Gear and Gearing Horses , 235 

Sorghum Halapense - 235 

About Fences 236 

A Correction 237 

A Southern Dairy and Honey Farm '. 238 

The Agricultural Press 239 

Market Gardening in the South » 240 

Melilot (Sweet Clover) 241 

Improving Land by Green Fallows — Replies to Mr. Rugg 243 

^Tall Meadow Oat-Grass 244 

State Agricultural Society — Proceedings of the Executive Committee 246 

Enquiries about Sheep 248 

Editorial : 

Straw andits Value on the Farm, 249 ; The Late Wet Weather and its Sequence... 251 

Editorial Notes : • 

Dr. Thomas Pollard ; Corn ; The North Carolina State Exposition ; Communica- 
tions ; Books and Magazines; Catalogues; New Advertisements 254-260 

Richmond : J. W. Fergrusson & Son, Printers. 



i 






+ 



OROA.NIZEI> 1838. 



THE- 



Virginia Fire and Marine 

INSURANCE COMPANY, 

OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, 



ASSETS, - - - $557,000.00. 



Insures against Fire and Lightning. 



HALF A CENTURY IN ACTIVE AND 
SUCCESSFUL OPERATION. 



Veiii Fire jui 1km Ihmie Co. 



A HOXniS INSTITUTION. 

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

All Descriptions of Proprrty in Country or Town — private or public — insured 
at fair rates and on accommodating terms. Agencies in every county and city. 



DIRECTORS. 

W. L. COWARDIN, - - - President. 

E. 0. Nolting, E. B. Addison, 0. W. Allen, 

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

Home Office, IV. 1015 Main Street. Richmond, "Va. 

W. L. COWARDIN, President. 

WM. H. MCCARTHY, Secretary. ; 

^CORRESPONDENCE SO LI C ITED."*©a 



-THEE- 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



DEVOTED TO 



Agriculture, Horticulture, Live Stock and the Household. 

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

T. W. ORMOND, Proprietor. 

W. C. KNIGHT, Editor. 

45th Tear. RICHMOND, MAY, 1884. No. 5. 

[For the Southern Planter.] 

SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE. i 

j 

BY SIR J. B. LAWES, BART, LL. D., F. R .S. 

In the February number of the Southern Planter I observe some very 
sensible remarks of Professor Scott, to the effect that science places at 
the disposal of the farmer the principles upon which his acts are founded, 
but that his own intelligence and experience must instruct him as to 
their application ; and he further adds that " every farm is to a certain 
extent a separate problem." 

About a quarter of a century ago I published a table giving the rela- 
tive manure value of a great many of the cattle foods used upon .the 
farm. The construction of the table was very simple. I took the best 
analyses of the foods which were to be obtained at the time, and de- 
ducted from the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash the amount of 
those constituents which — from my own experiments on feeding — I 
considered would be assimilated by the animals consuming the foods. 
I then placed a value on the residue somewhat below the cost for which 
a manufacturer would furnish a manure in every respect equal in value. 

I have no doubt that the table could be made more perfect at the 
present time, but with all the increased knowledge which we have 
17 






210 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

acquired in regard to the action of manures, there is nothing to alter in 
the principle upon which the table was constructed. Decorticated cot- 
ton cake would still head the list as furnishing a manure superior to 
any food used in Great Britain. There are other foods which have a 
comparatively low manure value; and I noticed in a trade circular not 
long ago, one rather high priced food which would be almost without 
any manure value at all. The cost of a food therefore bears no fixed 
relation to its manure value. 

At the commencement of the present year an act of Parliament came 
in force securing to the tenant farmer of Great Britain compensation 
for the manures applied by them which remained unexhausted at the 
time of their leaving their farms. 

The act further gives the landlords and tenants the power to form 
some scale of compensation among themselves : that is to say, the land 
owner aud the tenant may come to an agreement between themselves 
as to the sum which shall be paid the latter on his leaving his farm, as 
compensation for the cattle food consumed. Both sides in fact contract 
themselves out of the act; but with this proviso, that the compensation 
must be fair and reasonable: in other words, the land owner should 
not put pressure upon his tenant to compel him to sign away his rights. 

It might be thought that, with some slight revisions and modifica- 
tions, such a table as that which I had constructed would form the 
basis of cattle food compensation. Such, however, is not the case, and 
the popular idea is that some portion of the cost of the food should be 
the basis of the manure value. 

As this view has been advocated by intelligent farmers who are thor- 
oughly conversant with the contents of the table, I think it will be 
admitted that the progress of science in agriculture is somewhat slow 
in this country. 

Your correspondent refers to my having said that sodium supplies 
the place of potassium when the latter is deficient in the soil. I do not 
now recollect the exact expression I used when writing on the subject, 
but I certainly did not wish it to be understood that sodium could per- 
form all the fnnctions of potash. 

We are just now sending a paper to the Royal Society on the com- 
position of wheat grain and straw; but notwithstanding that in some 
of our experiments soda has been used without potash, and in others 
potash without soda, for twenty years in succession, soda is hardly to 
be found in either the grain or the straw. 

When, however, we come to write upon the composition of the ash 
of pasture grasses, we shall show that while the grass — when supplied 



1884.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 211 

with a sufficient amount of both potash and soda — will always select 
the former; if it is supplied with the soda alone, it will take up such a 
large amount of that substance that more soda than potash is found in 
the ash. 

These facts may be thoroughly relied upon, as they are based upon 
the most exhaustive and complete series of ash analysis which have 
ever been carried out. 

Mangles supplied with soda will take up large amounts of that sub- 
stance; while potatoes under similar circumstances do not take up any. 
The juice of potatoes — where we should expect to find any soluble salts 
taken up by the plant — contain hardly any soda, even when manured 
with nitrate of soda. The juice of mangles, on the other hand, under 
similar circumstances of manuring, contain almost as much soda as 
potash. 

It is these special properties of different classes of plants that make 
our attempts to give any exact explanation of the economy derived 
from a rotation of crops so exceedingly difficult. 

There is another peculiar property of plants which requires to be 
thoroughly studied. I allude to the different capacity possessed by 
different plants for taking food out of a soil. "Without at all arguing 
that red clover derives its nitrogen from nitric acid, I have pointed out 
that it has greater advantages than any of the other agricultural plants 
commonly grown for taking up a substance which is diffused so rapidly 
through the soil. It has a longer life, and the plant grows very close 
together on the soil; the roots penetrate deep into the subsoil, and the 
leaves are always green. If, however, red clover can obtain more 
nitrogen from the possession of these properties, it might be supposed 
that they would have enabled it also to collect more mineral food. I 
should certainly have imagined that such would have been the case. 

Let us see, however, what experiment tells us. At Rothamstead, 
between 1850 and 1873, wheat, turnips, barley, and beans were grown 
upon an unmanured soil. In 1874, red clover was sown and the plant 
was very good, although the crop was small. Between 1873, when 
the seed wa3 sown, and June, 1874, when the crop was cut, all the 
phosphoric acid which it could pick up out of an acre of land only 
amounted to 2 -J- lbs. ! It may be said that after the removal of so large 
an amount of crops the soil was exhausted of its phosphoric acid, but 
such wa3 not the ease, as the wheat which followed the clover took out 
more than 17 lbs. of that substance; while the turnips which followed 
the wheat fared even worse than the clover, for they could only obtain 
1J lbs. ; but the barley which followed the turnips took out 10 lbs., and 






212 SOUTHERN PLANTER [May 

in 1883 — after 36 unmanured crops had been carried off — the wheat 
removed 20 lbs. of phosphoric acid per acre, and produced a crop of 20 
busbels per acre. 

"We get in these results some clue to the conclusions derived from 
practical experience in all countries, that mineral manures are much 
more beneficial to some crops than they are to others. It is evident 
that the sereal crops possess a greater capacity for obtaining their food 
from a poor soil than any of the other crops generally grown. 

It is fortunate for the human race that such is the case, as nations 
must have bread to eat without having to be dependent for it upon the 
aid of science. 



[For the Southern Planter.] 

SOME THOUGHTS ON FARM MANAGEMENT. 

An experience and observation often years asa practical farmer have 
impressed so deeply on my mind some truths connected with agricul- 
ture, and as others are imparting their knowledge to the farmers 
through your valuable journal, I will endeavor to show my apprecia- 
tion of their kind efforts by writing a few lines. 

1. As a rule, land which is rented out rapidly depreciates ; small 
bushes grow up, which are not dug up, but cut off at the surface of the 
ground, and the roots below the surface continue to grow and in a few 
years are troublesome and costly to remove ; fences and buildings go 
to ruin, and the land badly plowed and worked rapidly depreciates. 
My experience in several cases, and observation in dozens of others,, 
point unmistakably to the fact that land, by ordinary renting, will in 
eight or ten years sink one-half in cash value. 

2. As rail timber is scarce, and free labor has to be paid, the land 
enclosed should be made rich. Our land can be easily made to grow 
ten barrels of corn per acre, and other crops in proportion. 

3. Raise all the manure we can, and that under cover; have stalls or 
sheds for horses, cows, out cattle and hogs, and add leaves, straw, muckr 
&c, to the stalls whenever required. 

4. Feed all stock tvell, not only with rough food, but with meal, bran, 
cotton seed meal, &c. The manure made under cover will more than 
pay all costs. No farmer can afford to half feed his stock. We should 
look mainly to the manure for our outlay. Our cattle should be stalled 
and fed Summer nights as well as Winter nights. One ton of manure 
made under cover is worth two tons accumulated in rain, snow, frost, 
wind and sunshine. Manure^made under cover from strong food to 



1884.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 213 

our stock will pay in dollars and cents. I speak from experience. Try 
it. farmers. 

5. Manure properly composted, and with the right constituents, will 
be doubled or trebled or quadrupled in value. I speak with great con- 
fidence on this point, and earnestly insist on our farmers composting. 
If properly done it will pay. I make a large quantity of manure and 
.compost it. 

6. Grow grass all we can, both for pasture and for hay. Our land, 
if correctly managed, will grow grass profitably. Poor land, of course, 
will grow little grass, but land in good heart and managed on correct 
principles will grow grass handsomely in Piedmont Virginia. I can 
prove this assertion beyond any doubt by showing excellent grass on 
land very thin six years ago. 

7. Northern farmers come and see our lauds and become discouraged 
and leave us, and no man who has traveled through Western New York 
or "Western Pennsylvania, and many other sections of their country, 
can blame them for not purchasing our lands. "We have scarcely any- 
thing to attract purchasers. Who wants to take half a lifetime to im- 
prove his land before realizing? But Virginia will not remain as she 
is to-day ; the average farmer will be compelled to improve his land, or 
he will be sold out to some one who will improve. Free labor means 
good land, and we had as well realize it now, at once. 

8. Every intelligent farmer should experiment in a small way upon 
an acre or two of land. His cost need not be much, but may lead to 
very valuable results. Practice should corroborate theory, and if it 
does not, stop the experiment, unless a mistake can be discovered which 
can be readily corrected. I am experimenting this season on four acres 
of land at a cost of 840 per acre, and if satisfactory will extend it largely 
another year. "New South." 

A writer of mathematical bent, says the Scientific American, finds 
from the census returns that there are about 17,000 dentists in the 
United States, who, he estimates, pack into the teeth of the American 
people a ton of pure gold annually. Continuing his speculations, he 
predicts that in the twenty-first century all the gold in the country will 
be buried in the graveyards. 

The height and velocity of clouds has been determined in England 
by means of photography. Two cameras, placed about 600 feet apart, 
are provided with instantaneous sutters simultaneously released by 
electricity. The observer measures the angle of inclination of the 
cameras and the position of the cloud as photographed on the two 
plates, and from these data a trigonometric calculation gives the dis- 
tance and height of a cloud with great accuracy. 



214 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

THE "VIRGINIA, WASHINGTON OR CURTIS" BREED OF SHEEP. 

Editor Southern Planter, — The breed of sheep referred to in " Stew- 
art's Shepherd's Manual," and about which an inquiry is made in the 
letter you hand me from Mr. Morgan, of Fauquier, attracted my atten- 
tion and incited interest in its history fully thirty-five years ago. In 
the flocks then driven to Piedmont and the Valley from the counties 
now constituting West Virginia, as also from the States of Tennessee 
and Ohio, it was common to see, in considerable numbers, sheep of 
such marked peculiarities as to impress the sheep-husbandman with 
the conviction that they must have sprung from the same common 
stock. They were of good size ; a little leggy ; well wooled (except 
under the belly, which was well nigh naked); face and legs colored a 
dirty brown or yellow. The ewes, with escutcheons that Guenon would 
class as "Flanders," milked like goats, and usually bore twin lambs, 
and were the most faithful nurses of any breed I ever handled. Crossed 
on a Southdown buck they seemed to lose their own fixity of type and, 
yielding to the prepotency of the sire, produced lambs hardly distin- 
guishable from the full-blood Southdown. 

Since the general infusion of Merino blood into the flocks of the best, 
we find fewer of this breed brought in, either as stock sheep or for the 
shambles, and yet I think it would not be difficult to pick up a few 
hundred a year from these western droves. I have found these sheep 
scattered generally through the Tidewater counties of this State, and 
have seen them in North Carolina and Georgia, and perhaps in other 
States. They are now most frequent where there has been least effort 
at recent improvement, and I would suggest to your correspondent 
that his object (which I think a wise one) may be accomplished by get- 
ting some livestock broker in the cities to pick up the ewes of this breed 
as they may be offered on the market, or to employ an agent to go into 
the counties along the Rappahannock, where I know a few years ago 
these sheep were to be found in many unimproved flocks. It may be 
that the enterprise of our old friend Ab. Rowe, of Fredericksburg, has 
infused his blue blood into many of these flocks, but in the out-of-the- 
way places, it may be, your correspondent's wants may still be supplied* 

R. W. K Noland. 



The quality which is called gentlemanly is that which theoretically, 
and often actuall}', distinguishes the person who is born in a certain 
social position. It describes the manner in which such a person ought 
to behave. — George William Curtis. 



1884. J SOUTHERN PLANTER. 215 

PEA-FALLOW. 

Editor Southern Planter, — In reply to Mr. Ambler's inquiry concern- 
ing peas for seeding pea- fallows, I take the liberty of sending replies as 
to some details scheduled in your editorial remarks on said inquiry. 

As to the quantity to be seeded per acre, this depeuds, as in all other 
crops, on the soil and care taken in preparation. On fair land well 
plowed and well harrowed, one bushel drilled or one and one-fourth 
bushels broadcast and put in with shovel or small gang plows, from the 
1st to 20th of May, or even later, will give a good growth, and should 
be turned under when the pods begin to turn brown. Running over 
the vines a head of the plow with a smoothing harrow will greatly 
facilitate the work. 

As to raising the seed; the land should be prepared as for corn, and 
the peas planted in May from twelve to twenty inches apart in the row, 
the rows being far enough from each other to admit of easy cultivation 
with double shovels. Any of our simple Virginia corn planters will 
plant them accurately. 

As to gathering when ripe ; three modes are practised : picking them 
by hand, which is too expensive; cutting them with a mower, wind- 
rowing the vines and putting them up in small shocks, or pulling the 
vines by hand, piling three or more rows in one heap row; when thor- 
oughly dry, haul to a low scaffold made of rails or poles and beat them 
out with flails ; fan them and store in moderate bulk — barrels make 
excellent garners for them. The vines and branches are good winter 
food for stock, especially sheep, and should be stacked or otherwise 
secured. A portion of the field seeded for fallow may be left until 
ripe, then cut and treated as above. 

The best variety is the common black agricultural pea, or black-eye 
may be used ; it does not give as heavy growth as the former. 

Mr. Ambler can no doubt secure any quantity of seed in Richmond. 

It would be more prudent for him to try them in a small way the 
first year, as many farmers think that peas do not do as well so near 
the mountains as lower down in Virginia. 

Moss Neck, Va. J. P. C. 



You may know mock modesty as you do mock turtle, from its being 
the product of a calf's head. 

"At Frankfort," said little Simson, " I once saw a watch that did not 
believe in the existence of a watchmaker. It had a very poor move- 
ment, by the way, and a pinchbeck case." — Heinrich Heine. 



f: 



216 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

THE FARMER SHOULD KNOW SOMETHING OF MECHANICS. 

Editor Southern Planter, — -I hold that to be a real good farmer a man 
must possess more general knowledge and have a better stock of com- 
mon sense than is required in almost any otber calling of life. The 
various qualifications necessary to make a good farmer I need not men- 
tion in detail, but I fear there is too little attention given to a very 
practical and necessary branch of instruction which is becoming more 
and more necessary every day. The use of labor-saving machines, 
including steam engines, on the farm renders some knowledge of me- 
chanics almost, if not absolutely, essential. I know of no better way 
to impress what I say than by giving some examples. 

A few years since, while in charge of a repair shop in one of the 
Southern States, a farmer from- a distance of thirty miles and more, 
drove into the shop-yard late in the evening of a warm Fall day and 
almost begged for a hand to go down to his plantation to "caulk the 
tubes of his boiler." It fell to my lot to go with him. After a long, 
weary ride by moonlight, we reached his dwelling. The next morning 
I examined the little Geiser engine, lookiug first, of course, in the fire- 
and smoke-boxes to see to what extent the tubes were damaged. I 
found them as tight and snug as a sealed bottle, not the faintest sign of 
leaks about them. I had learned not to be surprised at this. After a 
few questions as to how the engine had behaved when steamed up, I 
looked at the governor and found that a very small taper pin had 
worked out of the valve stem, and consequently when the engine ran 
slow the governor balls failed to raise the valve which bad dropped, 
and thus the engine was effectually throttled; but the boiler was in 
good order and capable of raising all the steam necessary to drive the 
engine. Five minutes, or say thirty, at the most, was consumed in 
getting the engine ready to run, but the farmer had to pay my em- 
ployer for more than a day's work, besides the loss of time, the travel 
of over thirty miles, and general worry and fret. 

I had in one ginning season two more cases exactly similar to the 
governor valve, and several where the farmer had fired up his engine 
in the morning without water and burnt the tubes until it was neces- 
sary to clinch them, at a cost of more than a farmer, whose per cent, of 
profits is close, cared to pay. Now iu both cases of trouble mentioned, 
I thought a little common sense would have been sufficient; certainly 
some knowledge of an engine would have been of great value. In the 
first case a very simple process of reasoning would have led to a correct 
conclusion and the discovery of the trouble. First. I have, say, seventy 



1 884.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 217 

pounds of steam on my boiler because my steam gauge and safety-valve 
tell me so. My engine was driving tbe gin with a lower head of steam 
than this yesterday, why will it not do it now? The boiler is all right 
— plenty of steam, no leaks. Can the steam reach the engine ? The 
throttle is open, can it go through the governor ? And right here he 
would have found the trouble. Experience is a very fine teacher, but 
a hard, very hard taskmaster, to say nothing of the cost. 

Farmers who are educating their sons should have an eye to this 
mechanical training, which will not be difficult to impart nor irksome to 
the student, but a recreation, if practically taught, from other brain- 
straining, memory-stuffing subjects for which the boy may have natu- 
rally no taste. We have in our State but oue institution that I am 
aware of, save the Miller Manual Labor School, which is equipped to do 
the work. I allude, of course, to the Virginia Agricultural and Me- 
chanical College. Where the farmer cannot avail himself of this insti- 
tution, which should be supported, patronized, and kept up to its special 
duties, common sense, careful observation, and experience will do good 
training. A farmer should never rest until he understands the work- 
ing of his machinery, and then and always he should take care of it. 
Understand your machine, take good care of it. When it really needs 
repair, have it done. If you cannot do it yourself, get some one thor- 
oughly competent to do it, and many a dollar charged to loss will be 
saved. M. and W. W. 

P. S. — Very full and accurate directions are usually sent with each 
machine. If read carefully and kept for reference, their value will be 
appreciated and tell financially in the saving of time, wear and tear 
and general loss arising out of an ignorance which is unpardonable with 
the means of information at hand. 



BONE DUST AND WOOD ASHES. 



A farmer in Indiana gives the following result of an experiment with 
bone-dust and wood ashes. He says : " I applied six hundred pounds 
of dry, unleached ashes to the acre, and sowed wheat on that, and the 
result was only six bushels to the acre. Adjoining this tract I drilled 
in two hundred pounds of bone-dust and the three acres produced twen- 
ty bushels to the acre, being an increased yield of fourteen bushels over 
the tract sown with wood ashes. The following year I used five hun- 
dred pounds bone-dust on the plat where I had previously sown six- 
hundred pounds of ashes, and the result was forty bushels of wheat to 
the acre, being double what the bone produced alone. This experiment 
satisfied me that ashes alone or bone-dust alone would not give me a 
yield that paid to my satisfaction." 



218 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

THE FARMER AND POLITICS. 

TAn address delivered before the Convention of the National Agricultural Association 
by Governor Vance, of North Carolina. Copied from the Agricultural Review and In- 

durtrial Monthly.] 

What shall be done for the tillers of the soil? For the American 
agriculturists and their dependents? For those who represent the pri- 
mal labor of man, which underlies all comfort, all prosperity, all civili- 
zation ? The man who does not recoguize the vital import of this 
question is lamentably blind to the tendencies of the times. 

What is that tendency ? It is not practicable, or material to -my de- 
sign, that the various directions taken by the energies of this age should 
be delineated ; it is sufficient to say that the most remarkable is per- 
haps the fierce and abnormal stimulation of the productive powers of 
our race, and the accentuation of individual wealth in the handling and 
distributing of it. 

TXT • 

Were the science of statistics old enough to take us back to the days 
of Adam Smith, with figures as accurate and painstaking as those of 
our day, the record of our wealth-getting would show such a geomet- 
rical progression, an increase so far out of proportion to the growth of 
population, as to seem absolutely miraculous. This is exhibited in the 
digging of metals and miuerals from the bowels of the earth; the man- 
ufacture of raw materials from field, forest and mine into articles of 
utility and beauty, and the wondrous methods of distributing both ma- 
terial and products throughout the world. We designate the trio as 
mining, manufactures and commerce. In each the highest skill, the 
brightest genius and most unsleeping energies of the human race are 
employed. Science, with her searching eyes, is made their servant. 
They are divided and subdivided ; to each man is assigned his task, 
and none can survive except the expert and the specialist. 

If a new or important method or expedient is discovered, every other 
man or method is immediately tested by this new standard of excel- 
lence. There is no conservatism, everything is progress. In every 
department and sub-department there is a keen and constaut straining 
after the greatest possible results with the least possible expenditure of 
means, and to these results the social and the political world are forced 
to conduce without stint and without remorse. 

As their means increase their resources likewise increase, and these 
three great classes of workers draw nearer and nearer together. Their 
alliance, indeed, has become complete, and their organization for offen- 
sive and defensive action is perfect in all essential particulars. Touch 
but one of them, or any one of their dependent industries, and the 
armed battalions and mercenaries of all the others are instantly in line 
to defend. The cause of one is the cause of all. Now, against whom 
is this alliance framed? Or, if that be too strong, upon whom is it to 
operate? Of course, the aim of it all is to make money; but out of 
whom? It can only be the soil-workers — for they are the only class of 
producers remaining. Agriculture completes the grand enumeration 
of the industrial forces of society. It is by its followers the others live, 



1884.] SOTJTHEKN PLANTEK. 219 

and upon the fruits of its labor the others grow rich. The field for 
combination is inviting ; the means are ample, and the victims patient 
and unresisting beyond the dreams of cupidity. It is a fact worth 
noting, that of all the colossal fortunes owned by so many American 
citizens, not one has been made by agriculture — all have come by some 
of the other pursuits. Many thousands of them are made yearly by 
handling the farmers' products, but not one by the farmer himself. 
Every man who touches his productions makes more clear profit thereby 
than did he in coaxing them from the earth. Even the brakeman on 
the car which transports them to market gets more pay than the man 
who held the plow. One country merchant absorbs the profits of a 
hundred farmers; one in the great city will absorb the clear earnings 
of a thousand ; one railroad line will consume the net proceeds of a^ 
province. This, too, in the ordinary course of trade, to say nothing of 
extraordinary courses, of corners, and all kinds of combinations and 
pressures of which they are so often the victims. 

In round numbers there are engaged in agricultural occupations 
8,000,000 of people. Now, allowing three dependents, or non-workers, 
to each worker, which is allowed for all the classes in the census reports, 
and we have 24,000,000 souls, nearly half our entire population, de- 
pendent on agriculture for their subsistence. They represent more 
than twelve thousand millions of capital, including stock and imple- 
ments, and their annual product is about two and a quarter billions. 
As they are the most numerous, so are they also the most widely dis- 
persed class of our people following any gainful occupation. They 
have cleared the wilderness and broken to the plow five hundred and 
thirty-six millions of acres of the virgin soil of America, divided into 
four millions of farms. This area is constantly enlarging. They fur- 
nish seven-eighths of our foreign commerce, and their fertile fields, 
under their energetic hands, aided by skillful modern implements, have 
become, beyond all thought of rivalry, the granary of the world. It is 
capable of demonstration, that under the stimulus of universal and un- 
restricted traffic, the United States could in a few years more feed and 
clothe the human race. And yet the agricultural class of this country 
is the prey of the others. Each of them has more of honor and of profit. 
The plow is under the ban, deny it who may. Mining, manufacturing, 
finance, trade and transportation draw to themselves nearly all the 
genius and ability of our people, that does not go to the professions, 
because their rewards are greater. 

They organize for the promotion of their respective interests on most 
thorough methods, and combine on the basis of an identical welfare. 
By these means they secure discriminations against the agriculturists 
in the social code, in the laws of trade, and more than all in the legis- 
lation of the country. In the common mention of affairs they are 
positively excluded, in a matter-of-course way that takes one's breath 
almost. 

In what has come to be called "business" and "the business inter- 
ests " they are not supposed to be embraced at all. We hear every day 
that the effect of this, or the doing of that, or the omission of the other, 



220 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

will "promote the business interests" or will "alarm the business in- 
terests," or will be " resisted by the business interests;" and often it is 
said the "business interests demand" the doing or not doing of a cer- 
tain thing. In other words, the claim of the banks and stock dealers, 
the transportation companies, the manufacturers, etc., though a great 
minority, to regulate affairs and control legislation, is openly acknowl- 
edged and acquiesced in. The larger class who make bread and meat 
for the others and furnish the chief means of their foreign exchanges, 
are not referred to or consulted; their labors and cares by day and night, 
their hopes and fears, their prosperity and welfare, are not "business!" 
Nobody is afraid of them; they demand nothing. 

Now, gentlemen of the Convention, there is a cause for all this, and 
that cause is not far to seek. Having found it, the remedy will not be 
hard to find also. Among many others, I should say the first reason 
is, that the agricultural people readily submit to this secondary position 
so universally assigned them. Of course people will dominate others 
so long as there is no resistance to that domination. 

Again, it is said that it is not possible for the farmers to do other- 
wise than submit, because they are so widely scattered over so large a 
territory that they cannot, in the nature of things, surround themselves 
by organization, apply prompt and connected methods of action, ag- 
gressive and defensive, for the common interest, as the other clesses 
do. I know that their situation renders prompt and united action diffi- 
cult, but I do not believe it impossible. On the contrary, I believe it 
perfectly feasible to organize the agricultural interest of this vast 
country for its defense against the tyranny of capital in business, as 
well as against it in legislation. But it will undoubtedly require more 
labor and organizing ability than has heretofore been exerted in that 
direction. Let them learn from politics. 

Pure democracy, which operated so happily in the Small States of 
Greece, was found impracticable in larger areas and with greater pop- 
ulations. Instead of submitting to its inconveniences or abandoning 
the principle, modern statesmanship has substituted representative 
democracy, by which the most free and beneficent of all forms of gov- 
ernment has been preserved and adapted to any areas and any amount 
of population, with all the efficiency and promptness of administration 
possible to the most centralized governments. Now, is not the capacity 
of those interested in agricultural affairs sufficient to elaborate some 
scheme of organization that would help that class in the great battle, 
and enable it to hold its own in the fiercely contested race? Is not 
this of more importance in such a struggle of busiuess energies as this 
ace presents, than the improvement of the mere methods of produc- 
tion? Is it not possible and practicable to have, all over the land, or- 
ganizations based upon the civil divisions of States and counties, with 
a supreme Chamber of Agriculture centrally located, whose members, 
selected by the primary organizations, should watch over the interests 
of the whole, and with authority to voice the will of all when speaking 
to transportation companies, to merchants, factors and middlemen — 
and especially to legislators? 



1884.] 



SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 221 



Every interest in America comes to Washington to influence legis- 
lation except the agricultural. Why should they not be there also? 
It is not a reputable business — lobbying — I admit, but is done, never- 
theless, and greatly to the benefit of those who do it and to the detri- 
ment of those who do it not. The "business interests" are as regu- 
larly and continuously on hand as the representatives of foreign nations, 
and forty times more importunate. 

The farmer is not there — never has been — and is therefore presumed 
to be satisfied and to make no objection to any proposed legislation 
whatever. 

The banks, manufacturers and transportation companies have their 
conferences and agree upon such designs and tactics as every crisis in 
their affairs requires; even the workingmen in every branch of labor 
have protective organizations, greatly to their advantage, headed by 
able and zealous men, sharply on the lookout for the interests of their 
class. The farmer alone is unorganized and defenseless. He fights 
with a club and naked breast, as our Celtic ancestors did, against the 
keenest steel in the hands of men clad in mail. He sleeps in his quiet 
and lonely homestead after the labors of the day, whilst others assem- 
ble, consult, contrive and plot. 

How can he be awakened and made to hold his own in these extra- 
ordinary times? How can this noble and unselfish class of our society 
be made to know their strength and exert it wisely for themselves and 
their country? The man who shall arise among them and show them 
the way to meet the acute selfishness of the business world, to reap a 
fair share of that which they sow, to assume their rightful position in 
the control of affairs, without impairing their conservative influence 
upon our institutions, will be a great and good man indeed, and will 
deserve the honor of a great people. 

A resolution was passed, thanking Senator Vance for his eloquent 
address. 



We do not have great trials and sharp agonies, and heroic works to do every day. It 
is very small strokes that make the diamond shine. — Rose Terry Cooke. 

"Protection" has ruined more of our people, body and soul, than drink. Your people 
cannot in this age be so overridden as ours was before the world was better: but if you 
judge wrong on this point, you will settle the point of progression or lapse. You will es- 
tablish an influence second only to slavery, in debasing the common morals and manners. 
— Harriet Martineau. 

The affections are the children of ignorance; when the horizon of our experience ex- 
pands, and models multiply, love and admiration imperceptibly vanish — Beaconsfield. 

1 know a lady who loves talking so incessantly she won't give an echo fair play. She 
has the everlasting rotation of tongue, that an echo must wait till she dies before it can 
catch her last words. — Congreve. 

There are three classes into which all the women past seventy that ever I knew were to 
be divided. First, that dear old soul ; second, that old woman,; and third, that old witch. 
— Coleridge. 

The trnly virtuous do not easily credit evil that is told them of their neighbors ; for if 
others may do amiss, then may these also speak amiss ; man is frail, and prone to evil, 
and therefore may soon fail in words. — Jeremy Taylor, 

Music is the harmonious voice of creation; an echo of the invisible world; one note^of 
the divine concord which the entire universe is destined one day to sound. — Mazzini. 



222 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 



WOMEN FARMERS. 

A correspondent of the Farming World says Miss Abah Parker is a 
girl of eighteen, who lives on a cotton plantation two miles from Mon- 
roe, Louisiana. For the last four years she has had exclusive charge of 
the place upon which her widowed mother, sister and two younger broth- 
ers reside, supporting them all by her industry. She is her own overseer, 
supervising all the work done in person. She is said to be modest, en- 
ergetic, intelligent and attractive in person. 

A young lady living two miles from town, says the Charlotte (Mich) 
Leader weighing 116 pounds, and only seventeen years of age, arises at 
5 a. m. and milks eight cows, helps her mother get breakfast, takes the 
team and carries the milk of thirty-two cows to the cheese factory, two 
miles distant, and brings back a load of whey ; then hitches the team to 
the machine or rake, as the occasion requires; does all the mowing, reap- 
ing and raking on the farm of 800 acres. At the close of each day's 
work she milks the cows, assists her mother in finishing the housework, 
and retires at 9 p. m. Besides this she keeps the books of the farm, is 
fair looking and intelligent. 

Miss Coggswell, from Owatona, Minn., went to Coddington County, 
Dak., in 1878, when just twenty-one years old, and at once entered 320 
acres of land, a " homestead" and "tree claim" She has taught school 
in winters, and has expended a part of her salary in improvements 
upon her land. But the land itself has been fruitful of income. Her 
last year's crop, raised on one huudred acres, consisted of 945 bushels of 
wheat, 2,000 bushels of oats, 200 of rye, 300 of potatoes, besides, she has 
twelve acres of thrifty trees started, and a comfortable dwelling-house, 
with the necessary barns and granaries. The value of the whole estate 
is estimated at $4,200. 

Miss Dora Kinney, of Indiana, is the boss shepherdess of the "Wabash. 
A few years ago an uncle gave her an orphaned lamb to raise by hand, 
which she did successfully, and becoming interested in sheep hus- 
bandry, she procured a mate for the lamb, and she now sports a fold of 
twenty-eight old sheep and thirty three lambs — sixty-one in all — all 
from the first starting pair. Miss Kinney attends to her flocks herself, 
and receives a handsome little income from the annual sales of wool and 
mutton. "Women do so many kinds of work that the men have be- 
come dudes," says the correspondent who writes this paragraph. "The 
fine, idle creatures these days are certainly not women." F. D. Curtis 
of New York, writes of two widows left on farms as follows: 

There is a great contrast between country women who are left wid- 
ows or without any male representative, who have been brought up ac- 
cording to modern notions, and those who have been trained to a knowl- 
edge of business. I have in mind two young widows, each left with a 
farm and a small family, who are forcible illustrations. One of them de- 
pended entirely upon her husband for everything, as such had been her 
training at home, and when he. died she was obliged to lease her farm and 
walk to church, not knowing even how to harness a horse, when she could 
not catch a ride with a neighbor. She knew no more about the farm, the 



1884.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 223 

crops and the stock than a child, and her want of qualification was such 
that it was almost impossible for her to obtain an associate guardian 
for the property and her young children. The condition of the farm 
at present is a sad commentary on the helplessness of a woman when 
left to her own resources, and educated according to modern ideas, quite 
too common. The other widow, left in similar condition, but different- 
ly trained, after her husband's death took the charge of the farm herself, 
drove her own carriage to church with her family, attended to her own 
business, brought up her children to aid her and has made a complete 
success. She has subscribed for several agricultural papers and en- 
deavored to apply the knowledge which she obtained from them in a 
practical way. She has never appeared unwomanly or unlady-like, but 
her independence and success not only commands respect, but the com- 
mendation of every one. — JV. C. Farmer. 



GROUND PEPPER. 

The attention of the trade is being seriously directed to the fact that 
so-called ground black pepper is being freely offered at prices far below 
the cost of the lowest whole pepper, which is the more remarkable, as 
the cost of, and loss in, grinding is at least |d. pound. The chief expla- 
nation of this remarkable state of things is to be found in the following 
facts. White and black peppers are both, as is well known, the produce 
of the same vines, and the difference is simply due to the removal of the 
outer or darker portion of the corns in the former : white pepper being 
the same as black but less the dark skin. This envelope, or outer coat- 
ing, used always to be removed abroad, and by a process which, if it be 
as is reported, was by no means an agreeable one to reflect upon. Some 
years back, owing to speculation, white pepper was driven up to famine 
prices. It was then found that black pepper could be husked here by 
suitable machinery, and that the resultant white pepper had a preferable 
colour, when ground, to that which was made abroad. Consequently 
the process known as "decorticating," that is, of removing the outer 
husk from black pepper, and of leaving only the central white portion 
of the corns, has become general here. The question then arose of what 
was to be done with the large proportion of black husks which were re- 
moved by decortication, and it has been solved by simply grinding them 
up with whole black pepper, and selling the produce as ground black 
pepper. The white pepper prepared in England by decortication fetches 
such a high price, that the refuse husks can be sold at an exceedingly 
low rate, and then mixed off, and used to reduce the selling price of 
ground black pepper far below the original cost of the raw material. 

The question whether such a practice is allowable is one of degree, 
tor black pepper has always been ground with its husk, but the mixture, in 
the process of grinding, of a larger proportion of husk than appertains 
to the pepper, might be carried on to a point, at which the product 
might be more rightly termed ground black pepper husks. Still, the 
practice could scarcely be called adulteration, as the husk has pungent 



M ' 



224 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

qualities, serviceable for the rises to which pepper is put, and it is not 
proved that the inside of the grain is more useful than the outside. Iu- 
deed, a large number of persons much prefer black to white pepper. 

It is also to be said in favour of the husks in question, that decortication 
cannot be well practised with the very lowest qualities of black pepper, 
so that the husks are from a superior quality of pepper to that which is 
often ground. Still, allowing all this, there is much to be said on the 
other sde. A wheat miller may with perfect propriety sift his flour into 
various degrees of whiteness, and offer it as firsts, seconds, and thirds, 
mixing off a portion of the bran, but if he ground up his bran by some 
new process so as to make it resemble flour, for which he passed it off, 
he would be doing something more nearly resembling what has recently 
been done with pepper. The spice grinder, in the same way, may sort out 
his pepper into various degrees of fineness or colour, and offer them at 
proportionate prices. But if he exaggerated the operation, the ques- 
tion would certainly arise whether he would be justified in grinding the 
husks, and then, by implication, selling them as the produce of the entire 
peppercorn — for such ground black pepper is certainly supposed to be. 

It is well to remember, if any public question arises as to these mat- 
ters, that the whole consequences would fall, not upon the wholesale 
dealer, but upon the retail grocers. If the latter offer as pepper, that is, 
as the produce of the entire corn, a material containing, say, 50 to 80 
per cent, of the husks or shells, the fact is sure to be detected by the 
chemical tests now in vogue, especially as the proportion of dirt always 
contained in unscreened pepper, even of the fine pepper used for decor- 
ticating, is to be found entirely in the husks. The law would find out 
the misrepresentation, by discovering the differing proportions in the 
constituents of ground pepper and ground husks, and not improbably 
arrive at the conclusion that there was uone. It is true that it is not 
believed that any one has as yet gone so far as to grind husks only and 
call them pepper, but, judging from the prices quoted, a good deal of 
progress has been made in that direction. Of course, pepper ground 
whole, as has been said above, must include some husks, and therefore 
all these points are questions of degree. The grocers, however, run a 
serious risk in buying very low-priced ground peppers, and considering 
the small importance of the trivial extra profit, even to those in a large 
way of business, it is surely to their interest to discourage to the utmost 
all such departures from an old-established practice. Already not only 
are husks very freely employed to "reduce" cost, but long pepper, a 
totally different commodity, is added to the product, to "improve" co- 
lour. In fact, owing to the demand caused by its being mixed in this 
way, long pepper has recently risen about 9s. per cwt. If the grocers 
wish to avoid another question between them and the analysis, like that 
of coffee and chicory, or that of mustard and sago flour, or other in- 
gredients, they should decline to buy any pepper but that ground from 
the whole corns, for the gain of the substitution of the one for the other 
would not be worth considering to any individual retailer. On the 
other hand, the wholesale spice grinder, if unscrupulous, would have a 
wide field opened to him by such commodities becoming current in the 



1884.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 225 

trade. At the present moment the lowest and dirtiest whole black 
pepper costs iu the market 6^d. per lb. The cost of grinding, the loss 
of weight and putting into barrels, is at least Jd. per lb., so real pepper 
cannot be sold, without any profit, under 6fd. per lb. wholesale. Husks, 
of which 1,400 bags were disposed of last week at public sale, cost 2|d. 
per lb., ready ground for, presumably, the commonest; and about 4fd. 
for the roughly broken husks and pepper. The latter would cost, ground, 
about 4§d-per lb., filled into barrels. Mixed half and half with pepper 
ground from the whole corns, the commonest of the above could be sold 
with a profit at 5d. per lb. Of course there can be no objection to husks 
being sold, either wholesale or retail, as "Ground Pepper Husks," since 
there is nothing that unfits them for similar uses to pepper, and they cer- 
tainly contain nothing injurious, but the grocers should be careful not to 
buy or sell them as simply ground pepper. — Produce Markets Review. 
[We copy the foregoing from the Tropical Agriculturist, published at Colombo, Ceylon, 
which is one of our most interesting exchanges. Telling, as it does, of the adulteration 
of Pepper, an article of condiment which is used in every household throughout the world, 
it will, doubtless, prove interesting to the readers of the Planter. We are sure that there 
are many other adulterations besides the hulls of the pepper itself, and among these we 
have heard of ground cocoanut shells. Why buy and use ground pepper when the pep- 
per corn can be so easily ground in a common coffee mill costing fifty cents? A small 
mill for grinding pepper and spice should be kept in every family, as it will not do to use 
the mill in which coffee is ground, the flavor being imparted to the coffee. — Ed. S. P.] 



HARNESS. 

How often does it happen to see farmers working their horses to wag- 
ons, plows, or carts, with harness so ill-fitting, tattered and patched, that 
the sight at once illicit pity from any human person? Forsuch neglect, 
there is no excuse, as the amount of harness necessary for plowing is so 
small that only the most careless and slovenly farmer has any excuse to 
offer. Wagon and cart harness are more elaborate and complicated, 
yet even they are simple enough to be manufactured at home, if certain 
portions are purchased at the saddlers, such as buckles, rings, traces, 
and hames. Collars, best suited to our Southern climate, are made of 
shucks ; these are easily procured, there being many persons in every 
neighborhood who are very adept in making them, and when made to 
fit, are smooth, and with them the shoulders never become chaffed, and 
being so cheap, can be replaced as often as necessary. Nothing betok- 
ens a poor, improvident farmer sooner than slouchy harness, to say noth- 
ing of the damage they inflict upon their poor dumb brutes. "When an 
animal is required to labor, the owner should compare his case to theirs. 
Eor instance, how would a man like to follow a plow all day with shoes 
which pinched his feet, or which had a rock in them ? Yet he would not 
suffer any more than the animal with a collar too small, or a back-band 
which galled his back, or one trace shorter than the other; but unfor- 
tunately there are too many who apparently care nothing for these de- 
tails, though in attending to them depends in a great degree their suc- 
cess. 

On well regulated farms, there is attached to each barn or stable a 
harness-room, where after being used, the harness is carefully hung up- 



226 SOUTHERN PLANTERER [May 

on pegs, there to remain until wanted; when a rainy day comes, then it 
is overhauled, mended, aud oiled. By this means, they not only last 
longer, but are more comfortable for the horses, and are proofs of a thirf- 
ty management. When harness is purchased complete, cheapness is not 
always a wise consideration, because a good set made of well tanned 
leather, properly put together, will in careful hands outlast two or three 
of the flimsy made ones. 



PHOSPHATES AND SUPERPHOSPHATES. 

The belief is gaining ground in the minds of many, that farmers have 
made a mistake in insisting that the phosphates they buy shall be whol- 
ly soluble, or, as it is often expressed, shall be in the form of superphos- 
phates. Farmers have been taught that fertilizers, to be of auy imme- 
diate use, must be presented to the plant in a soluble form, which is, un- 
doubtedly, true. But it does not necessarily follow that manures or fer- 
tilizers applied in a comparatively raw state, may notsometimesbe quite 
as economical to apply as if they were first reduced to a perfectly soluble 
condition. The plants have some power in the matter. If all the plant 
food in a soil were to be rendered immediately available, by making it 
soluble in water at ordinary temperatures, there would be the greatest 
probability that the fertility of such a soil would be washed out of it by 
the rains in a comparatively short time. 

But Nature, in her wise economy, allows nothing of this kind to hap- 
pen. Nature feeds the birds, but the birds have to huut for their food 
and pick it up. Nature places plant food within reach of plants, but the 
plants must send out their roots in search of the food, and the little mouths 
of those roots may be said to have some picking, and some work to do 
in preparing that food for digestion. Chemists teach us that plant roots 
have a power to wrench, as it were, proper food from very unpromising 
sources, as the gravel stones of our soils. Plants are the intermediate 
workers that stand between the crude limestone of the quarry, and the 
bones of the animal and human frame. Nature's processes for convert- 
ing raw material into highly Organized matter may be slow in their op- 
eration, for Nature has an abundance of time, and it is perfectly proper 
that we should discover some of the shorter cuts, especially when we 
undertake to gain a living from poor, hard, forbidding soils. 

The theory of giving Our plants soluble plant food is a sound theory, 
but the question is, whether we have not carried it a little too far, in 
some cases, for profit. Phosphoric acid is one of the most valuable in- 
gredients that are purchased in our commercial fertilizers, and it is 
largely furnished in the form of bone, also in the South Carolina rock. 

Now fresh, raw bone, with its grease and gelatine all in, is very far 
from being readily soluble, and when the agricultural chemists tell us 
that phosphoric acid, locked up in a raw bone, might about as well, 
60 far as feeding the plant is concerned, be locked up in the dealers, 
storehouses, they tell us what is practically true. We cannot wait for 
raw, whole bones to rot in the soil, after we put in our seeds. We must 



1884.J SOUTHERN PLANTER. 227 

have them in a more readily available form. The question then arose, 
" What is the best form in which to apply them ? " The answer very 
naturally came, in a "soluble form," and so our fertilizer manufactu- 
rers immediately undertook to give it to us in that form ; that is, in the 
form of superphosphates. The farmers soon discovered by trial that su- 
perphosphates acted very_much quicker upon their crops than the ordi- 
nary ground bone which had not been treated with sulphuric acid. The 
manufacturers also were not slow in finding out that, at the same price 
per ton, there was a chance to make quite as large a profit from their 
business if they sold all their phosphoric acid in the soluble form ; that 
is, be dissolving the bone in sulphuric acid. Sulphuric acid, of the 
proper strength for dissolving bone, contains a large amount of water, 
one of the cheapest of substances. The truth is, that by the adoption 
of labor-saving machinery for manipulating flbe materials, the fertilizer 
can be sold cheaper after treating it with acid than before, on account 
of the extra weight that has been added in the form of sulphuric acid and 
water. 

This is not the only case in the arts where manipulators might claim 
that they were doing all their work for nothing. Colorers ot silk goods 
ask no better pay for their work than what they gain on the weight of 
the goods handled. The fertilizer lesson has been a slow one to learn, 
and many who may have thought they had completely mastered it, are 
becoming less sure of their ground as the laws which control fertiliza- 
tion are rendered more clear to the understanding. The chemists are 
now claiming that the phosphates which we have been at so much trou- 
ble and expense to render soluble, may not remain so but for a very short 
period after being applied to the soil, but that they revert or change back 
to an insoluble, or a less soluble condition, and that this is nothing to 
regret, either, if looked at in the proper light. For, were it otherwise, 
there would be great danger that the fertilizer we apply would, as we 
said before, be washed from the soil before the plants could have time 
to appropriate it. The almost universal call from the farm has been for 
fertilizers that would act quickly. Many have been willing, had it been 
possible, to get back all the fertilizer applied the first year. 

Tenant farmers would naturally take this view. The writer has not 
recently been of that class, and having learned that a soil that is made 
very rich with surplus of animal manures was a very satisfactory soil to 
cultivate, he reasoned that a soil made fertile by the use of commercial 
fertilizers would be a very satisfactory soil to farm it on. 

We have also been fortunate in finding fertilizer manufacturers who 
were honest enough to tell their customers what they believed was their 
best course to pursue. The result has been that our purchases of bone 
have been largely of those grades which are sufficiently available, but 
much more lasting than the acid treated brands, and, at the same time, 
more economical in price. Dr. Hoskins treated upon this subject quite 
at length, in his writings, last year, and others have occasionally touched 
upon it, but the public is not beyond the need of more talking and more 
writing. 

We give, in another column, a few extracts from the letter of a dis- 



228 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

tinguished gentleman, Mr. Arthur R. Guerard, Associate Royal School 
of Mines, London, published in the Southern Planter for February. We 
doubt not it will interest both the buyer and the seller of phosphates. — 
New England Farmer. 



VALUE OF HAY AT DIFFERENT STAGES. 

There is no other class of feed used upon the farm, for stock, so little 
understood in general as to its real value as hay. By this we mean the 
absence of any understanding and agreement among farmers as to the 
exact, or anything approaching the exact, difference in value between 
early and late cut hay. In the minds of those who have made thorough 
tests, we think there reraaffis no question as to comparative value. But 
most farmers have been raised to believe that the time to cut timothy 
is when it is ripe - not when its seed is fully ripened and the stalks dry, 
but when it is fully matured. Taking timothy seed as an example, we 
admit that the seed in itself is very insignificant in bulk and weighty 
but nevertheless it contains, when fully matured, a large proportion of 
all the nutriment which comes in through the root. This is the case 
with oats, wheat, and all plants that bear seed, no matter how small the 
seed are. 

If we were to try the experiment of cutting and making fodder of our 
oats and wheat while yet in bloom, it would be found that they would 
make very good winter feed, probably approaching timothy hay in val- 
ue, and perhaps better than late cut timothy. But, as is well known, 
after maturing their grain, the straw of these plants afford very little 
nourishment. So it is with the grasses when their seed is fully matu- 
red; and those who consider them valuable in proportion to the bulk 
and weight shown will find they have been deceived. The comparative 
value of those from the flowering to the fully ripened stage is decreased 
as the latter is approached. "When we are able to demonstrate at just 
what time in the flowering stage the plant contains the largest amount of 
nutritive sap, then we know the period for cutting which will insure 
the most nourishment. Upon the same principle, the shell of the wal- 
nut, while in its formative stage, contains nutritous matter, but none at 
all after the meat is formed. The shell is like the thoroughly ripened 
timothy stalk, a mere husk, as innutritious as woody fibre. 

Among important questions which should be settled by the managers 
of our State agricultural farms, this one of early or late-cut grasses stands 
among the foremost. When the vast value of our hay crop, as compar- 
ed toother materials for feed, is taken into account, it gives this ques- 
very great importance. In the absence of such careful trials as should 
be made upon every farm, those in charge of experiment stations estab- 
lished by legal enactment, and sustained by liberal money appropria- 
tions, are altogether inexcusable for not making more thorough tests 
on the many important practical questions relating to agricultural man- 
agement, and making the results of these tests public. — National Live 
Stock Journal. 



1884.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 229 



MANURES. 

Most important of all farm topics we feel that we must revert to it 
now and then in order to keep it fresh in the mind of the reader. And 
jet we may not be able to offer anything new upon the subject. Any 
material that will enrich land and nourish and feed crops is a manure. 

The best manure is made upon the farms, and all things considered, 
compost is the best form of manure, it requires but little outlay of mo- 
ney, but much elbow grease to have enough of it. In fact it is extremely 
doubtful whether any farmer ever did have enough of it for every want 
of his farm. Manure can be and should be made the year round. It 
would pay any well established farmer to keep a band regularly em- 
ployed collecting the material and composting manures. Everything 
that can be got in the way of green weeds, straw, leaves, muck, rub- 
bish, cornstalks, rotting wood, old rags, leather, hair, feathers, old hog 
beds, wood scrapings, rich dirt, road dust, bones, oyster shells and an- 
imal deposits of every kiud, will go to help swell the compost heap. 

Collect every thing that will rot or that can be reduced by acid or 
steeping in lye. Strong wood ashes is an essential part in all compost. 

Few things will resist long the action of wet ashes, but in a few 
months refuse of every kind will be reduced to a mass of manure it will 
delight your heart to see and handle. Add, then, to your compost 
piles as often and as much as you can. As weeds grow up cut them 
for the compost. In this way you will gradually get rid of many trou- 
blesome weeds by preventing them from maturing their seed. This 
kind of manure properly mixed with ashes will enrich your crops many- 
fold. With plenty of this sort of manure a man may make more and 
live better on twenty-five acres than on fifty without it. The heaps 
must be kept moist or wet all the time, as both moisture and heat are 
necessary to decomposition. Have all the slops of the kitchen, soap- 
suds, etc , thrown upon them, or pour water over the heaps from time 
to time. Charcoal dust, dry dirt from the public roads, plaster, lime 
and salt are excellent additions. There ought to be a compost pile 
near every kitchen to catch the slops, ashes, dirty water and sweepings 
of the yards. Make manure of every thing you can get." 



Two persons took trouble in vain, and used fruitless endeavors, he 
who acquired wealth without enjoying it, and he who taught wisdom 
but did not practise it. How much soever you may study science, 
when you do not act wisely you are ignorant. The beast whom they 
load with books is not profoundly learned and wise ; what knoweth his 
empty skull whether he carrieth firewood or books? — Sadi. 

The knot, or nautical mile, is variously reckoned at from 6076 feet 
to 6120 feet. The British Admiralty srandard is the length of one 
minute of longitude at the equator, or 6086 feet 1-1527 rtatute inch, 
or 1855 metres ; the mean length of one minute of latitude, sometimes 
reckoned as a knot, is 6076 feet, 1-151 statute mile, or 1852 metres. 
A marine league is three of these sea-miles- 



230 SOUTHERN PLANTER. May 

VALUE OF SALT TO CROPS. 

Col. A. J. McWhirter, — In the interest of our farmers I lay before 
you, for your careful consideration, a few facts coming under my own 
personal observation. I refer to the beneficial application of salt on 
certain plants. Every gardener knows the benefit of salt on asparagus 
plants ; no one can raise them to perfection without it. How many of 
our farmers and gardeners have tried and failed to raise raspberries, 
and yet there is no fruit that is more readily raised than they. Con- 
versing with a well known nurseryman of our State, not long ago, on 
this subject, he remarked: "If I cau keep rust from raspberries, I 
am able to make more on ten acres of this fruit than any farmer can 
off of fifty acres of cotton." For years I have tried raspberries and have, 
after raising one crop, entirely failed. My vines would take the rust 
and die. After experimenting with many different remedies, I tried 
common salt. Plants that were covered with this fungus, after apply- 
ing salt, were restored to their former vigor. I have applied as much 
as a small handful to one vine and have never seen any but most bene- 
ficial results. For years farmers and scientific men have known the 
beneficial results derived from the application of salt. Even the old 
Romans knew this fact. Another fact that farmers knew long ago is 
that salt will make strong stiff straw. Show me good straw, and the 
chances are you will make good wheat. Salt, ashes and lime, have 
proved themselves, mixed together, a most excellent fertilizer; at the 
rate of five bushels of lime, three of ashes and one of salt, they make 
a good top-dressing for all grasses. The value of salt for man and 
beast is well known. Salt is a necessity to the higher animal life. The 
best authority in chemistry asserts that "salt promotes the passage of 
albumen to and from the cells by the perpetual changes which it occa- 
sions in the relative densities of the fluids within and without. The 
similarity between vegetable and animal life is very much the same. 
Take, for instance, the stem of a wheat plant. Here the cellular sap 
performs a similar function as the blood in animals. Without going 
into detail on this subject, because it does not belong here, nor is it 
necessary for our object, I call your attention to the function of the 
cellular sap in plants — more particularly in wheat — how rust originates 
and how prevented. 

We all know that without water no plant or animal would live; but 
here let me say that water is only an agent; water dissolves the food 
necessary for the nourishment of plant life. The water in the cellular 
sap holds in solution sugar, gluten, albumen, acids and the different 
salts. Rust appears nearly always and does the most harm. In moist, 
warm weather the leaves, unable to carry off, by evaporation, the large 
influx of matter, the cells become overcrowded, and, aided by heat, fer- 
mentation takes place. Now, if there was a sufficient solution of salt 
present, sail would aid the flowing of this sap, and the leaves could 
carry off more readily this influx, and as every one knows that salt 
stops fermentation in meat it is natural to suppose that it would do 
so with the sap of the wheat plant. 

I have endeavored to show you the cause of rust; now in a few short 
remarks, I will give you a remedy and call the attention of the farmers 



1884.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 231 

to this most important subject, that they, by their own practical experi- 
ments, may demonstrate for themselves the value of this simple remedy. 
Salt in the animal keeps the blood limpid (it promotes the passage ot 
albumen to and from the cells by the perpetual changes which it occa- 
sions). Most every butcher knows that salt added to the blood of a 
slaughtered animal, well agitated, will keep it from coagulating ; this 
shows plainly the power of salt to keep the blood limpid and also the 
power to arrest fermentatiou, if only for a short time. If salt is pres- 
ent in the soil, water will readily carry the same in solution through 
the cellular structure, and its very presence will suffice to retard, if not 
prevent, fermentation, the great and main cause of rust. No one ever 
thinks of adding salt in any form to the impoverished lauds of our 
country. Every farmer gives to his stock their weekly allowance of 
salt; what would you think of a farmer that would not give salt to his 
sheep, and how long would he be able to have them ? No salt finds its 
way to your land ; with the exception of a little stray uric acid, this 
most valuable solvent is absent from our fertile soil. Every farmer 
knows that salt, lime and ashes make a valuable manure; therefore, I 
think no harm would be done if farmers would make careful experi- 
ments and supply their wheat fields with this much-wanted agent. 
Salt by itself, or in combination with lime and ashes, say four bushels 
of salt, twenty of wood ashes and six of lime, well mixed and applied 
in fall after sowing, or early in spring, would be a great benefit to the 
growing wheat crop, and at the same time a preventive of rust. — F. B. 
Crass, in Nashville World. 

JERSEY SWINE ASSOCIATION. 

To Editor of Southern Planter: q 

The first annual meeting of the American Duroc-Jersey Swine As- 
sociation was held November 15th and 16th, 1883, at Chicago, 111. The 
compromise on names has been accepted by a large majority of the 
breeders of Red Swine throughout the country. The organization is a 
national one, and the Executive Committee are making rapid progress 
with their register. One hundred and twenty-five members are en- 
rolled in eighteen States, and over eight hundred names are claimed 
for registry. Membership fee, $2. Annual assessment, if any, not to 
exceed the fee. Dividends equal to all members. The membership 
fee will doubtless be increased, as has been done by similar organiza- 
tions. Registry, §1 to non-members for each animal; fifty cents to 
members, and twenty-five cents for transfers; no charge for necessary 
reference to animals in the appendix. Entry blanks forwarded free on 
application. Will it not pay you to become a member? Recorded 
stock must soon become much more valuable. Send us a list of names 
you wish to claim for your present breeding stock. 

C W. Stoner, President, La Place, III. 

Chas. H. Holmes, Secretary, Grinnell, Iowa. 

The undersigned is a member of the above mentioned organization, 
and fully concurs with the efforts of its officers and members to elevate 
the standard and improve the Red Swine of the country. 

March 15th, 1884. Frank A. Lovelocke. 



232 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 



WAGES IN COTTON MILLS. 

It is worthy of notice that while the rate of wages in our Southern 
cotton mills is undergoing a steady improvement, there is a gradual 
reduction going on in those of the Eastern States, as the result of the 
ability of manufacturers of cotton goods at the home of the raw mate- 
rial to undersell the Eastern millmen. This reduction, which has been 
going on since 1883, now exceeds forty per cent, of the wages then 
received, and complaint now goes forth from the operatives that they 
cannot live on present rates. There is nothing more certain than the 
realization of our predictions ventured some time ago, that the cotton 
manufacturing of this country, and largely of Europe will, in the near 
future, be transferred to our Southern States. — Texas Siftings. 



[For the Southern Planter.] 

THE PROFITS OF SHEEP. 



So mueh has been written on sheep the subject is well nigh worn 
out; but with your permission I will give my experience with them 
for the last four years. 

A neighbor, with "Go West" on the brain, had a small flock of — 
they could hardly be called sheep, rather the carcasses of what were 
once nearly pure Southdowns, which, as an act of kindness, I bought. 
Feeding them a little corn sparingly, and a run on orchard grass soda 
soon improved them so much their former owner would never have 
recognized them, and the result was in less than three months they 
paid first cost and a profit on the investment besides. I now have forty 
ewes and a fine Shropshire buck, and as good flock of sheep as can be 
found outside of the fancy breeders' pens. My last year's lambs will 
compare favorably with any on exhibition at the last State Fair. My 
preference is for Shropshires and Southdowns; mine being a cross of 
the two breeds. Sheep require close attention, and if given salt and 
sulphur regularly, and kept under shelter in inclement weather, I know 
of no investment that will pay better. It is a fallacy to think they will 
thrive when any other stock will starve. An old field will do to alter- 
nate with good sod, and seems to keep them in better health than grass 
alone. At the suggestion of a neighbor, for several years I have sheared 
my ewe lambs the last of July, and find it quite an advantage to the 
lambs, and the first Spring fleece being fully as heavy, if not better in 
texture and weight. A well grown lamb will shear from three to four 
pounds of wool, worth one dollar, which is clear profit. Shearing the 
lambs adds greatly to their comfort during the hot weather in August. 

In the following statements no estimate is made for the wool used in 



1884.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 233 



a large family for socks, gloves, &c, besides several pairs of blankets 
make of lambs' wool at home : 

1881. March 10. 18 old ewes and two bucks $62 50 

May 3. By 2 Bucks sold $10 00 

" By wool sold 22 00 

June 5. By 12 lambs 36 00 

By 10 ewe lambs kept 30 00 

To 14 bushels corn fed 5 60 



$98 00 $68 10 

1882. 26 ewes $104 00 

lbuck 10 00 

Cr. by 5 old ewes $25 00 

" 20 lambs 65 00 

" Wool 39 50 

" lOewelambs 32 50 

'' 2 mutton l Dl , 800 

" 4 lambs } But <*er. 13 00 

30 grain led 16 00 



$183 00 $130 00 

1883. 30 ewes $135 00 

1 buck 15 00 

Cr. 17 lambs $55 25 

" Wool 40 25 

" 12 ewe lambs kept 39 00 

" 5 lambs butcher 16 25 

Grain fed 14 50 



$150 75 $164 60 

1884. Forty ewes $200 00 

One buck 15 00 



$215 00 

Respectfully, S. IIeep. 

£We take the liberty to add a summary of results. — Ed. S. P.] 

1881. Cost of flock $62 50 

Grain used 5 60 

1882. Buck purchased 10 00 

Grain fed 16 00 

1883. Buck purchased 15 00 

Grain fed 14 50 



$123 60 

1884. Value flock on hand $215 00 

1881. Wool and bucks sold 32 00 

1882. Wool, $32; 5 old ewes sold, $25; lambs and 

mutton, $21 78 00 

1883. Wool, $40.25; lambs, $16.25 56 50 



$381 50 
Deduct cost of flock and expenses (except attention, 

hay and grazing not in expense account) $123 60 



Total profit of over 200 percent., or about 70 per cent. 

per annum $257 90 



234 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 



TFor the Southern Planter.] 

DO PLANTS GROW IN THE NIGHT? 

This enquiry has often been made, but no answer to it is remem- 
bered. Long personal observation enables me to make response to the 
question with something of confidence, and by way of preface it may 
be stated that for more than thirty years I have nourished in my cham- 
bers during the "Winter, the geranium and kindred plants, and in the 
early Spring the tomato, &c, intended for garden planting at the first 
approaches of Summer weather. 

It is well known that the chief essentials to the growth of plants are 
a genial soil, moisture, heat and sunlight. The first supplies the plant 
through the pores of its roots with the requisite sustenance from inor- 
ganic substances, the carbonates, phosphates, &c. ; the second in dew, 
and rain, or snow charged with the fertilizing gases of the atmosphere, 
nurses alike the leaf and the root, and for the latter also liquifies the 
requisite mineral properties of the soil for ready elaboration, whilst the 
light and heat of the sun stimulate all its energies tending to healthful 
organism and development. 

Enjoying all these essentials to their growth, I have for many years 
had my attention drawn to the fact that for days, and even weeks, at a 
time, no perceptible progress was revealed, when some sudden atmos- 
pheric change during the night, not to speak of the day, would ensne, 
disclosing in the morning a marked improvement, notably in the 
tomato plant, having an increased growth in the space of twelve hours 
of nearly an eighth of an inch. 

The rooms being secure, to a great extent, from the outer air with 
its abrupt changes, repeated, thoughtful consideration of the matter has 
resulted in the conviction that there exists, at certain intervals, a mys- 
terious, subtle, electric principle of positive nature pervading the atmos- 
phere that strongly affects the vegetable kingdom, producing chemical 
changes, influencing, aud perhaps changing the combination of oxygen 
and nitrogen gases, with a quickened effect to that of ammonia, within 
as well as outdoors. 

May not this essential influence pervading all nature likewise affect 
the animal kingdom, even as the human intellect and emotions, as well 
as the tides, are believed to owe their inspirations, at certain periods, 
to lunar influences? 

If permitted, I would like to pursue this subject in a future article. 

Rice W. Payne. 

Tnis day we fashion Destiny, our web of Fate we Bpin. — Whittier. 



1884.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 235 

GEAR AND GEARING HORSES. 

Editor Southern Planter, — Few farmers properly appreciate the im- 
portance and economy of keeping good gear, and frequently overlook 
the gearing of their work team. A horse can do one-third more work 
with less fatigue when properly geared. If the few following rules are 
systematically carried out, you will never have a galled animal: See 
that the collars fit properly and never permit them to be left in the sun at 
feeding time. Make your teamster keep a piece of glass at the stable 
and scrape off carefully all the perspiration, rubbing well with a corn- 
cob or hand after scraping. Do this every morning. Keep a lump of 
beef tallow at hand, and grease twice a week after scraping. In warm 
weather, when perspiring freely, have the shoulders washed clean every 
night when watered. Do this and you will never have a galled horse. 
In the Spring of the year, when flies and gnats are troublesome, grease 
the ears and neck of your horses with a little grease in which has been 
mixed a little cerosine oil, and the little pests will not worry them so 
much. B. 



[For the Southern Planter.] 

SORGHUM HALAPENSE. 



While clover does well in Virginia generally, still there are many 
places in the Old Dominion where the sorghum halapense would pay the 
farmer much better. It is a perennial, drouth-proof grass that will 
grow with less moisture than any other plant. Its roots are white, 
tender, as large as one's finger, and so numerous as to completely fill 
the soil to water or bed rock, though they be a dozen feet deep, thus 
furnishing an inexhaustible supply of excellent hog feed, making over 
1,000 bushels to the acre. Its yield of hay of an excellent quality is 
simply enormous, making from four to eight tons to the acre at a cut- 
ting, and may be cut from three to six times a year, according to land 
and latitude. Nothing can kill it when it is once started; flooding, 
freezing, and continued drouth are alike harmless to it. It can be 
started on pasture lands without plowing, but the best way to start it 
is to break up -the land, sow the seed and drag them in, and then when 
it does come it comes to stay, spreading by seed and roots until it runs 
out everything else. Culture, none. It gives excellent grazing, and 
equals blue grass or timothy in milk- and fat-producing qualities, and 
stock prefer it to any other grass. J. W. Walker. 

Franklinton, N. C. 



236 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [May 



ABOUT FENCES. 

Editor Southern Planter, — I related to you something of my trip from 
Lunenburg Courthouse to Green Bay, on the R. & D. R. R., some time 
in February. About the 15th of March I made the same trip again, 
and found things somewhat altered ; that is, in spots. For several 
miles after crossing Couche's Creek the fences have been neglected ap- 
parently for many years, and have been made available as enclosures 
by chopping down some of the many sapplings and small trees which 
grew in their corners. The growth was mostly of cedars, from the size 
of a switch to that of from four to six inches in diameter. I wished that 
Dr. Pollard could be with me that he might see how easily we might 
avail ourselves of his suggestion of " planting the trees eight feet apart 
for permanent posts ;" only that here we would have to thin out instead 
of plant out, and that we would be working for ourselves as well "as 
for posterity." Further on, in my first trip, after passing Nutbush, I 
saw, by scanning very closely, some five or six acres of very poor land 
which had been plowed so badly that the little piues of from two to 
three feet in height, and many small tufts of broomsedge, seemed not 
to have been disturbed by the operation. There was no vestige of a 
fence or rail anywhere in view, and I wondered if the "no fence law" 
had been adopted in that portion of the country. In my second trip 
in March, when I came to this field I saw heaps of new oak rails on 
the roadside and extending back in two lines to a cross fence four or 
five hundred yards distant; making a fence not only sufficient to en- 
close the five or six acres of land intended for cultivation, but to em- 
brace in its area forty or fifty more. I wondered what it cost to maul, 
haul and put up such a fence, and what sort of crop could be raised on 
such land as would be sufficient to pay the cost of fencing. Somebody 
suggested "they would use fertilizers." Then I wondered if the crop 
would pay for the fertilizers. And then again I wondered, why enclose 
so large an area to secure for cultivation a field so small. And then I 
commenced a discussion in my own mind as to which was the wiser, 
the man who neglected his fence and permitted the corners to bring 
forth material for the help of posterity, if not for himself also; or the 
man who fells the sturdy oaks of the forest with which he may enclose 
impoverished fields? I was very much bothered. I wanted you and 
Dr. Pollard to help me out of the difficulty. But then I thought, what 
do we know about it anyway. We are "book farmers," and know 
nothing of the luxury of mauling and toating rails ; of that manly and 
ennobling exercise which is so necessary for the development of muscle, 



1884.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 237 

and a keen relish for " bacon and greens," to say nothing of its prepara- 
tion for the enjoyment of "Nature's sweet restorer." Again, I say, I 
was bothered, and in my bewilderment I suddenly came to the conclu- 
sion that the fence question was a big question. A very big question. 
In its present status a powerful obstacle to immigration, the sale of our 
lands and the prosperity of the State. 

Can you not wake up our people ? And to do so, can you not man- 
age to get your journal more widely circulated? Every Virginian 
should read it; if for no other reason, to rid him of that heresy inherited 
from his fathers — that this is not a grass country. We can raise grass, 
and with a little pains raise it abundantly; but if we could'nt, don't 
everybody know that we can raise wheat and oats and rye and clover 
and millet and sorghum and cornstalks and pea vines for green forage, 
for ensilage, and the root crops of beats, turnips, &c; and that take it 
all in all, the climate and its productions, there is no better country on 
the globe for raising the best cattle and the best horses, to say nothing 
of the vine and the fig tree. 

Very truly your friend, R. I. H. Hatchett. 

Reedy, Va., March 29, 1884. 



" A CORRECTION. 

In my letter headed "Experience with Three Jerseys," published in 
the April number of your paper, in writing of " Bonnie of Spring Hill," 
I am made to say " this calf is worth $4,200." I meant to say $200. 
For while " Mary Ann of St. Lamberts" is estimated at $50,000, " Eu- 
rotas" (ten years old) at $40,000, and the calves of the latter sold for 
$10,000 and $12,000, I am content to receive hundreds for my Jersey 
calves, although breeding this same " Alphea" blood. 

John "Washington. 
Woodford, Caroline Co., Va. 



Dr. Hall, in his Journal of Health, says : " If a man is hungry within 
an hour, more or less, after a regular meal, he is a dyspeptic beyond 
question, and it shows that the stomach is not able to work up what he 
has eaten so as to get nourishment out of it; bnt to eat again, and thus 
impose more work, when it could do nothing for what had been already 
eaten, is an absurdity ; and yet all dyspeptics who eat whenever they 
are hungry do this very thing, and thus aggravate and protract their 
sufferings. 



238 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

A SOUTHERN DAIRY AND HONEY FARM. 

[Condensed from the Atlanta Constitution.] 

A bright, frank-looking young farmer came to the Constitution office, 
and handed in the following card : 

F. N. WILDER. 
DAIRY AND HONEY FARM, 
FORSYTH, GEORGIA. 
He followed this with some samples of butter wrapped in cheese cloth, 
set in boxes. It was of a golden color, firm and fragrant. Each lump 
was stamped in raised letters " F. N. W." 

" I read the article in your paper on home enterprise, and I thought 
I'd show you this, as a sample of what I am doing." 

In reply to inquiry, Mr. Wilder said : 

"I have 280 acres of land. I am putting all of it except about 30 
acres into grass and clover for my cattle and bees. That 30 acres lam 
enriching for corn, wheat and cotton. I will make it give me a bale to 
the acre. But my main purpose is to make butter and honey. " 

" What progress are you making ?" 

" I am building up my herd slowly. I am milking nine cows from 
which I get sixty-five pounds of butter a week. My cows are selected 
scrubs, bred to a fine Jersey bull. As I increase the size of my herd, I 
am grading it up to better quality. All the money I get I put into cows. 
I am going to push my butter product up to 500 pounds a week. " 

" What do you get for your butter ?" 

" It nets me 35 cents a pound, and I could sell'1,000 pounds a week 
iflhadit. Atlanta alone would take that much at 35 cents net to 
me." 

"And about cost?" 

" My cows cost me, besides their grazing, 10 cents a day, or say $35 
a year. They average 250 pounds of butter a year, which brings me 
$90. I can make each cow clear $50 a year on butter. If I had 50 
cows I could do better. The expense of each cow would be reduced, 
aad I would be justified in getting machinery for butter-making." 

" What do you do with your buttermilk?" 

" I feed it to my swine." 

" What pasturage do you use ?" 

" The Bermuda grass is the best pasture we can have. I tried for 
years to kill it out, ignorant of its value. Now I'm encouraging the 
same old sod to grow and turning it into butter. It can't be killed. 
I've seen it parched down to the ground, in August, till it looked like 
brown paper. A rain would come, and ten days it would be two inch- 
es high and bright green. I am putting an acre or two into cloevr ev- 
ery year, and will soon have as good clover as anybody. This is for my 
bees, principally." 

" Have you many hives?" 

"I keep from 60 to 100 hives. I sold thirty-odd stands in 1883. 1 
generally let one swarm hive three times a year, which gives me enough 



1884.] SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 239 

to sell. I sold Mr. Leavey, of Griffin, one hive of Italians in 1882, and 
he now has nine. I charge from f 15 to $20 for a swarm. 

"What do your stands yield in honey?" 

" They will average 50 pounds each year, in and out. I have taken 
over 100 pounds from one hive frequently, Once I got 350 pounds 
from one hive, but had to feed the bees in winter. A year or two ago 
Isold five tons of honey — 10,000 pounds — from 60 hives. This was 
about 160 pounds to the hive. This was unusual, and the best honey 
I ever saw. You can count on 50 pounds a year from strong stands, if 
the bees have good forage." 

" What is the best forage. ? 

" Clover — white clover. Red clover would be as good, I suppose, 
but the bees can't get into the necks of the red clover blossoms. The 
bees are very foud of white clover and it makes very beautiful honey." 

" Do you find ready sale for your honey." 

"Yes, my crop runs from one to five tons a year, and I sell it readily. 
I get 25 cents a pound at retail, and by the barrel 10 cents a pound. 

" You haven't quit cotton ?" 

" I will raise a few bales. But I will put it on rich land, and try and 
make it give me a bale to the acre. It don't pay to scatter cotton over 
a whole plantation and buy the meat and bread to raise it with." — In- 
dustrial South. 



THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 

Editor Home and Farm: 

About sixteen years *ago an agent came to me to subscribe for an agri- 
cultural journal. I had never seen an agricultural journal, neither did 
I look at his, for I thought a man was a fool to undertake to learn me 
how to farm. As I was raised on a farm, I thought I knew as much as 
anybody did about farming. Some time aftea, I went to a neighbor's 
house, and picked up a paper aud began to peruse it, not knowing what 
kind of a paper it was. It was an agricultural journal, and the first 
reading I observed was the Buster family ; how they held to father's 
ways a'id opposed improvements of all kinds. They said the way their 
daddies did was good enough for them, and they had no use for book 
farming. When I got through that piece I said, what a Buster I was 
myself, and I resolved then not to be a Buster any longer* I sent on 
for the journal, and went to work at getting subscribers. I have been 
reading agricultural newspapers ever since ; I consider them worth at 
least §100 a year to me. I am under many obligations to the agricul- 
tural press. When I commenced reading these journals I was in debt. 

I planted my crop all in cotton and corn, and bought my supplies on 
credit. I did not know any better then, but I soon learned by reading ; 
we all have to learn through one another, and the Home and Farm is 
the medium for us. Every farmer ought to take it, and would profit by 
it. I have been asked frequently if I was raised in the North; I tell them 
no — I was born in Hinds county, Miss. 

The agricultural journals advised diversified farming and the raising 



240 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [May 

of fine stock. I have been trying to take their advice ever since, j 
went to sowing oats, and raising potatoes, and I am raising nearly all 
kinds of grasses. I have improved my stock ; I am raising Jersey and 
Ayreshire cattle and Poland-China pigs. I am also raising the red 
Brazilian artichokes ; I sent last spring and got a peck that cost me 
$1.70, and cut them up and planted them ; some of the hills made very 
near a bushel to the hill. They are the cheapest hog feed I ever saw; 
I believe they will make 1,900 bushels to the acre on good land. 

I have been trying to get some subscribers ; I have good many prom- 
ises. The weather is so bad, I can't get about ; the roads are nearly 
impassable. 

Yazoo City, Miss. M. B. 



MARKET GARDENING IN THE SOUTH. 

The emancipation of the slaves has, however, sadly interfered with 
market gardening, that important branch of rural industry at the North, 
for cheap labor and the earlier season gives the Southern truck grow- 
ers a decided advantage. I was struck with some very sensible remarks 
recently made by Mr. Peter Henderson, the New York seedsmau and 
market gardener, on this subject, before an agricultural gathering, and 
I obtained his manuscript, from which I will now quote. After show- 
ing the depression in market gardening around New York, and saying 
that he sees no outlook for the better, owing to the cheapness of land 
anb labor at the South, where crops can be cultivated with less labor, 
Mr. Henderson gives the following interesting account of a Southern 
market garden: 

"In a visit to Charleston, S. C, last February, I called on a firm of 
market gardeners, the Messrs. Noisette, who had long been customers 
of ours seeds and plants, never dreaming for a moment from their in- 
telligent manner of doing business but what they were white men. I 
was surprised to find on asking for them that the firm was represented 
by two modest-looking colored men of middle age, who, from a begin- 
ning with eleven acres in 1864, had, in 1883, got to be owners of sev- 
enty-five acres of valuable land, right iu the suburbs of Charleston, ev- 
ery acre of which was worked in vegetable and fruit crops in the most 
thorough manner. Hardly a weed was to be seen, and nearly every 
crop showed the greatest possible fertility, and no wonder, for they use 
sixty tons of stable manure and one-fourth of a ton of guano per acre. 
They had the biggest and best manure heap I ever saw in any market 
garden, having early learned the importance of that factor to success. 
They employ an average of seventy-five hands, or about one to each 
acre, which is about the same as is required at the North, though the 
wages paid — fifty cents per day for women and $1 for men — is little 
more than half that paid North, and when it is known that their early 
products now sell for three times as much in New York or Philadel- 
phia as the home-grown vegetables and fruit, it can wellibe understood 
how profitable the business must be. I did not ask Messrs. Noisette 
what their profits on their seventy-five acres were, but I have little 



1884 -1 SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



241 



doubt it would not be lesq than «on nrm -■ 

for, when cabbage ^Z^l$$™ Z^"1mJ ** ^°^ 
five cents per bead, and when we know that 10 fton i ~ I "T^' 

on one acre, it is easily seen that n orllf i P a ° tS are P lanted 

South. Of course every acre would nofL gm « g K? 1U8t ^ ' m the 
ally a crop, from insectTor otW I so profitable, and occasion- 

ali; there i notation that th. h ' ^ be , entirel J ^st, but, over 
manner in which ft was done hv t£ "T"' co ? d "«»* ia the masterly 
mensely profitable EverXin/in2!, tW ,° Colored meQ > ™t be im- 
They had the b^J^^S^^^^Z^ " P WJth the times - 
andltwashezefortheLttimrTrSn J° "t™ that , mone y could buy, 
that valuable machine thfmZ'J ^knowledge, that I ever saw 

200 market gJ^^ZVSy^ J "manTof & 7 *"*?*' 

been in the business for a Quarter of!!?/ ' Tt ^ °f whom have 
one of these implements in !i "ft"- 1 * an , d * doubt if tb ^e is 
whole county. To be sure few nf 2 ^ raarket S ardeQ ers in the 
value is less on small areas' though ^1 ° Vei L ten acres ' and i* 

the Messrs. Noisette ,^ 4^l£* S^*** ^ ** CUltivated b ^ 
their seventy five acres i the m !! f^ 18 annually used on 

times in a season not oiil frZ Z ^l *? ^ for itseIf ™any 
but also from the evennes^n ? the ™P ld ity with which it does its work. 

The crops ^^Z^^t^^A^i^^ the maDU -' 
Charleston are strawberries lettuc llJZl ° *" J 10 ? P rofit ^le in 
they o-row laro-ely of ™Zl ' ! ' caullfl o w ers, and cabbages, though 

MELILOT (Sweet Clover). 

ITS INTRODUCTION, A BRIEF SKETCH OF ITS CULTIVATION ™ 

io the Editor of the Southern Planter ■ 

Plant. The seed S^toSS^f '^T ° f thb ™ 1d » W « 
producing their seed, fnd be Tborne bv th e w f ,T' the8 ° in ' U ™ 
be fonnd in most any^ portion o°f he p ra 'rie heT of TV™* ° f ita " 
interest which long since should hZTZ^Ltt^ "' "" 
veloping itself. Our farmer, „ J "' ' 8 J ust D0W <*»• 

advances and no co^ouTT ia~° T^^^ 
directed to diversified farmine- and to J r attent.on 18 more 

this subject of MeUlct is ^Ti^^T^^'^^- 
plaut may be seen to be nutting i„ ™ p0rtanoe - Early ,„ the Fall this 

In th.s.imate being the only green plant to Iwl^r 



242 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 

ing our severe winters. Any enterprising farmer sees his chance for 
an early Spring hay cutting and preserves it. Even after once being 
cut at best, the remnants are sufficient to voluntarily replant the spot. 
Yet, to keep a good stand it should be replanted every two or three 
years. In fertile, or poor prairie spots, I have seen this plant reach the 
height of twelve feet from the top to the ground. Its branches spread 
in every direction from the main stem, shooting forth in the same man- 
ner as the branches of the cotton plant, tapering in pyramidal form 
from the tip of the lower branches to the top. At this age, or before 
attaining its full growth, it begins to blossom, and this is its beautiful 
feature, furnishing one of the most fragrant odors. This is the reason 
why stock and hogs are so fond of it; at all times having a sweet odor 
and imparting a fine taste. 

Again, this is during the honey season ; the busy bee haunts the 
cavities of its blossoms and from it extracts the sweets which impart 
the most delicious taste to honey. Early in the Fall the seed begin to 
mature, and are ready to be gathered about the first of September. 
One other important point: possessing only a tap-root it penetrates 
deep into the soil, and thereby is not affected by the dryest of Summers. 
The principal difficulty is the gathering of its seed, being so small; yet 
they are gathered faster by the so-called art of stripping. At this writ- 
ing it is five inches high, and giving sheep a send off. During the 
month of April I will plant, and get a fine cutting of hay, or preserve 
it for seed. Again in August I will plant for my Winter crop. At an 
early day I shall begin to cut the hay for another Winter's supply. As 
a hay it ranks with the foremost, still retaining after cut until destroyed 
its fragrant odor. Of course it should be cut during its most tender 
age — between the heights of twelve and twenty-five inches it is con- 
sidered best for cutting. 

Melilot, or Sweet Clover, is considered by botanists to be of the same 
tribe as Lucerne, yet coming under a different family. In conclusion, 
I will say there is no plant that can be employed to such an advantage 
and made to serve so many purposes on the farm as Melilot. 

Montgomery, Ala., March, 1884. C. L. Gay. 



i 

Young chicks that are subject to weakness in the legs should receive 
a small allowance of fine bone meal in the food. Weak legs come from 
forced growth, high feeding, and close confinement, but it is not neces- 
sarily dangerous. 



1884 -J SOUTHED PLANTER. 



243 



IMPROVING LAND BY GREEN FALLOWS-REPLIES TO MR RUGG 

JSdrtor Southern Planter,-! have had sent me by Mr. Irby, agent of 
the Bureau of Immigration of Virginia, two copies of the Southern 
banter, and as I mtend visiting Virginia, I take an interest in them 
I see an article on "Pea Fallows," and I will tell you the plan we 
adopt hereto bnng and keep land up. We find buckwheat a good 
grain to sow, from one peck to half a bushel to the acre. When it is 
m boom we plow it under. It grows rapidly and smothers weeds. If 
the land is poor, after the buckwheat is plowed under I would sow 
clover; cut one crop, and the second crop, when well up and in blos- 
som, I would plow under, and then we sow wheat. You may then 
leave it, and the clover will start again from the seed and roots I 
think the raising of roots and raising of stock would soon recuperate 
your land with stable and barn-yard manure. We find a great benefit 
in top-dressing our meadows in the Fall. 

r I have a son, a wholesale hardware merchant in Memphis Tenn 
who for several years was travelling agent for McCombs & Co', in the 
Sta es of Mississippi and Arkansas. He says they make a great mis- 
take in making cotton their staple article of commerce when they can 
raise stock and all grains grown there, and not depend on the North for 
be lr bread and meat. He says they require a different style of fam- 
ing as they have a soil and climate which, if utilized, would soon be a 
neh country He speaks highly of the people of the South and the 
blfor^L: reCGiVed fr0m th6m ' and that ** h ™ a bright fut^ 
I see an inquiry about sheep. I think your correspondent neglected 
his ewes when they lambed, as great care should be faken at that t me 
to have the milk well drawn. If neglected, the bag soon cake and 
inflammation sets in, and the lambs will not draw°the milk which 
causes the ewe great suffering. I do not think there is any di else of 
the kind. The bag should be well bathed with warm wate/and cas tile 
soap; warm vmegar is good to bathe with. 

With regard to mares conceiving that are suckling colts, some will 
and some will not The most likely time for a mare^o concede iJ o 
put her to the stallion on the ninth day after foaling 

You will excuse the liberty I take in this communication to you If 
you think proper to insert it in the Southern Planter, you can and I 
will be happy at any time to contribute to its columns. 

Wallenberg, Province of Ontario, Canada. M ™ & LaNGSTA ™ 



Oi 



244 SOUTHERN PLANTERER [May 



TALL MEADOW OAT-GRASS. 

[In an article in a late issue on the subject of the grasses, we quoted the state- 
ment of Prof. Phares, of the University of Mississippi, in reference to the Tall Meadow 
Oat-grass, and since then we have noticed in the last Quarterly Report of the State 
Board of Kansas a statement made by Prof. Robson, one of the State Botanists, to- 
this effect: "Tall Meadow Oat-graes, Avena elatior, is a native of Europe recently 
introduced into this State. 

By request of Maj. Sims, I mounted a series of specimens of the growth of this grass- 
from April 1 to June 1. The following table shows the height these attained at the 
time of gathering, and also the growth of three of our most popular tame grasses at 
the same period : 

Tall Meadow Oat-grass. — April 1, six inches; April 15, one foot; May 1, eighteen 
inches; May 15, three feet; June 1, four feet. 

Blue-Grass. — April 15, three inches; May 1, nine inches; May 15, one foot. 

Timothy. — April 15, two inches; May 1, six inches; May 15, one foot; June 1, eigh- 
teen inches. 

Orchard Grass. — April 13, one inch ; May 1, four inches ; May 15, nine inches; June 
1, fifteen inches." 

We have also obtained the more elaborate statement made by Prof. Robson of this 
new grass. If it will thrive in Michigan and West Virginia, it may prove to be a 
good grass for all the Middle and Southern States. We feel it but just and proper to 
say this, in view of the position taken in our article referred to, but yet we can never 
lose faith in clover, orchard grass and timothy, whose value we so well know_.] 

As an official of the State Board of Agriculture, it is my duty to 
report the introduction of a new tame grass into this State, which, after 
trial on a high upland farm for the term of two years, during which 
period we have watched it very closely during the various exhibits of 
its growth. We now claim that this valuable grass possesses so many 
excellent qualities as to place it in the front of all the cultivated tame 
grass. In looking over our notes we find : 

1st. That the seed will germinate and grow as easily as common oats. 

2d. It maintains a deep green color all seasons of the year. 

3d. The roots descend deeply into the subsoil, enabling this grass to 
withstand a protracted drouth. 

4th. Its early growth in Spring makes it equal to rye for pasturage. 

5th. In the next year after sowing it is ready to cut for hay, the 
middle of May — not merely woody stems, but composed in a large 
measure of a mass of long blades of foliage. This crop of hay can be 
cut and cured, and stowed away in stack or barn, long before Winter 
wheat harvest begins. 

6th. It grows quickly after mowing, giving a denser and more suc- 
culent aftermath than any of the present popular tame grasses. 

For several years we have been looking for a grass that would sup- 
ply good grazing to our cattle and sheep after the native grasses have 
become dry and tasteless. In the early portion of 1881, our attention 
was called to a tame gra.3s which had been introduced into the State of 
Michigan from West Virginia. This forage plant was causing some 
excitement among the farmers in the neighborhood of Battle Creek. 



1884 "J SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



245 



; Sold S^unTo? Sfif ^ a f ™ d '«** *«, and ch- 
in every respect Th^eed was'own ApriTl 'igS 'T ^^ 
quick y, and the von no- nlom^, ■ p ,' 1881 ' it; germinated 

Summer ^^u& P i" tt gr6W W^J- During the whole 

sown, pfodaced th r ee bar h r e ls of 3 °" "^ *" P ° U ° ds ° f 8eed ~ 

of tie SSH^mSS^ T^-™ at ? e ---annual meeting 
tention-thfLiX 8?C«if^ S ° clet ^', wb \ r e it excited much at- 
aroma surprisedTve^ one present ^ k °* th ° f Wade ' aad «»"t 

growth. This we tied to a sheaf S ™ eaSDre d .twenty inches in 
*.«» . at the State ^^^LtZX^Zt SS 

JdRSb? .Tatta S Sverrd r o„?h Ure th a at" g ° 0d ""* " | f ** 
that shoots up TuicWv f f °f t, r ' ant gr ° Wth ; , ,hat makes * Suable hay" 

eZ'&ZZXSZXg' IT" rf ^SU test this 
largely in & experiment Pn rchas froT flSf ," " 0t * I"™ 8 ' to ° 
f »d g ve it a fair trial, and we an confident twVk" P0U " d8 ° f 8eed - 

benefit the agricn 1 °tnrl o 1 XSglre ; S < ? U , r e Wh0le *" "^ «° 
"E?e?g D ru e .?'h V „t ^Uf^a&n-r ^ ^ » 

culture. The ground sboul,? £ m T". ?' T^ « ive our "ode of 
Spring, as soon^as the soil" in /ood^tihh "J"?* f" 1 "* in the 
(or twenty-eight pounds! of ««/,„,!, ' ° W br °a<icast two bushels 
row, both f length-ways and acrot X ^ ? over well with the har- 
the ground prove weedy cut X » l P 'T ° f gr00,ld 80wn - 8b°t.ld 
chine in June and TS' , » ' Wecds down with the mowing ma- 
shade ,„ the young pT a „ te them np0n the ^faee, and they will afford 

EaI™ fi Te„ b Lsse r e7n d1 B en0e ""* '"J 8 « FaM * 8 extensively g r0WD in 

we find zz t v:^izz7Tw:j hat p ni - on JL S ' at " 

grown for hay and for sriw 1? t l! We8t «u V.rginta it is largely 
iu each of the 7 States na!S'nedabove nOWn " Ta " Me " d ° W °**~ 



246 SOUTHERN PLANTER. [May 



[For the Southern Planter.J 

STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

Proceedings of the Executive Committee. 

Society Rooms, April 16, 1884. 

The quarterly meeting of the Executive Committee of the Virginia 
State Agricultural Society was held in the rooms of the Society at 8 
P. M. to-day. Present: General Williams C. Wickham, President; 
Ex-Presidents Col. Lewis E. Harvie, Gen. W. H. F. Lee, Col. W. C. 
Knight and Col. R. H. Dulany ; Vice-Presidents, Col. Robert Beverley, 
Burr P. Noland and Joseph Wilmer ; Members of Committee, John P. 
Branch, Capt. R, R. Carter, John S. Ellett, Maj. Thomas W. Doswell, 
Maj. W. A. Burke, F. T. Glasgow, Edmund R. Cocke and Julian M. 
Ruffin. Col. Randolph Harrison, Commissioner of Agriculture, was 
also present. 

After providing for the Premium List of 1884 and authorizing the 
President and Secretary to revise the list and make such modifications 
or changes as should be deemed beneficial, the following Advisory 
Boards were appointed : 

Department I. — F. T. Glasgow, Chief; A. S. Buford and Joseph 
Wilmer. 

Department II— Dr. A. K Wellford, Chief; J. S. Ellett and C. M. 
Reynolds. 

Department III—W. A. Burke, Chief; J. M. Ruffin and F. T. 
Glasgow. 

Department IV — J. S. Ellett, Chief; Dr. A. ST. Wellford and John 
P. Branch. 

Department V. — Thomas W. Doswell, Chief; J. P. Branch and I. 
Davenport, Jr. 

Department VI. — Col. Robert Beverley, Chief; Jos. Wilmer and E. 
R. Cocke. 

Department VII — Capt. R. R. Carter, Chief; C. M. Reynolds and 
J. M. Ruffin. 

Department VIII. — E. R. Cocke, Chief; I. Davenport, Jr., and B. 
P. Noland. 

Plowing Match. — Joseph Wilmer, Chief; R. R. Carter and B. P. 
Noland. 

The President was authorized to appoint the Chief Marshal. 

Dr. John R. Page, of the University of Virginia aud Vice-President 
of the Farmers' Congress of the United States, then addressed the 
Committee on the subject of the beuefits to be derived from the for- 



1884.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 247 

mation of farmers' assemblies, and in advocacy of the Society's taking 
such action as would inaugurate a system of such organizations 
throughout the State. 

The proposition of Dr. Page was referred to a committee consisting 
of the President and Messrs. Glasgow and Cocke for consideration, and 
the committee were requested, if the subject met with their approval, 
to report a proper resolution in furtherance of the object to the Execu- 
tive Committee at 12 o'clock M., on Thursday. 

On motion, it was resolved that the next quarterly meeting of the 
Executive Committee be held at the White Sulphur Springs on the 
second Tuesday in August. 

The following resolution was offered : 

Resolved, That the President is hereby authorized to make arrange- 
ments for competitive drills between white military troops, to take 
place during the State Fair of 1884, and that he is empowered to adopt 
such plan for such drills, to select such judges for the same and make 
such distribution of the premiums as he in his discretion may deem 
best, and to this end he is authorized to expend in connection there- 
with not exceeding one thousand dollars of the Society's funds. 

The resolution was unanimously adopted. 

The following resolution was offered and adopted : 

Resolved, That the President, Col. A. S. Buford, John P. Branch, 
Isaac Davenport, Jr., John S. Ellett and P. T. Glasgow be appointed a 
committee on behalf of the Virginia State Agricnltural Society, to 
confer with the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial 
Club, with full powers to act on behalf of the Society, for the purpose 
of making the State Fair of mutual benefit to the business and other 
interests of the city and of the Society, and for adopting such arrange- 
ments as may secure the co-operation of the citizens of Richmond in 
promoting those objects, and also for the purpose of obtaining from 
the citizens of Richmond such contributions for the competitive mili- 
tary drills as may be sufficient to induce the Virginia military and 
those of other States to attend and participate in the drills, and thereby 
secure a large attendance of visitors to the city and State Fair. 

After the discussion of various matters in reference to agriculture 
and the business of the Society, the Committee adjourned to meet at 
12 o'clock M., to-morrow. 



SECOND DAY. 

Society Rooms, April 17, 1884. 
The Executive Committee met at J 2 M. 

Col. A. S. Buford and I. Davenport, Jr., absent last night, appeared 
in their seats. 



248 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [May 

The committee to whom was referred the paper of Dr. John R. Page^ 
made the following report: "Your committee to whom was referred 
the communication of Dr. John R. Page, Vice-President of the United 
States Farmers' Congress, in regard to Farmers' Assemblies, advise 
that the life-members of this Society throughout the State be requested 
to take active interest in promoting tbe formation of Farmers' Clubs in 
their respective counties, and thus incite general interest in the inter- 
change of views and opinions upon practical agricultural subjects, and 
that they endeavor to get up regular Farmers' Assemblies in the vari- 
ous quarters of the State, and with the view to inaugurate these Farm- 
ers' Assemblies the Executive Committee of the Virginia State Agri- 
cultural Society express their approval of the plan of Dr. Page to hold 
such an assembly at Charlottesville some time in August, 1884, and 
ask the co-operation of the farmers of the State in bringing together on 
that occasion a good delegation of representative farmers of the State, 
with the view to inaugurate a general system of such Farmers' Assem- 
blies in the State." 

The resolution was adopted. 

The committee to confer with the Chamber of Commerce and Com- 
mercial Club were requested to act as soon as possible in the matter in 
order to carry the resolution into effect. 

Remarks were made in reference to ensilage, the affairs of the So- 
ciety, and various agricultural matters. 

The Committee then adjourned until its regular meeting in August. 

Geo. W. Mayo, Secretary. 

[The communication of Prof. Page, referred to in the proceedings, will appear in the 
next issue of the Planter. — Ed. S. P.] 



ENQUIRIES ABOUT SHEEP. 

Editor Southern Planter, — Will you be so very kind as to give me the 
following information? 1. I wish to purchase about 100 stock ewes 
for raising early lambs for New York market. Will some one of your 
readers be accommodating enough (who has been buying such ewes and 
raising early lambs) to write the management, &c, &c, of buying stock 
ewes and raising early lambs for market? What grade ewe do they 
recommend and what thoroughbred buck? Would like to buy my 
ewes somewhere in Southwest Virginia, on the Norfolk and Western 
Railroad. Will the gentleman who answers me do so in the June num- 
ber of the Planter? I am yours, sir, most respectfully, 

Bower's P. 0. Va. L. Lankford, M. D., 



1884.] SOUTHERN PLANTER. 249 



Editorial. 



STRAW AND ITS VALUE ON THE FARM. 

We own to some difficulty in estimating the proper value of straw. 
It is more than probable that most farmers do not value it as highly as 
they ought, and there are some who use it with confidence for results 
they do not realize. It was common in our boyhood for farmers to 
spread dry straw over the best parts of their tobacco lots and turn it 
under, whilst they used the manure of the cattle pens and stables for 
the weaker portions. With each tobacco grower in those days there 
was a fixed idea that he should have a given number of "hills" to each 
"hand" on the farm. To accomplish this, it became the province of 
straw to supplement the manure heaps. It is questionable, however, 
whether the straw benefitted the crop to the extent of the labor of its 
application. In the absence of straw the same functions were performed 
by dry leaves from the forest. The farmer was satisfied that he had 
done well, or at least, the best he could, and did not bother his head 
further on the subject. It would appear ridiculous to be told that if he 
had left off the straw or leaves and applied all his manures to one-third 
or one-half of the surface and reduced his number of "hills" propor- 
tionately, a larger and better crop in quality might be made. The 
word* intensive was not in his vocabulary, and it was not easy to be seen 
that better manuring and better culture on a reduced surface, with bet- 
ter worming and suekering, would bring better results. There was 
another way to use straw, more common still, and less beneficial, which 
was to let it lie loose around the threshing yard, or carelessly stack or 
rick it, with the idea that when partially or wholly rotted it would be 
good manure. At least, then, it would be a heap of worthless carbon, 
useless as plant food for the reason that all the carbon needed in the 
growth of plants is supplied by the atmosphere. 

What use is to be made of straw? becomes the enquiry. 

The uses are various, and of such importance as to demand that it 
should be carefully stacked or ricked as fast as the grain is taken from 
it by the threshing machine, so that it will be preserved sound and dry. 
One of the first and best of these uses is, that it will furnish dry and 
pleasant bedding for all animals on the farm. For this purpose it 
should be liberally supplied, and at the same time it acts as an absorb- 
ent of the liquid and solid excrement; but care should be taken to add 
frequent fresh supplies to keep the stock clean and comfortable. At 
proper intervals all this bedding should be removed and put into piles 



250 SOUTHERN" PLANTER. [May 



under cover to insure a proper admixture with animal voidings, at 
which time plaster should be freely used, with thin layers of earth from 
the woods or fence-corners, thus forming a compost heap of great ferti- 
lizing value. 

Straw has but little nutritive value, but yearling cattle in fair condi- 
tion will Winter on it if they can bave free access to it in proper racks, 
and it is sound and dry. When hay has failed, or is scarce, straw can 
also be utilized in feeding to working animals, provided it is well cut 
up, dampened with weak salt water, and dusted with corn meal, or 
what is better, with meal made of corn and oats in the proportion of 
two to one. We had an experience in this respect more than twenty- 
five years ago, and communicated it to the State Agricultural Society, 
which awarded a premium for the experiment. 

The plan adopted and pursued for several years to test results, was sub- 
stantially this : The straw was chopped in a good straw-cutter, then 
dampened with salt water, and the proper quantity put in the manger 
of each horse. The meal was then spread over and mixed in with the 
cut straw. The allowance of meal was a half gallon morning and noon 
and one gallon at night. The meal was not fine but coarse, such as the 
millers will take half toll for. Observation taught that coarse was bet- 
ter than fine meal, for the reason that the latter would clog the horse's 
mouth by adhering to the roof of it, become sour, and thus create a dis- 
tate for it. In the coarse meal there was sufficient dust to adhere to the 
damp straw and make it palatable, whilst the coarser parts were mas- 
ticated. In feeding with meal it should never be mixed with the cut- 
stuff before it is put into the feed-troughs. Each horse's allowance 
should be spread over his food in the manger, and thus there is no loss, 
and each animal gets his due quantity. The experiment proved that 
there was great economy in feeding meal instead of corn on the cob or 
the shelled grain, which amounted to a saving of at least twenty-five 
per cent., and at the same time the condition of the auimals was well 
sustained under the usual amouut of labor. Cotton-seed meal may be 
better than corn meal, but of this we have had no experience, and we 
think it best that farmers remote from cotton fields should use the corn. 

All straw left over from feeding and bedding will be found valuable 
for mulching purposes. In this respect it is good to cover early Irish 
potato and strawberry beds, to spread over the ground in young 
orchards, and on grass lands. Weak and abrased spots in fields which 
are resting will be greatly benefited by a covering of straw. Whilst 
there is but little manurial virtue in it, shade is given, moisture pre- 
served, and those conditions secured which will enable the land to ap- 



1884.]| SOUTHERN" PLANTER. . 251 

prppriate the nitrogen of the atmosphere, a great agent of active 
fertility. 

The commercial value of straw in the cities for stable use and for 
various lines of manufacture, when well baled and sound, is about one- 
half to two-thirds of the market value of hay. Such a value will 
scarcely justify its removal from the farm if properly cared for and uti- 
lized there, unless transportation facilities are convenient and cheap. 



THE LATE WET WEATHER AND ITS SEQUENCE. 

The Southern Fertilizing Company, always on the alert for whatever 
affects the interests of the farmers, and through them its own, has 
recently issued a weather circular, the object of which is suggested by 
our heading. Having appealed to the Weather Bureau at Washing- 
ton, a letter is given from Capt. Mills, Acting Chief Signal Officer, with 
a tabulated statement of the rain-fall for thirteen years, commencing 
with 1871. We have analyzed this table with the view of understand- 
ing the conclusions Capt. Mills has drawn from it, but mainly to see 
how far we are sustained in an entertained belief, that extremes of 
weather in respect to wet and dry is a usual sequence. We do not 
mean to say that the laws of compensation, if they be laws, do not gen- 
erally establish, or equalize, the open and rainy weather in such a man- 
ner as to make it what is termed seasonable, but that when the extremes 
of wet and dry do come they follow each other almost by a law of 
sequence. This idea is not entertained by Capt. Mills, for he says : "In 
view of these discordant results, the supposed sequence of wet and dry 
seasons is considered as not well sustained." 

Looking at Table No. 2, which he has furnished, of the rain-fall for 
the thirteen years named, it may be analyzed by calanderical divisions 
of three parts, of four years each, and the odd year be taken by itself, 
and each year be divided into six months, from January to July and 
from July to January. A table thus constructed will show the per 
centum of rain, more or less than the average of the year, in the half 
year divisions, and the relations of the wet and dry periods to each 
other Another table may also be formulated in respect to each year, 
and the aggregates of the whole period, and this we give first. 

In this table the sequences are, five dry semi-annual periods following 
five wet ones, four wet following four wet ones, and four dry following 
four dry ones. Taking the whole term of thirteen years we see that 
there were eight wet Winters and Springs and eight dry Summers and 
Falls, and five dry Winters and Springs and five wet Summers and Falls. 



252 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



Weather table shoiving per centum of rain-fall for the firss and last six months of 
each year from 1871 to 1883 inclusive. 



1871— Jan. to July 

1872 " 

1873 " 

1874 " 

1875 " 

1876 " 

1877 " 

1878 " 

1879 " " 

1880 " 

1881 " 

1882 " 

1883 " 



+12 

+4 
+ 12 
+6 

+5 

+52 
+55 
+ 62 


—5 
—95 

—23 
^65 

—63 


Wet 

Wet. 
Wet. 
Wet. 

Wet. 
Wet. 
Wet. 
Wet. 






8 



Dry. 
Dry. 

Dry. 
Dry. 



Dry. 



July to Jan. 



+ 15 



—57 



+38 
+30 
+90 
+ 100 



-38 
-12 



—40 
—33 
—33 
—28 
—35 



Wet, 



Wet. 
Wet. 
Wet. 
Wet. 



Dry. 
Dry. 



Dry. 



Dry. 
Dry. 
Dry. 
Dry. 
Dry. 



8 



The equalization of the per centa of rain-fall gives the following 
figures: 

Whole period (13 years) +535—527, dif. +8. 

January to July, +262—251, dif. +11. 

July to January, +273—276, dif. —3 equal +8. 

Table showing the per centum of rain-fall more or less than average 
during the first and last six months of three periods of four years, and 
one odd year, making the thirteen years from 1871 to 1883 inclusive : 



1871 to 1874 inclusive January to July 


—in 


Dry. 


July to January 


—92 


Dry. 


1875 to 1878 


it 


+ 23 


Wet. 


ii 


+92 


Wet. 


1870 to 1882 


a 


+49 


Wet. 


tt 


—134 


Dry. 


1883 


tt 


+60 


Wet. 


II 


—35 


Dry. 



It thus appears that the first six months of these periods were all wet 
but one, and that the last six months were all dry but one ; so that there 
was almost a regular sequence, and the odd year is still more striking 
by a reversal of the condition, the first six months being registered +60 
— 0, and the last — 35+0. This being 1883 it is easy to remember the 
truth of this registration, marking a wet Winter and Spring and a very 
dry Summer and Fall. 

The fair conclusions which may be drawn from these tables appear 
to be these: 

1. That in a series of years the rain-fall is about equalized between 
Winter and Spring ou the one side, and Summer and Fall on the other. 

2. That in this semi-annual division of the year there is a decided 
tendency towards a sequence of wet and dry. In our table deduced 



1884 SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



253 



from that given by Capt. Mills, this sequence followed in five of the 
thirteen years; and looking at the four years which are recorded u,et, 
and the four which are recorded dry the plus (+) and minus (-) fi ff ! 
ures indicate a marked difference and a tendency to extreme in the 
rain fell o the two divisions of the year ■ or, in other words and for ex! 

th?n it / T +28 iUdiCat6S Wet ( ' 79 t0 ' 82 > in WiDter *** Spnng, 
the +92 for the same years shows a much greater degree of we 
weather during the Summer and Fall. 

3. It is not difficult to believe that there are laws by which the con 
dition of the weather may be predicted from one season or ^^0"" 
year, to another. The source of rains by evaporation from the ZZ 
of the sun's heat on the lands, seas, lakes, and rivers, must be nearly he 
same each year but the rain-fall it very different at various places on 
the globe, and there is a degree of uniformity at these different places 
It is generally wet, or at least moist, at all periods of the year Enl 
and and in California the weather is rainy for six months' and dry for" 
s x months and so also in Egypt. These conditions are so uniform th a 
all agricultural operations are regulated according to them The 
weather problem is therefore most interesting and important where 
these extremes do not so fixedly exist, and this problem will become 
more and more developed by scientific observation 

4. Upon the whole, as at present advised, we think it safe to expect 
a dry season after a wet one, and applying this principle to the prese„ 
year, the probability is that the Summer and Fall will be drv Tl 

or * M r liberal manB ^tr^ a s t-^f see 

ou?pTeat e ?r-^ J SS. PaiQ i8 W ° rth the *" <* «*« with- 

A Hartford (Ct.) correspondent referring tn +h a >, 
sunsets, says that they are verv omm % V recent J emarkab,e 
red, they are taken to indicate Sin buHf nf^ r\? ; f^ 6 ' if ver ^ 
the weaker thereafter is likely tofine'for man/da^' ^ Md de "> 



It is 
It is not so bad to 1 



I 



254 



SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 



[May 



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EDITORIAL NOTES 



Dr. THOMAS POLLARD. 
On the 29th day of March last the sad 
intelligence reached Virginia from Florida 
that Dr. Pollard had died the day before 
at Orlando, whither he had gone for the 
benefit of his health. This is the earliest 
opportunity which occurs for the announce- 
ment to the readers of the Planter of the 
death of this christian gentlemau, and for 
many years a valued contributor to its 
columns. In his death the State has lost 
one of its most devoted and useful citizens. 
Though educated as a physician, early in 
life he connected with his profession the 
occupation of a farmer, and no one ex- 
ceed him in his efforts to elevate the stand- 
ard of agricultural knowledge and practice. 
As the first Commissioner of Agriculture 
in the State, he organized a new and im- 
portant department and rendered much val- 
uable service. The impress of his name 
and writings is a monument to his memory 
in the hearts of the farmers of the Com- 
monwealth. 



His death is a source of great personal 
regret to the present Editor of this Journal. 
We were college-mates, and for nearly half 
a century warm personal friends. The 
pages of the Planter team with his excel- 
lent articles on various agricultural topics; 
and even since he last trod his native soil 
he has sent back to us his impressions of 
the land of sunshine and flowers to which 
he had gone in search of health. 

He was born in the county of Hanover, 
and died in his sixty-sixth year. 



CORN. 

Another year's production is confronting 
this great American staple. With favor- 
able seasons and judicious cultivation, the 
crop may reach one and a half billion of 
bushels. Our great extent of country and 
variety of climate afford a lengthy period 
for planting — from February to June. As 
the most important of all grains for food, 
it should have no secondary place. An 
empty, or badly filled corn-crib is a most 
serious weakness on any farm. It is felt 
in every ramification of a farmer's busi- 
ness. Cotton, tobacco and sugar may be 
regarded as the money crops, but without 
an adequate supply of corn to feed the 
men and animals which produce them 
there is but little profit in them. It is the 
part of wisdom to make ample provision 
for this important crop. It is not our pur- 
pose to speak of the modes of culture, for 
these ought to be familiar. We must, how- 
ever, warn against a too common practice 
of relying on poor land and negligent cul- 
ture for this crop. The growers of the 
three other staples we have named are 
they who are most apt to neglect their 
corn. Give it a fair chance, which is the 
best way to bring about harmonious re- 
sults in all the operations of the farm or 
plantation. 

We may say, if the year is dry, which is 
probable, do not fail to keep the surface of 
your cornfields frequently stirred, to let in 
the dews and fertilizing elements from the 
atmosphere, and do not plow deep to break 
the roots. 



1884.] 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



255 



From the edition of Messrs. Geo. P. 
Bowell & Co. 's American Newspaper Direc- 
tory, now in press, it appears that the 
newspapers and periodicals of all kinds at 
present issued in the United States and 
Canada reach a grand total of 13,402. 
This is represented as a net gain of 1,600 
during the last twelve months, an increase 
of 5,618 over the number published ten 
years ago. The greatest increase is in the 
Western States. 



THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE 
EXPOSITION. 

We have the first number of " The Ex- 
position News" from which we learn of 
this important enterprise by the people of 
the North State. On the 30th of January 
last a charter was granted in which this 
leading provision appears : 

Second, The business proposed to be 
done by said corporation is the holding of 
an Exposition of the products and indus- 
tries of the State of North Carolina, for 
the purpose of aiding the development of 
the resources of the State, and inducing 
the influx of capital and desirable immi- 
gration into the State, and the doing of 
such other matters and things, and the ex- 
ercise of such powers as may be necessary 
to the successful holding of such Exposi- 
tion, or may be incident to, or grow out 
of the holding of the same. 

The Association has been organized, and 
all the needed capital subscribed. The 
Exposition will open on the 1st of Octo- 
ber next and continue to the 28th of the 
same month. A notable feature will be 
the contributions of the products of each 
county of the State, through funds appro- 
priated by the Commissioners of the coun- 
ties, to secure which the Attorney-General 
has given his opinion that the county Com- 
missioners have the authority to make ap- 
propriations for such a purpose. The 
State Department of Agriculture will con- 
tribute its aid, and the State Agricultural 
Society has given the use of its grounds 
and buildings. Other large buildings will 
be erected, for which contracts have been 
made, and the main Exhibition Hall will 
form a square, of which each front will be 
836 feet in length. We do not learn from 



the announcement whether other States 
will be invited to contribute to the Exposi- 
tion. Whether they are or not, they can- 
not fail to have a deep interest in the en- 
terprise, and to accept it as a laudable 
example worthy to be followed. 

COMMUNICATIONS. 

It is gratifying to acknowledge the num- 
ber of communications from practical 
farmers. We hope they will increase until 
each issue of the Planter is filled with 
them. We accept it as a growing interest 
in our Journal, and with the farmers in 
their occupation. It is also an acknowl- 
edgment of the duty of farmers to impart 
and receive information and experiences 
from each other. 



BOOKS AND MAGAZINES. 

Judith : A Chronicle of Old Virginia. By 
Marion Harlakd, Author of "Alone," 
&e. Philadelphia: Our Continent Pub- 
lishing Co. New York: Fords, Howard 
& Hurlbut. 1883. Price, $1.50. 

We owe thanks to Messrs. West, John- 
ston & Co. for a copy of this last book of 
the popular author, Marion Harland. In 
saying that we have read it with all the in- 
terest and profit which attached to the 
reading of her former works, is a sufficient 
acknowledgment of our opinion of its 
merit. The reputation of the author is not 
confined to her native State, as her books 
have been welcomed everywhere, but this 
last production will prove especially inter- 
esting to the descendants of many old and 
worthy Virginia families whose residences 
were in and near the capital city. Opening 
with events of the first year of the present 
century, the story closes near its middle, 
so that many persons now living can turn 
their memories back and judge of the truth- 
ful delineations of character and of public 
events. 



Sorghum : Its Culture and Manufacture 
Economically Considered as a Source of 
Sugar, Syrup, and Fodder. By Peter 
Collier, Ph. D. 8vo. Pp. 582. Illus- 
trated. Price, $3. Robert Clarke & Co., 
publishers, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1884. 

This is the most valuable work on the 



256 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



subject it treatst of that we have seen. It 
is comprehensive, and at the same time 
minute, in details. This is shown by a 
simple statement of some of its subjects : 
History of Sorghum ; Varieties (illustrated 
with cuts) ; Selection and Preparation of 
Ground; Planting and Cultivation; Time 
of Planting; Time of Harvesting Crop; 
Effect of Stripping Cane ; Effect of Ferti- 
lizers; Extraction of Juice; Mills; Defe- 
cation; Methods of Evaporation ; Vacuum 
Pans, &c, &c. The author, whilst acting 
as chemist of the Agricultural Department 
at Washington, by the closest experimenta- 
tion, has given to the farmers and sugar- 
makers a very interesting and valuable 
book for their guidance. We thank the 
publishers for the copy sent us. 

Report of the Commissioner of Agricul- 
ture (of the U. S.) for 1883. 8vo. Pp. 
496. 

We are indebted to Commissioner Loring 
for a copy of this report. We have only 
had time to glance over it, but see much of 
importance to the agriculture of the coun- 
try. Its early appearance after the close 
of the year to which it applies, is especially 
gratifying. These annual reports were 
formerly so long delayed that they were 
comparatively valueless. Such promptness 
on the part of the Department is very com- 
mendable. 



Virginia Cookery Book. Compiled by 
Mart Stewart Smith. Harper's Frank- 
lin Square Library, No. 370. 

Were we an epicure a tithe of the good 
things this book tells of would satisfy us. 
Every housekeeper should have a copy. 
Price, 25 cents, and for sale by West, John- 
ston & Co. 



Social Problems. By Henry George, 
Author of "Progress and Poverty." 
Belford, Clarke & Co., Chicago and New 
York. 1884. 

The social problems discussed in this 
book are numerous, and persons of en- 
quiring and investigating minds will relish 
it. Such topics as these may be noted as 
of particular interest: "The March of 
Con centra t ion;" "Over-production ;" 



"Unemployed Labor;" "The Effects of 
Machinery;" "Slavery and Slaving;'' 
"The American Farmer;" "City and 
Country," &c. The publishers will accept 
thanks for a copy of the book. 



The Art Amateur for April we placed in 
the hands of an appreciative lady, who hae 
returned us her thanks with this comment : 
"It is a very valuable journal, devoted to 
household tastes and art. To those inter- 
sted in beautifying and decorating their 
homes, it is a charming companion ; full 
of suggestions, designs, and information. 
It teaches in an easy and agreeable way 
how to make home surroundings elegant 
and refined." 



Harper's Magazine for May concludes 
the sixty-eighth volume of that now vener- 
able, but never aged, periodical. Howard 
Pyle, author and artist, has a frontispiece 
and two other charming full-page pictures 
illustrating "A May-Day Idyl of the Olden 
Time," a quaint old story. Another fine- 
art feature is " the great pictures " engraved 
by Closson— this time Titian's "Belle." 
This number must be seen and read to be 
appreciated. It is worthy of notice that 
three of the great English Novelists are 
simultaneously contributing to the Harper 
periodicals: Charles Reade, with "A Per- 
ilous Secret," to the Bazaar; Wilkie Col- 
lins, with " I Say No," to the Weekly ; and 
William Black, with "Judith Shakes- 
peare," to the Magazine. 



As usual, Godey's Lady's Book comes 
ahead of other, magazines. The number 
for May is on our table — 14 April. Its 
frontispiece, entitled the "Chums," is a 
little gem of art. Its fashion plates are 
rich in appearance, but of these the ladies 
must judge. Its stories are good, and we 
have read with interest the one called 
" Diamonds and Death." The others we 
have not had time, as yet, to read. The 
portraits of the Presidents are continued, 
with that of James K. Polk, which is a good 
one, as we know from a distinct memory 
of the man. 



1884.] 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



257 



We have received three valuable publi- 
cations from Sir J. B. Lawes, Rotham- 
stead, England, for which he will accept 
our thanks. 

1. Supplement to former paper, entitled 
"Experimental Enquiry into the Compo- 
sition of some of the Animals Fed and 
Slaughtered as Human Food. Composi- 
tion of the Ash of the entire Animals, and 
of Certain Separated Parts." By Sir John 
Bennet Lawes, LL. D., F. R. S., F. C. S., 
and Joseph Henry Gilbert, Ph.D., LL.D., 
F. R. S., V. P. C. S. From the Transac- 
tions of the Royal Society. Part III. 1883. 

2. The Nitrogen as Nitric Acid, in the 
Soils and Subsoils of some of the Fields at 
Rothamstead. By same authors and R. 
Warington, F. C. S. London : William 
Clowes & Sons, limited, printers. 1883. 

3. New Determinations of Ammonia, 
Chlorine, and Sulphuric Acid on the Rain- 
water Collected at Rothamstead. By same 
authors. Same printers. 1883. 



Southern Clinic for April. Dr. C. A. 

Bryce, Editor. 

We see in it an article on the " Uses of 
Calomel," by our friend Dr. Hatchett. If 
we were allowed to speak at all on any 
remedy it may be calomel, for years ago it 
was the sine qua non in the farmer's med- 
icine chest. It seems now to be greatly 
ignored, but why we do not know. 



The North American Review for this 
month is well filled with matter suited to 
the tastes of advanced thinkers. The arti- 
cle on the "Zone of Worlds" tells of the 
asteroids and the vast number of earth's 
pigmy kindred. That on the " Railway 
and the State " endeavors to prove that the 
interference of government hinders, rather 
than advances, low rates of transportation 
which will result from the increased num- 
ber and extension of the lines. "Work- 
ingmen's Grivevauces " are discussed by 
Mr. Moody and Prof. Laughlin, of Har- 
vard University. 



Popular Science Monthly for May is with 
us before we go to press. The papers pre- 
sented in its contents will afford much in- 

20 



terest to students of science and literature. 
The science of politics is well sustained in 
the article on "The Sins of Legislators." 
For moral science comes the article on 
" Christian Agnosticism." "The Milk in 
the Cocoa-Nut" is one of Grant Allan's 
charming science stories. "The Beaver 
and his Works" (illustrated) will be read 
with interest wherever this astute and am- 
phibious animal exists. Other articles are 
too numerous for us to mention. D. Ap- 
pleton & Co., publishers, New York city. 
Subscription, $5 per annum. 



REPORTS, &c. 
Annual Report for 1883 of the Experi- 
mental Departmentof the Houghton Farm. 
Experiments on orchard and peach yel- 
lows. This Report will prove valuable to 
horticulturists. The farm is the private 
property of Lawson Valentine, Esq., and 
is situated at Mountainville, Orange county, 
N. Y. 



Annual Report of the Commissioner of 
Fisheries for Virginia, 1883. Commis- 
sioner McDonald will please accept our 
thanks for his interesting Report. 



Report of the Tennessee Weather Ser- 
vice for February, 1881, from the Bureau 
of Agriculture. 



The first public Report of the Home of 
Industry and Refuge for discharged con- 
victs, 40 East Houston street, New York 
city. This, doubtless, is a very valuable in- 
stitution. " The charity which is most ef- 
fectual is that which is most practical." 



Report of the State Board of Agricul- 
ture of Kansas, for 1883. It embraces 
agriculture, horticulture and live stock, to- 
gether with statements relating to vacant 
lands, schools, churches, manufactures, 
wealth, minerals, &c. Secretary Sims will 
accept our thanks. 

Report of the distribution and consump- 
tion of corn and wheat, and the rates of 
transportation of farm products. From the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, March, 
1883. 



Ol 



258 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



May 



Report of the analyses and commercial 
value of commercial fertilizers and chemi- 
cals, to the end of February, 1884, under 
the supervision of the Commissioner of ihe 
State of Georgia. 

Speeches of Hon. Wm. H. Hatch, of 
Missouri, in the House of Representatives, 
February 5 and 25, on the bill relating to 
pleuro-pneumonia and other contagious 
diseases of cattle. 



CATALOGUES. 
Catalogue of the Union Theological 
Seminary of Virginia, 1883-4. We feel 
interested in everything which emanates 
from this venerable institution. It was 
opened January 1, 1824, with one profes- 
sor — the Rev. J. H. Rice — and three stu- 
dents; but how wonderful has been its suc- 
cess. The Presbyterian churches in Vir- 
ginia and other States are indebted to it 
for the training of their most distinguished 
and useful ministers of the gospel. We are 
glad to know that, its endowment is now 
more complete than ever before, and its 
prospects for usefulness can be expected in 
the far off future. 



pamphlet teams with statements from lead- 
ing farmers of Virginia and North Caro- 
lina of the value of this special manure. 
It is now a well established fact, attested 
by science and sucb careful experimental- 
ists as Sir J. B Lawes and others, that, spe- 
cific manures can be made tor special crops, 
and it is only a question of the skill and in- 
tegrity of the manufacturer. No firm has 
higher claims to these qualities than Alli- 
son & Addison, and the farmer wuo may 
fail to realize the benefits he expected from 
their fertilizer, should not condemn until 
he is satisfied that his method of applica- 
tion and culture, soil, or other thing was 
the underlying cause. 



Premium List of the Second Annual 
Strawberry, Vegetable and Flower Exhibi- 
tion of the Weft Tennessee Horticultural 
Society, in the city of Jackson, Tenn., May 
9tb and 10th, 1884. 



Proceedings and Commencement Exer- 
cises of the Medical College op Vir- 
ginia. February, 1884. — We may be par- 
doned for a little selfishness of feeling in 
regard to this college. It dates back to 
our own college days at Hampden-Sydney, 
of which it was then the medical depart- 
ment. Its separate organization now does 
not at all mar the pleasure with which we 
can look back to days when we had & quasi 
connection with it. The medical profes- 
sion of the State have a commendable 
pride in it. With the growth of years its 
influence and usefulness will increase. It 
has an able corps of professors, and all the 
equipments necessary for a first-class insti- 
tution. Cur only fear is tli.it it will attract 
an undue proportion of the young men of 
the country from the equally noble and dig- 
nified profession of agriculture. 

Catalogue for 1884 of Allison & Addi- 
son's Star Brand Tobacco Fertilizer. This 



The Illustrated Manual on evaporating 
fruit, by the Ameiicati Manufacturing Com- 
pany, Waynesboro, Pa. This pamphlet 
contains much information on this profita- 
ble industry Farmers having Summer and 
Fall fruit which cannot be packed for Win- 
ter will find that it pays a big profit to uti- 
lize it in this way. The Manual is sent free 
on application. 

Catalogue of Implements and Ma- 
chines for the farm and garden by Peter 
Henderson, New York city. There is illus- 
trated here every thing the gardener or 
farmer needs, from a pruning knife to a 
threshing machine. 



Descriptive Catalogue of Grape Vinea 
and Small Fruits, by T. 8. Hubbard, Fre- 
donia, New York. The " Prentiss," a new 
white grape, is described. 



W. C. Wilson's Annual Catalogue for 
1884 of Plants and Seeds. 45 West Four- 
teen! h street, New York. 



Catalogue of Select Roses for 1884, 
by Ellwatiger & Barry, Rochester, N. Y. 
Also their supplement of novelties and 
specialties. 



1884.J 



SOUTHERN" PLANTER. 



259 



Retail Price List of Hardy North 
American Perennial Plants. Also a new 
Winter wheat— " The Winter Pearl " — by 
Pringle & Horseford, Charlotte, Vermont. 



Crawford's Strawberry, by Mathew 
Crawford, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. 



Seed Catalogue for 1884 of J. H. Bell, 
Harrisonburg, Va 



Catalogue of W. H Smith, Seedsman, 
No. 1018 Market street, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Mr. Smith will accept oar thanks for a 
number of packages of flower and garden 
seeds. 



Virginia Real Estate Bulletin of 
Yager & Campbell, Real Estate Brokers, 
Gordonsville, Va. We see a number of 
fine farms in Piedmont and Middle Vir- 
ginia offered for sale by them. 



The Art of Pruning Trees and Arber 
Vines, by John Dollins, Crozet P. 0.. Al- 
bemarle county, Va. Price, thirty cents 
per copy. This is a valuable pamphlet, 
which every farmer 6hould have. 

J. M. Blair's Pictorial Annual for 1884, 
803 Pace Block, Richmond, Va. This is 
really an artistic little book, and is only 
equalled by the handsome display of family 
groceries, &c, in Mr. Blair's elegant store. 

Catalogue of Dry Goods, Underwear. 
Ac, by Charles Simon & Son, Baltimore, 
Md. 



Circular of "The Cold Water Dip." 
T. W. Lawford, General Agent, 296 E. 
Chase street, Baltimore. Md. There are 
many testimonials to show that this is a 
eafe and sure remedy for parasites on 
sheep and other domestic animals, and also 
against parasites on plants. 

NEW ADVERTISEMENTS. 
Joh.v Schleicher, Expert Repairer of 
Guns and Locks, 731 Main Street, Rich- 
mond. 

A. Hoen & Co.. Richmond. City, Litho- 
graphers. This firm has always been noted 



for its excellent work, and have recently 
erected on Bank S f reet a large and beau- 
tiful building, having all the facilities for 
their business. 

Chas. D. Hill & Co., Commission Mer- 
chants, Centre Warehouse, City, is an old 
and reliable firm. 

Southern Poultry Guide, Meridian, 
Miss., is a new Journal and worthy of 
patronage. 

John I. Stevenson, Pace Block, City, 
has everything in the house-fitting line. 
Their Tropical Refrigerator and oil stoves 
are worthy of special attention at this sea- 
son of the year. 



T. Lovelock & Co., Gordonsville, Va., 
are brewers of Registered stock, and are 
entitled to the fullest confidence. Their 
Jersey Bed Hogs, Shropshire Down 
Sheep, Devon Cattle and Fancy Poultry 
mae up a line of farm stock, which 
cannot be well excelled. Their exhibi- 
tions at the Fairs of tbis and other States 
have always commanded attention, and 
their large number of awards attest the 
merits of their animals and fowls. 



"We have investigated the Japanese 

Stove, and recommend their grand free 

I offer in our last paper. Look it up and 

I write them."— Home and Farm, Louis- 

I ville, Ky. 

See the Ad- of this firm in the present 
issue of the Planter. 



Knabe Pianos for Brooklyn Schools. 

(From the Baltimore Daily Nhwh) The 
I award of the contract to supply the Brook- 
I lyn, New York. Public Schools with twelve 
| pianos has been made to Messrs. Wrn. 
i Knabe & Co., this being the entire number 
] required, the a**rd was m-ide aler a test 
i of merit. The Board of Education having 
I determined to secure the piano which they 

thought to be the best in the market, with- 
! out. regard to the difference in price. After 
i a thorough examination and comparison, 
I the Knabe Pianos were unanimously chosen. 



C)i 



260 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



(May 



P. K. Dedkrick & Co., Albany, N. Y., 
are noted for their skill in the manufacture 
of Hay Presses, and we have seen their 
efficient work. No machine is now of 
greater importance to the farmer than a 
good hay press. 



Julius Meter & Son, corner of Sixth and 
Broad Streets, Richmond City, have been 
doing business here for thirty-five years, 
and there is no business house worthy of 
more confidence. A noted feature is, that 
they will deal by sample with persons at a 
distance, and pledge the character of their 
goods. Their store is one of the most at- 
tractive in the city, and their extensive op- 
erations demand the employment of more 
than forty clerks and salesmen. 



L. W. Bili.ups, Undertaker, Franklin 
Street, City, is entirely reliable in his line 
of business. 



J. M. Nolting, Hardware, City, between 
Eighth and Ninth, Main Street, has been 
long known to the trade, and keeps a good 
stock. 



T. W. Lawford, Baltimore, Md. See 
our notice of his Sheep-Dip, and Cata- 
logue of same. 

Yagbr & Campbell, Real Estate Agents, 
Gordonsville, Va. See our notice of their 
Catalogue. 

Monarch Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 
111. Their Horse-Hoe Cultivator is a use- 
ful labor-saving implement. We have seen 
many favorable notices of it. 



Taylor Manufacturing Co., Chambers- 
burg, Pa. Their machines are of the best 
make. We have seen samples of them at 
our State Fairs. 

Henry T. Millrr & Co., corner of Ninth 
and Main, City, manufacturers of shirts 
and other underwear for gentlemen, have 
no superiors in their line of business. We 
can testify from personal knowledge as to 



the excellent character of their goods, and 
to the fidelity and integrity of the members 
of the firm, the senior of which we have 
known from his boyhood. 



S. W. Ficklin, breeder of Percheron- 
Norman Horses, Charlottesville, Va., is 
too well known for commendation from us. 
This large breed of horses are rapidly 
growing in favor for heavy-draft, coachers 
and farm teams. Write to our friend Fick- 
lin for his Catalogue. 



J. H. Bell, Harrisonburg, Va., Florist. 
This energetic gentleman deserves a good 
patronage. 



Kemp's Manure Spreader. — We think 
we have an eye for good implements and 
machinery, and was struck with this the 
first time we saw it. It was exhibited at 
our State Fair in 1881 through our influ- 
ence, and have seen many good reports of 
it since. See their advertisement in our 
present issue. 

Dairy Goods : Churns, &c. — See the ad- 
vertisement of Cornish, Curtis & Green, 
Fort Atkinson, Wis. With a growing in- 
terest in butter-cattle, the best implements 
for butter-making should receive attention. 



Smith's Self-Adjusting Swing Stan- 
chion. — The advertisement of this fasten- 
ing should be noted by all farmers who are 
in the habit of confining cattle in stalls. 
It seems more useful than the usual method 
of haltering with ropes and chains. 



Jas. G. Tinsley & Co., 1326 Cary Street, 
City, advertise their fertilizers, which em- 
brace a full line of specialties, such as 
" Tobacco and Vegetable Fertilizers,'' 
"Corn Fertilizer,'' "Floats," "Floats and 
Potash Mixture," and "Pure Ground Ani- 
mal Bone." This is a leading and respon- 
sible firm, with whom farmers may deal 
with entire confidence. 

Read their advertisement with care and 
send for their circular. 



^m^^mm 



.;;.;.;;;;.;;;;;;;;;;;: 



Durham is historic. It was neutral ground 
during- the armistice between Sherman and 
Johnson. Soldiers of both armies filled 
their pouches with the tobacco storedthere, 
and, after the surrender, marched home- 
ward. Soon orders came from East, West, 
North and South.for "more of that elegant 
tobacco." Then, ten men ran an unknown 
factory. Now it employs 800 men, uses the 
pink and pick of the Golden Belt, and the 
Durham Bull is the trade-mark of this, the 
best tobacco in the world. Blackwell's Bull 
Durham Smoking Tobacco has the largest 
sale of any smoking tobacco in the world. 
Why ? Simply because it is the beat. All 
dealers hare it Trade-mark of the Bull. 




ap 



THE BEST CATTLE FASTENING. 

Smith's Self-Adjustipg Swing Stanchion, 

The only practical Swing Stanchion in- 
vented. Thousands in use. Illustrated 
circular frep. Manufactured by C. D. 
BROOKS. Addison. Steuben Co., N. Y. 



ENGINES, 



'THE BEST IS CHEAPEST. 



THR 



SHERS slHltls ' 



Clover [toilers 



'Suited to all sections. Write for FREE Illus. Pamphlet 
AndPrices to The Aultman & Taylor Co., Mansfield, Ohio. 



DEDERiCK'S HAY PRESSES. 

rf* ^e, s , ff the customer 

keeping the one 
that suits 






°*S> 




Order on trial, address for circular and location ol 
Western and Southern Storehouse* and Agents. 

3 P. K. OEDERICK <Sc CO., Albany, N. Y. 

myly 



Consumption Cured. — An old physician 
retired from practice, having had placed in 
his hands by an East India missionary the 
formula of a simple vegetable remedy for 
the speedy and permanent cure of Con- 
sumption, Bronchitis, Catarrh, Asthma, 
and all Throat and Lung affections; also 
a positive and radical cure for Nervous De- 
bility and all Nervous Complaints, after 
having tested its wonderful curative powers 
in thousands of cases, has felt it his duty 
to make it known to his suffering fellows. 
Actuated by this motive, and a desire to 
relieve human suffering, I will send free of 
charge, to all who desire it, this receipt, in 
German, French, or English, with full di- 
rections for preparing and using. Sent by 
mail by addressing with stamp, naming this 
paper. W. B. Noyes, 149 Power's Block, 
Rochester, N. Y. jan 8t 

POULTRY. 

The Planter has not heretofore been 
able to devote the space and attention to 
an important domestic interest which it de- 
serves. To meet the growing demand for 
thoroughbred poultry and all the best in- 
formation in regard to its management, we 
have arranged with the proprietors of the 
Poultry World, of Hartford, Conn., to sup- 
ply the readers of the Planter with their 
new monthly publication, known as the 
Poultry Post. 

We therefore propose to send to each 
new subscriber the Planter and the Ponltry 
Post for -one year for the sum of $1.50, 
payment to be made in advance ; and for 
the same price will send both papers to all 
the existing subscribers of the Planter who 
are not in arrear, and will pay in advance 
for one year. Their accounts may be set- 
tled, and then the advance payment made. 
Address, 

SOUTHERN PLANTER. 

ANIMAL LABELS. 

We have a number of Animal Labels, 
made by C. H. Dana, West Lebanon, N. H. 
They were taken in payment for an adver- 
tisement, and, having no use for them, will 
sell them at twenty-five per cent, off Mr. 
Dana's list of prices. 

The Labels will be properly stamped 
with name and number, and forwarded by 
Mr. Dana to a purchaser. 

Orders should designate whether Labels 
should be required for cattle, hogs or sheep. 
Address, 

SOUTHERN PLANTER. 






Robust 




Is not always enjoyed by those who seem 
to possess " it. The taint of corrupted 
blood may be secretly undermining the 
constitution. In time, the poison will cer- 
tainly show its effects, and with all the more 
virulence the longer it has been allowed 
to permeate the system. Each pimple, sty, 
boil, skin disorder and sense of unnatural 
lassitude, or languor, is one of Nature's 
warnings of the consequences of neglect. 

Myers Sarsaparilla 

Is the onlv remedy that can be relied upon, 
in all cases, to eradicate the taint of hered- 
itary disease and the special corruptions 
of the blood. It is the only alterative 
that is sufficiently powerful to thoroughly 
cleanse the system of Scrofulous and 
Mercurial impurities and the pollution 
of Contagious Diseases. It also neu- 
tralizes the poisons left by Diphtheria 
and Scarlet Fever, ami' enables rapid 
recuperation from the enfeeblement and 
debility caused by these diseases. 

Myriads of Cures 

Achieved hv Ayer's Sarsaparilla, in 
the past forfv vears, are attested, and there 
is no blood disease, at all possible of cure, 
that will not vield to it. Whatever the 
ailments of this class, and wherever found, 
from the scurvy of the Arctic circle to the 
"veldt-sores" of South Africa, this rem- 
edy has afforded health to the sufferers 
by whom it was employed. Druggists 
everywhere can cite numerous cases, with- 
in tlieir personal knowledge, of remark- 
able cures wrought by it, where all other 
treatment had been unavailing. People 
will do well to 

Trust Nothitig ESse 

than Ayer's Sarsaparilla. Numerous 
crude mixtures are offered to the public 
as "blood purifiers," which only allure 
the patient with the pretense of many 
cheap doses, and with which it is folly to 
experiment while disease is steadily be- 
coming more deep-seated and difficult of 
cure. Some of these mixtures do much 
lasting harm. Bear in mind that the only 
medicine that can radically purify the 
vitiated blood is 

Ayer's Sarsaparilla, 

PREPARED BY 

Dr. J. C. Ayer & Co., Lowell, Mass. 

Sold bv all druggists; price $1, 
'six bottles for $5. 



THE BEST 

Hair restorative in the world is Hall'* 
Hair Renewer. It cures all diseases of 
the scalp, and stimulates the hair glands 
to healthful action. It steps the falling 'of 
the hair; prevents its turning gray ; cures 
baldness, and restores youthful color and 
freshness of appearance to heads already 
while with age. The following are a few 
illustrations of what is done by 



ITEgetatile Sicilian 



£ST Mrs. Hunsberry, 344 Franklin Ave., 
Brooklyn, If. 1*.,. after a envoi's attack of Ery- 
sipelas in the head, found her hair — already 
gray — falling ofl'so rapidly that phesoon hecjimo 
quite bald. One bottle of Hall's IIaib Re- 
newer brought it back as suit, brown aud 
thick as when she was a girl. 

J9Sr* Mr.. Kesling.pii old firmer, near War- 
sair, Intl., hail scarcely any hair left, and what 
little there was of it had "become nearly white. 
Orfe bottle of Hall's Hair Renewer stopped 
its falling out, and gave him a thick, luxuriant 
head of hair, as brown and fresh ao he ever had. 

e£S" Mrs. A. T.Wall, Greenfield, Cheshire, 
Eiuj., writes: "I have found the greatest ben- 
efit from the use of Hall's Hair Renewer, it 
having restored my hair, which was rapilv fall- 
ing oil', and returned its original color." 

j65>~ Dr. Emil Seip, Detroit, JUich., certifies 
that "Hall's Hair Renewer is excellent for 
hair growing, and gives back the natural color 
to faded and gray hair." 

J85P Mrs. S. E. Elliott, Glerirille, W. Va., 
says: "One bottle of Hall's Hair Renewer 
restored my hair to its natural, youthful color." 

No injurious substances enter into the 
composition of Hall's Hair Renewer, 
and it is not a dye. Its vegetable ingre- 
dients render it in the hitrhest degree bene- 
ficial to the scalp as a preventive of dis- 
ease. Its effects are natural and lasting, 
and it does not make the hair dry ami 
brash v, like the so-called restoratives com- 
pounded with alcohol. 

Buckingham's Dye 

FOR THE 

WHISKERS 

Is, in four respects, superior to all others. 

1st — It will produce a rich, liatural 
color, brown or black, as desired. 

2d — The color so produced is permanent, 
cannot be washed off, and will not soil any- 
thing with which it comes in contact. 

3d— It is a single preparation, and more 
convenient of application than any other 
hair or whisker dye. 

4th— It contains no deleterious ingre- 
dients, as do many preparations offered 
for like use. 

prepared by 

B. P. HALL. & CO., Nashua, N. H. 

Sold by all dealers in medicines. 




CHAS. D. HILL&CO. 

6UHI4LCOIIBKIOS HUCHASTS 

CENTRE WAREHOUSE, 
Cary St., Richmond, Va. 

LOOSE TOBACCO A SPECIALTY. 
Grain Bags furnished on application. It 

^Cinrt-nr' Kodel Sewing,/ *. g &i 
ulligcr Machine ony^ * 3t 

a er, Five Hemmers.Bhid rJb gj « j 
er, Thread Cutter, Need ^3? 1 *s 
les. Oil and full outfit with each.- 
Gaarunteed to be perfect. Wai 
ranted r> years. Don't pay doubl 
for machines no better, when y 01 
can try these before you pay aceq 
Aii late improvements. Runs ligh 
with littie noise Har.d^ome an 
durable. Circulars with hun 
— dr«*ds of testimonials frefl 
(c£O.PAINE «fc CO, 47 Third Ave., Chicago, II . 

m v 3i 

L. W. BiLLUPS, 
OTBERTAKER 

1514 B I Franklin Street, Richmond, Va. 
Cloth-Covered Caskets and Burial Cases 
of *11 kinds, in stock. Telegraph orders 
promptly attended to. mylt 

JOinf SCHLEICHER, 

731 Main St., Richmond, Va. 

Expert in Repair of GUNS, LOCKS. 
KNIVES, SCISSORS, &c, io the best 
manner at moderate charges. mylt 

JNO. M.NOLTING 

Dealer in 

HARDWARE 



"J 

CUTLERY, MECHANICS' TOOLS, 
Belting, House-Furnishing Goods, &c 

No. 825 Main Street, 
Bet. 8th and 9th, Richmond, Va. 
Strict personal attention given to all or- 
der, mylt 

lEMP'S i M flNjlRF SPREADER" 

ULVERIZER 

COMBINED. 




Greateot 

Agricultural invention 

oftheAfce! ^avt» 90 per cent, of tabor. Doable* 

the value of the Manure. >prea<U evenly all 

kinds of manure, broadcuKt or in drill, in one-fentli 

time required by band. Illustrateu CatalopTiea tree. 

k.L W * tfCKFfcK Mt"« CO., Syracuse N. Y. 

my3t 



SAW MILL GAUGE 




Address, TAYLOR P8R3. CO. 

{Please Mention this Paper.) Chambersburg, Pa, 

my 

I to WAKTTED. One Agent 
M wanted in every place to sell 

la I our new goods. Big Pay. 40 
samples only 10c. None free. Cut this 
out. Acme Novelty Co., Clintonville, 
Conn. my2t 



Established 1883. 



THE ONLY ONE IN VIRGINIA I 



Subscribe for the 

Virginia Live Stock 

AND 

Poultry Journal, 

A large 20-page Monthly, ably edited, 
well illustrated, large circulation, national 
in character, and only 50 cents per 
year. Sample copy, 10 cents. It offers 
great inducements to advertisers. Address 

JOURNAL PRINTING CO., 
maytf Box 6, Louisa, Va. 

BULBS & VERBENAS. 

For 30 cents, I will send by mail, post- 
postpaid. 4 Tube Roses, or 5 Gladiolus, or 
6 small Verbenas. Catalogue free. Ad- 
dress J. H. BELL, Harrisonburg, Va. 

my It 

Send Ten Cents and get a sample 
copy of the 

Southern Poultry Guide 

A monthly journal devoted exclusively to 
Fancy Poultry, Pigeon and Pet Stock. It 
is interesting to both old and young, and 
should be read by every one interested in 
the improvement of poultry. To adverti- 
sers it offers extra inducements. The cir- 
culation is large, and it is the only journal 
of ihe kind published in this part of the 
Southern States. The subscription price is 
only $1.00 per year. Address 

E. B. McARTHUR & CO., 

Meridian, Miss. 



-5 



Buy your Dry Goods through the mails at same prices as in person. Write for samples 

or any information to 

JULIUS MEYER & SON, 

601 and 603 Broad Street, Richmond, Va. 

Everything in the Dry Goods line, and lowest prices guaranteed. Dress Goods, 
Mourning Goods, Silks, Shawls, Cloaks, White Goods, Linens, Domestics, Cassimeres, 
Ladies, Gent's and Children's Underwear, Hosiery, Gloves, Corsets, Notions, Fancy 
Goods, Druggist's Sundries, Carpets, Mattings, Umbrellas and Parasols. Importers 
Lyons celebrated Gold and Red Border Black Silks. Special facilities for filling mail 
orders. Refer to Editor Southern Planter, Central Presbyterian, Christian Advocate, 
and Planters National Bank, Richmond, Va. my6t 

JQHKT I. STEVENSON, 

807 Main St., Pace Block, Richmond, Va. 

Sole Manufacturer of C. Zimmers's Tropical Refrigerator — the best in use. 
Agent for Dietz Tubular Oil Stoves. mylt 

" REAL ESTATE BROKERS 



\m k iwtnw, 



GORDONSVILLt;, V-A.. 



Make a specialty of Selling and Exchanging Farms, Mills, Town Property, Mineral, Tim- 
bered and Grazing Lands, &c, in any part of Virginia. If you want to buy or sell Vir- 
ginia Real Estate, let us hear from you. No charge made unless property be 
sold. 

Reference by permission : People's National Bank, Charlottesville, Va. my3t 




Hardware, Stove and Tin, Agricultural Implement 
and Country Dealers to take Agency for the 

mmerman Fruit & Vegetable Evaporator 

OVE13 15,000 SOLD. 

The only Gralvanizpd Iron Evaporator in the market, made on correct 
and scientific principles and fully protected by Letters Patent. Five 
sizes made. W e will send on application free, the best and most com- 
plete work, fully illustrated, on evaporating fruits, preparing, bleach- 
ing', conserving, packing and marketing same. Send for Catalogue. 

Address ZIMMERMAN MANUFACTURING GO., 

Cincinnati, Oliio, or Burlington, Iowa. 

mylt 




im»»»i»t#s sttsi 



BALTIMORE, LIGHT AND GERMAN STREETS, BALTIMORE, MD. 



RATES: $4.00, $3.00 and $2.50 per day, according to Location of Room. 

Extra Charges for Parlors, Bath and Double Rooms, according to size. The most 
convenient and latest built Hotel in the city. 
ELEVATOR runs continuously to all floors. 
All lines of city passenger cars pass its doors. Electric Light used. 

feb P. W. COLEMAN, Manager. 




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

Patents obtained through ns are noticed in 
the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, which has 
the largest circulation, and is the most influ- 
ential newspaper of its kind published in the 
world. The ad vanta ges of such a notice every 
patentee understands. 

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

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



HOME INDUSTRY! 



DIXIE SHIRTS! 

"AOME 55 DRAW EH£ 

FIXE DRESS SHIRTS a specialty. 

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

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

H. T. MILLER & CO., 

MANUFACTURERS, 

Cor. Ninth ani Main Sts. s RiclimoM, Va. 

[oct ly] 



c 



& Return to us with TEW 

CTS. &>on'U yetby maLI 

__ A GOLDEN BOX OF GOODS 

ttiatwili br: ,_'> B in tfnRt MONH, in One Month, 

than anything else in Arr-eri'-a. A bsoiurevertarimy. 

Keednocap>taLiLYoung,173(ireeiiwichSt.N.york. 

OCt8t 




EUREKA! 

Is the Standard Incubator the wor Id r . 
Made by J. L. CAMPBELL, West Eliza- 
beth, Allegheny Co., Penn. jely 



JERSEY RED PIGS 

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

T. LOVELOCK, 
mh ly Gordonsville, Va. 





We win send you a watch or a chain 
BY MAIL OR EXPRESS, COD., to be 
examined before paying any money 
and if not satisfactory, returned at 
our expense. We manufacture all 
our watches and save you 30 per 
cent. Catalogue of 2W styles free. 
Every Watch Warranted. Address 

STANDARD AMERICAN WATCH CO., 

PITTSBURGH, PA. 



oct ly 



MORISON'S PILLS 

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

Mailed free to any address upon receipt 
price, SI. W. S. PILCHER. Agent, 
Broad and Pine streets, 
au!2t RICHMOND, VA. 







W THE FOURTH iuKANiD) WiSTRiBUTION OF PREMIUMS w 

*among subscribers to *' OUR SUfd&Y SOUTH" will take place JL 

" I13AY S0t5lo IS34. livery person who subscribes for the paper ' 
before that date, will receive a certificate in the distribution free, and every sub 
scriber is guaranteed a premium. Among ' the ma ny premiums to be distributed are 



S1000cash!S500cash!S250cash 



160 ACftES OF LAND, ELEOANT $500 P9AN0, ORGANS, 
LOT0HE3, HOUSEHOLD AUTlGI ES S BOOKS, NOVELTIES, ETC 

Everything jjuaranteed satisfactory or money refunded. We desire to introduce 
sHour paper into loo.oco new homes this year. Our Company is chartered by the 
SKjIIJState of Texas, with a Capital of $25,000. Our Printing Establishment is the lar- 
ggij! '.'est in the South. Our Company is endorsed by the entire Press and People of 
i|j| f the South, as strictly reliable. We are the originators of the " NO BLANK" 
""distribution plan, and have many imitators, whose extravagant offers are deceiving 
the people. Our offers are LIBERAL YET REASONABLE. 

Our Sfxnt Sottttt -Is published* semi-monthly, devoted to the interests of the fnrm and. fireside. 
Send one duiiur, at oi.ee, fur ajear's subscription no J a certificate in the May distribution. 

'"jT^? ?.'^A WiTE*^ Send for full particulars. The first subscription received from each 



jhborhood will entitle the sender to fuli agent's outfit free, 
.'ddress, -fUNfjy SOUTH CO . Brownwood. Texas. 



For a club of two subscribers and $2, we will send free a set of silver-plated spoons. For four subscribers and £ I 
we -will send a ^uexira copy oitue pa per foroue year, and certificate, free. Ourpaper is the popular family iourimlot 
the South, and has am,,.h' over 40,000 subscribers. It is no new enterprise, but has been established tor eight years I 
9 and, by lair deaniy ami honest treatment, has won the confidence of the people. s J"=»"i I 

ThePoslmastKiat Brownwood, Texas, says: "The SlTNKY SOUTH Co., id'this place, is strictly reliable and trust- 
j worthy, and no one need hesitate to scud them money, or fear being defrauded." 



my It 



may3t 



DA IK YGOQDS: 



We make from the best material Superior Articles , .- 
Of Dairy Goods, that are models of strength and simplici- 
ty. Unquestioned proof Riven of their durability. Sole manu- 
facturers of Curtis' Improved Factory Churn, Mason's 
Power Butter Worker, Lever Worker, Curtis' Square ^IH 
Box Churn, Rectansralar Churn, Cream Vats,Dog Power,etc.^ 
"One Family Churn at wholesale where we have no 
I agent." All Roods warranted exactly as represented. TWO GOLD 
AND FOURTEEN SILVER MEDALS awarded for suiierioritf 

CORNISH, CUETIS & GBEEHE, Fort Atkinson, Wis? 



JOHN E. DOHERTY, 

822 EAST r/E.ail'J STREET, 

Solicits an examination of his 

Fine Stools of Foreign Goods 

FOR, FALL A.IVr> WiMTER. 

UNEXCELLED FOR VARIETY, STYLE AND QUALITY bv any offered in this 
market. Will be made bv 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. 

""CARRIAGE Ed HARNESS M FG CO. 

jMakersof all Btylea ofCARRIAGES.BUGGIES.SPRING WAGONS,SINGLE & DOUBLE HARNESS A SADDLES 
.No. 1, Team Harnett* 

^25, 



i\m 



We Retail at Wholesale Prices. 



We employ no agents, and if 
Lwhat yon order is not satis- 
|faCtory, we pay all expenses. 
No. 42 Buggy (see cut) is just 
the same as others sill at $130. 
Top Buggies at SHO, fine as 
usually sold for $125 to $140. / 
Our Harness are all No. 1 Oak 
Leather. Single, $8.50to$;20. I 
Everything fully warranted. Be- 
fore buying, send for our Illustrated 
80-j>age Catalogue free. AddressW. I- - 
PRATT, Mec'y, Elkhart, Indiana 



No. 42. T\T<>-sf.i(nl 



Cj-SHIP ANYWHERE 
WIT11 1'KlVliEUE OF 




Examining 



. 



A BIG SCHEME. 

We intend that "Texas Sittings" shall reach a cir- 
culation of 250,000 copies weekly before the end of 
1884 ; and to get that circulation we are prepared, if 
necessary, to spend every cent we make in our busi- 
ness duiing the year 1SS4. 

Subscription price ol " Texas Siftings," one Tear, 
$2.50. 

To induce the reading public to subscribe, we 
make the following offers, good for 30 days troin date 
of this paper. 

We will send free, postage prepaid, to every sub- 
scriber who sends us the subscription price, either 
direct or through an agpnt. the following Seven 
Complete Novels, in one Volume, illustrated, aud 
bound in handsome colored covers ; alsoau 8x11 inch 
lithograph, printed in eleven colors, and suitable for 
framing. 

'•John Jairo's Ghost, by Wilkie Collins. 

"The Dream Woman," by Wilkie Collins. 

"Lottie Leigh," by Bertha M. Clay, author of 
"Dora Thorne," etc. 

"The Missing Letter," by Mrs. Henry Wood, au- 
thor ot "East Lynne," etc. 

"Ninety-nine'Cboice Readings and Recitations," 
compiled by J. S. Ogilvie 

"Mugby Junction," by Charles Dickens. 

"Phil. Scott, the Indian Detective," by Jtidson R. 
Taylor. 

To every person who will send us a list of Three 
Subscriber and remit the subscription price, $2.50 
each, we will give any one of the following articles : 

A Gentleman's Stem-Winding Nickel-Silver Watch, 
warranted to keep good time. 

A 32-Caibre Revolver, 7 inches in length, Solid 
Silver-plated Handle. Gold-plated Cylinder and base 
Pin. Beautifully Engraved. 

Combination Set, containing half a dozen Solid 
Silver-plated Medium Forks and half a dozen Shef- 
field Silver-plated Table Knives, neatly set in a fine 
hinge cover case, which is enclosed in a strawboard 
box. These are Sheffield (Eng.) goods, and are of 
the best q' ality. The set weighs more than two 
pounds, a.-d is very heavily silver-plated. 

Every reader ot "Texas Sittings" has certainly 
three friends who would be wiliing to subscribe lor 
the paper if asked. Get three of them to subscribe, 
send us the money, and we will send you, free, either 
the Watch, the Pistol, or the Knives and Forks. 
If you want sample copies of "Sittings" to distribute 
among your friends, send us 10 cents in stamps, and 
we will mail you a bundle of sample copies Send 
us Six Subscriptions, and you will get any Two of 
the Premiums. Send Eight Subscriptions, and we 
will send you all Three of the Premiums. 

Remember that each subscriber gets the paper one 
year for the $2 50 subscription price that you send, 
and also gets free the seven novels above described 

A Lady's solid Gold Watch, in beautiful ilk-lined 
Morocco case free to every person who seDds us 15 
yearly subscriptions to "Siftings," S2 50 each. 

We stake our reputation on this watch being as 
we represent it. The works are of the finest, and 
are enclosed in Solid Goid Hunting Cases, beauti- 
fully engraved. 

For turther (illustrated) description of these pre- 
miums, see this week's "Siftings." 

£em't by Registered Letter or Post Office Order. 

Subscription Departmi-nt, 

TEXAS SIFTINGS PUBLISHING CO.. 

mh New York, N. Y. 

C. LUMSDEN & SON, 

828 Main Street, Richmond, Va. 

Fine Watches, Jewelry, 

Clocks, Spectacles, Wedding Rings, &c. 
[ap ly] 



OPIUM 



andWHT^KV HABITS enrefc 
athome without pain. Buck 

of 7>ai'tioulars> s<'iit Free. 
B. M. WUOLLEX". M. D., Atlanta, Ga. 



ap ly 



Richmond & Alleghany R. R. 

Through Passenger, Freight and Ex- 
press Roote ; North, East, South, 
Southwest and West. 
EQUIPMENT FIRST-CLASS IN ALL 
OF ITS APPOINTMENTS. 
Scenery Unsurpassed, Traversing a8 it 
does, tbe Beautiful James River Valley its 
entire length, 230 miles. 



CONNECTIONS. 

The completion of i lie Valley Branch of the Bal- 
timoreand « >hio railroad, offers a new and attractive 
route for travel, freight and expre>s. 

Connecting at Lexington with Baltimore and Ohio 
railroad, making close connection at Harper's Ferry 
to and trotu Pittsburgh, the West, -orlh and East. 

At Richmond with Associated Railways lor a!l 
points South, and Kichmoud. Fredericksliurg and 
Potomac Kail road for all points North; at i ynch- 
burg with Virginia Midland railway tor all points 
North and Norfolk and Western railroad lor Knox- 
ville, Chattanooga. Atlantic, Cincinnati, St. Louis, 
Nashville, Louisville. Memphis. New Orleans, and 
all points in the South, Souihwtst and Texas. 
Slee< er from Lynchburg to New Orleans and ( hat- 
tanooga without change, and on all night trams. 
Morning train makes close connection to Memphis 
and all southwestern points, and avoids several 
hours lay over at Chattanooga; at Clifton Forge 
with Chesapeake and Ohio railway for tbe South- 
west, Northwest and West. 

Sleeping-car attached to Night Express for I ynch- 
burg. J. K MACMUKDO, 

ap tf Gen. Pass, and Express Agent. 

GUKDIMVILLB MALE OIILLKtiE 

GORDONSVILLE, VA. 

Seventh session begins about tbe middle of Sep- 
tember, 1884 Located in tbe finest climate in 'he 
State Mountain air but free from the severe 
changes of the more elevated regions. 

A full faculty, thorough instruction, good fare. 

Charges very moderate. For catalogue address 
Prof. J. WADE SHELBUKNE. 

ap 3t Principal. 



OILS' 

812 E. 



BROAD STREET. 



John H. Unney, Lewis H. Finney, Jr 

Formerly with Christian & White 

T. H. FINMTE1Z - & BRO., 

Atmospheric and other approved Lamps, 
Chimneys, Wicks, and Burners. Kerosine, 
Headliebt and Non-Explosive Oils of supe- 
rior qualities Wholesale and Retail. 

In ordering, please state you saw adver- 
tisement in Southern Planter It 

Garden, Flower and Field Seeds. 

Red. White Alfalfa and ANike Clover Seeds, 
Timothy, Orchard, Blue, lied Top and Hungarian 
Grass Seeds, Millets, &c. 

Prices as low as any reliable seed house in the 
Stales. Send for Descriptive Catalogue. Trade 
price-list furnished on application 

CHAS. C. McCOLGAN & CO., 
Cor. Light and G Tinan Streets, Baltimore, Md. 

Opposite Carrollton Hotel. 

mh 3t 



Most Extensive Pure-Bred Live Stock 

Establishment in the World. 




Clydesdale, 

Percheron Norman 
English Draft 

Coacliers, Trolting-Bred 



Roadsters, 



Shetland Ponies, 
Holstein and Devon Cattle. 

No over-fed, pampered or worn-out stock. Our 
customers have the advantage of our many years' 
experience in breeding and importing large collec- 
tions, opportunity of comparing different breeds, 
low prices, because of extent of business, and low 
rates of transportation. Circulars free. Corre- 
spondence solicited. POWELL BROTHERS, 
Springboro, Crawford countv, Fa. 

Mention Southern Planier. ap 3t 

H. A. S. HAMILTON, 

ITishersville, Va., 

BREEDER AND SHIPPER OF 




COTSWOLD and 

SOUTHDOWN 
Chester White and Poland-China 
EC O OS. 

My flocks of Sheep were exhibited at three Fairs 
in the fall of 1883, and were awarded 57 Premiums 
amounting to $fi25. 

Write for description and prices. ap 6t 



SHEEP 



$66 



a week at home. 85 outfit free. Pay 
absolutely sure. No risk. Capital not 
required. Reader, if you want business 
at which persons of either sex, young or 
old, can make great pay all the time they work, with 
absolute certainty, write for particulars to H. Hal- 
lett & Co., Portland, Me. fe ly 



OT? TVT C! T ft ^T Q mr au y disability; also to 
X JlllN uIUIN U Heirs. Send stamps for New 
Laws. Col. L. BINGHAM, Attorney, Washington 
D. C. de 6t 



MONARCH HORSE HOE 

AHDCUUn COMBINED 



For Hoeing & Hilling Potatoes, 

Corn, Onions, Beets, 
•Cabbages, Turnips, &c. 




SENT ON 

30 Days' 



TEST TRIAL 



An Immense saving of labor and money. 
We guarantee a boy can cultivate and hoe 
and hill potatoes, corn, etc., 15 times as 
easy and fast as one man can the old way. 
Illustrated Catalogue FREE. AGENTS 
WANTED, Mention this paper, Address 

Monarch Mfg. Co., 206 State St.,(!riicago,Ill. 

ap 3t 

266ttl EDITION. PRICE ONLY $1. 

BY MAIL POSTPAID. 




MW THYSELF. 



A Great Medical Work on Manhood. 

Exhausted Vitality, Nervous and Physical Debili- 
ty, Premature Decline in Man, Errors of Youth, and 
the untold miseries resulting from indiscretion or 
excesses A book for every man, young, middle- 
aged and old. It contains 125 prescriptions for all 
acute and chronic diseases, each one of which is in- 
valuable. So found by the Author, whose expe- 
rience for twenty-three years is such as probably 
never before fell to the lot of any physician. 300 
pages, bound in beautiful French muslin, embossed 
covers, full gilt, guaranteed to be a finer work in 
every sense — mechanical, literary and professional — 
than auy other work sold in this country for $2.50, 
or the money be refunded in every instance. Price 
only $1 by mail, postpaid. Illustrative sample, 6 
cents. Send now. dold medal awarded the author 
by the National Medical Association, to the officers 
01 which he refers 

This book should he read by the young for instruc- 
tion, and by the afflicted for relief, ii will benefit 
all. — London Lance/. 

There is no member of society to whom this book 
will not be useful, whether youth, parent, guardian, 
instructor or clergyman — Argonaut. 

Address the Peabody Medical Institute, or Dr. 
W. H. Parker, No. 4 Bulfinth Street, Boston, Mass., 
who may be consulted on all diseases requiring skill 
and experience. Chronic and obstinate diseases that 
have baffled the skill of all ■■ H? A I other 
physicians a specialty. Such F < [ Eb_^%_Ih treat- 
ed successfully without ' 
an instance of failure. 



rmcn ■ ■ bces r^ mtM nt <u- 

THYSELF 



FAY'S CELEBRATEDI 

WATER-PROOF 

MANILLA ROOFING I 

Resembles fine leather; for Roofs, Outside 
Walls, and Inside in place of plaster, t Very I 
.stroni? and durable. Catalogue with testimo- 1 
male and samples FREE. Established 1866. [ 
W. H. FAYife CO., Camden, N. J. 



The Cold Water Dip 

Is not Poisonous or Corrosive. 

Mixes perfectly with COLD WATER. 
Safe to use in COLDEST WEATHER. It 
is a sure care for all Skin Diseases, Insect 
Pests, and Worms of Domestic animals. 
For sheep, leaves the wool like silk. Every 
farmer should keep it. In the Household, 
destroys all bad smells. No infectious 
malady can exist where this Dip is era 
ployed as a Disinfectant. For its various 
uses in detail and prices, send postage 
stamp to T. W. LAWFORD, General 
Agent, 296 East Chase St., Baltimore, Md. 
[may 3t] 




ap 3t 



TH E JAPANESE STORE.. 



Highest Medal southern Exposition, lhis paper udoksis ddb 
beuability. — Official adrices from Tea-Fields of Japan authorize 
ua to publish a tremendous febe offer, giving every family in the 
TJ. S. and Canada a pkge. of the only Pue» Basket-Picked Tea 
in the world. Mail us *25 cts. for postage and we will mail you a 
package of the Tea, and the Ts>- Imported Items below— Fbee. 



GRAND FREE 0FF1R 



1 Handsome Parlor Tidy. 
1 Elegant Painted Scroti. 
1 Magnificent Lamp Shade. 

1 Beautiful Lamp Mat. 

2 Hand-painted Toilet Mats, 



1 Hand-made Book Mark. 

1 Decorative Fan, 

1 Ornamenting Parasol. 

1 Fancy Nankin. 

1 Lady's Folding Fan. 



547~4fh-AVE LOUISVILLE. 



sp 



THE NEW ENGLISH COMPANY, 

FOR THE 

Sale and Purchase of Land in Virginia, 

Have many enquiries for the purchase of 
farms and real estate, and have already 
made extensive sales at good prices. Those 
■wishing to sell or buy land, or farm prop- 
erty, should apply at once to G. B. Lynes, 
Ivey depot, Albemarle county, Va. 

Parties wishing to look at farms can be 
boarded by advertizer. 

G. B. LYNES. 

mh 6t 



CHESAPEAKE A\D OHIO RAILWAY 

— FROM— 

CINCINNATI, LOUISVILLE and 
COLUMBUS, OHIO, 

— TO— 

CLIFTON FORGE, STAUNTON, 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, and 

RICHMOND, VA. 

LAND BUYERS and parties from the 
West and Northwest, who are looking for 
New Homes in the mild climate of Virginia 
and the Carolinas, will find the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 

the only direct route to Virginia. 
Call on Agents of the Seneca Route, 
Chicago. Rock Island and Pacific. 
J. H. MARTIN, General Agent, Indian- 
apolis, Ind. 

Or following Agents of C. and 0. Ry. : 

W. P. FOSTER, 108 N. Third Street, St. 

Louis, Mo. 
FRANK W. BUSKIRK, 171 Walnut St., 

Cincinnati, 0. 
J. J. ARCHER, Gen. Pass. Agent, Scioto 

Valley Railway, Columbus, 0. 

H W. FULLER, 

General Passenger Agent. 
C. W. SMITH, 

General Manager, Richmond, Va. 

wanted for "The Lives of the 
Presidents of the U. S. The 
largest, handsomest, best 
book ever sold for less than 
twice our price. The fastest selling book in Amer- 
ica. Immense profits to Agents. All intelligent 
people want it. Any one can become a successful 
agent. Terms fee. Hallett Book Co., Portland, 
Me - [feb ly] 



AGENTS 



Q-, ATT". JOHSTES, 

DENTIST, 

Office: No. 807 Franklin St., bet. 
Eighth and Ninth. 

Elegant rooms ; uses best materials ; gentle, quick 
and thorough work ; long experience, and prices re- 
duced. Uses gas and chloroform in extracting teeth 

nov ly 



TRADE- 
MARKS, 
PRINTS, 

LABELS. 



Patents. 



COPT- 

RItiHTS, 
DESIGNS, 

RE-ISSUES. 
Send description of your Invention. L. BING- 
HAM, Patent Lawyer and Solicitor, Washington, 

de6t 



DC. 



THOROUGHBRED 

SHORTHORN CATTLE. 

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

ja 1— ly Culpeper, Va. 



James G. Tinsley, Isaac Davenport, Jr., 

Packer of Fruits and Vegetables. President First National Bank of Richmond. 

9 AMES @ e VSRi&BY & ©®. f 

1326 Gary Street, - - Richmond, Va., 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

PURE GROUND ANIMAL RAW BONE, FLOATS OF SOUTH CARO- 
LINA BONE, TOBACCO AND VEGETABLE FERTILIZER, CORN 
FERTILIZE", FLOATS AND POTASH MIXTURE. 

l®*POR SALE.— Kainit or German Potash Salts, No. 1 Standard Pe- 
ruvian Guano. 



JAS. G.TIWS LEY & CO'S FE RTILIZERS 

OUR TOBACCO FERTILIZER. 

After a practical experience of over fifteen years, we have carefully prepared this Fer- 
tilizer, and are confident that it cannot be excelled as a plant-food. Below we give you 
analysis, from which you will find that, in addition to its richness in Phosphoric Acid 
and Potash, it has fully one-;hird more Ammonia than the majority of fertilizers now 
offered. This Ammonia is derived from the best-known sources, and will supply con- 
stant plant-food through the season. 

ANALYSIS. 

Ammonia 3^ to 4J per cent. 

Available Phosphoric Acid 6 to 8 " 

Potash 3jto4£ " 

Price, $40. 

OUR CORN FERTILIZER. 

We can confidently recommend this Fertilizer for the corn-crop, as it contains all the 
elements necessary for its growth, and just in proportion as needed. 

ANALYSIS. 

Ammonia 1 to 2 percent. 

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 to 9 " 

Potash 2to2£ " 

Price, $30. 

FLOATS," 

Wh'ch are ground by our Duc-Atomizer, the most approved process known, and much 
finer than the sane article ground by any other machinery, and you will readily appre- 
ciate that it is your interest to use the finest article, as its immediate availability depends 
upon its fineness. Price, $18. 

"FLOATS" AND POTASH MIXTURE, 

We would recommend this application on light, sandylarids. This mixture is carefully 
prepared by ourselves for this purpose. Price, $18. 

PURE GROUND ANIMAL BONE. 

The value of Raw Bone as a permanent .improver is so well known that it is useless for 
us to recommend it further lhau to say this is ground by ourselves, and we guarantee the 
purity of every bag. Price, $3-i. 

We keep on hand and for sale No. 1 Standard Peruvian Guano, 9 to 10 per cent, am- 
monia guaranteed — price, $70; and German Potash Salts— price, $14. 

Orders and correspondence solicited, which shall receive our prompt, attention. 

Address: JAMES G. TINSLEY & CO., 

ap 1326 Cary Street, Richmond, Va. 



J. T. GATEWOOD, 



DEALER IN 



<f itu tfweruA 

LIQUORS AND FEED. 

116 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Va. 

Families having a surplus of anything produced 
j n the Dairy, Barnyard or Garden, will do well to 
a( j vise with me. Correspondence solicited. auly 



P. A. SuBLETT. 



W. M. Cary. 



SUBLETT & CARY, 

Commission Merchants 

No. 113 South Twelfth Street, 
RICHMOND, VA. 
Specialties- Tobacco, Cotton, Flour, Grain and 
Forage. Grain .-acks furnished to order. 

J F. Jacob and B. Lorkaine, of Richmond, Ta., 
and Nat Fejzes, of Orange County, Va., respect- 
fully solicit the patronage of their friends. au!2t 



£13784 MA 

AMD 

E2ZSIAWABD 




OF HESIT 

"^AT % 

CENTENNIAL. 
Bend for Catalogu*. 

SAWMILLS 




CTEAM ENGINES, 

AB.FARQUHAB,Iork,Pa, 
Cheapest and best for all ptrr 
pases — simple, strong, and du- 
rable. Alio Horse Pow 
trs and Qln Gear. 

Sa-w,Getst and Cob 
JCilli, Gins, Peesses 
AjdJIacht-ttect gsner- | 
.'''v. Inquiries promptly ~ 
an-vrcrid. 

. VerticalEngines.witb. orwithout sS'h 
' wheels, very tunveni- **gv 
6 nt, economical and 
completein every de- 
tail, best and 
• cheapest Vert- 
ical in the 
.world. Fig. 
ill is engine 
: in use. Fi or. 
L'iready for 
Iroad. Fig. 2. 

The Farquhar Separator 

f- ^rrantedl 






K3SE3X PBIZS 

AWAHEI 
SEPARATORS, 



TUB 

S1L7ES 1ISBAL 

AT 

Paris Exposition, 



Dr. GEORGE B. STEEL, 



723 Main Street, Richmond, Va. 
Chas. L. Steel, M. D., D. D. S., Assistant. 
oct ly 



EngineITbiTilerS 
NEW AND SECOND HAND. %& 

ALL KINDS OF MACHINERY AT L0W PRICES 

Eagle Gins, Saw Slills, Planers, Resaws, Ac. 

RANDLE & DUGAN MACH'Y CO., 

(Mention thU Paper.) CINOIiVNATI. OHIO. 

mh 3t 



1838 



1884 DOMONA NURSERIES. 

I (ESTABLISHED 1838.) 

WILSON JUNIOR, 

The Largest Early Blackberry. 

KIEFFER HYBRID PEARS. 

100,000 Peach Trees. 

100 Acres in Small Fruits. 
Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Grapes, Cur- 
rants, Ac. Fruit and Shade Trees. Catalogue with col. 
©red plates free. WM. PAKKY, Parry P.O., New Jersey. 

mh 3t 





l tyr BWbated Catalogue. AddrcesA-L. Farqu&ar, YorKP* 
UUV II 



Farmers will find it to 
their interest to plant 
our Early Seed 
Corn, Potatoes and 
■ Garden Seeds this 
coming Spring. For 60 cents in 2 cent 
stamps we will send to any address, by 
mail prepaid, 2 pounds either variety se- 
lected seed corn. Mammoth Yellow King, 
Golden Yellow, Chester Co. Yellow, Learn- 
ing, Normandy White, Champion White or 
White Pearl. B'rom the above varieties 
we have received better reports the past 
two years, and more first premiums than 
any house in the U. S. Price for either 
variety by express or freight, purchaser to 
pay all charges, 1 peck, 75 cents; 1 bushel, 
82.40; 2 bushels. $4.50; 5 bushels, $10.00; 
sample any variety, 10 cents. Satisfaction 
guaranteed. (Catalogue free ) 

THOS. M. HAYES & CO., 
jan 6t Cincinnati, O. 

UGAR MILLS 

Eighty Sizes, for Hand, 
Animal, Steam and Water Power. 

The Best. The Cheapest 

Thousands in use throughout 

the Tropical World and by all 

the leading Sorghum growers 

of tne West, Catalogues and 

Prlecu, and Pr r». ffEBEK 

& 8C0VILLS Northern 

CASK MANUAL tent free 

by GF.O. L. SQTJiEK, 

Buffalo. N. T. 




American Fertilizing Company, box 677, of Norfolk, Va. 

IMPORTERS OF GUANOS AND CHEMICALS AND MANUFACTURERS 

OF HIGH-GRADE AND STANDARD SUPERPHOSPHATES, 

No. 163 and 165 Water Street, Norfolk, Va. 

C. L. UPSHUR, President W. J. ROBINS, Secretary. 

UPSHUR'S STANDARD 10 PER, CENT. AMMONIA GUANO— This is one of 
the very highest grade guanos on the market, and will grow any crop as quick and give 
as large a yield as any Peruvian guano, no matter what grade it is, and claims to be 
second to nothing in the market. It is especially fine for top-dressing, or used in any 
way Peruvian is used, and good on all crops. It is made of the highest grade and finest 
materials. Analysis : 10 per cent, ammonia, 16 to 20 per cent, bone phosphate, 2 to 
3 per cent, potash. 

UPSHUR'S STANDARD 7 PER CENT. AMMONIA GUANO, OR SPECIAL 
IRISH POTATO GUANO. — This guano has excelled the Peruvian guano whenever 
used in competition with it, and is prepared especially for the Potato Crop. It matures 
the potatoes earlier, produces more and a superior quality, costs $15 to $20 per ton less 
than Peruvian, and permanently enriches the soil. In the finest mechanical condition, 
and is very bulky. Analysis ; 7 to 8 per cent, ammonia, 16 to 20 per cent, bone phos- 
phate, 2 to 3 per cent, potash. 

UPSHUR'S PERUVIAN MIXTURE, ESPECIALLY FOR COTTON, TOBACCO, 
&c, &c. — This is prepared from bone flour, fish and Peruvian guano, and is one of the 
best preparations for cotton on the market. Analysis : 3 per cent, ammonia, 15 to 20 
percent, bone phosphate lime, 1 to 2 per cent, potash. 

We keep on hand the best Peruvian guano, in its natural state, and guarantee it per- 
fectly pure and of the highest grade. Wc also offer for sale Lobos's Guano, Standard 
Analysis. Also, all kinds of Fertilizing Chemicals, such as Sulph. Ammonia, Nit. Soda, 
Sulph. and Muriate Potash, Kainit, Bone Dust, Pure Fish Srcap, Fine Ground Fish, 
South Carolina Acid Phosphate, &c, &c. Our President is an experienced manufac- 
turer of guanos, also a practical farmer, and employees of the Company are practical 
and experienced fertilizer manufacturers and dealers. 

AMERICAN FERTILIZING COMPANY, 

mh 3t C. L. UPSHUR, President. 



4®@ 




(Super-phosphate.) 

The great tobacco fertilizer, produces the brightest and best tobacco, while it perma- 
nently enriches the soil. 

FISH HAWK GUANO, 

For Wheat, Corn, Oats, &c. 

niversally regarded as the fertilizer for these crops. 

We guarantee these brands absolutely free from leather, wool waste, hoofs, horns, or 
any of the cheap and worthless materials to be found in many brands now on the market. 
Our goods do not contain one ounce of cheap stuff. We use only the purest and best 
materials, and wherever POCOMOKE and FISH HAWK have been used, they have 
taken the lead. Correspondence solicited. 

FREEMAN, LLOYD, MASON & DRYDEN, 

Manufacturers, Norfolk, Va. 

W. D. TOMPKINS & CO., Agents, Richmond, Va. 

mh ::t 



D. C. Whitshitest. 



E. H. Whitehurst. 



WBIV ISOltf ft B&0., 

DEALERS IN 

FURNITURE ! 



CARPETS, MATTINGS, OIL CLOTHS, MATTRESSES, Pictures, &c. 

157 Church Street, Norfolk, Va. 



mh 3t 



THE 

UPPER JAMES RIVER VALLEY. 

All things considered, the advantages of this section cannot well be over-estimated. 
The advantages are, viz. : Health and salubrity of climate, good and productive soil, 
abundant supply of pure water, excellent timber, an inexhaustible supply of the staple 
minerals (coal and iron), accessible to the best markets with rapid transit. These lands 
are now cheap, yet must rapidly increase in value, and make sure and speedy fortunes to 
those who secure them at present prices. Send stamp for pamphlet, giving full particu- 
lars. Address 

Lock Box 47, Richmond, Va. W. A.. PARSONS. 

mh 



@e@s®^ *§&m 



V Market Street, NORFOLK, VA. 

Invite attention to their stocks of Field, Garden and Flower Seeds, which have been grown with the utmost 
care in the districts and countries where they attain their greatest perfection, and with a careful view to 
the soil and climate of the South, and which they know to be as good as can be found in the world. De- 
scriptive Catalogue mailed on application. mh 3m 

A cheap and reliable fertilizer for Tobacco, Cotton, Peanuts, Wheat, Oats, Clover, Grasses, &c. $15 per 
ton, delivered at any of the depots in Norfolk or.Portsmouth, Va. 

Manufactured by STYRON, WHITEHURST & CO., Norfolk, Va. 

Office, Bigg's Wharf; Factory, Burton's Point, South of Navy Yard. 
mh 3t 



f e Wffi!l^SEEOPLANTS 



embraces every desirable Novelty of the season, as well as all standard kinds. A special feature 
for 1884 is, that you can for ^ff HJ A&jTh select Seeds or Plants to that value from their 
Catalogue, and have included, ^pi&m\Jr%4f without charge, a copy of Peter Henderson's New 
Book, "Garden and Farm Topics," a work of 250 pages, handsomely bound in cloth, 
and containing a steel portrait of the author. The price of the book alone is 81.50. Catalogue 
of "Everytlr'iig for tlie Garden," giving details, free on application. 

PETER HENDERSON &f CO. 35&37 CortlandtSt., New Yofk! 






mh 3t 



J. W. FERGUSSON & SON, 



BOOK AID JOB PRINTERS 



!i 



• 



Corner of Main and Fourteenth Streets, 



Et©Bi£@ro* YA 



. 



B1MMWT STUD & STOCK FAE1 

Was commenced in 1847, and has been continuously improved, and two grazing farms 
added, with the kind of stock my experience has adopted as best suited to our country's 
wants. I have bred only from stallions or mares of my breeding or importation, and 
suited to the wants of any section, and will sell any of above of three years old and over, 
and in plain, unpampered condition, will let stallions, if not 6old on safe business terms, 
for seasons of 1884. I have bred of several breeds of Cattle, but of late years only the 
Pure Shorthorns, and have all ages for sale, especially young Bulls, Heifers and Calves. 
I breed only the best Berkshire Swine, and have a number of Boar and Sow Shoats and 
Pigs for sale ; also, White Brahma Fowls and their Eggs. There may be other stock as 
good, or better, but my experience has settled on these, and I feel that I am doing a pub- 
lic good to forward the propagation of these improved breeds. 

S. W. FICKLIN. 

Near Charlottesville, Va., Jan. 1st, 1884. ap ly 



«©Ei 



FEED CUTTER. 



This machine is constructed on an entirely different principle from any other 
Feed Cutter in use, and is unequalled in three essentials, viz. : 

RAPID WORK, STRENGTH, AND FACILITY IN SHARPENING THE CUTTERS. 

They are made for both hand and power, and surpass any other machine for 
light running. It cuts cornstalks, ensilage, hay and straw with equal facility. 

Orders addressed to the undersigned, or any information desired regarding 
this machine, -will secure prompt attention. 

MOSES & CLEMONS, 



Richmond, Va., Nov., 1883. 



[de 6t] 



General Agents for Manufacturers- 



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

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

ENGINEERING AND AGRICULTURE. 

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

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

seply 



ASHLEY PHOSPHATE GO. 

"OHARLESTOlSr, S. C.:: 

FLOATS AND KAINIT MIXTURE of best materials, thoroughly 
mixed by machinery, containing Bone Phosphate, 25 to 30 per cent. ; 
Sulph. Potash, 12 to 14 per cent., besides Magnesia and Soda and 
Lime, &c. 

SOLUBLE GUANO— Highly Ammoniated. 

DISSOLVED BONE— Very High Grade. 

ACID PHOSPHATE— For Composting. 

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

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

SMALL-GRAIN SPECIFIC— Rich in Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, 
Potash, Magnesia and Soda. 

GENUINE LEOPOLDSHALL KAINIT. 

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

For Terms, Hand-Books, ? Agricultural Primers, and good Articles on Floats, Peas and 
Ash Element, Kainit, &c, address the 

ASHLEY PHOSPHATE COMPANY, 

N. B. — Special inducements for Cash Orders. Special Formulas made carefully 
to order of best materials. [ja ly] 

ESTABLISHED IN" 1870. 

STO NO-PHOSPHATE COMPANY, 

CHARLESTON, 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. 
de!2m 



BLUE WINDSOR PLASTER. 

We will furnish at bottom prices prime ground Blue Windsor Plaster, which it would be to the advantage 
of farmers in this section to buy, on account of its purity. 

Corn Meal, Planing; and. Moulding, 

Guarantee satisfaction in every particular. It is hardly necessary to mention the 

The Judges at the State Fair said that " they were the finest they had ever seen for the money, a«d the 
finish was superior to any of the kind they had ever seen at any price." 
Our Chairs secured first premiums at the last Fairs held at Culpeper, Staunton. Lynchburg and Richmond. 
Trusting to receive encouragement and patronage in our enterprise, we are, very respecifully, 

ap 3t ROBERTSON & CONRAD, Gordonsville, Va. 



JOHN BOWERS, 



No. 7 Iron Block, Governor St., 

REFRIGERATORS, MARBLE AND SLATE MANTELS, 

FRONTS AND GRATES, STOVES FOR COOKING AND HEATING. 

Call and examine my elegant show-rooms. ap 2t 

IANDRETHS'* seed 'CATALOGUE 
"gardeners: c ompanion 
PR 
tV,-:jl 
■ 



?> 



PRICE lO CENTS. The most complete and brilliantly erubflhshed Seed Catalogue ever 

published, costing: fifteen cents. The article on Market Gardening under Glass is worth 

twenty times the price. This being OUR ONE HUNDREDTH TEAR, we publish this 

Ornate Guide for harden and Farm. To all sending us TEN CENTS in stamps, 

we mail a copy, and on orders for Seed will give credit for that amount. Address 

LANDRETH & SONS, Seed Growers, Lock Box.Phila.Pa. 

Established 1865. Standard Guaranteed. 

ALLISON «£ ADDISON, 

MANUFACTURERS OF 




"STAR BRAND" SPECIAL COMPLETE MANURES 

FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING CROPS: 

TOBACCO, WHEAT, COTTOX, COB.V, OATS, VEGETABLES AAD GBASS, 

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

— DEALERS IN — 

German Kainit or Potash, Nitrate of Soda, Plaster, Jtc. 

F ACTOBY-Opposlte Rocketts, } RICHMOND, VA. 

• AU orders and communications promptly attended to. fe tf 




Premium Chester White, 
Berkshire and Poland China 
Pigs, Fine Setter Dogs, 
Scotch Collies >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 



'THE BEST SS THE CHEAPEST." 



THRESHERS, 
House Powers, 

(For all sections and purposes.) Write for r>€-e Pamphlet 
and Prices to The Aultinan <St lay lor Co. , Mansfield. Ohio. 



SAW 
MILLS, 



NG1N 



GOLD 



"BARBOUR" CORN DRILL, 



for the working class. SendlOcents 
for postage, and we will mail you free 
a royal valuable box of sample goods 
that will pui you in the way of mak- 
j more money in a few days than you ever thought 
possible at any business. Capital not required. We 
will start you. You can work all the time, or in 
spare time only. The work is universally adapted 
to boih sexes, young and old. You can easily earn 
from 50 cents to So every evening. That all who 
want work may test the business, we make this un- 
paralleled offer: to all who are not well satisfied we 
will send SI to pay for the trouble of writing us. 
Full particulars, directions, etc., sent free Fortunes 
will be made by those who give their whole time to 
the work. Great success absolutely sure. Don't de- 
lay. Start now. Address Stinsojj i Co., Portland, 
Me. fe ly 



For Sale. 
JERSEY RED PIGS, 

Two Months. Old, Each, $4. 
Each additional month of age, $1. 
C R. CULLEN. 
1305 Main St., Richmond, Va. 
mh3t 



Jersey Red Spring Pigs 

From Largest Herd South. 

Also Sows in Pig. All our breeding 

stock will be recorded in the " Duroc- 

Jersey" Herd-Book. Send for catalogue 

to T. LOVELOCK & CO., 

ap tf Gordonsville, Va. 



T. LOVELOCK & CO., 

Gordonsville, "V^a., 

Breeders and Shippers of 

Registered Devon Cattle, 

Jersey Red Swine, 

Shropshiredown Sheep and Fancy 

Poultry. 

Send for Circular. Our stock took 73 
premiums at the Pairs last Fall. ap tf 



Unequaled for STRENGTH 

and SIMPLICITY. Drops 

jsitively only ONE Grain 

in a place, twelve, sizteen 

twenty inches apart. 




fe4t 



Washington, D. C. 



A BIG OFFER ! 

The suhseription price of the SOUTHERN PLAN- 
TER is 81.25 a year. 

The subscription price of TEXAS SIFT1NGS, the 
celebrated, illustrated, humorous weekly, is $2.50 a 
year. 

All of our readers know what the PLANTER is. 
TEXAS S1FTINGS, published at Austin, Tex., New 
York, N. Y , and London. England, is now the most 
popular humorous journal in the world ; size 48 col- 
umns. It contains in each issue, 20 to 30 cartoons 
and illustrations by the best caricature artists. 

To each new subscriber, or old who is not in ar- 
rears, who, inside of 30 days from the date of this 
paper, sends us $2 80, which is less than the price of 
both tbe above papers, we will send the 

SOUTHERN PLANTER for one year, 

TEXAS SIFTINGS for one year, 

AND 

FREE ! 

by mail, postage prepaid, all of the following 

TEN STANDARD NOVELS 

Each novel complete and unabridged, and 
bound separately : 

Your Money or Your Life, by Wilkie Collins. 

The Blunders of a Bashful Man, by Author of A Bad 

Boy's Diary. 
A Strange Dream, by Rhoda Broughton. 
The Wages of Sin, by Miss Braddon. 
A Christinas Carol, by Charles Dickens. 
Two Plumpingtou Heroines, by Anthony Trollope. 
Bread and Cheese and Kisses, by B. L. Farjeon. 
The Sketch Book, by Washington Irving. 
Proposing to Her, by Mrs. Southworth. 
'that Beautiful Wretch, by William Black. 

This is the largest amount of literature ever of- 
fered by any publisher for the money. 

Send remittances to 

Publishers Southern Planter, 

Richmond, Ya. 



■JlEflMmM! 



,7 'T . ir 



A A A 



ANEW AND VALUABLE TREATISE ON SUGAlfl 

CANES, (including the Minnesota Early Amber) and their 
manufacture into Syrup ami Sugar, Although comprised 
in Rm:il1 cnmpasi and furnishptl free to avpJlrant ft, itis the 
BEST PRACTICAL MANUAL ON SUGAR CANE9 

th-tt has rot been published. 

BLYittYER MANUFACTURING CO; 

Cincinnati O. 

ilanvjarhtrere of Steam Sugar Machinery, Steam Engine* 
Victor Cane MM, Caok Sugar Evaporator, etc 



F. STEARNS' No. 1TOBA00O FERTILIZER. 

To the Farmers of Virginia : 

We continue the manufacture of this superior Fertilizer, for the reason that those who 
have used it continue to send Aeir orders. Our formula is — 

1200 pounds Bone Meal, 60 per cent, dissolved by acid. 
600 " Ground Fish. 
100 " Potash (Muriate, 80 per cent.) 
100 " Ground Plaster. 

2000 pounds. 

These materials are purchased by us in their raw state, and ground and mixed by our- 
selves — their combination being known to be perfectly free from all adulterations. 

We can confidently recommend this fertilizer as peculiarly adapted to all spring crops, 
particularly tobacco, not only as entering into and forcing the growing crops, but leaving 
a large residuum of Bone Phosphate, than which there is no better permanent manure 
for the land. Price of the fertilizer, $40 per ton ; Price of pure Bone Meal, $38 per ton. 
Delivered on board cars in Richmond. STEARNS & HALSEY, 15 south 15th street. 

[mh 3t] 




B00KWALTER ENGINES. 

UPRIGHT ENGINES : 3 Horse, 4% Horse, 
6>£ Horse and 8>£ Horse Power. Safe, 
Simple and Durable. Over 3,000 in suc- 
cessful operation. 



New Style 10 H. P. Horizontal Engine. 



Center Crank Engine. All wrought iron 
Return Flue Boiler. Compact, Substan- 
tial and handsomely finished. Illus- 
trated Pamphlet sent free. Address 

JAMES LEFFEL&CO.. 

- SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, a 

Eastern Office: 110 Liberty St., New York. 




R. L. Christian. W.L. White. 

CHRISTIAN & WHITE, 



lEtiCKnunoiixriD, "V-A.. 

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

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

South of New York. They are Agents of Hotopp's Celebrated Premium Virginia 
CLARETS, Portner's TIVOLI LAGER BEER, and Werner's AMERICAlN CHAM- 
PAGNE, and keep always in stock a full line of the leading and most popular brands of 
Table Wines and Imported Champagnes. 




All my Seed is warranted to be fresh and 
true to name, so far that should it prove 
otherwise, I agree to refill orders gratis. 
A large part of the great collection of 
Seed I offer is of my own growing. As the 
original introducerof I-CipseBeet, Cur- 
bank Potatoes, Marblehead Early Corn, 
the Hubbard Squash, and scores of other 
new Vegetables, I invite the patronage 
public. In the gardens and on tbc farms 
of those who plant my seed will be found my 
best advertisement. Catalogues FRICK to all. 
GREGORY.SEED GROWER, MARBLEHEAD, MASS. 



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



:f\e:o.:e3 j±.ni> iwe-a.jflikt:e3. 



VIRGINIA HOME 

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.. 



OfS.ce in Company's Building, Ho. 1014 Main St. 

DIRECTORS. 

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

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

seply 



iisrao:Ft:po:R.-A.TE:o iisr 1865. 




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

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

DIRECTORS.— J. h. Bacon, President ; Thos. W. McCance, Vice-President. Wm. H. Haxall, James 
Alfred Jones, A. D. Williams, A. Osterloh. 

Eobt. E. Richardson, Sec. Bazil Gordon, Jr., Ass't Sec. Jno. B. Grant, Solicitor. 

4®~Agents in all the prominent Cities, Towns, and Villages of Virginia seply 



to 



^e^OF VIRGINIA, ^e^- 

(INCORPORATED 1794) 
INSURES BIT PERPETUAL OR ANNUAL POLICY. 

Office, Cor, of Tenth and Bank Streets, 

HERBERT A. CLAIBORNE, Principal Agent. 
F. D. STEGER, Secretary. T. BOLLING, Jr., Assistant Secretary. 

JOHN BLAIR, Colleotor. oct ly 



FARMERS, USE 

OBCHELA GUANO! 

The BEST and CHEAPEST for ALL CROPS. 

That ORCHILLA GUANO positively and permanently enriches the land; that it in- 
creases the crop and improves the quality of the land; and that it never fails to ensure a 
luxuriant growth of grass for succeeding years, are facts which 10,000 farmers, who are 
using it in the States of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania are willing 
to testify. 

This guano is found on the Orchilla Island, in the Carribbean Sea, and comes to us di- 
rect by vessels, and all we do to it on arrival is to screen out the lumps and bag it. 
Every cargo is analyzed before leaving the Island, and comes guaranteed to us to contain 
from 35 to 45 per cent, of Bone Phosphate of Lime, and other valuable ingredients. 

ORCHILLA IS LOW-PRICED— because we have left off the cost of manu- 
facture. 

ORCHILLA IS SUCCESSFUL— because it is Nature's own provision for her 
exhausted fields. 

THE CHEMISTS ENDORSE IT. 

Dr. "W. J. Gascoyxe, Chemist of the Agricultural Department cf Virginia, certified 
officially that the commercial value of Orchilla Guano as analyzed by him was $41.12. 

Dr. Wm. H. Taylor, State Chemist of Virginia, certified the commercial value of 
Orchilla as analyzed by him to be $44.12. 

Dr. C. W. Dabxey, Jr., Chemist of the Agricultural Department of North Carolina, 
officially certified the commercial value of Orchilla as analyzed by him to be $43.97. 

HOW TO APPLY ORCHILLA- 

The best method of applying Orchilla Guano, when used for corn is, to sow it broad- 
cast. Ihe roots of corn extend a long distance from the stalk; hence the importance of 
fertilizing, not around the stalk, as is done when the fertilizer is put ia the hill, but away 
from it, and this cannot be better accomplished than by broadcast sowing. 

ORCHILLA FOR CORN. 

The sooner this Guano goes upon ground intended for corn the better. Our most suc- 
cessful farmers apply it broadcast in mid-winter — February is not too soon — let it lie un- 
til the ground is fit to plow, then turn under, and prepare for corn planting. 

Make a liberal application — 300 to 400 pounds is not too much. It is never lost, for 
not only will it produce a large yield of corn, but it will put the land in good condition 
for a following wheat crop, which may be safely sown on the same land, after the corn 
is gathered, without any additional application of any kind of manure ; and where the 
wheat is followed by grass, the effect of the former application of Orchilla will be seen 
in the production of three or four crops of good grass. In this respect Orchilla far sur- 
passes all manipulated fertilizers, whose virtues, if any, are exhausted on the one crop 
to which they are first applied, any future benefit must be sought from a renewed appli- 
cation. Orchilla, on the contrary, increases the crops by improving the land; hence its 
effects do not end with one crop, but are permanent and abiding. 

BALTIMORE, 3S4CID. 

TRAVERS, SNEAD & CO., Imnorters' Agent, 1326 Cary St,, RictooM, Ya. 

We sell Orchilla at a low price. Send for our LITTLE BOOK, giving testimonials of 
farmers who Lave used it for years. 






( 



I 




The Eureka Corn Planter. 

The use of this Planter, invented and 
patented by H. M. Smith, insures ab- 
solute certainty as to the quantity of 
seed planted and as to the distance 
between the hills. All Planters de- 
pending upon a brush to keep back the 
corn, are liable to variation, as any 
press of the seed causes the brush to 
yield, and increases the quantity drop- 
ped. The Eureka has no brush. 
A new and simple device supersedes 
the necessity of it, and insures absolute 
regularity in the number of grains deposited. The distance between the hills can be 
regulated at will. The latest improvement in this Planter is the Narrow Boot or 
Spout, instead of the wide as shown above. This improvement lessens the draft, and 
makes it superior to any Planter ever introduced to the farming community. We can 
also furnish the farming community with the best TWO-ROW CORN PLANTER, with 
check rower, and with or without fertilizer attachments ; and for transplanting we carry 
a stock of the best HAND CORN PLANTERS made, embracing the " BROY " and 
"CHATAUQUA," which stand at the head of the list. 

THE IRON AGE 

For the cultivation of Corn, Cotton, Peanuts, 
etc., the use of this implement is indispensable to 
the farmer, and will pay for itself in a day's use, 
and with its attachments can be converted into a 
" HORSE HOE " or CORN COVER at will We 
furnish all the different modifications of this Culti- 
vator, and reversible steels of all sizes, from one 
to nine inches. Beats everything in the market 
for effectiveness and low price. Light and easily 
handled. Over 30,000 now in use. Try it &nd he 
convinced. Be -sure to get the genuine trade- 
mark " Iron Age."- 




Iron Age" Cultivator. 




Buy the Best and Save Money in the 
Long Run. In presenting these cele- 
brated Plows to the public, special atten- 
tion is directed to an improvement in the 
form of an ADJUSTABLE CLEVIS on 
our Malta Iron Beam Plows, the object 
of which is better to adapt the imple- 
ment to variation in the height of team 
and to deep or shallow plowing. Our 
cross brace is so arranged that either 
beam can be moved in or out to suit the 
plowman, without changing the position 
of the other, and the handles are easily 
justed to suit the tallest than or a small boy— points of excellence which none other 
posselfe. There are already a number of makes of so-called "Malta" Double Shovel 
Plows in the market, but very seldom any of them prove to be satisfactory. With these 
inferior plows thousands of farmers have been deceived, and condemn the genuine with- 
out even having tried one, and to such we would give this advice : Buy a Plow that is 
made by the Original Manufacturers, a well known and responsible company, who have 
already manufactured and sold nearly 500,000 of these Plows, and cannot afford to sac- 
rifice their reputation for the gain of a few dollars. 

In addition to the above Implements for the Spring trade, we would invite special atten- 
tion to the " Brown " Walking and Riding Cultivators, unquestionably without a supe- 
rior. Remember that we sell it with the broad guarantee that it_ is the^ Best Wheel 
Cultivator in Use, and this guarantee we stand ready to make good in the field. Those 
contemplating the purchase of Agricultural Implements of any description, will find it to 
their interest to examine our stock and low prices before buying. Correspondence solicited . 

h. m. smith & oo., 1532 Main Street, JclmioM, Va, P. 0. Box 8, 

MANUFACTURERS OF AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.