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L. R. DICKINSON Editor and Proprietor. 



RICHMOND, YL 



OCTOBER, 1877. 



So. 10. 



OOHXTT 
Page 
The President of the StaJte Agricul- 
tural Society to the People of 

Virginia 611 

Address of Hon. William Fullerton 
before the Piedmont Agri :ultural 

Society ., 613 

Virginia State Agricultural Society- 
Schedule of Premiums.... 631 

How Dried Fruit Should be put up 

for Market 633 

A Victory for Retrenchment 634 

Fodder Pulling '. G36 

The Effect of a Tobacco Premium 

on the Black People of Louisa... 637 
Lespadeza Striata, or Japan Clover 640 
Grapes and Wines in Virginia— Mr. 
Louis Ott's Reply to Dr. Pollard. 641 

Fultz Wheat 644 

Why we should do our best to In- 
crease the Volume of the Wheat 
Crop in Virginia 645 



J32NTTS. 



Page 



Stock Department : 

By the Editor : — Imported and 
Naturalized Animals ; The 
Hereford Cattle; Items 649 

Sheep for Virginia 657 

Editorial — Farm and Garden... 659 

Editorial— General 665 

An Explanation; Oysters — What 
of them? Our Home Volunteer 
Troops ; A Word About the Mat- 
ter of Money; Fish Culture; A 
very Important Source of Wealth; 
"Primings;" The Moffett Punch; 
Readjustment; Amusing; The- 
Agiicultural and Mechanical Col- 
lege ; Another Special Premium; 
North Carolina State Fair— What 
' "Push" has Done ; Tuckahoe 
Farmer's Club ; A Fact ; Plows, 
&c, &c, &c. 



m 



ruE 




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THE SOUTHERN 

PLANTER & FARMER, 

DEVOTED TO 

AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 

Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. — Xenophon. 
Tillage and Pasturage are the two hr easts of the State. — Sully. 

L. R. DICKINSON, Editor and Proprietor. 

Vol. XXXVIII. RICHMOND, VA., OCT., 1877. No, 10. 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCI- 
ETY TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA. 

It gives us peculiar pleasure to present this address in our pages. The appeal 
is not from a man whose acts are less substantial than his words, but from the 
very prince of farmers. Major Drewry's work is known of all Virginians, and 
they are proud that glorious old " Westover *' boasts such a worthy proprietor. 

But what can the xMajor do, in a State as big as Virginia, all by himself? He 
might be Hercules indeed and still succumb under such a task. Let us then 
be permitted to join our most earnest appeal to his, that help to the cause will 
come from every corner of the State. We have no county that lacks for men of 
influence, and we do hope that, for the little time between this and the Fair, 
they will forget that there ever was such a thing as a seat in Congress, or other 
posicif n provided to write their names " high on the scroll of fame." To make 
law s is not the chief end of man. To make our fellows happier should be. 
Will not two or three gentlemen in each county take the trouble to go round and 
see what can be done looking to new members for the State Agricultural Society ? 
Five dollars per annum could not possibly be spent better, and, as hard as the 
times are, we would be surprised, if we tried to find out, how many could afford 
it. How could any plan be devised that would more certainly unite the State 
than the assembling together once a year, at the capital, of so many of its solid 
men and excellent women. 

With a better fund at the disposal of the Society, premiums could be arranged 
that would prove to be a stimulant indeed, to the young people in particular, and 
they, being the hope of the Commonwealth, demand our best and constant care. 

Give, then, to Major Drewry your very best service in this business of the 
Fair, so that he may, with a heart filled with pride, present Wade Hampton and 
the President to' a people worthy to receive a king : 

Office of the Virginia State Agricultural Society, 1 
Richmond, September 7, 1877. j 
To the People of Virginia: 

The near approach of the next Fair of the State Agricultural 
Society suggests the propriety of a brief appeal to you in behalf of 
the Society. Its Fairs exert an important influence on the material 



612 THE SOUTHERN [October 

interests of the people, and its work in collecting and disseminating 
important information bearing on practical agriculture, horticulture, 
stock-breeding, manufactures, domestic economy, &c, brings it in 
contact with and constitutes it a friend of all efforts to advance the 
arts of civilization andithe wealth of the State. 

It is not a corporation laboring for the selfish ends of corporators, 
but, from the terms of its constitution and charter, has a noble and 
disinterested work to perform. With one exception it has no paid 
officers, and all its resources are devoted, in the words of its consti- 
tution, to the "advancement of agriculture and the auxiliary mining 
and mechanic arts." It has the highest claims, therefore, to the con- 
fidence and support of all classes of the community. The life mem- 
bership, which constitutes the corporate strength of the organization 
and regulates its affairs, should embrace men and women from every 
county in the State, and of all occupations; and when brought 
together annually for a short recreation from the labors of the year, 
for information to be gained and acquaintance formed by contact 
and association, for the inspection and study of the large display of 
the products of the farm, garden, orchard, vineyard, mines and fac- 
tories, of animals and poultry, and of the household arts, not one 
will return home without a feeling of satisfaction that something has 
been gained, and without also a feeling of just pride in the people 
and the resources of the Commonwealth. Why, then, should just 
expectations be disappointed in respect to this membership ? The 
cost is small to each individual — say twenty dollars in cash, or five 
dollars annually for five years. The aggregate should be large, and 
would enable the Society to expand its efforts for usefulness in many 
ways. The last census shows that there are in the State about eighty 
thousand persons who are the owners of farms, and about twenty 
thousand more who are engaged in mining, merchandise, manufac- 
tures, and the professions who live by the products of agriculture. 
Now, if but one in ten of this number would identify himself with 
the Society by becoming a member upon the terms indicated, there 
would be ten thousand new members, bringing in the aggregate two 
hundred thousand dollars, with a reasonable annual increase, which 
would afford an income sufficient to double the annual premium list 
of the Society and largely increase its means for the general good in 
other respects, and each member at the same time have an ample 
consideration for his expenditure. The privilege of the Fairs for the 
period of his life, together with his wife and children under twenty- 
one years of age and unmarried daughters, and his constituent voice 
in the general management of the Society, to say nothing of inci- 
dental and other advantages, furnish a valid and adequate equivalent 
for his outlay. 

More than this, and better than all, each member must feel that 
he is one of a number of citizens who are devoted to the interest of 
our old State, and working in a practical way, which will develop 
resources alike beneficent to private and public interest, virtue and 
credit. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 613 

The coming Fair promises to be one of the best since the war, or, 
indeed, in the history of the Society, and as a grand reunion of the 
best men and fairest women of the old Conimonwealih, it is an event 
to be anticipated with pride and pleasure. Bear in mind, however, 
that the great need of the Society is membership, which furnishes the 
bond of union and creates force and means for its work. The peo- 
ple in every county of the State should organize a club of member- 
ship, and thus bring to bear an influence which will be felt and 
diversified throughout the Commonwealth. With such local efforts 
to be concentrated in the Society, the citizens of all sections and all 
occupations will be brought together, not only in their annual re- 
unions, but in their thoughts and labors, which contribute to indi- 
vidual, State and national prosperity. 

The officers of the Society expect a large attendance at the Fair, 
and they will greet and welcome all who may come; but they earn- 
estly hope that the question of membership will not be overlooked, 
as this more than all else gives vigor and effect to all that the Society 
is designed to accomplish. 

It gives me pleasure to add that on the second day of the Fair the 
Annual Address will be delivered on the grounds by that distinguished 
citizen and planter, Gov. Hampton, of South Carolina, and that 
President Hayes will be present on that day and probably on the 
next. The recent circumstances which have brought these gentle- 
men so prominently before the nation are familiar to all, and the 
satisfactory manner in which each has discharged his public trusts 
commends them to confidence, and the large assemblage of Virginians 
on the occasion will be glad to welcome and do them honor. 

A. H. Drbwry, 
President of the State Agricultural Society. 



ADDRESS OF HON. WILLIAM FULLERTON BEFORE THE 
PIEDMONT AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

We could not possibly follow the appeal of the President of the State Agricul- 
tural Society with anything better than the address of Judge Willi vm Fuller- 
t on, of Fait fax, delivered last year before the Piedmont Agricultural Society ^ 
Culpeper Court house. We accordingly present it, in what follows, and say t mt 
the Judge is a farmer who shows his faith by his works; and these are the men 
our people in Virginia need now to listen to: 

Mr. President and Members of the Piedmont Agricultural Society : 

The production of the largest crops with the least labor and expense, 
is the great object to be attained by the cultivation of the soil. How to 
accomplish this is a question now agitating the whole agricultural world. 
It must be conceded that it has not been done in Virginia. That much 
of her lands are unproductive from bad cultivation admits of no denial. 
Her bare hills, the pestiferous broom sedge, meagre crops, fields aban- 
doned to unsightly pines, the absence of grass and cattle, are unimpeach- 
able witnesses that prove her agriculture defective. 

I should hesitate to use this language, were it not that what I assert 
is candidly admitted and deplored by all her leading citizens. This 



614 THE SOUTHERN [October 

ought not so to be. With her large territory, her easily- cultivated lands, 
her genial and salubrious climate, her energetic and intelligent people, 
her facilities for reaching good markets, Virginia ought to be one of the 
leading States in agricultural products, and her farmers among the most 
prosperous of her citizens. Iu order to become so, she has only to use 
her natural advantages, and restore to her soil that which an improvi- 
dent agriculture has deprived it of. 

It is but just to say, however, that this condition of things is not con- 
fined to Virginia alone. Wherever man has planted and reaped, the 
same ruinous consequences have followed. Lands naturally rich and 
productive have become infertile. 

The whole of the Atlantic States, to a greater or less degree, are suf- 
fering from exhaustion. Though improvidently cultivated, they once 
yielded bountiful harvests, but now fall far short of sustaining their 
population. Even the rich prairies of the West are rapidly deteriorating. 
The same wasteful method of cultivation is pursued there, and the same 
fatal results are in the near future. And even the Old World long since 
became alarmed by the discovery that while her population was rapidly 
increasing, the products of her soil, upon which it was to subsist, were as 
rapidly diminishing. A remedy was eagerly sought for. 

Governments took the matter in hand; the services of learned and 
scientific men were enlisted ; and during the past half century there has 
been no question of political economy, in either hemisphere, upon which 
has been expended so much thought and labor. 

And these labors have not been without good results. Nature has 
yielded up her secrets to the skill of man. The laboratory of the chemist 
has disclosed the laws which regulate and govern plant growth, and 
taught us how crops feed and grow, and upon what food they subsist. 

The value of these discoveries to the human family cannot be esti- 
mated. There never was a time when the tillers of the soil could prose- 
cute their calling with so much intelligence and certainty of success as 
the present; and if they do not hereafter find their labors better re- 
warded, it will be because they shut their eyes to the light that is 
afforded them. To be ignorant of these discoveries at the present day is 
to be without excuse. 

Agricultural colleges and stations, with their admirable systems of ex- 
periments, and agricultural journals, where there is such a valuable 
interchange of thought and experience upon all subjects connected with 
the cultivation of the soil ; and agricultural societies, where the results 
of different systems of cultivation are exhibited, afford opportunities for 
improvement which it is almost criminal to neglect. 

There is no other calling in life in which there is manifested such an 
indifference to new discoveries as is seen among the tillers of the soil. 
If a mechanic or manufacturer should in like manner fail to avail him- 
self of improved implements or machinery, he would be compelled to re- 
linquish his business. It is the farmer alone who resists anything new 
appertaining to his calling. This arises mainly from a deep-seated 
prejudice against what is called scientific or book-farming. 

A great majority of those engaged in caltivatiug the soil regard it as 
a mere muscular exercise, rather than a scientific pursuit, and they have 
regarded with indifference, if not with positive displeasure, every attempt 
to impart to it a scientific character. This is a serious error. Science 
is not learning; it is merely the interpretation of the laws of nature, and 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 615 

an unlettered man may do that. Indeed, some of the most valuable 
discoveries to the human race have been made by uneducated men. 

He who, by intelligent experiment and observation, increases the 
products of his laud and maintains its fertility, is a scientific farmer; 
and such a man has only to prosecute his work in the light of modern 
discoveries, to reap a rich reward for his labors. He will learn how the 
crops he cultivates feed and grow, aud what is their respective appro- 
priate food, and that providing the same nutriment for all kinds of crops 
is as unwise as it would be to feed the same kind of food to all animals. 

But farmers, as a general thing, shrink from the study of agricultural 
chemistry, because they regard it as an occult science, requiring great 
research and investigation to comprehend it. So it does; but there are 
some elementary truths which lie at the foundation of the science which 
every farmer can comprehend and apply to the cultivation of the soil. 

It is not long since I saw a man making a compost of caustic lime 
with fresh barn-yard manure. If he had understood the chemical action 
of the lime, he would have known that the ammonia, the most valuable 
ingredient of the mixture, would be entirely dissipated by it, and the 
compost itself rendered almost worthless. He would also have known 
that if lime in another form — that of sulphate — had been substituted, 
it would have preserved instead of dispelling this same ingredient, and 
thereby added largely to the value of his mixture. It is a want of 
familiarity with these things that renders them distasteful to the farmer. 
If he would make a few of the simple principles of chemical action his 
study, and become familiar with them, they would lose their mystery and 
he could profitably and safely apply them in his business. He does not 
hesitate to mix lime and sand together when he has occasion to use mor- 
tar, and he sees and comprehends the chemical union which follows. He 
slakes his lime by pouriug water upon it, and he witnesses the effects of 
that chemical law which causes it to heat, disintegrate and fall into 
powder fit for use. He sees the housewife use yeast in making bread, 
and beholds the beautiful and useful results. These things are familiar 
to him from daily use, and the mystery which otherwise would envelope 
them has disappeared. He justly regards a knowledge of them as indis- 
pensable- But w 7 hen you talk to him about the chemical laws which 
are involved in the growth of plants, how the soil becomes exhausted of 
their necessary food, and the means necessary to its restoration, he turns 
a deaf ear and treats the subject as too intricate for his comprehension, 
and therefore one to which he should give little or no attention. Whereas 
there is nothing in all this that should deter him from investigation, but 
much that should induce it. 

If there had been the same shrinking from the application of chemical 
laws in the arts, by unlettered men, the world would not have advanced 
where it now is. The article of soap in daily use in every household is 
manufactured by men who make no pretensions to a knowledge of 
chemistry. They neither care nor need to know beyond the fact that 
the chemical combination of certain materials in given proportions pro- 
duces the results which they seek to attain. The same thing may be 
said of the manufacture of gunpowder — that explosive material which 
requires such delicate manipulation — or of a score of other things which 
will readily occur to you "all. 

Indeed, there is nothing in the laws governing the growth of plants 
any more intricate or difficult of comprehension than those which are in- 



616 THE SOUTHERN [October 

volved in the manufacture of the articles named, or in making butter or 
cooking food, which is daily practiced in every household. I repeat, it 
is only necessary that farmers should become familiar with the laws 
which govern the growth of their crops, in order to dispel that mystery 
which deters them from availing themselves of their advantages. 

I have spoken of the alarm which once prevailed lest the production 
of the earth, lessened as it was by reckless and wasteful tillage, would 
not keep pace with its rapidly-increasing population, and of the means 
adopted to discover a remedy. The result is, that to-day it is as well 
known what our crops extract from the earth, which tend to its ex- 
haustion, and how fertility can be restored to it, as it is that light and 
heat are necessary to successful cultivation. And this knowledge, so 
dearly acquired, and so reluctantly accepted by those who could be most 
benefited by it, is absolutely indispensable to an intelligent and success- 
ful cultivation of the soil. 

I do not mean to be understood as advocating the doctrine that the 
farmer should be able to explain the great mysteries of nature, or attempt 
to analyze her productions, as the chemist does ; but I do mean to assert 
that he should know that his crops feed as his cattle do, each one re- 
quiring its appropriate food, and that when this food is exhausted from 
the soil it must be restored in hind, or sterility will follow. 

And now let me approach this subject a little nearer, and see what 
these discoveries are, and whether I over-estimate their importance. 

Chemistry has determined with as much certainty what different 
materials enter into the composition of our crops, as the farmer can de- 
termine the different animals which are grazing in his fields. They are 
many in number, but I need mention only those which it is necessary 
we should restore to the soil in order to keep up its fertility — the earth, 
as a general rule, containing a sufficiency of all others. They are three 
in number, viz : Nitrogen, Potash, and Phosphoric Acid. Without all of 
these no crop can grow ; that is, deprive the soil entirely of any one of 
them, and it is sterile. And crops are large or small just in proportion 
as the proper quantities of these materials exist in the soil. So that the 
farmer may be assured that when his land fails to produce a remunera- 
tive crop, it is deficient in one or more of the constituents I have named. 
It is not enough for him to know that his land is poor and wants enrich- 
ing ; he should know what there is lacking in it to make it so. With 
the aid of chemistry, or what has been called book-learning, he can now 
know with as much certainty what quantities of these materials his corn 
or wheat have extracted from the soil, as he can to what extent he has 
exhausted his bank account by the checks he has drawn upon it. For 
example, fifty bushels of corn to the acre extracts from each acre 64 
pounds of nitrogen, 77 pounds of potash, and 31 pounds of phosphoric 
acid. Barn-yard manure is valuable only as it contains more or less of 
these ingredients. It follows, if the farmer sells his crop of corn, then 
for every fifty bushels that leaves the farm there is taken just the 
amount of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid I have named. If, on 
the other hand, he feeds his corn up on the farm by fattening animals, 
then much of these materials are retained on it and returned to the soil. 
That only is carried off which goes in the carcasses of the animals sold. 

It is seen by the example given that the exh'austion of the soil of these 
materials by a corn crop is not in equal quantities. Nor do any two 
crops exhaust the soil alike. This is an important fact for the farmer" 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 617 

to know, for it enables him to see at once that when his land refuses t° 
return a remunerative crop, it may be for the reason that only one, and 
not all, of these materials has been exhausted. 

We often hear complaints made that the continued use of guano will 
in the end exhaust land, and for that reason it has been condemned by 
many. A moment's intelligent consideration reveals the cause of such 
a result. By constantly using guano in the cultivation of a crop which 
takes from the soil more of any one and less of the other two materials 
named than the guano supplies, you can see very plainly that the ingre- 
dient so disproportionately drawn upon will in the end be insufficient 
for the crop, when there would be a surplus of the others. Soil in this 
condition is unproductive for the lack of only one of the elements of 
plant food, and by the application of that one can be restored to pro- 
ductiveness. A knowledge of this simple fact leads to economy in 
farming. If land needs potash, it is a waste of time and money to apply 
bones or nitrogen. 

This is very frequently the condition of land, and it is the reason why 
we so often hear complaints that superphosphate or bone meal had no 
effect. The material in such cases is pronounced spurious, and the ven- 
der condemned in unmeasured terms. Bones contain no potash, and 
superphosphate no nitrogen, and by adding either or both of these to 
land which is deficient only in potash, is as wide of the mark as to offer 
corn to a well-fed horse when he is dying for water. 

When we observe that no two crops which the farmer cultivates re- 
quire the same amount of the different kinds T)f plant food for their per- 
fection, it opens a wide field for the exercise of intelligence and obser- 
vation in managing a farm. If the farmer has raised a crop of wheat, 
he knows that the land has parted largely with its nitrogen and phos- 
phates, and has retained a large per cent, of its potash. He sees at once 
that such land will produce a crop for which potash is the dominant 
manure, and where little of nitrogen or phosphoric acid is required; and 
so, from time to time, he will regulate his crops by an enlightened policy, 
and not by blind chance. 

It follows that whatever is sold from the farm must, to a greater or 
less extent, diminish its fertility. Nature, on the other hand, renovates 
by her processes, instead of exhausting the earth. In forest and field, 
whatever grows in the soil is returned to it in the shape of leaf and 
branch. Whatever the air has contributed to vegetable growth is so 
much gain, and to that extent the soil is made richer instead of poorer. 
But the farmer cannot imitate nature in this respect. He must carry 
his products to the market away from the farm, and in this way there is 
a constant process of exhaustion which, unless compensated for in some 
way, will lead to ruin. 

It therefore becomes a vitally important question for the farmer, 
whether he can restore to the soil what his products take from it at a 
cost which will ensure a profit; and if so, by what means. 

From what has been already said it follows that there is no system of 
agriculture by which the farmer can keep his farm to the highest state 
of fertility by the use of the manure he can make upon it. This has 
been demonstrated by all experience, and would seem to be a well- 
settled, if not self-evident, proposition. Relying solely upon barn-yard 
manure is not a wise policy. Let us see what it contains. This, science 
has demonstrated for us. 



618 THE SOUTHERN [October 

Assuming that a cord of average barn-yard manure weighs 3,00^ 
pounds (and that is about its average weight), it contains by actual 
tests 2456 pounds of water, 138 pounds of common sand, and 332 pounds 
of carbonaceous matter, which is of no more value than common straw. 
There is left then only 74 pounds of active fertilizing material possessing 
a money value. The loss in carting so much worthless material is ap- 
parent. The 74 pounds which is only valuable could be carried by the 
farmer to the field in one hand and applied in a few minutes. I do not 
mean by this to discourage the manufacture or use of barn-yard manure. 
On the contrary, I would enjoin farmers to make more than they do, 
and tojprotect it with the greatest care from sun and rain before apply- 
ing it. I am only trying to show that, inasmuch as the farmer must 
purchase outside materials for fertilization, that there is an advantage in 
getting them in a concentrated form, so as to lessen the cost of hauling 
and application. 

About the first resort of the farmer, heretofore, in order to supply this 
deficiency on the farm, has been the purchase of Peruvian guano. When 
obtained pure, this is a most excellent fertilizer, but for reasons already 
stated it cannot be relied upon through a series of years for crops re- 
quiring a greater amount of certain portions of plant food than that 
which exists in the guano itself. The same ingredients it contains can 
be purchased separately in reliable form, and the farmer can compound 
them in such proportions as suit the different crops he cultivates. Bones 
will furnish him his phosphates, the nitrate of soda his nitrogen, and the 
Stassfurt salts his potash, and by a prudent and intelligent composition 
of these he can meet the wants of each crop he cultivates, and at the 
same time economize in their use by knowing the deficiencies of his soil. 

It is in vain that the farmer seeks for a single manure which will 
meet the demands of all crops, for no such exists. In Virginia there is 
a great variety of soil. No two fields are alike in respect to their com- 
position. They need different treatment and the application of different 
materials in different proportions, and he who expects to find any one 
thing that shall act equally well on all soils is ceitain of disappoint- 
ment. 

This brings us to the subject of expense, and one of vast importance. 
In treating of expense, I am aware I am encountering the prejudices of 
many who have purchased commercial fertilizers and applied them in- 
discriminately to lands without reference to their particular needs, 
thereby entailing a serious loss. I have already referred to this subject, 
and shown how the error was committed. Wisdom is gained by expe- 
rience. And if any one who has suffered in this way will give the 
matter sufficient attention to comprehend it, he will see where his mis- 
take was and remedy it. Science has done her part in making the way 
plain for him. It has furnished in the market all those elements out of 
which nature manufactures her products, and in the form in which she 
requires them. They can be had at a price which farmers can afford to 
pay. Whatever he lacks on the farm he can readily supply himself 
with, and his intelligence, the outgrowth of observation and experience, 
must do the rest. Of one thing he may rest assured, that if he uses the 
means at his command, as he can and should, he can invest his money 
in fertilizers so as to reap large returns for the outlay. 

No farmer can prosecute his business successfully on poor land, and 
there is no necessity for doing it for any great length of time. It is a 



1OT.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 619 

waste of time and money, of energy, and of life itself. It brings neither 
money to the pocket, nor joy to the heart. Farming is a very hard life 
unless it brings pleasure, aside from the profit. It is necessary for the 
farmer's enjoyment, as it is for his pocket, that his land should produce 
what it is capable of when well fed and cultivated. And he can no 
more afford to raise less than that than he can afford to pay his hired 
man full wages and require him to labor but a part of the time. The 
interest on the cost of his land is running whether the land yields much 
or nothing, and the tax-gatherer must be satisfied though the garners 
may be empty. 

Cultivating a farm without getting from it as large a result as the 
land is reasonably capable of producing involves a useless loss. The 
difference between a crop of 80 and 20 bushels of corn to the acre is the 
difference between success and failure. The expense of cultivating the 
larger crop is but little more than that of the other, while the cost of 
production of the smaller crop, compared with the result, is very much 
greater. Here, then, is the secret of the farmers' success or failure. 
Large crops within a small area should be his aim, and all his energies 
should be given to its accomplishment. If he has not sufficient manure 
to enrich twenty acres, let him put what he has upon ten. If the supply 
is insufficient for ten, then reduce the area to five. At all events, what- 
ever space he cultivates, let him enrich it and raise a maximum crop. 

I know what some of you may say : that in consequence of the lack 
of means I am recommending impossibilities. I respectfully, yet earn- 
estly, deny the soundness of any such proposition. There are very few 
farmers so limited in their means that they cannot at once enter upon 
the system of cultivation which I shall point out, and which will as cer- 
tainly result to their benefit as that seed time and harvest shall continue. 
I venture to lay down this proposition as indisputable, that there are 
farmers who entertain the idea that they cannot afford to buy fertilizers 
who waste enough each year in unwise tillage to supply themselves with 
them. I have seen such cultivate a large area of poor land at an ex- 
pense which would have enabled them to fertilize and cultivate one-half 
of such area so as to make it produce as much as did the whole. And 
this diminished area could not only have been made to produce as much 
as twice its extent in acres, but it would be left after the crop was re- 
moved in a condition which, with a proper rotation, would cause it to 
increase, and not to diminish, in its fertility. 

The amount annually lost in this State from too large farms, and the 
cultivation of too great a surface without remunerative returns, and 
the sale of whatever is so produced from the farms, without any return 
to the soil of the elements removed by the crops, is something alarming 
to contemplate. Such a reckless system would impoverish any land, 
however productive in its natural condition. And when I recommend 
the purchase of fertilizers, in order to insure large crops, it is not with a 
view of encouraging that system of tillage which removes everything 
from the farm which is produced upon it. Nothing but a truck farm, 
where vegetables are raised for city consumption, could warrant the ex- 
pense of such husbandry. 

The necessary steps towards an improved husbandry in this State are : 

1. To cultivate less land. 

2. To make that which is cultivated rich in plant food, so that it may 
produce large crops. 



620 THE SOUTHERN [October 



3. The practice of a rigid system of rotation of crops, and mixed 
farming. 

4. The cultivation of the grasses and less of the cereals, and feeding 
upon the farm the most of its products. 

5. Raising clover and enriching the land by turning under green 
crops. 

I speak earnestly and sincerely when I say that I believe that the 
faithful practice of such a system of tillage would in ten years increase 
the value of real estate in Virginia 100 per cent., and place the farming 
population in an independent condition. There is nothing new in these 
suggestions. They are the same old, old story, oft repeated and often 
disregarded. They, nevertheless, employ the true policy for tillage, and 
the time will come when they will be universally adopted. 

The advantage in small farms can scarcely be over-estimated. France 
is an eminent example of this, and she is to-day the wonder of the world. 
With a territory not equal to one-fifteenth of our States, and but little 
greater than Texas, she raises nearly double the wheat produced by the 
United States, and besides supporting a population of nearly forty mil- 
lions, her exports the last year exceeded our own. This all arises out of 
the fact that her farms average less than sixty acres, and are made to 
produce to the full extent of their capacity. 

All observation and experience go to show that those sections of the 
country are most prosperous where a mixed system of farming prevails. 
Not only a nation, but a farm should be as near self-supporting as pos- 
sible; and that mode of cultivation which comes nearest to accomplish- 
ing that object ensures the largest measure of success. 

The farmer who finds in his own garners that which is needed to sup- 
ply his daily wants is far removed from the vexations and losses attend- 
ant upon outside purchases which so severely tax his means. It is not 
unfrequently the case, when he produces but a single article for the 
market, that it commands a price which but poorly compensates him for 
his labor, while he has to pay exorbitant prices for that whL'h he is 
compelled to purchase. This is "selling the hide for a penny and buy- 
ing back the tail for a shilling," which surely is not a profitable trans- 
action. 

Mixed agriculture necessarily leads to a system of rotation of crops, 
which is the key to successful farming. That there is a vast recuperative 
power in lands where a succession of different crops is grown, no one can 
deny in the light of universal experience. Thousands of those who have 
hitherto devoted themselves to a single production, such as cotton, to- 
bacco, or grain, now acknowledge their error. 

Successive crops of the same character exhaust lands of the particular 
food they require with great rapidity. The aid which nature so freely 
renders where crops rotate, is withheld in such a system of cultivation, 
because the farmer is violating her laws. To fight against nature is to 
war at fearful odds, and it is not difficult to forecast the result. To 
work in harmony with her ensures a comparatively easy victory. One 
of the most beautiful of her provisions is that while one crop exhausts 
the soil of that element which enters most largely into its composition, 
by the operation of some mysterious law, it prepares that same soil for 
some other crop of a different character. This is a very curious and in- 
teresting process of nature, which results immensely to our advantage if 
we accept her aid. As an illustration of this principle, we know that 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 621 

clover does not successfully follow itself, although it leaves the ground 
in the best possible condition for corn or wheat. One crop, therefore, 
restores in a measure what another has taken. By raising continuously 
the same plant you interfere with this beautiful contrivance of nature to 
rebuild her wasted strength. How this is done is imperfectly under- 
stood. We do know, however, that the deep-rooted plants, like clover, 
will pump from the depths below for the use of those that grow near 
the surface that food which has been carried beyond their reach. And 
not only that; this element, when thus brought to the surface, acts 
chemically upon what it finds there, and renders soluble and available 
as plant food what before was inert and resisted assimilation. 

Nature, therefore, will do much of our work for us if we will only 
second her efforts and give full scope to her beneficent laws. It is, there- 
fore, a question for the farmer to determine whether he will, by a rota- 
tion of crops, have his soil enriched by drafts on nature's treasury, or 
draw entirely upon his own. 

I do not mean to argue that there is nothing for the farmer to do but 
follow this system of rotation to make his lands productive. Far from 
it. But I do argue that he may make nature a co-worker with him in 
attaining a most desirable end. Change is a prominent feature in na- 
ture's economy. Cut down the forest of hard wood, and the pines suc- 
ceed. Again, remove the pines, and the hard wood reappears. One 
kind of grass succeeds another, and nature supplies the seed. These 
changes give the soil rest, to the end that the process of reinvigoration 
may go on. Day and night succeed each other, and each performs its 
particular function in promoting vegetable life. Eternal sunshine would 
result in eternal blight. The falling dew brings with it the nitrogen 
from the air to gladden vegetation. The sun appears. Its light and 
heat liberate the acids and gases, which enter upon their work of use- 
fulness in preparing a variety of vegetable food. 

Winter and Summer follow each other. Frost disintegrates and ren- 
ders the earth porous, opening the way for the heat and moisture of 
Summer, so that chemical laws may work out their beautiful results. 

Thus unceasingly, year after year, the silent agencies are at work pre- 
paring the earth for man's use, that it may bring forth abundantly of 
everything which was designed by a beneficent Creator for his support. 

There can be no rational or successful rotation of crops unless grass, 
including clover (and for all present purposes I shall treat clover as one 
of the grasses), holds a conspicuous place. The great need of Virginia 
to day is grass. It is the great source of the world's wealth. I do not 
overrate its value as estimated at the present or in ancient times. 

In issuing the command which brought vegetable life into existence 
grass was first enumerated. 

"And God said let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed 
and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind." 

"And the earth brought forth grass, and God saw that it was good." 

This was before the creation of man or beast, and was designed to fit 
the earth for both. 

Named first in the order of creation, it stands among the first in im- 
portance to the human family. All history shows that no nation was 
ever agriculturally prosperous that did not make it one of its chief pro- 
ducts. Raising grass necessarily involves raising cattle ; and you can 
measure the prosperity of any nation by the number of cattle within its 



622 THE SOUTHERN [October 

borders. That kind of husbandry takes less from the soil than any 
oth^r, and requires less labor to prosecute it. 

A practical Southern writer, in speaking of the high price of lands in 
the North as compared with those in the South, uses this forcible lan- 
guage: 

"Why this difference? Is the land in these countries better than 
ours ? Not by nature; if it be better, it is by the difference of treatment. 
Is their climate better than ours? The acknowledged superiority is on 
our side. Are the prices of their products any better than ours ? On an 
average not so good. Are their taxes lighter than ours? If we were 
compelled to pay their tax, either at the North or in England, our land 
would be at once sold for taxes. Have they valuable crops which they 
can raise, and which we cannot raise? There is not a farm product in 
either Old or New England which we cannot raise in equal perfection, 
at the South. Is their labor cheaper than ours? The cost of labor at 
the North nearly doubles the cost of labor at the South. In England 
labor is cheaper than with us. But the difference is, perhaps, compen- 
sated by the poor and church rates, and other excessive taxes paid by 
the English farmer. 

" If, then, our climate is as good as that of the countries referred to ; 
if our land is as good as theirs; if our products bring as good prices ; if our 
taxes are much lighter ; if we can grow all the crops that they grow ; if 
labor is cheaper with us than it is at the North, and if difference in taxes 
compensates for the cheapness of labor in England, why is it that their 
land is so valuable, and ours so valueless? 

" We shall find the map of use to us in answering this question. If 
we take the map of the United States, and put our finger upon the 
States or parts of States in which land sells at the highest price, we shall 
find that in those States or parts of States the greatest attention is paid 
to the cultivation of the grasses and forage plants. If we open the map 
of Europe we shall find the same rule holds good. The cheapest lands 
in Europe are those of Spain, where little attention is paid to grasses. 
The value of lands rises exactly in proportion to the attention which is 
given to them — in England and Holland reaching sometimes, for farm- 
ing purposes, to $1,000 per acre. Holland is almost a continuous meadow. 
This land value culminates in Lombardy, where irrigated meadow lands 
rent for $60 to $100 per acre. Without exception, in Europe and America, 
where a large portion of land is in grass or forage crops, the price of land 
is high — reaching the figures above mentioned. On the other hand, with- 
out exception, wherever in either continent the grasses do not receive this 
attention, landed estate is of comparatively low value. 

" Now when, in the investigation of the cause of a given effect, we find 
in a number of instances in which the result occurs, the presence uniformly 
of a particular agent, and in a number of similar instances in which the 
result does not occur, we find this agent to be absent, then, unless good 
reasons to the contrary be given, we are at liberty to attribute the result 
to the presence of this agent. The conclusion is irresistible that a large 
attention to the cultivated grasses is essential, not only to improved agri- 
culture, but also to a high value of landed estate. If there be a flaw in 
this reasoning, the writer has been unable to detect it. Fifteen years 
ago this solution was offered of the apparently anomalous condition of 
our lands, so favored as to all the elements of agriculture, and yet so 
ruinous low in salable value. Time has but strengthened the convic- 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 623 

tion of its correctness. The argument is strengthened by the considera- 
tion that extended grass culture in any country is an index of the exist- 
ence of an improved agriculture. Where this occurs there must be large 
numbers of horses or mules, sheep and cattle. These produce an abun- 
dance of manure. Where there is an abundance of manure, there will 
be large crops. Where there are large crops, land will be valuable. 
These results follow from the grass crop as the first cause." 

The abundance and superior quality of the grasses which abound in 
some parts of this country has given rise recently to a new branch of 
trade which is not without significance. Weekly shipments of beef are 
now made to Europe from this country. The experiment seems to have 
been entirely successful, and it is thought that it is the beginning of a 
permanent and profitable trade, which may be increased to any extent. 
The meat thus shipped brings the highest market price, for it is equal to 
the best in the English market, and far surpasses the most of it. Living, as 
you do, so near to the points of shipment, you may be interested in know- 
ing what the English papers think of this new enterprise. You may be 
sure that if anything favorable is said of it by them, that it is deserved. 
In the October number of the Southern Planter and Farmer I find the 
following extract from the Agricultural Gazette of London: 

" The success of the system is established, and, the trade being con- 
solidated, we may anticipate receiving importations that will have a 
sensible effect upon our meat supplies, and consequent reduction in the 
present exorbitant high prices of all descriptions of meat. The quality 
of the meat of the grass-fed American bullocks is described as equal to 
the finest Aberdeen beef; and when its ripe condition from long suspen- 
sion in a dry atmosphere at a uniform temperature of 38° becomes 
known, we may anticipate a rivalry between the purveyors of the Clubs 
and the hard-working artisans in the race to obtain the American beef. 
The important question for the English feeder to consider is, how is this 
obtrusive competitor to be met on the retail butcher's stall ! Alas ! the 
day is gone when the British farmer boasted of the high quality of his 
meat. The injudicious use of substances rich in non-nitrogenous elements 
has injured the character and deteriorated the quality of his beef and 
mutton. A complaint arises from every householder, that meat at the 
present time is too fat ; that nature's proportion of lean and fat is dis- 
turbed, greatly to the disadvantage of the consumer. The production 
of an enormous fat beast or sheep is no indication of the intellect or skill 
of the exhibitor. Give to a well bred animal an abundance of substances 
rich in non-nitrogenous or fat-forming elements, and fat, and fat only, is 
produced. Let the physiological truth be admitted, that flesh is formed 
only from the nitrogen existing in all vegetables, and the sensible feeder, 
anxious to produce well-proportioned meat, will use with judgment, and 
not indiscriminately; the refuse of the expressed oily seeds. The Ameri- 
can feeders probably could never have invaded the English meat market 
at a more opportune period. The shambles are sparsely covered, and 
the quality of the meat exhibited is, generally speaking, unpopular and 
ill-adapted to cope with the grass-fed meat that they are prepared to 
offer." 

This means that good quality of beef that is raised near the sea-board, 
because animals that have been subject to the hardships and privations 
of transportation from distant points to the point of shipment, are not in 
a condition for exportation. I have been told by one of the largest cat- 



624 THE SOUTHERN [October 

tie dealers in this country, that animals fattened near the markets where 
they are slaughtered, always bring higher prices for that reason, than 
those brought from a distance. 

It is not difficult to see that Virginia, in consequence of her admirable 
location, her superior winter climate, the adaptation of her soil to rais- 
ing those grasses which produce the finest qualities of meat, is in a con- 
dition to profit very largely, by this new industry, if she puts herself in 
a condition to take advantage of it. And if she will get her lands in 
grass, introduce a prudent system of rotation of crops, using the plow 
only to renew her grass lands when it is necessary, discontinue the raising 
of wheat except for home consumption, and raise corn only to be fed to 
her cattle, she can compete with the world in supplying the home and 
foreign markets with meat. 

It may be regarded as a maxim in farming, that, that system is most 
desirable, which enables the farmer to produce the largest amount in value 
at the least expense, and at the same time keep up the fertility of his 
soil. The cultivation of grass and feeding cattle for the market will 
better enable the farmer to accomplish this than the prosecution of any 
other business. It does away to a great extent with the plow, the ex- 
cessive use of which has been the curse of your State, and reduces the 
expenses of labor to the minimum amount. 

But I must speak more particularly of clover. It is called, and prop- 
erly so, " the sheet anchor of American husbandry." Too much cannot 
be said in its praise. It is capable of doing more to bring your impov- 
erished lands to a high state of cultivation, with less expense, than any 
one other agency. Its universal use as a restoring crop, would, in a few 
years, make Virginia as celebrated for her agriculture as she has ever 
been for her statesmen. And just in proportion as the farmer cultivates 
this plant will he be relieved from the necessity of purchasing commer- 
cial fertilizers to enrich his land. Whilst there is no system of cultiva- 
tion which will enable the farmer to keep up the fertility of his land 
without resorting to such agencies, yet the use of clover will go very far 
towards accomplishing it. 

A writer, in one of the prominent farm journals, in speaking of clo- 
ver says : 

" A few pounds of diminutive seed furnish machinery to absorb from 
the atmosphere and pump out of the earth the elements of fertility needed 
to replace what our wasteful and improvident predecessors have ex- 
pended. I solemnly believe that in the benign providence of God, clo- 
ver is to be the Moses which is to deliver Southern agriculturists from 
the bondage of poverty and debt, by restoring our wasted and worn in- 
heritance to its original fertility." 

This language is not too strong. Clover does for the land what no 
other plant can. It is like the gleaner of old, it gathers up and makes 
useful what is lost. 

Nitrogen, in the form of nitric acid, one of the most important and ex- 
pensive eiemeuts which enter into the growth of our crops, descends, by 
the action of rains, so far into the soil as to be beyond the reach of ordi- 
nary plants. The roots of the clover plant are so many messengers to 
bring it back to the surface again. 

The coral insect does not more effectually extract from the waters of 
the sea the material which enables it to construct the wrecking reef, than 
does the clover plant seek out and garner plant food from earth and air 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER 625 

for man's use. And then, as if to indicate what great office it was de- 
signed to perform in the economy of nature, viz : to prepare the way for 
other life, it refuses to consume this ingathered nutriment, but dies and 
leaves it for the nourishment of succeeding crops. It is this fact that 
has led farmers to say that their lands, where clover had grown in great 
luxuriance, but refused to grow longer, was clover sick. In other words, 
it had performed its function, accomplished the great object of its life, 
and then, like the silk worm, died. 

There is nothing truer in nature, than that the clover plant, whilst 
drawing largely upon the richness of the soil for its own sustenance, 
leaves the earth far richer in plant food than it found it. And this mar- 
velous feat is by a skill peculiarly its own, for the wit of man has never 
accomplished it. Science has for years been engaged in trying to dis- 
cover some inexpensive method by which the nitrogen of the air could 
be forced into combination with other substances so a3 to be used in cul- 
tivating the earth. It has never been accomplished. That it will be I 
do not doubt, for it would be a bold man who would set a limit to man's 
discoveries. He that is successful in this field of experiment, will be the 
world's benefactor, for he will have bestowed upon it a priceless boon. 
But what man has failed to do, the clover plant is constantly accom- 
plishing. In your fields, where it is grown, this great help-meet is silently 
but successfully toiling for your good. Earth and air yield alike to its 
influence, and surrender their riches to its solicitations. 

If, then, clover is the Moses to lead you out of the wilderness (and I 
agree with the writer from whom I have quoted this language),! beg of 
you let the figure drop there, and do not let it be forty years in accom- 
plishing it. The promised land can be reached in a much shorter pe- 
riod. Pisgah will rise up at your bidding, the waters will divide at your 
approach, and you can pass over from leanness to plenty. Clover will 
do for you what miracles did for Moses. Yea, it will do more. It will 
cancel notes, pay mortgages, extinguish obligations, and bring abundance 
where there is now want. 

And now, having condemned that system, which permits what is raised 
on the farm to be sold from it, I beg leave to suggest other modes of 
getting an income from your labor. In doing so I must call attention 
to some facts which need no comment. You have easy and daily ac- 
cess to the cities of Alexandria, Washington and Baltimore, where there 
is found a ready market for everything your soil is capable of producing. 
And yet the two former cities are supplied daily with the most of the cream 
which is used for domestic purposes, from distant counties in the State of 
New York. And when you request the purchasers to take their sup- 
ply from Virginia, they will do so only at a reduced price, for the al- 
leged reason, that for the want of good pasture we cannot produce so good 
an article. They think, and with some cause, that broom sedge will not 
make good cream. It is for this cause that our home markets are closed 
against us, and we are shut out from an industry that has made my na- 
tive State rich. 

Washington has also received the most of her supply of hay from the 
same source, and her best butter from New York and Philadelphia. This 
is a reflection upon our soil, which, though now deserved, it is needless 
to say will not long be submitted to. For it is capable of growing 
grasses as sweet as ever sprang from the earth, and in quantities to sat- 
isfy the most exacting. It follows that the aroma of our butter and 



626 THE SOUTHERN [October 

cream may be such as to tickle the palate of the most fastidious. I sin- 
cerely trust that the day is not far distant when the order of things 
will be reversed, and the place of demand and supply respectively changed. 

Neither does Virginia manufacture the cheese she consumes, an indus- 
try which has enriched a great portion of the North, and for which the 
most of your State is well adapted. 

Your short winters, and the consequent advantage you possess in fat- 
tening cattle and sheep for the market at a diminished expense, suggests 
a branch of business which other sections of the country, less favored 
than you, have made profitable. So far as these things are concerned, 
you should fear no rivalry. Corn, one of the most important crops in 
our country as a fat-producing food, finds a congenial soil in Virginia. 
Boast as they may of the products of the Western prairies, your lands 
will produce as much per acre as theirs under that treatment which you 
ought to give them. 

Virginia is a favored State, and I can foresee a great future for her. 
There is a spirit of inquiry among her people which will bear good fruit. 
One of the most cheering indications of her improvement is, that there 
is now published within her borders, one of the best agricultural papers 
in this or any other country. Each number is worth ten times the year's 
subscription to any one engaged in agriculture. As a matter of self- 
improvement, as well as State pride, it should be read in every farmer's 
household within the State. I refer to the Southern Planter and Farmer, 
published in Richmond. If it does not radically change the defective 
agriculture of this State, it will be because its wise counsels are not 
heeded. 

There is much at the present time to encourage the farmer, for the 
outlook for our agriculture was never more favorable. The Old World 
is not self-sustaining so far as bread and meat are concerned, and the de- 
ficiency in those essentials is constantly increasing. The demand made 
at the present time for our breadstuffs is very large ; and in view of the 
constantly increasing population abroad, no one can doubt but that those 
demands will increase rather than diminish. A constant future demand 
seems therefore to be ensured, which must necessarily affect the price for 
farm products. It is true that we are annually bringing extensive tracts 
of " virgin " soil under cultivation, thereby adding largely to the pro- 
ducts of the country ; but it is equally true that lands already under 
cultivation are producing less every year from wasteful culture, and our 
own population is rapidly increasing, so as to require a larger amount 
for home consumption. The increased product will not more than keep 
pace with the increased demand. And had it not been for the partial 
restoration of the exhausted lands of Europe by the use of bones and 
guano, our country, with all its vast resources, would have been taxed to 
its uttermost to supply the foreign demand. Everything indicates a 
bright future for the farmer, and if the soil from which he must derive 
all of his wealth is the object of a wise care, his success would seem to 
be assured. 

If I am not trespassing too much on your patience, there is another 
subject upon which I should like to say a few words. In the October 
number of the Planter and Farmer, a correspondent writes as follows : 
" There is a topic which cannot be too earnestly brought home to farm- 
ers. I mean this : Their profession must be made more attractive. Every 
young man who can get a beggarly clerkship in town is quitting the country, 
and farming is treated with contempt. Is there no cure for this t 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 627 

The last census shows that this is the case to a very great extent 
throughout the rural districts generally. It is an evil which challenges 
serious attention. Virginia may be said to be an agricultural and not 
a manufacturing State. Her strength, therefore, lies in the products of 
her soil. By the withdrawal of her youug men from its cultivation, she 
is weakened in a vital point. Goldsmith deplored this evil. In his 
"Deserted Village," he immortalized a great truth by saying : 

"111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. 
Princes and lords may flourish or may fade ; 
A breath can make them, as a breath hath made. 
But a bold peasantry, their country'' s pride, 
When once destroyed, can never be supplied." 

The future glory and prosperity of Virginia depends more upon the 
character of the men- who shall cultivate her soil, than those who shall 
draw salaries from her treasury. Put intelligence upon the farm, and 
you will have distinction in the cabinet. A successful scientific agricul- 
ture infuses life and health in the whole body politic, and strengthens the 
arm of the State. Young men can make no more fatal mistake, than to 
look upon farm labor as degrading. To till the soil is an honorable as 
well as a useful employment. The first command of the Almighty, after 
the creation of man, was, that he should " subdue " the earth. That 
command afterwards received its practical fulfilment when Adam was 
placed in the Garden of Eden with the Divine injunction " to dress and 
keep it." And as if this were not enough to dignify and ennoble the 
labor of the husbandman, we are told by the sacred historian that whilst 
" the heavens, earth and sea " were called into existence by a simple 
command, yet that " The Lord planted the Garden which Adam was 
commanded ' to dress and keep.' " The necessity for toil, therefore, is 
not, as has been so often alleged, a part of the curse, consequent upon 
the fall, for these events to which I allude were before the great trans- 
gression. The necessity for labor should therefore be regarded as a bless- 
ing. The Psalmist, in enumerating the evidences of God's goodness and 
wisdom, exclaims, " Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor un- 
til the evening." Labor, therefore, should not be treated with contempt. 
Neither should farming be made so unattractive and repulsive as to 
drive young men to the large towns and cities to seek precarious liveli- 
hoods there. Is the country to lose not only their presence, but also 
their energies, their talents, and the benefit of their example? A reme- 
dy may be found for all this. Young men can and must be attracted to 
country life. That remedy is in the hands of the present generation. It 
is to make farming more attractive by making it more profitable and 
less laborious. If, instead of fields covered with broom sedge, and scar- 
red by deep, cavernous and unsightly gulleys, capable of producing, 
under the treatment they receive, barely sufficient to pay the expense of 
cultivation, your sons could look upon rich, well-cultivated and produc- 
tive farms, adorned with herds of well-bred cattle, barns bursting with 
the rich fruits of the harvest, they would cease to sigh for city life and 
adventure. They then could see something ahead in their lives beside 
unrecompensed toil and griping poverty. I do not say they could accu- 
mulate great wealth, but I do affirm that they could surround them- 
selves with the comforts and luxuries of life sufficient for a rational en- 
joyment. 
2 



628 THE SOUTHERN [October 

What we want on the farm is that energy and enterprise which makes 
the successful merchant, that talent which makes the successful profes- 
sional man, and that educated observation which enables men to unlock 
the secrets of nature, comprehend her laws, and appropriate her wealth. 
No other calling opens a wider field for investigation or a grander op- 
portunity for useful experiment, which may benefit not only the indi- 
vidual, but all mankind. 

It is desirable to accumulate wealth, but it is still better to be useful. 
It is our privilege to be rich, whilst it is our duty to be useful to our 
fellow-men. It is a hackneyed saying, that he who makes two blades of 
grass grow where but one grew before, is a public benefactor ; and it is 
true. It illustrates that great want that everywhere exists for progress 
in the cultivation of the earth, and the willingness of the world to honor 
those who contribute to it. 

Who deserves to be more honored than he who first discovered the 
constituent elements of vegetable life, or Lawes and Gilbert of England, 
and Ville of France, who have spent their lives in experimental farming 
for the good of mankind, or Johnson, of our own country, who has writ- 
ten those wonderful books entitled " How Plants Grow " and " How 
Plants Feed ? " And who will so effectually win fame as he who shall 
yet discover some practical method by which that coy constituent, com- 
posing ninety per cent, of the atmosphere, shall be wooed into an alli- 
ance with other objects, so as to be used in enriching the earth ? Whose 
names more readily occur to us here to-day at this harvest festival, as 
objects of our gratitude, than Rufiin and Taylor, of your own State, who 
have left behind them as monuments of their usefulness, the examples 
they set in improving agriculture? Had their admonitions been heeded, 
Virginia would have been to-day far in advance of her present condi- 
tion ; and while all may not expect to reach the same measure of use- 
fulness, yet there is an opportunity for every one who tills an acre of soil, 
to aid in bringing about a state of things which will remedy the evils 
which now exist. 

It should be the object of every one, young and old, to co-operate in 
making Virginia more attractive than it is. The West, with all its 
boasted advantages, has no such claims on the favors of the young, nor 
does she present so many advantages to those seeking new homes ; and 
yet when it is proposed to such that they turn their faces toward this 
State, they raise two objections which are difficult to answer. 

First — That her lands are exhausted, and cannot be resuscitated ex- 
cept at a great expense. 

Second — That her roads are neglected, and, at times, almost im- 
passable. 

For these reasons, hundreds of persons who otherwise would seek homes 
here, are turned away. 

It is in your power to remedy these things, and in doing so, you will 
not only attract strangers from abroad, but you will make Virginia more 
attractive to your children at home. There is no more important object 
than this. Bind your sons to the soil by every means in your power. 
Overcome, if possible, any desire on their part to leave tlje country for 
city life. Let them compare the present condition of the tillers of the 
soil with that of the tradesman, and they will see that the advantage is 
largely with the husbandman. 

A general wave of commercial disaster has swept over the country, 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 629 



and what wrecks it has left behind! Fortunes, v/hich were the accumu- 
lations of years of industry, have been swallowed up in an hour ! Men 
rich yesterday are poor to-day ! But these misfortunes have fallen upon 
those engaged in trade and commerce, and those who lived upon invest- 
ments. The tillers of the soil have been affected less by this general 
disaster than any other class. Laud withstands commercial shocks and 
crises, when everything else gives way ; and he who now owns even a 
poor Virginia farm, is envied by the man who but a few years ago was 
the leader in commercial strife, and thought himself secure against all 
perturbations of trade. If there ever was a time when young men should 
pause before leaving the farm to enter upon that voyage, where out of 
every one hundred who embark, there are ninety-nine wrecks, it is the 
present. 

Though large wealth is not accumulated by cultivation of the earth, 
yet there are compensating advantages. 

Men may cease to trade, but they must and will eat. Bills of exchange 
may prove valueless, but the garnered harvest will still have a value. 
The ship may rot in the harbor, but the plow will still turn the furrow. 
Nature is never bankrupt. Whatever else fails, she will remain solvent. 
The dews and rains of heaven will ever fall lovingly upon the earth's 
bosom, and the arrows of light descend from the sun's exhaustless quiver. 
She will never fail to bring forth corn and wine to make glad the heart 
of man. Thieves may break in and steal bill and bond, but the farm is 
not the subject of larceny. 

Go to the mansion of the rich man, even in his days of prosperity, and 
wherein has he the advantage of the farmer? He may point to his pol- 
ished mahogany, but he did not give it that polish, and the cabinet- 
maker has plenty more of the same kind to sell to him who has money 
to buy. He may point with pride to his stately mansion, but it is too 
elaborate to be comfortable, and too expensive to be enjoyed. The 
farmer, on the other hand, looks upon the fields, that he has made beau- 
tiful, upon herds that he has reared, and upon the golden grain that he 
has garnered. They are the immediate products of his toil and not of 
another's, and therefore give zest to his enjoyment. 

The country, with all of its hardships and toils, is the place for ra- 
tional enjoyments, and all the wealth which the city offers to the most 
successful enterprise will not repay its loss. 

The tendency of city life is to blunt the sensibilities and demoralize 
the heart. I have seen those who had severed all connection with coun- 
try life, and become so absorbed in schemes for amassing wealth, as to 
lose all capacity to enjoy the country. In my judgment, this is a loss 
wholly uncompensated by the wealth which they have sacrificed their 
better natures to accumulate. 

I know of such who have acquired in commercial pursuits far more 
than sufficient for the gratification of actual or fancied wants, and who, 
weary and worn with city cares, have returned at the close of life to en- 
joy the country. But alas! they found, when too late, that they had 
bartered away their capacity to do so. They had never brought an offer- 
ing to nature's shrine, and in return she refused to permit them to par- 
ticipate in the beauties of her laboratory. She withholds from the eyes 
of such, the beauties of her face, and from their ears, the music of her 
thousand voices. I know of no sadder spectacle than this. 
"He that soweth, shall he not reap ?" 



6E0 THE SOUTHERN [October 

Such men look upon broad acres ODly to calculate how much they 
would cut up for into city lots. 

Such persons can never truly enjoy anything. Their ideas of happi- 
ness are inseparably connected with wealth and ostentation, and the 
value of a thing is judged always by what it costs. To such, age brings 
no repose. Wealth has always been the god of their worship, and when 
declining years impair the mental and physical powers, the idol becomes 
the master and rules its slave with a rod of iron. No greater misfortune 
can befall any man than the accumulation of great wealth without the 
capacity to enjoy anything beyond the bank account or the balance 
sheet. 

Such is the penalty often involved in success in great cities, where 
wealth comes in like a flood, to drown all desires and emotions, except 
the worship of itself. 

On the other hand, what a harmony there is between waning years 
and the tranquility of rural life, where the objects of existence have not 
been perverted. If a life has been well spent, age brings with it a desire 
for quiet and repose. That can only be found far away from the mart 
and the forum. The rustic patriarch in some country retreat enjoying 
a bare competence, who sits under the shade of the tree his hand has 
planted, and admires the green fields which his labor has beautified, is 
more to be envied than the rich man who measures his rent rolls by the 
yard, and counts his fortune by millions. 

Again, and again, let me urge upon those who despise the farm and 
are chafing for opportunity to plunge in the whirlpool of city adventure 
and strife, to profit by the experience of those who have preceded them 
in the perilous step. Go not where the eternal hum of busy life ever 
stun the ear; where the never ending struggle in social, commercial, and 
political position engrosses every hour ; where the mingled voices of 
pleasure and pain, hope and despair, burden the very air of heaven. 

Remain in the country where wants are measured by the capacity for 
rational enjoyment, and where nature, and not the follies and misfortunes 
of your fellow-men is your teacher. 

Stay, where every hour, some object of natural beauty, fresh from its 
Maker's hands, presents itself for your admiration and enjoyment. Grow 
wiser and better in looking upon the simple violet which, makes its toilet 
of beauty obedient to its Maker's will. 

Learn a lesson from the wild clematis which spreads its folds of snowy 
gracefulness over the fallen oak — the type of charity in an evil world. 

Learn humility and forgiveness from the brook which washes clean 
the rock that obstructs its passage, and chants its sweetest music to the 
pebbles which lie obscure beneath its surface. 

Stay, where the spirit of life and love moves upon everything you see. 
"The simple flowers are social and benevolent, and he 
Who holdeth converse in their language pure, 
Shall find Him who Eden's garden drest — 
His Maker, there to teach his listening heart." 

Farmers of Virginia, you live in a favored land, and have cause for 
gratitude for the blessings you enjoy. 

The whirlwind has not torn the ripened ear from its stalk, nor has the 
herd sickened in the field. 

Great cities seek the fruits of your labors, and make you ample re- 
turns therefor. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 631 

Your fields are no longer crimson with human blood, and made deso- 
late with the tread of contending hosts. Everything around you indi- 
cates a growing prosperity. 

Here, then, at the close of this annual festival, let the incense of grate- 
ful hearts rise to the God of the Harvest and the fruitful field. 

"Let His works praise Him." 

"The rolling seasons, as they move, 
- Proclaim His constant care.'' 



[For the Southern Planter and Farmer.] 

VIRGINIA STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY— SCHEDULE 
OF PREMIUMS, 

We have been favored with a copy of the Rules and Regulations 
and Schedule of Premiums for the Fair at Richmond commencing 
October 30th, 1877. In making out their lists of awards the Exec- 
utive Committee have admirably arranged the premiums on fruits — 
especially those in reference to the apple, the prince of fruits in our 
latitude. The pear premiums are also liberal and cainmendable 
The exhibition, we fear, will be too late for the best Summer pears 
but those of Fall and Winter will come in all right. Garden pro 
ducts, including flowers, have also received a due share of attention 

We are glad to see that the Committee properly estimate the im 
portanee of Pomology as an industry that contributes so largely to 
the health, happiness and domestic comforts of our people ; and, 
also, as a source of pecuniary advantage and wealth that should be 
more fully appreciated by the people of our favored clime. 

We are pleased to witness that not only liberal inducements to 
competition in fruit culture are properly set forth, but the entire 
management and distribution of their funds for the encouragement 
and promotion of agriculture and the arts employed in our domes- 
tic industries, are especially and judiciously arranged, inviting 
rivalry and lively competition that must lead to success and general 
improvement. 

These premiums and laudable efforts to advance the prosperity of 
our State by and through our agricultural resources, are highly pro- 
motive of a policy and occupation that all must acknowledge is the 
main supporting pillar of the Commonwealth. Thus encouraged, our 
exhibitors will be induced to spread extensive tables, not only with 
the productions of their orchards, but with all the valuable produc- 
tions of the farm and garden. Doubtless we shall also have a fine 
show of stock of every description ; and the arts appertaining to 
the wants as well as the elegances of life will be patronized and en- 
couraged. 

In regard to fruit premiums it seems right that producers alone 
should be allowed to compete. But, at the same time, it must be 
recollected that farmers, especially in the Piedmont region, are, 
many of them, not conveniently situated to forward their specimens, 



632 THE SOUTHERN [October 

although facilities for transportation are not wanting, and many thus 
adversely situated, may not take sufficient interest to add to the ex- 
hibition ; and many of these, we apprehend, are located in our very 
best fruit districts. Now, if all interested and desirous of aiding in 
the best display of which our fine soil and climate is capable, should 
be allowed the procuring and forwarding of specimens, with the 
view to premiums, we would probably haye a display in the fruit 
department that would fairly show the capabilities of Virginia. 
This, we think, can only be effected by having the competition free 
to all. 

We should be proud to have a fair opportunity to show what the 
soil and climate of our glorious old State could produce when adap- 
tation and proper culture are attended to by our intelligent orchard- 
ists. We should like to see what can be done in the way of numerous 
and valuable varieties and noble and beautiful specimens of fruits ; 
proud that we have farmers among us who can appreciate the impor- 
tance of devoting a liberal share of their attention to this interesting 
and important branch of agriculture. 

We are of opinion that if our suggestions, in connection with the 
inducements already offered, could be carried out, a display of fruits 
would grace the tables of the Society never before seen in Virginia; 
or, perhaps, all things considered, any other State or portion of the 
world. 

If we cannot make the Pomology of Virginia rival the produc- 
tions of the gardens of the Sesperides, we can, at least, compete 
with any other region, and show fruits unequalled and unsurpassed, 
as to lusciousness, flavor, beauty and perfection, by any portion of 
the most favored clime subjected to the arts of culture. 

The great National Exhibition to be held in Baltimore, in connec- 
tion with the "Maryland Horticultural Society," on the 12th, 13th 
and 14th of September next, will doubtless be a grand affair ; and, 
if we could induce our fruit-growers to make proper efforts, we 
would have a display there that would prove the superiority of 
Virginia soil and climate for size, beauty and deliciousness of fruits. 

In conclusion, we earnestly recommend accordance with the pub- 
lished Rules and Regulations of the Executive Committee, and with 
whatever else they may have in view or may deem expedient. 

Fruit-growers and those interested in fine fruits (and who are 
not), will, we trust, use every means to effect a splendid show of our 
Winter and. Fall varieties ; and we hope our farmers will use their 
very best efforts to render the approaching Seventeenth Exhibition 
the ' most imposing and interesting Fair ever held in the old Do- 
minion. 

Albemarle county, Va. J. Fitz. 



Exercise is as essential to bodily development as air is to life. 
No person can acquire a large, compact, muscular organization with- 
out it. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 633 

HOW DRIED FRUIT SHOULD BE PUT UP FOR MARKET. 

The Southern States send forward some of the best fruit we have, 
and in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, the curing 
of the same has become quite an industry and source of profit. 
Dealers generally throughout the country will enhance the value of 
all fruit, and serve their own interest greatly, by observing the fol- 
lowing hints of reference to the curing and packing of the same. 
Care should be taken that all tares are correctly marked, and the 
fruit to run uniform throughout each and every package ; ship none 
that is not well dried; put in new or very clean second-hand barrels; 
do not put more than the one kind in the same package, thereby se- 
curing for your shipments a reputation which will generally insure 
quick sales at full market prices; mark or brand the kind and qual- 
ity, together with weight and tare, distinctly, send invoice descrip- 
tive of weights, etc., also railroad receipts or bill of lading with every 
shipment. 

All dried fruits sell principally by color, which should be bright ; 
and to obtain the same in apples and peaches, they should be pre- 
pared for drying before fully ripe. Sliced apples, if not bright, do 
not pay for the trouble of slicing, and the finest qualities should be 
packed in new barrels, top and bottom lined with paper. Bright 
quartered apples, well cored, uniform in cut, are always more or less 
in fair demand ; and more attention should be given them. Peeled 
peaches should be sliced or cut in eights and invariably of a bright 
color. Dark qualities rule low, and are slow in sale. Unpealed 
peaches should be cut in halves and quarters. The largest peaches 
should be selected for halves, size being a consideration in them, 
while smaller fruit is usually desirable to cut for quarters. They 
should be kept entirely separate ; when mixed they will not generally 
sell at over the price of quarters. 

Note by the Editor. — We have something to say elsewhere in this number 
about dried fruit. The above, which we find in the Lynchburg News, is so valu- 
able that we reproduce it gladly. This is a great fruit year with us, and what 
cannot be marketed in the natural state should be dried. Country merchants 
along the lines of railway, will take all that is brought in, or if shipped direct to 
the city merchants they will find a market for it. The minor matters of the farm 
being money as well as the great ones ; and we need all we can command in that 
line. 

Wild Onion. — One of your correspondents wishes to know how 
to eradicate this pest from his wheat field. I will venture to suggest 
the sowing of the infested lots three years consecutively in oats. 
Having been troubled a great deal with garlic, and been often mor- 
tified at the low price obtained for my wheat on account of it, I tried 
the above given plan, and the fields are almost entirely divested of it. 

Burkeville, Va. R. A. Miller. 



General J. A. Walker will speak in Isle of Wight on the 1st inst. 



634 THE SOUTHERN [October 

A VICTORY FOR RETRENCHMENT. 

"We invite attention to the following article from that sterling conservative 
newspaper, the New York Journal of Commerce : 

The important financial budget from our Washington correspon- 
dent which we print elsewhere points its own moral to all readers 
who will carefully study it. It is a summary of the official state- 
ment of Treasury receipts and expenditures for the fiscal year end- 
ing June 30, 1877. 

[The statement is as follows : 

RECEIPTS. 

Customs, . . . . . . . $130,956,493 07 

Internal Revenue, 118,630,407 83 

Public Lands, 976,253 68 

Miscellaneous, 18,437,432 04 



$269,000,586 62 



EXPENDITURES. 



Civil and Miscellaneous, . . . . $ 56,252,066 60 

War Department, . . . . 37,082,735 90 

Navy Department, 14,959,935 36 

Interior Department, Indians and Pensions, . 33,240,759 49 



Total General Expenditures, . . . $141,535,497 35 
Add Interest on Public Debt, . . . 97,124,511 58 



$238,660,008 93 



Which shows a surplus of receipts over expendi- 
tures of $30,340,577 69.] 

The figures speak eloquently for themselves to every reflecting 
mind. But as some persons have not the time or inclination to 
trace the relation between cause and effect, which holds eternally 
true in these statistical tables as in everything else, we beg to call 
their attention to it. They will see here the substantial fruits of 
those lessons of retrenchment and economy which we have ham- 
mered into the public mind for many years. Be it said to the credit 
of recent Congresses, whatever faults were chargeable upon them, 
that they have made a steady ''improvement in these respects," and 
the Forty-fourth Congress, with all its shortcomings, set an example 
of moderation and frugality which will stand forth in all time. 
Future Congresses may surpass it in ability and patriotism, but we 
ought to be satisfied if the successors of the Forty-fourth are as 
careful to save money in one direction and not to waste it in another 
as the men who served at the Capitol the last two years. This 
tribute is only their due. It should be generously paid by every 
citizen, however much he may differ in politics from a majority of 
that body, or criticise the wisdom of particular measures passed by 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARiMER. 635 



them or censure them for neglected opportunities of good. The 
people will do justice to every man — President, Secretary of the 
Treasury, member of Congress, or other official, down to the hum- 
blest — who aids at this time in cheapening the expenses, without 
impairing the efficiency of the Government. There are several 
ways in which the lost national prosperity may be regained. This 
of judicious economy is one which is plain to the meanest compre- 
hension. 

The Treasury accounts for the year show a surplus revenue, in 
round numbers, of $30,000,000— exceeding by about $4,000,000 
the estimate of the late Secretary of the Treasury. This remarka- 
ble result would not have been reached but for the firm stand taken 
by the last Congress against Federal extravagance and waste. It 
was apparent to the economists of both parties in Congress that a 
further effort must be made to stop the leaks. The revenues of the 
Government had been steadily decreasing since 1866, with the sin- 
gle exception of the year 1870. There was no telling to what 
depth the revenues might sink in the general business depression. 
It was, therefore, the part of wisdom to be more than usually cau- 
tious in making appropriations. Resisting the importunities of 
Cabinet officers, of lobbyists and of party friends, the Forty-fourth 
Congress boldly cut down the bills, as sent in, by $20,000,000. 
Had this not been done the surplus of June 30, 1877, would have 
been only $10,000,000. Not onty has this large sum been saved to 
the country to be applied to the future expenses of government, but 
the way has been paved for still further reductions, accompanied by 
a removal of more of the taxes on commerce and manufactures. 
The civil service has not been injured but actually improved by the 
diminution of the expenses when attended by a discharge of incom- 
petent and superfluous men. The customs receipts are less by 
$17,000,000, it is true, than those of 1876 ; but the decline in im- 
ports explains this falling off. The receipts from internal revenue 
are about $2,500,000 more than those of the previous year, while 
the outlay of that department was much less. The saving in civil 
and miscellaneous expenditures reached nearly $11,000,000. And, 
we say again, not one interest has suffered from this exercise of 
economy ; but, on the contrary, the results prove that the civil officers 
of the Government have done better work on the reduced appro- 
priations. 

The last Congress has been savagely abused for its treatment of 
the army. But the appropriations for the War Department was only 
$1,000,000 less than that of 1876, and it appeared ample at the 
time for all the services for which the regular army ought to be used. 
The effect of the Indian war and of the strike riots, in the sup- 
pression of which the Federal troops took a gallant part, will proba- 
bly be to stave off a further reduction of the army expenses for the 
present. The necessity of a regular force is not denied, and since 
the Administration has ceased to order bayonets to the South to 
fight for a party the House of Representatives will not be illiberal 



636 THE SOUTHERN [October 

to the army. For the navy the retrenchment was not less than 
$4,000,000, and it is a navy now fully large enough for a peace foot- 
ing. Only the naval officers, the contractors and jobbers want more 
money lavished on it. There is no pretense that any other of the 
many Government interests have been injured by the frugality 
practiced of late. 

Economy, retrenchment and civil service reform must still be the 
watchwords for every citizen who would hasten the return of better 
days. A strong public sentiment pervading the rank and file of 
both parties must keep the coming Congress on the track of the last 
one. Differing in other matters, men of every shade of politics 
should agree in this, and then the country will be safe. 

As we, in the South, have to lend such a very considerable hand in providing 
for the maintenance of the General Government, it is a great satisfaction to 
know that something is left in the till after all the bills have been met. But the 
sight is grievous when we behold that the item of interest on the public debt is 69 
per cent, as large as the whole of all the general expenditures of the Government 
put together. The funding of the maturing 6 per cent, bonds, in bonds bearing a 
lower rate of interest, will have the effect to reduce this item materially ; and 
should the future show a surplus at the end of each year, as we now happily 
chronicle for the fiscal year just closed, the principal itself of the debt will, be- 
fore a great many years, be cancelled. Inasmuch as very much of the debt is 
held in Europe, the bonds should have been made perpetual, like the English 
consol. The European folks are not fond of option-bonds (or those liable to be 
called in by the Government, say in five to twenty years, or ten to forty years). 
When they make an investment in this way, time is an element with them ; and 
the United States bonds, perpetual, put, say at 4 per cent., would be rapidly 
taken ; certainly in England, where these bonds would yield 33^- per cent, more 
income than their own consols. The Government, finding it had a surplus to 
devote to the extinguishment of the principal, could put it in a sinking fund, 
and go into the market and buy these bonds at their market value, and cancel 
them. 

Now, this example of retrenchment in the General Government should not be 
lost on us in Virginia. If we find that this retrenchment is not practicable un- 
der our present Constitution, then let a Convention be called, without delay, to 
prepare a new one, under which it can be done. It is the perfection of folly for 
us to groan under our troubles when we have a remedy for them that may be so 
easily applied. There is no necessity of one cent more being added to the land 
tax, and still have all that is required for every needed expenditure. 



£For the Southern Planter and Farmer.] 

FODDER PULLING. 

Your articles in the September number on "Fodder Pulling," re- 
minds me of a promise made some time ago, to publish my experiment 
with corn-fodder the present year. 

I sowed, in drills, three feet wide, about six bushels of corn per 
acre last week in March. When the tassel was in full bloom, I cut 
it down, shocked it around small stakes ; some I shocked as it was 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 637 

cut ; the other had one day's sun. In about a week I removed some 
of it to the barn, placing it upright. The other remained in the 
shock about three weeks, taking some rain ; the first made the best 
fodder. When well cured, I found, by weighing, that I had made 
about eighteen thousand pounds per acre. I think it would have 
made better forage if I had sowed eight bushels per acre. 

The farmer who will try this plan of making fodder, manuring 
his land well, will find it much cheaper than that generally adopted. 

Jno. T. Aleritton. 

Wayne County, N. Q. 



[For the Southern Planter and Farmer.] 

THE EFFECT OF A TOBACCO PREMIUM ON THE BLACK 
PEOPLE OF LOUISA. 

We are indebted to Mr. George J. Sumner, merchant, of Louisa Court-house, 
for the following report, and are persuaded it will be read with interest all 
round : 

A public-spirited establishment in Richmond offered to the plan- 
ters of Louisa county upon the crop of 1876 two special premiums 
on tobacco. The first was offered to the young white man between 
the age of 18 and 30 years, whether married or not, who should 
produce the best crop of tobacco of not less than two acres, of his 
own production, without the aid of hired labor, One Hundred Silver 
Dollars. The other premium was offered to the colored men of the 
county, and proposed to award for the best package of tobacco, weigh- 
ing not less than 500 pounds, to be settled by the highest price re- 
ceived in the Richmond market, Fifty Silver Dollars. 

The objects aimed at in these premiums were, first, to induce our 
young white men to remain at home and apply themselves to indus- 
trial pursuits, rather than to risk their fortunes in new and untried 
localities ; and second, to induce our colored men to raise a higher 
grade of tobacco, as well as to encourage them in honorable efforts 
to secure a decent living by their own labor. 

On Monday evening, August 13th, at Louisa Court, a very large 
and enthusiastic meeting was held to award the premium to the 
colored man. One of the oldest and most highly respected citizens 
of the county, Jno. Hunter, Sr., Esq., presided. Mr. John P. 
Thompson and Wm. M. Bickers were appointed Secretaries. It was 
stated that though some eight or ten young white men had entered 
the list for the first premium, owing to most unfavorable circum- 
stances and the difficulty of raising plants last year, only one small 
crop was offered, which, though it was very creditable to the young 
man — being about 1700 pounds raised on a little more than two 
acres — yet, it was determined, as there was no competition, not to 
award any premium on this result. 

Among the colored men there were nine competitors whose sales 
were presented to the meeting. The result showed that in Lcuisa 



638 THE SOUTHERN [October 

county, during the year 1876, the finest sun-cured tobacco that sold 
for the highest figures was raised by colored men. Below is a state- 
ment showing the pounds produced by each of these nine men, their 
average net sales, and the highest prices obtained by each of them: 

„„„„„*, .„« „.„„« WEIGHT. GROSS AV'GE HIGHEST 

NUMBER AND NAMES. , „ n T „ „ _ „~ r „„ 

LBS. SALES. PRICE. PRICE. 

No. 1. M. L. Perkins 971 $162.98 $16.80 $20.00 

No. 2. F. M. Perkins 2882 375.82 13.01 19 00 

No. 3. Jerry Price 1236 159.85 12.93 22.50 

No. 4. Robt. Baker 1919 195.02 10.16 18.75 

No. 5. Minor Michie 1191 100.76 8.46 22.50 

No. 6. George Michie 1427 170.86 11.97 18.25 

No. 7. Jefferson Michie 1042 134.11 12.87 18.00 

No. 8. John Morris 2444 251.55 10.30 16.50 

No. 9. Edward Randall 2595 269.77 10.40 12.00 

It must be remembered that these results were accomplished 
during the most unfavorable year since 1866, and is certainly credi- 
table to the industry and good management of these colored men. 
The successful competitor, as will be observed, was Marshall L. Per- 
kins. He was called upon the stand, and after assuring the au- 
dience that this package of tobacco was his own production, was 
awarded the premium of Fifty new Trade Silver Dollars, fresh from 
the Mint in Philadelphia. 

The gentleman who awarded this premium, as the representative 
of the donor in Richmond, took occasion to address to the recipient 
a few words of congratulation and encouragement. It was the re- 
ward of honest labor, and should appeal to his manhood and stimu- 
lute him to still greater efforts. He commended him more because 
he was a colored man, recently come to enjoy the rights of citizen- 
ship, and hoped it would recommend him to the confidence of all 
true men, of whom he should ever strive to prove himself worthy. 
A fact was here stated which reflected the highest honor upon 
the next competitor. A most industrious and worthy colored man 
named Jerry Price (an excellent farmer), sold a package of tobacco 
weighing 510 pounds for $22.50 per hundred. It was believed that 
he had secured the premium, and he received many congratulations 
on his success. When his commission merchant came to settle 
his sales, he stated that he paid him with the more pleasure because 
he had won, in addition, a valuable prize. His reply was : " This 
money is not mine. I cannot honestly claim it. I found I did not 
have the weight, and called on my neighbor, whose tobacco corres- 
ponded with mine, to make up the package. I cannot take the 
money." 

F. V. Winston, Esq., one of the leading lawyers of the county, 
was called upon to address the meeting. He was there to offer his 
hearty congratulations to those who had contended for the prize, 



1877.1 PLANTER AND FARMER. 639 

and to the successful competitor. He came not to make a political 
speech, but to talk of those matters in which we were all interested — 
relating to the rewards and benefits of the peaceful pursuits of 
industry. He was glad to know that so many of the colored people 
had bought and paid for their homes ; and referred to the willing- 
ness of the white people to sell to worthy and industrious colored 
men land, which could be had at prices from $5 to $8 per acre — 
land which will produce tobacco that brings from $16 to $22.50 per 
hundred- Any working, economical men, even without money, can 
buy these lands and pay for them from their production in two to 
four years. This was the true meaning of freedom — to work with 
energy and honesty, to accumulate, to enjoy the fruits of their labor, 
to be protected in their property ; and any healthy, muscular, honest 
colored man has it in his power to accomplish this. There are not 
wanting men who, when they know the colored man is honest and 
worthy, will extend to him encouragement and assistance. He can 
have credit if he deserves it. We shall show to our Northern friends 
that we know how to protect and encourage the negro in all laudable 
efforts to succeed. The speech of Captain Winston had a fine effect. 
The countenances of these people were lighted up, and the nod of 
assent and hearty cheering showed the intense interest with which 
they listened to every word that was said. Other prominent speakers 
had promised to address the meeting, but a shower of rain compelled 
an adjournment. 

The representative of the noble-hearted Richmond donor stated 
that it was his pleasant duty to offer two prizes for the present 
growing crop of tobacco, open to all parties, both white and colored, 
as follows : 1st. For the hogshead of tobacco, raised during the year 
1877, by any white man in Louisa county, to be solely his own produc- 
tion, weighing not less than 1,000 pounds nett, that brings the highest 
price in Richmond market during the year 1878, One Hundred Sil- 
ver Dollars. 2d. For the package of tobacco raised during the year 
1877, by any colored man in Louisa county, to be solely his own pro- 
duction, weighing not less than 600 pounds nett, that brings the 
highest price in Richmond market during the year 1878, Fifty Sil- 
ver Dollars. 

A handsome certificate, in a suitable frame, will be prepared, 
signed by the Chairman and Secretaries of the meeting, setting 
forth the premium awarded and for what, and be presented to the 
successful competitors. 

It is to be hoped other counties will follow suit in these efforts to 
stimulate our farmers to improve their crop, especially in quality. 

Nothing gives us more sincere pleasure than to record any evidence indica- 
ting improvement in the black race dwelling among us. Here they are ; and 
here they will stay. The Aminadab Sleeks of the North induced divers of 
them to come to that region of ll superior civilization 5" but the poor things had 
never been used to codfish and nasal psalm-singing, and so, in due time, found 
their way back to " our people." The average New Englander is as innocent 



640 THE SOUTHERN [October 

of any correct conception of the negro as he is of heaven ; and we know he 
never has been very much in that direction. We are hopeless of a region that 
could pioduce a Beecher or a Brigham Youxg. 

The carpet-bagger can't live near a negro who owns any property; he is 
shunned by such as a rattlesnake. It is the "forty acres and a mule" negroes 
(said forty acres, &c, to be gotten, of course, without working for them), that 
furnished the material for him to work on ; and he got out of this material all 
it would yield. 

His career now is ended, and ended forever; and so, the negro being free, it 
behooves every one of us to do all in our power to help him along in his new 
condition. The offer of these premiums is one way, and, as Mr. Sumner hopes, 
we also hope, that public-spirited people will try the experiment in other coun- 
ties as well as Louisa ; and see practically the quality of the fruit they will bear. 
We have no concern about the result ; it will be what we desire. 

Spending a day at u Westover," just before harvest, Major Drewry gave us an 
account of how things stood there, in respect of the negroes. What he had to 
say was so gratifying that we beg he will take the trouble to put it in shape for 
the encouragement of the farming community elsewhere in the State. He is so 
practical in everything that a recital of his management, in this behalf, must be 
beneficial to all hands who have to work this labor. 



[For the Southern Planter and Farmer.] 
LESPADEZA STRIATA, OR JAPAN CLOVER. 

Several years ago I was much pleased by reading Mr. Mott's arti- 
cle in the Planter regarding the fertilizing effects of shading land ; 
and after he had written several convincing articles on that subject, 
the next step was to discover what would be the most economical or 
available means of producing shade upon poor land. In his opinion 
it was the above-named clover. The seed could be purchased from 
him in the dirt. A neighbor and I sent for and received about ten 
pecks. He sowed upon gray high land, and I upon medium branch 
land. The land in both cases was prepared and sowed according to 
directions furnished. My neighbor's did nothing, except come up 
and get from two to three inches high, and the second year it was 
thinner than the first. The three acres I sowed had a good cover- 
ing — except occasional missing spots ; promised well at first, but did 
not get high enough to mow. I never grazed or cut it. Allowed 
it to stand three years, when the broom-sedge took almost entire 
possession of the lot, growing thick and as high as one's head. The 
Japan clover seeds were scattered by winds and birds on adjacent 
lands. I find it now scattered in patches miles away from the orig- 
inal field growing in pastures, paths, fence corners and on galls. 
From three to six inches is as high as it generally gets ; grows 
thickly on the poorest soils, even though trod hard, and keeps re- 
markably green all Summer. It is an annual, and does not vege- 
tate until April in this locality ; consequently, briers, broom-sedge, 
&c, have the advantage of it. It is almost needless to add that we 
were both very much disappointed in our expectations, and, with Mr. 
F. GL Ruffin, we can willingly say, exit Lespadeza Striata. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 641 



[For the Southern Planter and Farmer.] 

GRAPES AND WINES IN VIRGINIA— MR. LOUIS OTT'S 

REPLY TO DR. POLLARD. 

I am very sorry that the articles on grapes and wine which I pub- 
lished in the Southern Planter and Farmer have brought about a 
controversy of the character Dr. Pollard chose to engage in, and 
which is in no way beneficial to the cause. 

The remark he makes in his reply in the July number of the Plan- 
ter that he doubts not there are others more competent to treat of 
grape-growing in Virginia than I am, was, to say the least, super- 
fluous, unprovoked and unjust. There is no sentence in my articles 
on grape-growing which would justify him in accusing me of the im- 
modesty and over-estimation of myself to dispute that. But where 
are these competent men, that none of them comes forward to con- 
test my views, leaving it to one who has to confess his own incompe- 
tency? Or, do they agree with my views? 

In regard to wine-making the matter stands differently. The Doc- 
tor supposes that I understand the grapes and wine-making of my 
native country, but was not competent to speak in such an ex cathe- 
dra manner regarding the grapes and wines of this country. I came to 
Virginia nearly twelve years ago, which time, I think, ought to be 
sufficient to enable a man who was fully acquainted with the elements 
of the subject before he came here, to acquire rational views on the 
question in this country. But, aside entirely from that, there are cer- 
tain principles in wine-making which are valid in all countries. The 
people of this State, Dr. Pollard not excepted, having had no oppor- 
tunity to make themselves acquainted with these principles, have 
been trying to fill up that lack by experiments; the value or worth- 
lessness of their results they are not capable of estimating, on 
account of their want of knowledge of these principles. So far I have 
spoken in my publications exclusively of these general principles 
and not of the details of wine-making— regarding this as a use- 
less trouble until the value of these principles is generally under- 
stood and recognized. 

I claim to have a prescriptive right to speak about these princi- 
ples ex cathedra, and considering that upon their adoption de- 
pends the success of the business in general, and consequently that 
of my own enterprise, which I brought into promising operation un- 
der the most difficult circumstances, I am determined to make the 
most extensive use of that right. This may serve Dr. Pollard as a 
clue to explain the singular disinterestedness of my motives, &c, to 
which he is alluding. 

Dr. Pollard says that he is done with me and the subject since it 
has unfortunately narrowed down to a question of competency and 
incompetency, and he did not so wish it — while I confess that long 
since, it was, in the interest of the cause, my most sincere desire to see 
the question brought just to that point. The business is in its in- 
fancy yet, and after incompetent nurses have impaired the consti- 



642 THE SOUTHERN |O ctober 

tution of the baby, particularly by confinement to unsuitable and 
unhealthy localities, and trying to cure it with sugar, &c, it requires 
now competent nurses to restore it to health and raise it up to a 
promising manhood. Where are these competent nurses to be 
found: — among the population of a country in which wine has 
never been made, and wine is used only by a very limited number of 
the inhabitants ? or in countries where wine has been made and 
used as the universal beverage of rich and poor from time immemo- 
rial ? Wine-making was no success in the State of New York be- 
fore the large wine manufacturing establishments engaged the services 
of European wine-makers by profession, to whom the building up of 
the business there is due. 

The question is now, Are the vinegrowers of Virginia satisfied 
with making wine for home use and the market which their own 
State aifords them ? If so, sugared and gallized wine, sherry and 
champagne made of the Concord and Clinton, Scuppernong wine, 
&c, will answer the purpose ; but my ambition goes further. I 
want to see Virginia become a great wine country, and Virginia 
wine a recognized article of commerce in the regular wine market. 
It is by no means an illusion that some day wine may be exported 
from Virginia to England, which market has not been sufficiently 
supplied for years on account of the ravages of the phylloxera in 
the vineyards of France. The vinegrowers of that country are 
already replacing their diseased vines with our native varieties, par- 
ticularly the Nortons, and I fear they will reap the benefit of that 
valuable grape by introducing the wine made of it, before we can 
decide who is competent to say how wine is to be made. But so 
much is certain, that such results cannot be achieved with wines of 
the kind that are generally made in Virginia at present, and such as 
Dr. Pollard and others recommend to be made, and only men 
of the profession are competent to work the matter to that point. 
An effort to introduce in that market a Virginia sherry made of the 
Concord or Clinton, would have no other effect but to expose our- 
selves to the ridicule of the world. 

I flatter myself to be a good judge of wine — having had in that 
line opportunities which are offered only to very few men even in 
Europe. If there are as good judges of wine in Richmond I cannot 
say ; but what Dr. Pollard says of those he considers to be connois- 
seurs, gives me good reason to doubt it. Does the Doctor know 
what can be asked of a good judge of wine ? 

In answer to Dr. Pollard's interrogatory, I state that the genuine 
" Dauro Finto Port " is made without sugar. 

I have only a limited knowledge of the business of raising 
grapes for table use, which does not belong to my profession, and 
concede that in the sentence about the value of the Concord as a 
table grape, which the Doctor objects to, I might have more properly 
used the word "particularly" instead of "only." 

If a vinegrower chooses to make wine only to satisfy those unfor- 
tunate creatures to whom nature has denied the great gift of relish- 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 643 

ing pure wine, and makes no concealment of the fact of its being 
adulterated, he cannot be accused *of doing a dishonest business; 
but the mere trial of introducing adulterated wine in the regular 
market is dishonest and detrimental to the mutual interest of the 
vinegrowers. 

After Dr. Pollard declares that he is done with me, I dare not 
invite him to come here and see how Concord, Nortons, &c, 
grow on the mountains ; but no doubt he will be present at the next 
session of the American Pomological Society in Baltimore, and I 
hope that he is not so much done with me that he would refuse to 
honor with his presence the meeting of the Virginia and Maryland 
grape-growers which I called to be held at the same time and the 
same place. I am convinced that a personal acquaintance would 
help a great deal towards removing, or, at least, modifying, the con- 
trasts of our opinion, and result in a beneficial co-operation. 

Nelson county, Va., July 11th, 1877. Louis Ott. 

Note by the Editor. — No headway much can be made in anything, in this 
world, without a fight. Even the mully grubs to be found in a drop of water 
are constantly at it; and it appears as if we can't fix up as plain a thing as our 
State debt without a little of such exercise. But, Dr. Pollard and Mr. Ott are 
both excellent gentlemen, and as we hope they met in Baltimore, on the occasion 
referred to above, we trust, in the future, they will work together in everything 
looking to the proper development of the great interest in which they both feel 
Such a lively concern. 

Mr. Ott is entiiely correct in his apprehension about France getting ahead of 
us in the use of our Virginia giant, the Norton Seedling. In the official report 
of the Commission appointed by the Academy of France to inquire into and 
report upon the phylloxera, occurs the following : 

" Many persons, foremost among whom is Mr. Laliman, have proposed to 
cultivate the American vines, not only for the purpose of engrafting, but for their 
fruit. From this point of view it became necessary to ascertain the particulars 
of their budding, maturity, &c, and the quality of the wine they produce. 

"It has been found that all, except the 'Warren,' which is late in maturing, 
may be cultivated within the geographical limits of the European vine. They 
all recommend themselves by their vigor and fecundity; some, at the same time, 
by the quality of their grapes. The 'Clinton,' 'Warren' and 'Cunningham,' 
make good ordinary wines ; the 'Taylor,' 'Jacquez' ; and, above all, ' Norton's 
Virginia,'' produce wines of the first quality. 1 ' 1 

It is certainly a pity that we cannot avail ourselves of this great advantage. 

Our readers will acquit us of any insensibility to the importance of fostering 
the wine interest in Virginia. We have dwelt on it continually in the hope that 
what we urged would find a general response from those whose locations favored 
its prosecution with perfect promise of success, and we are not hopeless yet by 
a good deal. 



Wire Grass. — Will some of the patrons of the Planter inform 
me how to get rid of wire grass ? 

Nottoway Courthouse, Va. Jno. B. Tuggle. 

3 



644 THE SOUTHERN [October 

[For the Southern Planter and Farmer.] 
FULTZ WHEAT. 

I send you a brief communication on Fultz Wheat, which I hope 
•will be in time for your next number, for otherwise it will be useless. 
I am anxious that it should be seen by our farmers before seed time, 
now almost upon us, and should it be too late for you I must ask you to 
have it published in one of the Richmond papers. 

I make no comment on the very unjust distinction in the Rich- 
mond markets against Fultz Wheat, a distinction which your dealers 
will find it difficult to justify, now that its merits are fully admitted 
by one of the largest milling companies of the city. 

It would certainly be unfortunate if our farmers should be de- 
terred from sowing a wheat which several years' experience has shown 
to be best suited to the soil and climate of the State,and I hazard little 
in asserting that Fultz deserves to be thus ranked. It is important, 
if true, that our farmers should know that Fultz Wheat is not 'infe- 
rior to other varieties, and that flour from this wheat is as satisfactory, 
both for home consumption and shipment even to a tropical climate, 
as that of any other variety ; and facts, I think, sustain these posi- 
tions. 

As to its productiveness, there is little if any diversity of opinion. 
Some of our most judicious farmers have told me that they would 
continue to sow this wheat even with a certainty of getting ten cents 
per bushel less for it in the market, whilst others have rated it far 
higher than this. 

These are no vague assertions of my own, but conclusions at which 
I have arrived after numerous conversations with men of far better 
judgment than myself, and carefully watching the prices of four dif- 
ferent markets. 

No wheat I think more frequently ripens with the beautiful and 
favorite amber, and I know of none, the Lancaster and Maryland 
amber perhaps excepted, which flours better or yields more flour to 
the bushel of wheat. It is doubtful, I think, whether the last named 
varieties are or are not the same wheat. They are both bearded, and 
probably better suited than the Fultz for all lands which retain an 
excess of water during the winter months. They are both favorites 
with millers. 

The county of Clarke is one of the best wheat growing counties 
of the Valley, and its mills grind most of its own wheat and much 
from the adjoining counties. No flour, I think, has a higher reputa- 
tion than that of Clarke. A gentleman from Clarke has recently 
told me that Fultz was a favorite wheat with the millers of his county. 

In the beginning of the season a distinction of twenty and twenty- 
five cents per bushel was made in the Richmond market against Fultz, 
but recently many of its highest quotations have been for this wheat. 
Both in Fredericksburg and Alexandria a distinction of from five to 
seven cents has been made during most of the season, and perhaps 
an inferiority of flouring qualities, as compared with the best varieties 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 645 



may justify this difference. I am yet to be convinced that the flour 
of Fultz Wheat is in any quality inferior to that of other wheats, and 
with all due deference to his experience and knowledge, Mr. Haxall's 
conclusions seem to me conjectures rather than facts established by 
clear evidence, whilst the managers of the Gallego Mills are unwill- 
ing to say that "flour made from Fultz wheat is difficult of sale or 
will not bear transportation to warm climates." In Baltimore, one 
of the largest grain markets of the Atlantic Coast, the extreme 
quotations have, throughout the season, been for "Fultz amber long 
grain red." I use the oft-repeated words of their price durrent. 

These facts seem to me enough to convince all of the policy of 
sowing Fultz in preference to every other variety on our high dry 
lands. On level clay lands, which retain an excess of moisture during 
the winter months, some bearded variety would probably be best, and 
I know of none so desirable as the Lancaster or Maryland amber. 

I cannot close without a notice of the letter of my friend, Haxall. 
Like Benton on expunging, when he first introduced his resolution, 
he seems to stand almost, if not altogether, solitary and alone. May 
he not be like successful in sustaining his position. With'all my 
esteem for the man, I cannot accept his logic. He seems to me to 
set at defiance the long-established axiom that demand and supply 
are the great regulators of prices. Aware of his superior knowledge 
of the subject, it may seem egotism to offer opinions adverse to his 
conclusions, yet till convinced of error, I know not how to yield. He 
seems to think that the farmers should distribute their crops through 
the year to meet the wants of the milling power of Richmond. He 
seems to forget, as he has probably not felt the pinching necessities' 
which constrain the great bulk of farmers to press the crop as soon as 
threshed on the market, nay, often forestall them by credits at the hands 
of the commission merchant, to whom the crop is often pledged months 
before it is reaped. I do not commend such practice, yet "necessity 
knows no law," and alas ! with many it cannot be avoided. But 
more than this, there is a good old maxim that "the farmer should 
not become speculator;" and to hold a crop with the hope of an ad- 
vanced price, seems, to some extent, a violation of this rule. Those 
who have succeeded best are, I think, those who have put their crops 
so soon as ready on the market. John Willis, Sr. 

Oakburn, Orange Comity, Va. 



[For the Southern Planter and Farmer.] 

WHY WE SHOULD DO OUR BEST TO INCREASE THE 

VOLUME OF THE WHEAT CROP IN VIRGINIA. 

The recent considerable advance in grain ; the continued Turko- 
Russian war and consequent continued disturbance in the great sup- 
ply districts of Russia and the lower Danube ; the partial failure of 
England's recent wheat harvest — our customer annually for over 
100,000,000 bushels of our surplus grain product; the home demand 
from our large mills for Virginia-grown wheat that our product can 



646 THE SOUTHERN [October 

scarcely half supply, ought to encourage our farmers to sow largely 
of wheat this Fall, as the outlook is favorable for remunerating 
prices. 

* When it is remembered, that of the twenty-five countries in Eu- 
rope only eight are self-sustaining as regards bread production in 
peace times, and of these eight, the principal ones are now at war, 
while the seventeen remaining ones must import bread material every 
year from countries having a surplus, " and taking the average 
quantity of cereals required for consumption of each inhabitant, in- 
cluding alimentary food, seed, manufactures, and other purposes at 
fifteen bushels," we may form some idea of the necessities of peoples 
numbering two hundred and ninety-millions, with their near sources 
of supply disrupted and reduced by war. Of the favored nations 
of the world producing a surplus, the United States stands at the 
head of the list — 34i bushels to each inhabitant, to 16^ bushels 
to each person in Europe. We exported last year about 150,000,000 
bushels of grain ; and as population in the old countries is con- 
stantly pressing upon production, and the deficit in bread supplies 
augmented by hostilities now on a grand scale, and threatening 
serious complications over a wider field, we may confidently prepare 
for larger demands upon our almost unlimited capacity to supply. 

As Virginia farmers, it becomes us calmly to consider the situa- 
tion, and how we shall act in contributing to the food supply so as 
best to remunerate us. Thanks to the enterprise of our world-re- 
nowned mills, our flour is in demand everywhere among white bread- 
eaters where their celebrated brands are known; and our best grades 
of Virginia-grown wheat that have established the high character of 
this flour, is in constant demand at home, with no prospect of over- 
production. The more we raise of prime wheat, the better and more 
constant the demand. Healthy, clean seed only will produce prime 
wheat ; any other, even as a gift, is poor economy. 

In addition to the usual complaint of the millers, that much of our 
wheat is sent to market " out of order, defectively cleaned, dirty, 
smutty, &c," they object to one variety, constituting three-fourths 
of the bulk of the Virginia crop — the Fultz — as being " unsuited 
alone for making first-class flour." After thorough investigation, 
the writer is satisfied that the objection is well founded. To the 
opinion of our own millers in Richmond, as expressed in the "Grain 
Movement" by the Southern Fertilizing Company, and the Southern 
Planter and Farmer for September, we may add that of Mr. Fick- 
lin, of the Bridgewater Mills, Messrs. Gambrill & Co., of the Pa- 
tapsco Mills, Baltimore, and Messrs. R. Aleshire & Co., of Gallipolis, 
Ohio. All these mills make first-class flour, and their renowned 
brands are sought after by all lovers of superior white, sweet, nice 
bread. They claim that the "Fultz" is too poor — has too much 
starch and too little gluten — "wanting in strength and capacity to 

* Statistics from the "Grain Movement," published by the Southern Fertili- 
zing Company, Richmond, Va. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. G47 

make as much and as good bread," says Col. Haxall. All agree, in 
the main, that the Fultz alone makes an undesirable flour, but is good 
and wanted for mixing with the " long berry reds " and whites — and 
in proper combination makes first-class flour. 

A lady who is no mean judge of, as she is an adept in making 
good bread, says, that the Fultz flour will not "rise" like that made 
of other grades, as the Lancaster and Amber Mediterranean. 

The Brazilians prefer a "strong" flour, such as the long berry 
reds give, and such as keeps well in transport and "tones down by 
the voyage " to suit their taste. The Fultz is lacking in body and 
unsuited alone for flour for the Rio market. 

But the Fultz is hardy, and excels in production. Carrying an 
excess of starch (a hydro-carbonate, which is largely supplied by the 
atmosphere) would seem to account for its yielding so well on com- 
paratively poor land. It has a stiff straw that stands up well on rich 
soils, and possesses so many good qualities that we cannot afford to 
give it up altogether ; nor is this recommended by those who are the 
principal purchasers for our wheat. Our true policy would seem to 
be to so diversify our varieties as to supply the mills — our best custom- 
ers — with the grades of wheat, and in such proportion as they de- 
mand and need, for producing first-class flour for domestic use or 
transport. White wheats have been too much neglected, and ought 
to come in for a larger breadth of our wheat-sowings. The "Claw- 
son " and Minorca are both hardy and productive, and the " Gold 
Medal" comes well recommended. Of the Amber wheats, the "Am- 
ber Mediterranean " is of the long berry variety, hardy and prolific, 
and makes rich, live flour. The "Lancaster" has long maintained 
its high character for yield and suitableness for mixing with other 
varieties in making high-grade flour. The writer has no seed wheat 
for sale ; he purposes testing some of the varieties mentioned above, 
and will continue the Fultz for a portion of his crop — unwilling to 
give up a wheat altogether that has uniformly given such satisfactory 
results as to yield. 

Corn land will be in requisition for wheat this Fall, especially 
where fallowing has been retarded or prevented by drought. Wheat, 
on such lands, with a little help, pays better than to seed the land 
next Spring in the most uncertain of all our staple crops — Spring oats. 

While, as philanthropists, we may not rejoice at the calamity of 
others, yet, we would be dull indeed not to reap the advantages 
which circumstances place within our reach, and while Europe and 
Asia are fighting, supply their demand for bread when they offer us 
attractive inducements. 

Halifax county, Va. R. L. Ragland. 

Note by the Editor. — This article is still very timely, as fallowing has been 
generally much delayed this Fall. We thank the Major for it ; and will say that 
he is ever on hand when it is in his power to be of service : and no man can do 
more than that. 

In the few words we propose here to submit we will start out by reproducing a 
portion of the letter that appeared in our last number from that veteran millerj 



648 THE SOUTHERN [October 

Mr. Haxall: "I am sure no greater service can be done for Virginia than by 
stimulating its grain production, of wheat particularly, as it has in the general 
market a high reputation, and is, therefore, never without a purchaser at a re- 
munerative price. This should increase its growth and production, and thereby 
its price. It may be thought by some, and probably is, that an increase of its 
quantity may impair its value. I am confident the contrary is the case. The 
large and costly mills of this city are not now more than half supplied, without 
seeking the wheats of other States, which it is not desirable to do for many con- 
siderations. Their owners much prefer wheats of Virginia growth-, but not, of 
course, thrust upon them with excessive energy and haste — all within a few 
months of harvest — but uniformly and gradually for ten months succeeding. By 
so doing, the Richmond mills can manage double their usual quantity. The 
lack of this abundant supply the season through makes it very difficult for these 
mills to bear their heavy permanent expenses, and contributes much to render 
them unprofitable." 

What Mr. Haxall urges at the beginning would, at first blush, seem to involve 
a paradox. Looked into closer we see that he is absolutely correct. No place 
should be dignified by the name of market if the wares or produce to be sold 
there is presented only in small quantities. There must be enough of everything 
to induce the attendance of a multitude of buyers, and where they are on hand 
there competition prevails, and competition means the highest figure the demand 
will allow ; in other words, we have a market in the true sense of the word. Except 
at the opening of the season for the sale of wheat, in Richmond, the offerings 
on the Corn Exchange are altogether inadequate to attract any buyers beyond 
those directly on the spot ; and as all markets are full at the start, there is no 
need of buyers then travelling round. If our production was large, our wheats 
ranking as high as they have done in the past, and we had the ability to bring 
them into market the season through, the prices received would be always re- 
munerative. Now, here's the trouble : how can we, as needy of money as too 
many of us are, afford to market our wheat thus in detail? There is one sure 
way, and that is by the provision of a first-class grain elevator at Richmond. Let 
us see. First, as to the millers ; it would give them wheat when and in what 
quantity they wished it, and of the character and quality most desirable at the 
time ; it would provide storage at a much less rate of cost than they now have 
to encounter, and be perfectly convenient ; and it would save them the interest 
on the money locked up in the large quantity of wheat they have always been 
compelled to buy ahead. Second, as to the farmer: it would enable him to bring 
in his wheat without haste, and thus insure the best condition possible to put it 
in ; and it would not necessitate his selling, unless he chose to, as much as he 
might be in need of money. A warehouse receipt, the wheat being fully cov- 
ered by insurance, would be a perfect collateral in bank, giving him, as it would, 
money at the minimum rate, as interest always moves up or down in the scale in 
proportion to the excellence of the security offered. The inability of the grower 
to command his crop, as he would like to, has undoubtedly operated to keep the 
volume of our wheat production at the low figure shown every year since 
the war. 

The Richmond mills are no longer content to depend wholly upon their 
foreign trade. They will, in future, not only push this trade to its utmost limit, but, 
also, compete with the mills North and Westin supplying the domestic market, and 
present their flour, both as to grade and size of package, in a shape to take in 
the whole range of custom. This will put them to their best, and necessitate* 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 649 

in our judgment, more than double the supply of wheat Virginia has yet been 
able to furnish them. 

If it should be found that wheats, like the " Fultz," for instance, continued 
to give a better yield than the red or long berry wheats, especially in the country 
east of the mountains, they might be grown to our full capacity there ; and what 
was needed of the reds to mix with them, if we could not produce sufficient in 
the remainder of the State, could be brought from the country on both sides of 
and near to the Ohio River, where the best comes from now ; and these, too, 
would find a place in our elevator. Thus would the best interests of all hands 
be subserved ; and the machinations of imaginary " rings ,r cease to disturb the 
slumbers of the grower. 



jPiMlt gjqmtfnwnt 



CONDUCTED BY DR. M. G. ELLZEY, AGRICULTURAL AND ME- 
CHAMCAL COLLEGE, BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA. 



IMPORTED AND NATURALIZED ANIMALS. 
Among domestic animals, it cannot be denied that the best breeds we 
now possess have been imported, and that a great majority of them have 
originated in England. We do not propose to detract from the high and 
undisputed merit of the English breeders. We freely accord to them 
the first rank. Yet, it is now plain that other agricultural peoples are 
preparing to dispute earnestly with them the claim to continued supre- 
macy. England is evidently approaching an industrial crisis ; even the 
cultivators of her soil are forced to encounter in their own markets the 
severe competition of the products of cheap lands, improved machinery, 
and cheapening labor from beyond distant seas. Beef, from the Ameri- 
can prairies, hangs in the London butcher's stalls, side by side with that 
grown on British soil, within an hour's ride of the great Metropolis- It 
can scarcely prove a consoling reflection to the British farmer, that with- 
out the blood of his unrivaled breeds, the American could never have 
entered the London beef market. We find the American horse 
also suddenly making his appearance in the English markets. It would 
scarcely be too mnch to say, that no horse in America is worth sending 
abroad, which has not in its veins a large percentage of the blood of the 
English race-horse. Conceding, therefore, freely the palm of superiority 
heretofore to the English breeder, sympathizing fully with that great 
people whose place has been for centuries far forward in the van of 
human civilization and progress, we yet feel that the hour is come when 
great and grand old England, in the face of inexorable destiny, must 
yield the foremost place. We cannot, in this place, follow out these re- 



650 THE SOUTHERN [October 

flections, yet we believe the result indicated is as inevitable as death. 
This much we have said to convey to the reader as fairly as possible the 
animus in which we enter upon the comparison between the improved 
breeds of domestic animals as imported from England, and the same 
breeds after they have become naturalized, acclimatized, and adapted 
in the hands of the American breeder to present surroundings. Is an 
imported Shorthorn a better and more valuable beast than one whose 
ancestors were originally derived from the best English herds, but for a 
number of generations have been bred in America ? Is this true of the 
race-horse, the Southdown, the Cotswold, the Berkshire, or any other 
valuable domestic animals ? These are questions of great moment and 
must be discussed dispassionately. Does experience prove that there is 
anything in the climate of the United States which causes English bred 
animals so to deteriorate that the standard of perfection can only be 
maintained by continued fresh importation ? This view of the case has 
often been advanced, and is perhaps tacitly adopted by a majority of our 
people. In this way the word imported has come to stand in place of a 
pedigree, putting an end to criticism and enquiry. The enquiry we here 
propose to make is, upon what facts is such an opinion based ? Is there 
any reason which we can perceive, why, in the nature of things, this 
ought to be so ? It would be a difficult task to point out any such mani- 
fest reason ; we admit our ignorance of any such, and we believe none 
such exists. We are thrown back upon the results of experience, and 
whatever may have been supposed or said, experience affords no evidence 
to sustain the belief that any English bred animals actually do deterio- 
rate in America. This view was formerly advanced by various writers 
with regard to the English race-horse, but the wonderful career of Lex- 
ington^ and his get, goes very far to set aside all mere theorizing on the 
question. In the case of the Shorthorns, those that have been sent back 
from America to England compare favorably with the best English 
herds ; whereas, those that are recently imported, are not superior to the 
average of well-bred and well- managed American herds. The celebrated 
Rose of Sharon family, of the world renowned Kentuckian, Abram 
Renick, are confessedly equal to the best Shorthorns in England, and 
their leading breeders are using Rose of Sharon bulls on their most val- 
uable cows. Now, Mr. Renick created his type out of various materials 
long naturalized in America. Again, that wonderful animal, the Amer" 
ican trotter, shows what the American breeder can do with the best 
British material. 

The Poland-China swine is, for the purposes of the average American 
hog raiser, the best hog yet produced. We have as yet no American 
breed of cattle ; and unless the American Merino be a distinct type, no 
American breed of sheep. This, indeed, is mainly because we find no 
difficulty in perpetuating the best English breeds without deterioration. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 651 

If it be true, as we think, that there is no deterioration of the imported 
animals in America consequent upon less favorable climatic conditions 
than those of their place of nativity ; and, if further, it be true, as we 
think, that experience establishes that no ultimate deterioration results 
in practice, why then is it that an imported animal should be held in 
higher esteem than one of the same breed whose ancestors for several 
generations have been bred in America, and have become, therefore, 
thoroughly acclimatized and accustomed to the new conditions of life to 
which they are here subjected ? It ought not to be so at all ; the nat- 
uralized animal is the more valuable of the two. To sustain this propo- 
sition, we have both manifest reason and the results of experience. 

It is a well known fact, that the reproductive functions are often so 
disturbed by the sea voyage and climatic change, as to result in the tem- 
porary impotency of the imported animal. It takes, under the most fa- 
vorable circumstances, several seasons for the physiological forces to re- 
adjust themselves fully to the new conditions of life. It would be un- 
fair to suppose the fact that such changes, especially in closely inbred 
animals, ultimately act as a stimulus to fertility in many instances; yet 
the fact remains undisputed, that during the process of acclimatization, 
the health of the animal must be more or less disturbed. Experience, 
we claim, accords with this view. The most distinguished American 
sires have not been imported. Among our racing stallions, do not Sir 
Archy and Lexington stand unapproached ? The same is true of the 
great Shorthorn sires ; the greatest of them have been bred in America. 
Our experience with sheep, especially the long-wooled breeds, is to the 
same effect, and we find from recent conference with several distinguished 
sheep growers, that we are not singular in this experience. 

With dogs, we speak whereof we know, when we say that the im- 
ported dogs are far inferior to the home bred stock, where they have 
been bred with proper care and skill. The conclusion of the whole 
matter is this : The best blood in nearly all our domestic animals origi- 
nates abroad, but the best strains procured from thence are improved 
for our purposes by being carefully and skillfully bred in this country 
for several generations. 



THE HEREFORD CATTLE. 

The next of the beef breeds we propose to describe is the long-estab- 
lished and well-known cattle of Herefordshire, England, celebrated for 
hardihood, heavy weights, and aptitude to fatten ; but they are confess- 
edly inferior milkers, and are never used in the dairy. It is claimed by 
their advocates, that these cattle strongly rival the Shorthorns, and have 
often beat them for sweepstakes premiums in the show ring. It must, 
however, be remembered that the sweepstakes premium goes to one or the 



652 THE SOUTHERN [October 

other breed, as the animal exhibited may be considered the best speci- 
men of that breed, and is not at all an award of merit as between the two 
breeds. Nor can we admit from what we have seen of them and what 
is written by the best English authors, that the Herefords, by any means, 
rival Shorthorns in excellence. We have, indeed, seen Herefords of 
superb individual merit ; cylindrical in form, and built close down to 
the ground; carrying an immense weight of flesh; yet they have rather 
a disappointing touch, and in our experience, when crossed with common 
stock, their grades lack merit, or at least such merit as might have been 
anticipated from the excellence of the thoroughbred parent. Compared 
with the bull or the ox, the Hereford cow appears to great disadvantage 
and presents far from a striking appearance ; lacking the handsome color 
of the Shorthorn, she lacks the round, well-developed, deep fleshed carcass 
of the cow of that breed. " The Hereford cow, says Youatt, is appa- 
rently a very inferior animal ; not only is she no milker, but her form 
has been sacrificed by the breeder." " She is rather a small and ill-made 
animal; her bull calf frequently attains three times her own bulk; yet, 
when put up to fatten, she takes on fat at a rapid rate, and spreads out 
to an extraordinary extent considering her former appearance and size." 
As work-oxen these cattle have not become distinguished. They are a 
little coarse-boned and somewhat heavy in the forward parts, so that 
they cannot possess the activity of the Devons. Patience, docility and 
strength they do possess, and when they have been worked for several 
years they prove excellent feeders, and often attain to heavy weights. 
The beef, too, is often very fine grained and well marbled, but there is 
at the same time rather apt to be too much coarse and heavy bone, especi- 
ally in the fore-quarter. Not possessing the highest excellence for the yoke? 
being the very poorest milkers, they pught to be indisputably the best 
beef-producers, if it can be claimed that they are better cattle for the 
farmer than the Shorthorns. That both Shorthorns and Devons on the 
contrary excel them in the quality of their flesh can, we think, be suc- 
cessfully maintained. Furthermore, we believe that the true test of the 
value of the thoroughbred breeds of domestic animals, is the excellence 
of the grades they produce with the common sorts, and in this particu- 
lar, the Herefords cannot claim supremacy. Here they are unquestion- 
ably overmatched by both Shorthorns and Devons. Their deficiency as 
milkers unfits them for the general farmers use, and they are apparently 
not destined to grow into much public favor in this country. In color^ 
the Herefords are a pale red, sometimes approaching to dun, with white 
faces or rather white heads and white legs. They are, by some, believed 
to be originally the same as the Devons, but they are now much heavier 
and much coarser, especially in the fore-parts. It is proper to say that 
there are some enthusiastic admirers of these cattle, and that they are 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 653 

now being well advertised and pushed before the American public, and 
we do not deny that we have seen some magnificent individuals exhi- 
bited. 



ITEMS. 

The export of American dead meat for the six months just ended, in" 
eluding the hottest and most unfavorable period of the year, amounted 
to above five and one-half millions of dollars ; the effect of which is sen- 
sibly felt in the home market. Improved cattle only are used in this 
trade. The price of thoroughbred bulls is lower than ever, and now is 
the time for wise men to buy and use them. The breeders, advertising 
in this Journal, have a number of yearling and two year old bulls for 
sale. We repeat, with emphasis, now is the time to buy. The active de- 
mand for improved stock of beef will induce breeders to castrate a large 
number of their bull calves after awhile, when the price of bulls will go 
up accordingly. 



LEGAL ANALYSIS OF FERTILIZERS. 

In reply to the Commissioner of Agriculture, we would state that the 
grounds of our opinion as to the valuelessness of analysis of commercial 
manures for the purpose of giving information to farmers are various, 
and we think sufficient. First. There is the delusion concerning the 
capacity of the analyzer who may or may not be a competent person. 
Second. There is the snare that any knave may lay for an honest com- 
pan} r , by adulterating their product or emptying some of their bags and 
re-filling them with worthless stuff, against which villainy it is not in 
the power of any commissioner or analyst to protect themselves. Third* 
We know of no way to prevent a knavish company from obtaining the 
endorsement of the commissioner and his analyst, and substituting other 
stuff in the markets for what has been endorsed. It is said that exten- 
sive frauds were perpetrated under the endorsement of our own most 
learned and distinguished chemist. Fourth. The amount of plant food 
in a fertilizer may be great, and, at the same time, its agricultural value 
small. Refuse leather, for instance, furnishes a large amount of nitro- 
gen to the analyst, but is of no value as a manure. Other examples of 
the same truth are not wanting. Furthermore, of two fertilizers, that 
which gives the best analysis may be of least value, because of inferior 
physical condition. To illustrate, gypsum ground no finer than coarse 
sand is of no value as an application to clover or other crop. The same 
gypsum ground to an impalpable powder and applied to the same crop 
gives great results. The same is true of bones and mineral phosphates ; 
that is to say, their solubility or activity depends on the fineness of their 
mechanical division to a far greater degree than has heretofore been 



654 THE SOUTHERN [October 

generally supposed. We could, indeed, say a great deal more, but think 
we have said enough to explain what we meant when we said in a former 
number that the legal analysis of fertilizers was vanity of vanities, and 
we are willing to continue to risk our reputation for level-headedness on 
that statement. We do not underrate the importance of the office of 
Commissioner of Agriculture. We are upon the record in divers places 
as an advocate of the creation of that office ; but we submit most respect- 
fully and kindly that it is the business of every citizen to protect himself 
by ordinary prudence against fraud, and the farmer is no exception to 
this principle. It cannot be thought that any business firm of respecta- 
ble standing would be willing to risk the loss of business, which would 
certainly be consequent upon the issuance to its customers of a fraudulent 
article. The facts above are sufficient to show that the commercial or 
agricultural value of a fertilizer cannot be estimated by analysis with any 
certainty of accuracy as to value.* It would, of course, be possible for the 
analyst to show clearly that a so-called fertilizer contained no plant food 
at all, and was therefore positively fraudulent. Yet we submit that such, 
an article would only be issued by a nameless and reckless thief and ad- 
venturer ; and that if the farmer is fool enough to neglect established and 
reputable business firms, and trade with such vagabonds, the State is by no 
means bound to protect him from the inevitable and perhaps just conse- 
quences of his own folly. We are writing in no captious or controver- 
sial spirit, but we honestly think this is a matter greatly misunderstood. 
We will submit one other remark before we leave the subject, and that 
is concerning the exaggerated reports from abroad as to the good accom- 
plished. It is easy to say or to write that so and so is being successfully 
done in Germany, but it is with the utmost difficulty that such state- 
ments can be verified. It is very easy for an essayist or a speaker to 
wind up his advocacy of some hair-brained theory, with the triumphant 
assertion, " as has been successfully accomplished in Germany ; " when it 
is altogether likely that such a thing has not been heard of in Germany 

*As confirming this position, the following extract from a lecture delivered the 
20th of April last, by John Bennet Lawes, of Rothamsted, at Haddington, Eng- 
land, is submitted. No one will question Mr. Lawes's right to express an opin- 
ion in this behalf; he stands without a peer elsewhere in the world as an experi- 
menter, and has had to do largely with artificial manures, every season, for the 
past thirty years : 

" Although potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen are the chief manure ingre- 
dients in farm-yard dung, in the manure from artificial foods, and in artificial 
manures, still the difference in form, in which these substances are met with, 
greatly affect their value. The present method of analyzing manures does not 
properly recognize these distinctions, and the valuations founded upon these 
analyses are altogether false and erroneous." 

Farther : A chemist in this country who, for the last fifteen years, has exam- 
ined, perhaps, ten samples of commercial manures to one by any other, not only 
accepts without reserve the conclusion of Mr. Lawes, but adds : " I go even further 
and maintain that not only theybrm, but (if I express myself right) the company 
in which these substances are offered, is of great importance." 



1877.] 



PLANTER AND FARMER 



655 



or elsewhere. One example of the way they do things in Germany, "to 
our purpose quite : " we happen to know of a sample of potash-salt, 
officially stamped by the German Government agent, and analysis guar- 
anteed by the great German chemist, which fell near 30 per cent, short 
of the guaranteed analysis. All is not gold that glitters in Bismarck's 
country either. 



THOROUGHBRED STALLION EOLUS. 

We have received from Mr. R. J. Hancock, Charlottesville, Va., a 
card describing his thoroughbred stallion Eolus, by imported Leamington, 
out of Fanny Washington by Revenue. We are glad to hear of the in- 
troduction of such animals into Virginia. There is a growing demand 
for half and three-fourths bred horses for export at remunerative prices, 
and it is going to pay to breed such animals from sound, good sized, 
good tempered dams. Eolus is described as a dark bay horse, fifteen 
hands three inches high, and of splendid bone and muscle ; white star, 
and both heels white behind. We especially prize the Trustee blood, 
and most especially in the line of the best son of Imported Trustee Reve- 
nue. The charge for the season to Eolus is put down at $30. 



STATEMENT OF EXPORTS. 



The following table gives the exports of the leading articles named, 
from the United States, for the years ending respectively, June 30th, 
1876, and June 30th, 1877, as furnished by the United States Bureau of 
Statistics : 



Exports from United States. 



Bacon and Hams, lbs 

Fresh Beef, lbs 

Salted or Brined Beef, lbs 

Butter, lbs 

Cheese, lbs 

Lard, lbs 

Pork, lbs 



Year ending 

June 30, 1876. 



327,730,172 



36,596,150 

4,644,394 

97,676,264 

168,405,839 

54,195,118 



Year ending 

June 30, 1877. 



460,059,146 
49,210,990 
39,155,153 
21,527,242 
107,364,666 
234,741,233 
69,671,894 



The figures exhibit an enormous increase in all the articles, and the 
development of a vast new trade in the case of fresh beef. We have not 
ceased to call the attention of the people of the South, for whom we write, 
in an especial manner, and most especially the people of Virginia, to 
whom, in this, their day of trial, we cling closer than a brother, to this 
great development of equal trade — a trade which must increase to limits 
which the most sanguine now stop short of in their wildest dreams. How 
shall we secure Virginia's share in this great business ? The answer is 



656 THE SOUTHERN [October 

exceedingly brief and simple : Improve the quality of our products ; seize 
and improve our natural advantages, and the lead is ours. The stock 
breeders of Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland, and other States, are 
offering the best specimens of the most valuable improved breeds of stock 
at very reduced prices. If the Northwest be allowed to monopolize all 
the advantages of this Providential opening, it shall not be because the 
readers of this journal have not had the matter set before them in the 
beginning and kept before them continually. 



WALLACES MONTHLY. 

Wallace's Monthly has just completed its second volume. It is a pub- 
lication of high merit, discussing freely all matters of interest to horse- 
men. It has distinguished its brief career by a vigorous and well sus- 
tained attack upon the gamblers and blackguards who have so long hung 
about the turf. Its contents are continually improving, and it continu- 
ally presents articles from the pens of the ablest and most respectable 
horsemen of the country. This publication is styled "An Illustrated 
Magazine, Devoted to Domesticated Animal Nature." Edited by J. H. 
Wallace, 170 Fulton Street, New York. We very cordially recommend 
it to the public, as well worthy of confidence and support. To professed 
horsemen, it is practically indispensable. Price, $3 per annum ; single 
numbers 30 cents. 



From the National Live Stock Journal for September, page 383, we 
copy the following: "We want no more great, coarse, lumbering " lunk- 
heads," with gummy-joints and bones as soft and spongy as basswood." 
Just so. A horse fifteen and a half hands high, and weighing 1200 
pounds, with clean, flat, hard bones, and good sound feet ; active, pointed, 
alert ears ; broad, expansive, intellectual forehead, with mild, clear, ex- 
pressive eyes, is better than the gummy-jointed, lunk-headed style, and 
such a horse, not well bred, cannot be found. When this truth comes to 
be generally understood and acted upon, let it be remembered that we 
have preached from that text until it has become monotonous. Men 
must breed to a model, and that is the best model in which a horse can 
be made. 



Five of Major Cowan's best Shorthorn cows have recently produced 
calves, by the Rose of Sharon bull Raleigh, the property of the Agricul- 
tural College. Four of them are cow calves, and very fine ones, inclu- 
ding an extra roan cow calf from that grand old Golden Pippin cow 
Susan 4th. Major Bentley's two Illustrious cows, and Major Cowan's 
Susan 5th, lately bred to Raleigh, are safe in calf. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 657 

[For the Southern Planter and Farmer.] 

SHEEP FOR VIRGINIA. 

So many and such well-informed and experienced gentlemen have 
been handling the sheep question lately in your pages, that a modest 
young man feels more like begging off, than trying to throw any more 
light on the subject. But there is much every way to be said about 
sheep in Virginia, and it ought to be said ; whether well said or not. 
" In a multitude of counsellors there is wisdom." Let each contribute 
what he can. 

In the April number of the Planter and Farmer, Ivanhoe points out 
the true wav for the delivery of the South from the domination of 
Northern capitalists and monopolists, as far as the cotton States are con- 
cerned, in a bold, frank, nervous style, that carries conviction along 
with it. 

Sheep should be and could be to Virginia, what cotton is to more 
Southern States. Sheep are more easily kept and cared for than any 
other kind of stock. They give us in return for a modicum of attention 
and feed, a greater variety of products than any other animal. Let us 
consider what returns the sheep makes to the wise farmer and to a wise 
people. 

First, in the food they consume, they are of great benefit, for there is 
not one green thing that puts forth its tender shoots of green in the 
Spring that the sheep does not eagerly nibble at ; and thus we have our 
fields cleaned of the noxious and unsightly weeds and briers, &c, that 
would cost time, labor, money, to eradicate and keep from destroying 
the grass. Some farmers object to the closeness with which the sheep 
shears off the young grass — thus giving, say they, the land a bare and 
poor appearance. Yes, but the green that we do see after the sheep has 
cleared a field, is grass — not weeds, bushes, briers. 

Then in their products. Ask them for meat, and comply with the 
conditions of the demand, and they give us mutton at any season of the 
year, fresh, tender, palatable, wholesome, nutritious — as much so as beef 
and far more so than pork and bacon, and certainly more easily fitted 
and brought into condition for butchering. Then, Spring, Summer and 
Fall we may enjoy lamb — away with oysters and turke} r s, ducks and 
geese. But we are almost too poor in Virginia to eat lamb ; and so we 
can send the lambs (male) North, and bring the money back— more of it 
than the sheep cost us last Fall, and still have our flock increased 25 to 
50 per cent, by the addition of the ewe lambs. 

Then comes the wool. This is the item ; this we all need and must 
have. Then we should raise it; and when raised, let it be manufactured 
in Virginia. Now, let us consider this item; see what it means; what 
the sheep gives us in it, if we will only accept, take, appropriate, use all 
we have in it. Let our idle lands teem with sheep, and let their wool 
be manufactured at home in Virginia. What would this mean ? Simply 
an enormous quantity of wool ; simply vast manufactories ; investment 
of capital in our borders in costly machinery, adding millions to the 
taxable and productive values of the State, and thus lightening the gen- 
eral burthen of taxation to all our people — employment to thousands of 
operatives, thus building up new and large towns, and furnishing a mar- 
ket at home for a large percentage of the various products of our soil 
and climate — mutton and lamb among them. Then, with better goods 



658 THE SOUTHERN [October 

made at home, see what this item of the sheep's products will save to our 
people. Three freights to Northern railroads and three commissions to 
Northern merchants. Freight North on wool, one; freight South on 
goods made of it, two ; freight North on farm produce, three. Commis- 
sions — to merchants for selling wool, one; commission to merchant or 
traveling expenses of our own merchant going North for goods; commis- 
sion of merchant North for selling our farm produce of other kinds. 
Commissions amounting to ten per cent, on the market value of the wool 
at the start. Put sheep enough in Virginia and all this will be changed ; 
and enough prime sheep can be kept in Virginia to accomplish this, on 
lands that will not fatten a two-year old steer in six months. Consider 
what a vast stimulus to industry and energy all this money would be if 
kept at home and circulated among our own people. Let every man 
who owns a piece of land, own sheep also. Five or ten will furnish wool 
enough to make, or exchange at the nearest factory, all the woolen goods 
needed for his whole family. Don't be afraid of overproduction. There 
is in the thing itself an abundant and ample remedy — increased popula- 
tion. R. N.S. 



Col. R. J. Hancock, Overton, Va., has recently sold stock to the fol- 
lowing parties: To B. F. Dowell, black colt, four years old, by Scathe- 
lock ; to Dr. J. O. Pendleton, Overton, Va., chestnut mare, aged , 

pedigree unknown, and brown colt, four years old, by Scathelock ; to 
Henry Patterson, chestnut colt, three years old, by Scathelock ; to James 
Garland, a black horse, five years old, by Florist; to Meredith Smith, a 
black mare, aged , pedigree unknown ; to R. S. Carter, Esq., Car- 
ter's Bridge, Va., a chestnut colt, and bay filly, four years old, by Scathe- 
lock ; to Richard Hall, Howardsville, Va., a chestnut filly, four years 
old, by Scathelock ; to Mrs. Norvell, Howardsville, Va., a chestnut colt, 
four years old, by Scathelock; to Thos. G. Behrendt, Columbia, Va., a 
black filly, three years old, by Scathelock ; to Judge E. G. Bradford, 
Wilmington, Delaware, the bay filly " Melrose," four years old, by Mel- 
bourne, Jr., out of Hazlenut, by Imported Arabian " Massoud " — second 
dam, a Canadian mare ; to Wm. Ellis, Overton, Va., bay filly 2 years 
old, by Scathelock ; to Anderson Turner, bay mare "Rosa," 11 years 
old, by Hardware ; to E. T. Warner, Wilmington. Del., the black 
horse " Overton," by Florist, out of Jenny, by son of Imported Have- 
lock ; and to John Alexander, Warren, Va., the red bull calf, by Queen's 
Breastplate, 27592, out of Melody 5th by Madrid. His bay horse, 
" Eolus," by Imported Leamington, out of Fanny Washington, beat sev- 
eral first-class horses while on the turf, and made the fastest third heat 
of two miles on record. He is also a fast natural trotter, and will, no 
doubt, greatly improve the horse stock of Albemarle and surrounding 
country. 



Farmers ought to recollect that stock in winter should be well housed, 
with plenty of dry bedding. The farmer or stock-breeder who does not 
pay attention to this, deserves to meet with failure. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 659 

CONDUCTED BY DR. THOMAS POLLARD, COMMISSIONER OF AGRI- 
CULTURE OF VIRGINIA. 



This month in which we write, and about the work of which we write, 
is the eighth in the Roman calendar (from Octo, eight), but the tenth in 
our reckoning, and warns us that the end of the year approaches, and 
that the short, wet, frozen days will soon be upon us, and that " we must 
make hay while the sun shines." Though the end of the year approaches, 
the end of the farmer's work ne,ver comes, unless it be for a few days in 
our old Virginia, English Christmas, a time to memory dear, and par- 
ticularly dear to our childhood's memory, and dear to us now for the 
sake of our happy children, in whom we are living over our bright days 
again, as we see them revel in their anticipated and realized happiness. 

But to our work for this month, the most important of which is 

WHEAT SEEDING. 

A very judicious James river farmer, who was noted for his good crops 
of wheat, once remarked, that if he had his choice, he would sow all his 
wheat on the 10th day of October, as expressing his idea of the proper 
time for putting this grain in the ground. This would not be, however, 
so prudent, in a very large wheat raiser, such as we hear of sometimes 
in California and Texas, as his wheat would all ripen at once, and there 
would, of course, be loss from shattering. But there are few large wheat 
farms in Virginia — particularly under the new order of things — still large 
enough in some instances as not to have all our crops to ripen at once 
The 10th of October is late enough usually to avoid " fly," and early 
enough to give time for tillering and spreading before the severe freezes. 
Too early seeding sometimes puts the wheat in danger of being killed in 
the joint by the late frosts of Spring. The farmer who designs seeding 
wheat must be up and doing now. 

It is presumed the fallowing is done, though in some sections, where 
drought has prevailed, we fear it is not. If the fallowing has been done 
early, the land must be re-plowed, better with a single plow, to prevent 
turning up the grass and sod, which has been turned under, and the 
drag thoroughly used if the ground is rough ; if not, the wheat may be 
seeded and dragged and cross-dragged. There is some objection to hav- 
ing the land in too fine tilth, particularly in cold Winters, for the small 
clods left on the surface protect the wheat plant from the cold. For this 
reason, if it is found necessary to roll the land to compact it, as it some- 
times is, for wheat likes a compact soil, then a heavy drag should be 
passed over the surface to rough it, and then the wheat should be seeded. 
We would never roll wheat land after it is seeded. The late Mr. Edmund 

Ruffin, who was a very successful wheat raiser, put his wheat in on a 
4 



660 THE SOUTHERN [October 



rough surface to prevent Winter killing. With all the lights before us, 
we would put one and a half to two bushels wheat to the acre, varying 
with the time of seeding, size of the grains, and the quality of the land. 
As a general rule, we would prefer one and a half bushels. If the seed- 
ing is late, say last of October or first part of November, and the grain 
seeded is large, then we would put two bushels to the acre. Mr. Sill 
Carter (standard authority in such matters) advised, in the August num- 
ber, 1874, 01 this journal, two bushels to the acre, on good land, and 
said that the thin seeding of England, which he had witnessed in a re- 
cent visit there, would not do here. Winter killing scarcely occurs there 
at all, while it is very common here. Mr. Carter also expressed the 
opinion that thick seeding prevented rust, but at the same time says it 
is not so favorable for securing a stand of clover and the grasses, Mr. 
Carter expresses the opinion that the want of lime in the soil is one 
great cause of the failure of the wheat crop so frequently. We suspect 
that the want of phosphate of lime— phosphoric acid and nitrogen being 
the first principles exhausted from soils — has been a more frequent cause 
of failure. At the same time, seasons and climate have much to do with 
the failure and success — as witness the present crop. Ours is not pre- 
eminently a wheat region, for the failures here on good land are very 
frequent. There is no doubt but what " phosphoric acid " is deficient 
in most soils, at least in a soluble form, and this and nitrogen are the 
great desiderata in the wheat crop. It may be, and it is very probable, 
that the imperfect crop of wheat for many years, has been permitting an 
accumulation of plant food for wheat, and that a favorable season has 
enabled the wheat plant to seize on and appropriate this accumulated 
food. We know that nitrogen accumulates in land when not cropped 
much, and particularly where there has been a good growth of artificial 
or natural grasses. The bones of all animals, and the seeds of all plants, 
have a large proportion of " phosphoric acid " in an insoluble form. Thus 
" phosphoric acid " accumulates in soils, as well as ammonia. Now, 
ammonia renders this insoluble phosphoric acid soluble, and thus may 
our opinion and theory be true, that " plant food " of wheat, on account 
of bad crops, has been accumulating in the soil. Phosphoric acid of the 
mineral constituents, most often required for plant food, is the sparsest, 
and the most locked up in an insoluble condition. Lime, ammonia and 
salt and sulphuric acid particularly, make it soluble. England, recog- 
nizing the necessity of " phosphoric acid " for wheat, applies it largely 
on the turnip crop, which is eaten from the fields by stock, and then the 
land is seeded to wheat. The constant cropping for wheat without re- 
turning the necessary ingredients for its growth to the soil in the " Gen- 
tnessee country " of New York, reduced the crop from more than twenty 
.bushels to the acre, to eight or ten. The farmers were forced to change 
ithis, and by proper fertilizers and manures, we are told that they are 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 661 

bringing their lands back to something like their original productive- 
ness. As pertinent to this question, we introduce the following from the 
Country Gentleman: 

Sheep and Turnip Husbandry, p. 440 — "Are our wheat soils running out?" 
At the close of this truthful communication, it is asked, " What may we look for 
fifty years hence?" Sheep and turnip husbandry carried on as near to the sys- 
tem pursued in England and Scotland as the climate in the United States will 
permit, would rescue the soil from the exhaustion existing, but even this escape 
is rejected, and the dogs are allowed to be a bar to any recovery of fertility by 
such means, and Southern men in the cotton States persist in growing cotton 
without profit, and buying fertilizers, when the Commissioner of Agriculture in 
Georgia collected evidence that in 1873, while cotton paid nothing, wool gave a 
clear gain of 63 per cent, on the capital employed, after an average loss of 15 per 
cent, by the killing of sheep by dogs. The Southern States could all grow crops 
which would fatten sheep by feeding them on the land in the open air without 
shelter, and whenever a good fair trial of English sheep husbandry is made down 
South, some cute mind will invent means of shelter which will give the North a 
chance to follow suit. 

Regarding the kind of wheat to sow, we think the farmer can scarcely 
do better than to sow the " Fultz." It is conceded to be the most pro- 
ductive variety thus far tested in the State, and what difference the mil- 
lers may make in the price another season, will, we think, be made up 
in the quantity raised of this variety. The millers have recently " let 
up" on the Fultz, and the prices for this have been mostly as higb as 
for tbe "Lancaster." Part of this rise may be due to the demand for 
seed wheat by the farmers, which shows that they generally intend to 
stick to the " Fultz " We mentioned in our September number, the ex- 
periment we made witb *' White Jennings," and the yield of forty-eight 
bushels, i. e., at that rate per acre. We think this wheat should have a 
trial by the farmers, and we understand that some of them have been 
providing themselves with it in this section of the State, for seed. We 
intend to sow some of it. 

Whatever kind of seed is selected, let it be as clean and free from im- 
purities of all kinds, as far as possible. It is folly to sow indifferent 
wheat, as much so as to attempt to raise good stock from stunted, dis- 
eased parentage. It is poor economy for the farmer to save his own 
wheat for seed, unless it is really good. He had better sell it and buy 
good seed, even if the difference in price be doubled by doing so. It is 
also very unwise to sow wheat on poor land, without fertilizers of some 
kind, or on land insufficiently drained. After seeding, water furrows 
should be run wherever needed, and the plow alone will not answer for 
this. Follow with hoes or shovels, opening thoroughly, so that no water 
will rest on and sob the land. 

Winter Oats. — It is not too late to sow Winter oats. They will 
yield well, gotten in the 15th or 20th of October, if the land is tolera- 
bly good, but not so well as if gotten in earlier, particularly from last 
of August to last of September. We once raised a good crop (10,000 
pounds on four acres), sowed on the 14th of October. In this instance, 



662 THE SOUTHERN [October 

unintentionally, only one bushel to the acre was seeded. One and a 
half bushels to the acre should be used sown as late as this. Try to 
get clean seed, for the Winter oat is generally filthy, and will foul the 
land, if filthy seed are used. All corn land had better be put in Winter 
oats than in wheat, for wheat doe3 not come Well after corn. It is a 
very certain crop if ordinary pains be taken, while wheat, with the 
greatest pains and on the best lands, is very uncertain. The present is 
the only good crop we have had for years. As before remarked, we 
think more forage crops and more stock should be raised, for there is no 
danger of the world being overstocked with meat, while the grain pro- 
duct of the world is constantly increasing; and by competition, induced 
by the rapid and cheap transportation of grain, our farmers are brought 
in the market with the rich and teeming lands of the West and of Cali- 
fornia, Australia, and even India now, and of all other countries. The 
thickly-peopled countries of Asia use almost entirely rice — consuming 
none of the cereals of the other parts of the world. The transportation 
of our meats to Europe will, for a long time, prevent any reduction in 
the price, and may result in an increase. As we have several times ob- 
served before, Winter oats had better be seeded in the corn standing, 
than to wait until the corn is cut down. This can very well be done 
with the single plow and cultivator, or one-horse drag. Some persons 
sow them at the last working of corn, using the cultivator to level the 
land and cover the oats ; but, if seeded in July, there is some danger of 
the oats getting into joint, before frost, if it is a late, warm Fall. If 
oats are designed for market, it is safe to thresh them or bale them as 
soon as practicable, for they keep badly stacked out in the Winter, and 
if housed, are much depredated on by rats, which injure, too, very often, 
the stacks. They sell better, as is well known, towards the Spring. 

Gathering Crop3. — This is the month for housing many crops. 
The tobacco-raiser must look out for " Jack Frost, " if his tobacco is 
not already cut, and try to anticipate this great enemy of all late tobacco. 
The tobacco crop, from all accounts, will be a large one in Virginia. 
We have had cool nights, with heavy dews, which has tended to thicken 
the tobacco very much ; and, more recently, we have had favorable 
ripening weather, which has tended to mature the crop rapidly. Be- 
sides the quantity, the universal opinion prevailing is, that for quality 
and gum, it will be greatly superior to the crops of 1875 and 1876. In 
Kentucky, the crop, on the 1st of September, as reported in HarthiWs 
Tobacco Circular, Louisville, Ky., was reported good, though there were 
some conflicting reports as to quantity. In Indiana, the crop is reported 
as large. From Missouri, the reports were conflicting. From Mary- 
land, the reports were unfavorable as to quantity, in consequence of 
great want of rain. Corn may be gathered this month, particularly if 
the farmer is in want of it for his hogs and horses, and wishes to protect 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 663 

it from rogues. If not well dried, it should be put in pens and covered 
over from the weather. It must be fed to horses carefully. Fodder, if 
not put away, should be housed and stacked. Potatoes, Irish and sweet, 
should be carefully dug and put away. Irish potatoes are not difficult 
to keep. Sweet potatoes must be put up with great care. They must 
be dug in a dry day and put up dry. The air must be carefully excluded, 
as far as possible. They may be put in out-houses or in " Top Stacks," 
where the ground is dry. If in a " Top Stack," the place we adopt for 
the purpose, dig a hole three feet deep and as large as there is necessity 
for or as there may be room. Place dry " pine tags " at the bottom 
lining the sides with the " pine tags " as the potatoes are put in. After 
filling the hole with potatoes, cover with the tags, then place on some 
boards, the joints being broken with other boards, cover these boards 
with " pine tags," and then with dirt. When potatoes are gotten out 
for use or market, they must be carefully covered as before. We are 
certain, if this plan is adopted (for we have tested it), there will be no 
difficulty in keeping this excellent and useful vegetable. We should 
have given a caution to handle the potatoes with great care, so as not to 
bruise them ; and no cut ones should be put up. 

Hogs must be put up now and freely fed, so that they may fatten be- 
fore cold weather. If this is delayed, it will require nearly double the 
quantity to fatten them. 

Fallowing. — There will not be much time for fallowing this month, 
if the farmer has wheat to sow, and tobacco to attend to, and corn to 
gather. If he has not these -things to attend to, then he will have 
some time for fallowing for corn and tobacco and potatoes the next year. 

Ditches may be dug in the dry weather, which occurs in this month, 
and old ones cleaned out. If covered drains are designed, this and next 
month will be favorable times for it. To those who wish to drain (and 
we wish to impress on farmers the importance of draining all lands the 
least wet), we advise by all means to use tite* as it is much more effect- 
ual and cheaper in the end than other kinds — and cheaper in the begin- 
ning, or first outlay, than rock, even if that is on the farm. If an ex- 
perienced hand cannot be gotten for the purpose, consult " Waring on 
Draining." 

Prepare to Set Out Fruit. — And, indeed, strawberries and raspber- 
ries may be set any time this month, and fruit trees and grape vines, too, 
the last of the month and in November. 

We have previously given a list of apples and pears and peaches and 
grapes which we thought best to plant, and will re-write the list for next 
month ; and as the subscribers to the Planter get their numbers by the 
first of the month, it will be in time for planting these fruits. In the 

* Mr. Atkinson, of Manchester, is manufacturing tile for draining. 



664 THE SOUTHERN [October 

meantime, as to apples and pears, we will advise not to plant too large a 
variety, and not to run after novelties. As to apples, most of the old 
kinds planted by our fathers are the best for this latitude. Very few of 
the Northern importations do well here. Many of the varieties of 
peaches succeed well in Virginia, but we think those raised from the 
s^one are most hardy and longest Jived. 

As to strawberries, we know of no kind yet more prolific and better 
suited to market than the " Wilson's Albany." There are many new 
kinds brought forward. Last Spring we planted some " Monarch of the 
West," "Duchesse" (early) and "Duncan." The "Brandy Wine" 
raspberry (red) and " Mammoth Cluster " (black) are the most popular 
raspberries planted now in the yicinity of Richmond. 

The following on the subject of the new varieties of strawberries we 
clip from the Country Gentleman, containing an account of the visit of 
Mr. Wm. Parry to the strawberry plantation of Mr. E. W. Durand, in 
New Jersey, and to that of Mr. Smith, of Connecticut: 

" Fruit-growers and amateurs, who have raised a few varieties of strawberries, 
measuring from three to four inches in circumference, and thought them fine, 
might get bewildered here, among three thousand distinct kinds, many of them 
measuring six to eight inches around, and selected ones nine inches, weighing 
over two ounces each. 

" Being prepared with tape line and rule, we could not resist the temptation 
to violate the injunction plainly posted up, not to handle the fruit, and measured 
numerous berries with the following results : 

Great American, eight inches around, color deep red, good quality and very 
productive ; Beauty, six inches, firm, handsome, excellent, and very productive ; 
Pioneer, seven inches around, strong, vigorous grower, handsome, excellent and 
productive ; No. 14, Centennial, five and a half inches around, firm and pro- 
ductive. This berry received the highest praise by the judges of the Centennial 
Exposition, for its exquisite flavor and fine qualities. 

It would seem unnecessary to look farther for strawberries, yet, having started 
with the view of seeing the Crescent Seedling, we left Newark that night ; re- 
tired early and woke up next morning in New Haven, Conn. About half an 
hour's ride in a horse car brought us to West Haven, where Mr. H. H. Smith 
kindly showed his two plantations of strawberries, some distance from the vil- 
lage where he resides. The Crescent Seedling, from its vigorous growth, abund- 
ant yield and fine appearance of the fruit, only showed that it was the principal 
variety grown there. Wilson's Albany, Charles Downing and some others 
which heretofore had been considered most profitable, showed their inferiority 
grown by the side of the Crescent Seedling, which has sufficient vigor of growth 
to crowd out weeds and grass and take possession of the ground. One block of 
half an acre four years old, that had already yielded four hundred quarts, was in 
fine condition, being clean and free from weeds and grass. We were informed 
by the proprietor that there had not been one dollar expended for manure or 
labor in cultivation since the first year it was planted, yet the vines were heavily 
laden with large, handsome, bright red fruit. The great points of excellence 
which give this variety the preference over others are, that the fruit is uniformly 
large, firm, bright red in color, carries well, and being very attractive in appear- 
ance, sells better than others ripening at the same time, although a single berry 
examined separately is not remarkable, being about four and a half inches 
around, yet a quantity of them together, in crates, or on the vines, is beautiful 
to look at. The plants are so strong and tenacious as to take possession of the 
soil and hold the situation to the exclusion of grass and weeds, and thus save a 
large portion of the expense usually bestowed on strawberries, which will make 
it a general favorite with large growers who cannot devote much time to nursing 
strawberries. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 665 

POULTRY EXHIBITION AT THE STATE AGRICULTURAL 

FAIR. 

Our next Agricultural State Fair promises to be one of unusual 
interest. From present indications the exhibition of fine stock, 
horses, farming produce, implements, &c., will be a large one ; and 
the additional attractions offered by the Executive Committee, will 
bring together a much larger number of persons than have ever been 
present at any previous Fair, it is, therefore, very important that 
the poultry fanciers, and others interested in the breeding of fine 
poultry, should send some of their fowls to the Fair. Let every one 
send one or more trios, so that we can make a good exhibit of 
chickens. Many fine specimens of fowls were shown last year at 
our Fair, and it is hoped that the exhibition will be even a better one 
this year. 

All are invited to contend for the premiums offered by the Society. 
Those desiring to enter their fowls should address the undersigned, 
as all entries must be made at this office. Any information as to 
premium lists will be cheerfully given. 

H. Theodore Ellyson, 
Secretary Virginia Poultry Ass'n, 

Box 73. Richmond, Va. 



Mitexml— l&tnml 



AN EXPLANATION. 

It has been suggested that the tone of the Planter is rather political than agri- 
cultural. Now, hen's nest grass and old field pines are indeed fruitful topics for 
discourse; but they are not " all of life " by a great deal. We deem anything, 
in fact, that affects Virginia interests as proper to be considered by us ; and when 
we do consider them, we try and utter no uncertain sound. We regard the 
turn taken of late, in the discussion of the debt question, as of such vital concern 
to every man of us that, for the time, all things else must be subordinated to it. 

We have observed that the people of Virginia, when properly informed, never 
go wrong ; and this we stick to; and we are trying our best to present this proper 
information. We have no man to uphold nor party to serve ; and never will. 

It is an awful thing that any man anywhere should find any occasion that would 
justify his calling Virginia a thief; and when it is even whispered that she 
ought to get rid of her just debts, in any other way than by paying them, this oc- 
casion is presented, and we cannot gainsay it. Dishonesty can never be ex- 
plained away ; it is a stain that utterly refuses to be washed out. 

The present incumbent of the Presidency of the Virginia State Agricultural 
Society, wishing to put the debt of the Society where it would carry a minimum 
rate of interest, addressed a house in England, whose dealings with our people 
have covered a hundred years, on the subject. They answered that, under ordi- 
nary circumstances, they would have no objection to furnishing the money; but 
as a question appeared to exist in Virginia about the propriety of her meeting 
her honest obligations, they did not feel justified in venturing any more of their 
money in that quarter. And it will not stop there. 



666 THE SOUTHERN [October 

If to give devoted attention to this matter makes us political, then we will be 
political to the best that's in us. If the foul and damning disgrace of forswearing 
our manhood should come, no man can point to the Planter as having had any 
hand in it. 

Col. Eubank, of Bath, gives us words, on this question, that makes our heart 
glad. That metal has the true ring : 

u I am unalterably opposed to a forcible compromise. It will be repudiation, 
and repudiation will result in ruin to our State. It would destroy confidence, 
depress business, demoralize our people, humiliate the good, utterly annihilate 
our State pride (a sentiment without which no State can exist), and cost many 
times as much as it would to pay the debt." 



OYSTERS-WHAT OF THEM? 

" Thomas Kinsett, the late Baltimore oyster-packer, left $2,000,000." 

This is a significant item ; especially to Virginia-born men who say that their 
debt ought not to be paid. Mr. Kinsett, like other oyster-packers in Baltimore, 
undoubtedly got the bulk of what he packed from Virginia oyster-beds, and these 
oyster-beds are purely a State property . Now, what right had he, or any other 
man, to enjoy this State property without paying for it? And why have we not 
seen that nobody should enjoy this State property without paying for it? There's 
the rub ; why haven't we? What would be the public judgment on a private in- 
dividual, who owed money, and had ample means to pay what he owed, if he 
plead, as an excuse for non-payment, that he allowed other people to steal away 
his property without any effort on his part to prevent it? Why, that he would 
have to pay the last cent of his debt, if it took his shiit ; and he would not be 
getting more than his deserts if he hadnine-and-thirty, well laid on his bare back 
to boot. Does not this picture resemble painfully the State of Virginia, in the 
matter of her oyster-beds? They add millions to Baltimore's wealth, year in and 
year out, and there has been no one to interfere at all with the quiet working of 
this gold mine, Virginia has always been noted for her liberality; she gave to 
the United States, without other compensation than insult, all her Northwest Ter- 
ritory, and it was not a trifling estate^ she gave of her blood freely to defend 
New England firesides; and for what? That she might be made the victim of 
the spoiler; and he didn't do his work half-way. But to the oysters ; what right 
has any man to talk of State poverty when he has a single asset unused that ought 
to yield a million to the public revenue a year? France has her oyster-beds, and 
she makes them pay ; and has always made them pay. Yet we find good people 
who say : "Oh, yes, but Virginia is not France ; France pays her debts ; we are 
more advanced ; we don't want to pay ours ; so let the oyster pirates have a good 
time." They certainly have had a good time. 

If we say that we do- want what these oyster-beds will yield, but believe the col- 
lection of any revenue from them to be impracticable, will we put the privilege 
up to the highest bidder? That's the test. We will find bidders enough^ and at 
a price that will astonish us. Let then the brave man who shall champion the 
oyster question, at the next session of the Legislature, press this issue at once ; 
either levy a tax and enforce its collection, or farm out the privilege to some- 
body who will pay for it. It must be made to pay one way or the other. The 
late decision of the Supreme Court of the United States has divested this matter 
of all embarrassment. 

It is worse than folly — it is childish — to go about begging for broken-victuals, 
with a house full of good things, but no effort put forth to make them available. 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 667 

Virginia, in such a plight, is an engaging spectacle indeed. It is enough to fill 
with bitter indignation the dry bones of those men whose name and fame have 
filled this Commonwealth with glory. 



OUR HOME VOLUNTEER TROOPS. 

u There are few things more in contrast than the treatment of the volunteer sol- 
diers in the Not th and that of those in the South. Here they present the spectacle 
of a small and straggling body of men, neglected by the State, under poor discipline, 
and left almost entirely to their own sweet wills and devices. They receive no 
encouragement and little recognition from the State they serve, though the city 
with kind compassion gives them a sufficient pittance to enable them to shelter 
themselves from the weather. Nor are the citizens more generous. The busi- 
ness men who happen to have clerks or other employees in the volunteer service, 
look blacker than a westerly squall if asked to let one of their employees '" get 
off for parade. "and say they'll be d — d if they're going to stand any such nonsense. 
So we have all hands against us, and this is the way we are treated by those 
whose lives and property we would defend were trouble to come. No, we haven't 
the right feeling among us. A volunteer soldier is looked down on by the aristo- 
cracy, and we have not that class of men in our ranks which we should have. 

"There is no doubt that the few soldiers there are in Richmond exert a great 
moral influence. We have passed through a time of strife and turmoil elsewhere, 
with perfect peace to ourselves, but it may not be always so. The rule is now, 
a small standing army, but a perfect military organization in each State, so that 
at an hour's notice we could have an army that would be of fully sufficient size 
to enable us to hold our own against most anything that came. What a lovely 
contribution Virginia would make to the combined armies of the States!" 

The above appeared as a communication, some time ago. in the Richmond En- 
quirer. We are sorry the writer did not observe better temper in dealing with 
this important matter ; we are not aware, indeed, that we have any class who 
claim to be "the aristocracy." The personnel of our volunteer companies ap- 
pear to represent, as they should, all classes of our citizens. 

This is not the only matter in which Richmond men appear to be indifferent ; 
but it is not real indifference ; all employers are so put to "to make both ends 
meet," in these hard times (and the hard times have been a long season on us), 
that they have very little leisure to think of anything outside of their immediate 
business. There is the trouble, and until we get better off, most matters that are 
not things of direct daily concern will fail of the attention they deserve. And 
yet, looked at properly, if there is one thing more than another that appeals es- 
pecially to their interest, it is the provision of proper protection to their business 
and their homes, through well equipped and disciplined white volunteer troops. 
It will not impair the quality of a clerk, for instance, if he becomes a good and 
trusty soldier ; and instead of objection on the part of the employer, he should 
extend to his employee all reasonable encouragement to do his whole duty in this 
behalf. But we must be patient; things will come right after awhile. 

It is true that we in the South do not stand in the same jeopardy that constantly 
confronts the North. Our negro element will ever constitute a break-water 
against storms such as have lately swept over that region. As oil and water do 
not mix, so black and white do not combine. Still emissaries may be sent South, 
as they were in July last (in which they miserably failed), armed with authority 
to incite such elements as they might find inflammable to revolt, when some 
trouble may ensue. It is well, in such a contingency, to have a body of men who 
know how to handle ball-cartridges with address, and to handle them at once. 
These riots, being destructive of all law, it is merciful to the actors in them to 
quell in the most summary manner; frenzy is never cured by a blank cartridge. 

There is no conflict between capital and labor. As the productive power of 



668 THE SOUTHERN |_ 0ctol) er 

the country increases, the nearer will the consumer of all goods get for his money 
the actual cost of producing the article. Competition regulates the margin of 
profit, arid competition becomes, from year to year, more intense in every de- 
partment of business entering into the economy of society. Labor, being the es- 
sential element in production, must fluctuate in price in proportion to the meas- 
ure of the competition ; the alternative ever presented to the employer is to 
meet the market or close business. It is as absurd to talk of a conflict between 
capital and labor, as it is of a conflict between the head and the hands of a man. 
Either without the other is utterly helpless ; and it is astounding that the men of 
good sense, who constitute the bulk of the working class, should permit the shal- 
low, loud-mouthed fools, who claim to lead them, to turn their heads from what 
is their manifest and only interest, namely, to hold work as long as work can be 
had. We have no right to consider ourselves superior to the savage of the forest 
except we submit cheerfully to the restraints of law ; for this is the very essence 
of civilization. 

This fostering of military organizations in our midst, being a duty, our people 
should not, as we have urged, withhold from it their countenance. In the cities, 
we need both infantry and artillery ; in towns infantry alone ; and in the country 
cavalry (infantry there would be impracticable). Each county should have its 
well- mounted and well-armed troop. 

So circumstanced, we shall probably enjoy always profound peace. 



A WORD ABOUT THE MATTER OF MONEY. 

The United States will be known in history as the great financial experiment 
station ; and it enjoys the special peculiarity of having experimenters who are 
always raw hands. Like everything, in a governmental way, in that remarkable 
country, it is held, in practice, that an apprentice is more efficient than a master 
workman ; and there is nothing its people are so fond of paying for as the 
pleasure of blunder-making. Nobody knows, from one Congress to another, 
exactly how things stand. The poor Financial and Commercial Chronicle man 
is kept in a perpetual stew. He finds his living through his ability to sound the 
deeps of finance ; but unfortunately, with the twisted state of affairs he has had 
so continually to encounter, matters will keep on growing worse and worse in spite 
of the revival he so persistently sees in the eye of u the near future." 

We have lately had a " Banker's Convention." It was quite largely attended, 
and by many most respectable gentlemen. The drift of the work was in the 
direction of the contemplated resumption of specie payments in January, 1879. 
They are under the impression that, because the law sets the day for resumption, 
therefore, it can be done, whether the country is able to do it or not. The ex- 
perience of other countries appears to have availed little to teach them wisdom. 
It is recorded of England that she reached this goal in 1819 at a cost described 
in the following : "All who had land, labor, or produce to sell, or contracts to 
fill, were placed at great disadvantage. Creditors, that is, the wealthy capital- 
holding class, gained greatly, except where their debtors were absolutely ruined. 
Mills stopped, land fell in price, labor was thrown idle, and in peace men suf- 
fered more than the calamities of war." France, on the other hand, lets things 
adjust themselves, fortifies herself at all points, works her paper money so that 
it stands on exactly the same footing (it pays all dues, public and private), in the 
business of the country, as coin, and then resumes. Although the Bank of 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 669 

France has a coin reserve of rearly 2,300,000,000 of francs, and has been "flush" 
for years, still resumption will not take place till next January. 

Our ears have been incessantly assailed, for a long time past, with the cry of 
" irredeemable paper-money;'' and how that, in consequence, these "rags" 
were at a fearful discount as compared with coin. It is still "irredeemable," 
and yet 103 cents in this wretched paper money will now buy 100 cents in gold ; 
and it is highly probable that, imports continuing to decline, 100 cents in this 
paper will, before long, buy 100 cents in gold. Some good people have insisted 
on considering gold, since the war, as proper to be called money, when it has 
never been anything but merchandise — pure and simple ; and was needed only be- 
cause import duties had to be paid in it. When imports were heavy the demand 
for it was correspondingly heavy, and, like everything else, having a cei tain limit 
in quantity, when the demand exceeded the supply the price went up. In like 
manner, as the call for this merchandise has declined, its price has declined 
with it, so that we find now it is hardly worth anything above its face in paper. 
Money is neither more nor less than a contrivance by which, under the law. debts 
may be paid. No medium has yet been devised that is universal in its operation ; 
indeed, it is astonishing what a "local" thing money really is. Gold will not 
pay a debt in India, China or Japan, but silver will ; silver will not pay a debt in 
England or Germany, but gold or paper will. Silver, gold or paper will pay a 
debt in France; and so on. In every case it must have the stamp or authority 
of the country in which the debt is due. American gold will not pay a debt in 
England except as bullion rated] at the standard of the British sovereign ; and 
thus we may go around the whole circle. 

If the United States had done as France did, made its paper receivable for 
everything, government dues included, and not bought more abroad than she 
had products, other than gold and silver, to pay for (including the interest on 
her bonded debt held there), there is no reason why she should not have fared 
exactly as France has, namely, had a currency that was convertible at will into 
specie, whether she had declared for resumption or not. Statutes have their 
place in these matters ; but they move rather under the operation of unwritten 
laws, and are governed by the interests and desires of the people. 

Men will speculate irrespective of the fact whether the medium of exchange is 
coin or paper. If they are rash they will suffer; if prudent, they will accumu- 
late. In coin-paying times we had panics and disasters, and with the utmost 
regularity ; and we will probably continue to have them as long as men shall 
live in the world. 

There is one very ugly element that cannot be ignored in the resumption busi- 
ness ; we refer to the thousand millions of our bonded debt held abroad. That 
is a huge pile of money ; and things may, at any time, take such a turn in Eu- 
rope as would render it necessary for the holders of these bonds to realize on 
them. Coming back in a greater volume than would be used naturally to pay 
for our goods, when our exports were in excess of our imports, things would 
become at once panicky, and all business interests, without warning, put to the 
strain. Now, all this we ought to avoid ; and it could be avoided if we continued 
for several years longer to export more than we import. In that time enough of 
our bonds would find their way back to make the remainder held there no neces- 
sary bugbear to us. Up to January, 1879, we have no possible means of accu- 
mulating enough coin to declare resumption. The hoarding interest in the coun- 
try, and it is by no means small, would, in all probability, at once turn their 
hoard of paper into coin, on the ground that resumption would not last long, 



670 THE SOUTHERN [October 

when they could turn it back, in due time, to paper, and probably secure a little 
margin on the transaction, paper, in the meantime, still remaining unfit to pay 
import duties. 

We want no resumption laws ; certainly not as yet. Let the business of the 
country take its own course ; and give us no more of the twaddle about " an 
honest dollar in money for an honest day's work." When the dollar we have now 
will, as it does in practice, buy as much of the necessaries and luxuries of life 
as the " honest dollar," why need we " hone " so after that honest dollar ? In 
Confederate times, it took five honest (gold) dollars to buy ten yards of calico, 
worth, when calico was plentiful, nine-pence a yard. If we keep on selling 
more than we buy, we will have all the coin foundation we desire for our paper ; 
until then don't let us abuse our paper further than to grumble that there is not 
enough of it, and there has not been enough, at any time during the last ten } r ears 
in the South, to make the wheels of our business run easy, except at a rate of 
interest that no people ought to pay for the use of money. 

P. S. — Since writing the above we observe a tendency in the North towards a 
really lively Fall business. The banks are gathering in their money lent "on 
call," at low rates, on stock collaterals, and say legitimate business is able to 
take it at good rates. During the dearth in business prevailing for the last two 
years, circulation was surrendered by the National Banks, over the country, to 
the extent of many millions of dollars. More than this, bank stock being so un- 
profitable as an investment, a lrrge volume of it was expunged, the owners send- 
ing their money where it would earn more. With the little revival of business 
now apparant, the bank people are already apprehending a tight money market 
as the Fall advances. As four per cent. Government bonds are low, the banks 
will, of course, buy them and restore their circulation to the extent needed by 
the demands of the business community, and thus prevent any painful tight- 
ness. This is the plain path to relief. 



FISH CULTURE. 
This comparatively new industry is making good progress. All the States ad- 
jacent to Virginia have organized Fish Commissions. Maryland preceded us. 
West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina have followed suit. 
North Carolina, like Georgia, makes the Fish Commission a branch of the Agri- 
cultural Bureau — thereby justly recognizing it as of equal dignity — because it is 
designed to increase the quantity of healthful food for the human family. All 
the first five States named have some waters in common with this State, and 
their Commissioners express the hearty wish to co-operate with us in every effort 
to promote the common good. By the Potomac and its tributaries, we are in 
connection with Maryland and West Virginia — by New River also with West 
Virginia ; by the Big Sandy and its tributaries with Kentucky ; by the Clinch and 
Holston with Tennessee ; and by the Chowan and Roanoke and their tributaries 
with North Carolina. Next to the Potomac, this latter connection is the most 
important to us. The tributaries of the Roanoke rise in the Alleghanies and 
flow for hundreds of miles through Virginia, and could be rendered the finest fish 
streams on the Atlantic slope. The Black Water, Nottoway and Meherrin, trib- 
utaries of the Chowan, water an extensive district — whose people would rejoice 
to see them well stocked with fish. We are highly gratified to hear that the 
North Carolina authorities promise every aid in removing obstructions from the 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 671 

Chowan and lower Roanoke, and when the gallant Governor of the Old North 
State sets out to do a thing, he very rarely fails to accomplish his object. 

But it was with reference more particularly to the operations in Maryland, that 
we propose to speak at present. The last report of Commissioner Ferguson (for 
1876), which we have read with great interest and satisfaction, presents highly 
gratifying results, which place his State abreast of the foremost in this depart- 
ment of industry. He was enabled to achieve these results by a liberal appro- 
priation by the Legislature (810,000 per annum) and invaluable aid from all the 
railroad and steamboat corporations in the State. He received in addition a 
liberal pecuniary contribution from the city of Baltimore, with which he con- 
structed in Druid Hill Park one of the most conveniently arranged hatching 
houses on the continent. That establishment is an ornament to the city and an 
object of attraction to all visitors. It has occurred to us, that Richmond, which 
has a proper site for such an establishment, near the new reservoir, might wisely 
imitate the example of Baltimore. The place referred to is now an eye-sore, but 
under the plastic and artistic hands of Col. Cutshaw and his indefatigable lieu- 
tenant (Hunt), it would speedily become one of the most charming spots in the 
vicinity of the city. We will not dwell on it as a source of revenue. The hack- 
men can scent that in the distance. But no one thing would tend more to excite 
and diffuse an intelligent interest in fish culture throughout the State. And the 
location is well suited to experiments in hybridizing fresh and salt water fish, 
and adapting the latter to fresh water. 

Mr. Ferguson succeeded in hatching 1,144,000 California Salmon eggs in the 
Winter of 1875-'76, of which quantity, he distributed to waters in this State 
78,400 in the Shenandoah, 16,000 in the Occoquan and 32,000 in Goose creek, 
besides a large quantity in the Potomac and its other tributaries. Of Shad, he 
hatched 4,600,000 and bids fair to surpass all other States in the propagation of 
this particular and unsurpassed fish. He encountered the same difficulties, which 
we hear our Commissioners, operating in similar waters, have experienced, and 
which for want of funds, they have not been able to overcome, as Mr. Ferguson 
has done. The two main objects in shad-hatching are : a sufficiency of spawn, 
and safe boxes for hatching the eggs. Mr. Ferguson found, as has been 
found here, that in the wide waters of our rivers, Mr. Seth Green's boxes are 
liable to be swamped by the high winds and waves which frequently prevail, and 
the eggs thereby, if not lost, are exposed to the hazards incident to natural 
propagation. 

In the quiet nooks and recesses, not exposed to the wind, where alone hatch- 
ing can be successfully conducted in our broad rivers, " the motion given to the 
eggs is rather by the up and down motion of the boxes, as they dance on the 
swell of the waves, than by the passing current. The inclined bottom of the box 
(Green's), under these eircumstduces, tends rather to crowd and pack the eggs 
in the lower edge, than give them the required circulating motion, and keep them 
in suspense." He therefore greatly modified the apparatus, and adapted it to 
the circumstances under which he had to operate. 

For procuring eggs : As shad spawn mainly between sundown and one o'clock 
at night, it is important to have means of collecting eggs from several shores and 
the gillers. To meet this requirement, the Maryland Commissioner purchased a 
small steamer, by which he can move quickly from one fishery to another, gath- 
ering spawn from the ripe fish as the large seins are hauled, and by means of an 
apparatus erected on her decks, transport the eggs from point to point, while they 



672 THE SOUTHERN [October 

are being matured, so as to visit all shores within eight or ten miles. The re- 
port says : 

"The apparatus we refer to consists of a tank with five distributing pipes, 
which connect with the bottoms of five conical vessels, hung on frames so ar- 
ranged that the vessels retain their perpendicular, notwithstanding the rocking 
of the boat; in these tanks, the shad eggs are placed ; the reservoir tank is sup- 
plied with water from overboard by an independent steam tank-pump, which can 
be kept constantly going, whether the steamer is in motion or at anchor. The 
water is passed from the reservoir tank to these hatching vessels, and as it enters 
at the apex of the cone and runs out at top, the eggs, being of little specific 
gravity, are kept in constant motion, and held in suspense by the current of the 
water." 

li We can keep in this apparatus several hundreds of thousand shad eggs for a 
day or two, until we reach the central camp, when they are deposited in the 
hatching boxes, in which they remain until they are matured." 

This apparatus was only an experiment the last season, and though imperfect, 
demonstrated its value. It strikes us there is the germ of something great in it, 
which may be vastly expanded, and which will make shad-hatching safe and at 
the same time on a great scale. 

No doubt in the progress of time many new devices will be invented more cer- 
tain in results and at the same time cheaper. But in the meanwhile, not only 
energy and intellect are needed, but money also. In looking over the appropria- 
tions made by the different States, we find the amount appropriated in Virginia 
next to the smallest on the list. This is an injustice to this new industry, in the 
future of which, no State has a greater stake than Virginia. 

We cannot urge too strongly upon our people the formation, at all points in 
the State, offish and game protective associations. An interest in this direction 
will induce an interest in fish culture. These associations need not involve a cent 
of expense outside of that at the Capital, and there money is needed only for 
printing, postage, and the annual gathering during Fair week. Will not our pub- 
lic spirited men see to it that they are formed ? Rivers well stocked with fish 
form an item in our resources so manifestly important as to need no explanation. 



A VERY IMPORTANT SOURCE OP WEALTH. 

" The foreign demand for American fruit is now so great that Europe and Aus- 
tralia will take nearly all the fruit, fresh and dried (dried peaches excepted), which 
the United States can land in their markets in good condition. Since last Octo- 
ber England has taken 396,000 barrels of apples from that country, and it is es- 
timated that she will take an average of 15,000 barrels per week. The working 
classes of Germany and the workingmen and miners of Australia are the chief 
customers for American dried fruit abroad, but the poor people of England and 
Russia buy to a limited extent. As long as dried apples can be exported from 
New York at five, or even seven, cents a pound, the workingmen of Europe and 
Australia will buy all that can be spared. The business of exporting fruit is one 
that has been chiefly built up since 1865. In the eleven months ending July 1st, 
the fruit exported amounted in value to $2,831,000." — Pall-Mall (London) 
Budget. 

So feeble are the responses to many of our suggestions, looking to widening the 
field from which to draw our income, that we sometimes think we are rather an- 
noying than otherwise. However, being a good work, we will persist in it; for 
drops of water, falling on even the hardest rock, will in time wear it away. 

The item we quote above is too important to pass over unconsidered. Europe 
and Australia constitute a customer, no matter in what direction, too gigantic to 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 673 

be neglected. And has the good Lord put anywhere on the earth's surface such 
perfect ability, in the fruit line, as we find existing in the Southern country? 

People living away from the lines of transportation would not be able to market 
much fruit in the green state; but dried fruit they could manage admirably; and 
there is always a good market for it, provided it is produced in quantities suffi- 
cient for buyers to look after it. We, in Virginia, do not give the attention to 
dried fruit that we did once ; we fear the young housewives are not as thrifty as 
their mothers were. It is an excellent thing for the good woman, through the 
sale of these minor articles, to secure the wherewithal to keep the house going, 
and leave the staple crops of the estate subject to no burden but taxes. [When 
our State Government is remodelled through a new Constitution, we expect to 
see this latter burden very materially lightened.] 

The folks in North Carolina sell immense quantities of dried fruit of all 
kinds. What is the result ? Buyers from abroad do not wait to be sought, but 
come there early in the season and make their contracts. All this, like the 
gathering of sumac, puts money in the hands of many a poor soul who, without 
this resource, would be badly off* indeed, 

The season is now approaching when fruit trees can be set out. It will not do 
to confine our operations to fancy affairs in this line ; like all other petted things, 
they cost more than they come to. Besides, the limit of consumption of such 
fruits is very contracted, because only rich people are able to enjoy them, and 
Croesus is not to be found in these days in every neighborhood. We want stand- 
ard fruit ; something that is good in itself, and capable of being produced at a 
price that everybody can share it. A big trade in anything admits of small indi- 
vidual margins of profit ; but the aggregate tells, and tells largely. 

Our Virginia Pomological Society should count its members by the thousand. 
What farmer can afford to be without the information it is able to procure and 
furnish? If he can, he is happier than most men in Virginia. Let Mr. Leigh- 
ton write the strongest appeal it is in his power to construct ; we will publish it 
gladly, and urge it to the best at our command. Thinking men read the Planter, 
and the appeal will not be in vain. 



"PRIMINGS." 

"As the new crop of tobacco will be soon seeking market, it is not amiss to say 
a word or two on the subject of "primings." Of late years it has become more 
and more a habit of planters to strip, cure and ship their primings. The result is 
loss rather than profit. The planter receives a little money, generally very little, 
and to do it he robs the land of what should go to enrich it, while the primings 
coming to market in large amounts discredit all grades of tobacco, beginning with 
the lugs, and are counted always as part of the stock on hand to the certain dis- 
count of tobacco prices. There are, for example, now held here many hogs- 
heads of old primings, worth less than $1.50 per hundred, and they are all 
counted in the stock as much as if they contained high-class tobacco. 

The Primings, in short, are worth more to the planting community when left 
upon the ground, than when shipped to encumber the market and depreciate 
quotations." 

In all which the State newspaper is exactly right. We can conceive of no folly 
equal to the saving of primings. Being thin and papery there is always risk of 
burning the barn down in curing them ; and when cured they are about as profit- 
able as Gratiano's reasons, which were "as two grains of wheat hid in two 
bushels of chaff; you shall seek all day ere you find them ; and when you have 
them they are not worth the search." It is no trifling matter to know that pri- 
mings count from 1,500 to 3,000 hogsheads in the Virginia tobacco crop. Out of 



674 THE SOUTHERN [October 

the way, our good low-grades would come in, and command a paying price. A 
more perfect illustration of the penny-wise and pound-foolish policy cannot be 
found than in the saving and marketing of this worthless trash. They are good, 
very good, as manure, and we do hope all of our friends in tobacco production 
will put them there, and only there. 



The Moffett Punch. — The opposition, in the courtB, to the patent covering 
this contrivance, having been disposed of, the little bell is heard now throughout 
the land ; and we are delighted that it is. All other well-managed countries 
raise their revenue in this way, and there is no reason why it should not work as 
well here. It falls on no necessity, but is wholly dependent upon the option of 
the payer; he may drink or not as he pleases; but indulging let the drink be 
spiced with the tax ; it will not hurt him. The bill needs amendment so as to 
make the gallon buyer pay as well as the buyer by the drink. It is a novel pro- 
ceeding in the eyes of our people, but the novelty will soon wear off/and instead 
of Moffett being cursed for his pains, not a few, in their gratitude, will deem 
him worthy of an enduring monument. We are sorry he is a bachelor. 

It is simply folly to say that this tax will injure the liquor business. Times 
may be so hard as to curtail clothing and other necessary things, but stimulants 
men will have. It has been said that a law promulgated, taking away the 
Briton's mug of ale, would destroy the English Government in twenty-four hours ; 
and we believe it. 



Re-adjustment. — The Danville News makes this observation : 

" Look around you and see who is talking of re-adjustment. 

"We venture to say that nine men out of ten who advocate re-adjustment are 
insolvent and do not pay twelve shillings a year towards the State debt." 

Is this a fact? If doubted, a census should be taken in each neighborhood to 
prove whether it is true or false. It is a very important inquiry ; and if it is 
really a fact, the bare statement of such a fact ends the clrmor at once. 

When the Kansas-Nebraska business was agitating the people of the country, 
a certain individual, after " the Judge " and "the Major" order (1 e., greatly 
obliged to you for an invitation to drink, and would accept gladly, at any time, a 
ten-cent-piece), was wonderfully concerned about the effect this agitation would 
have upon the value of our public lands. Likewise, some days ago, in a neigh- 
boring town, a man was observed, with a great crowd around him, discoursing 
upon the awful business of having to pay our State debt. An old gentleman, and a 
very heavy tax-payer withal, went to see what was the matter. He asked the 
speaker: "My friend, how much do you contribute, or have you ever con- 
tributed, towards this debt? " He answered : " Don't I have to pay my poll- 
tax; and that's a dollar a year; I can't stand it." We think the census above 
proposed would exhibit several of these eminent and tax-ridden patriots. It is a 
fact that the heaviest tax-payers, as a rule, are the men who insist upon standing 
to the last copper of the debt. The reason is manifest : with credit and charac- 
ter lost, the thing on which they pay their taxes would be valueless. 



Amusing. — It is certainly amusing to the last degree, to us outsiders in the 
South, to see how hard that despicable thing, called the Republican party, dies. 
A thing reeking with fraud, corruption and general villainy (and the Republican 
party stands without a parallel in history in that line ) could not last forever 
even in the North, and that is saying a good deal. Some of the poor souls who 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 675 



still cling to it had a Convention in New York, several days ago, and the presid- 
ing officer gave vent to the following sore lamentation : "The clouds which ob- 
scure the horizon are black and threatening, and the friends of freedom [ oh I ] 
have good cause for doubt and despondency. The chief cause of discourage- 
ment is found in the perilous situation of political affairs in the South. * * We 
behold the Republican organization in nearly every Southern State, demoralized, 
paralyzed, and politically crushed out." Now, if there is one thing, more than 
another, that our Southern folks thank God daily for, it is this very state of af- 
fairs described by that Republican Jeremiah. As far as the Southern country is 
concerned, that carpet-bag excrescence has been lopped off forever and ever. 



The Agricultural and Mechanical College — The Governor has appointed 
the Hon. William MiLNES, Jr., of Page county, to take the place in the College 
Board made vacant by the decease of Col. Armstrong, of Rockingham. The 
appointment is most admirable, and we congratulate the Governor on it. 

Mr. Mtlnes is a native of Lancashire, England, and is an accomplished me- 
chanician and mining engineer ; and is prosecuting interests in Virginia second 
in magnitude to none anywhere in the State. He is the manner of man we want 
to come to Virginia. We want no indiscriminate horde to curse our borders; 
our traditions must be preserved, and this can only be done by a gradual absorp- 
tion of good people. 



Another Special Premium. — We learn that the Enterprise Cotton Bag- 
ging Mill, of Richmond (T. W. McCanoe, Jr., proprietor), offers to the State 
Fair at Raleigh, N. C. for the best bale of cotton exhibited, a special premium 
of a full roll of the cotton bagging manufactured at their establishment. The 
bagging produced there is so superior that though, as compared with other makes, 
it is quite new in the market, the factory is run to its full capacity to fill the 
orders. 

There is no reason why this Southern enterprise should not command the pat- 
ronage of the Cotton State people; indeed we see that it is doing it. Patience 
and the resolution to succeed are working wonders for our people in the South. 
Contemplating what they hate done, there is no room for croaking, but rather 
for the most sincere thankfulness. Every new effort made by our folks to take 
care of themselves fills our heart with joy. We therein show that we are men, 
and not dependents. 



NORTH CAROLINA STATE FAIR— WHAT "PUSH" HAS DONE. 

Quite early in the Spring, Col. Holt, President of the North Carolina (State) 
Agricultural Society, began to move in connection with the Fair to be held this 
Fall. His energy is simply boundless, and when he undertakes anything it is to 
win ; and he always wins. He induced several public-spirited gentlemen to act 
with him in purchasing the Fair Grounds at Raleigh and putting up the necessary 
buildings. The work was done, in the name of the Society, but these (aw gen- 
tlemen became individually bound for the cost. The debt they thus assumed in 
1869 will be wholly liquidated this year, and the Society become the possessor of 
a property of great value in itself and benefit to the State at large. So we see 
what can be done, even in hard times, through the will of a few determined men. 
As we said, the work this year was started early, and it has known no flagging 
since. They have, with one accord, worked like beavers, and they will witness 

5 



676 THE SOUTHERN [October 

a result that will make glad the heart of every man in that good old State. We 
copy, in the following, the poster, or hand bill, sent out through the State, by the 
Society. It speaks for itself : 

THE STATE FAIR FOR 1877! 

Thos. M. Holt, President. C. B. Denson, Superintendent. 



To the Farmers of North Carolina : 

The next State Fair, to be held by the N. C. Agricultural Society, at Raleigh, 
N. C. on OCTOBER, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th, 1877, will be the most 
memorable gathering of the products and of the citizens of our State ever held in 
our borders. Every county of our broad Commonwealth will be represented by 
her agricultural products. Of this we are fully assured ; and the farmer will 
take the front rank, where he belongs, if he chooses to do so. Let our cultiva- 
tors of the soil come in their might, and take part in the grand revival of indus- 
trial art within our good old North State. 

$9,000 WORTH OF VALUABLE PREMIUMS WILL BE GIVEN AWAY, 

of articles of great merit and value, donated by our friends throughout the Union. 
Agricultural Implements of all kinds, Seeds, Books, Crockery, Furniture, Sil- 
ver Ware, Musical Instruments, Dry Goods, Boots, Shoes, and a great variety of 
useful and valuable premiums of hundreds of articles of all styles of goods. 
For particulars, address the Secretary for Premium Lists. 
The attractions of the Fair will be unusual. 

A PARADE OF THE VOLUNTEER TROOPS OF THE STATE 
will take place, and a grand review by Gov. Z. B. Vance and Staff. 

F[NE RACES, from the best Trotting Stock of the South ; Presentation of a 
Flag to the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry, by the State Agricultural 
Society ; Grand Display of Machinery in Operation ; Superb Collection of Paint- 
ings and Fancy Work, from the Female Schools and Colleges. 

The Commissioner of Agriculture will make a Special Exhibition of the 
Agricultural and Mineral Specimens from every County. 

Bring your Wheat, Corn, Cotton, Tobacco, Oats, Hay, Potatoes, your fine 
Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Hogs,, your Butter, Honey, Home-made Clothing, Fruits, 
&c. Bring your little ones that they may see this outpouring of the wealth and 
skill of their native State. 

Fares on the Railroads will be very low— certainly not over one-and-a-half 
cents per mile, and perhaps less. Charges for freight on articles exhibited will 
be returned on the arrival home of the goods or animals unsold. 
For further information, or full Premium List, write to 

C. B. DENSON, 
Secretary and Superintendent N. C. Agr'l Society, 

Raleigh, N. C. 

We would not be speaking what is in our heart if we did not say that we 
wished old Virginia could enjoy even one-half of the "push " that has brought 
about this happy result in North Carolina. We put off the work until a month 
ortwo before the Fair opens, and then people have not time sufficient to prepare 
for it what they would like to exhibit. The State Agricultural Society, like any 
other business, should be before the public the year through. Only one rousing 
effort, like that in North Carolina, would not only expunge the debt owed by 
the Society, but leave something over for premiums such as should be offered. 

Although we have only a month yet in which to try ourselves, our people must 
not hold back, but give the Fair their very best service. 

Our manufacturers and tradespeople must come to the rescue with special pre- 
miums of all kinds, and we hope they will. Of course, these things could have 
been worked better had a little more time been given them, but even now they 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER. 677 



can do something, and that something should not be left undone. It* the specta- 
cle in North Carolina this year will have the effect to stir us up next year, we 
will be thankful. What others can do, we ought certainly to try to do. 

If we had Major Hotchkiss to prepare a collection of our resources such as 
Prof. Kerr has gotten together, at Raleigh, of those in North Carolina, we would 
see something that would surprise us, and make us, at the same time, ashamed 
that any man born in Virginia could have so far gone astray as to countenance a 
movement, ihe effect of which is not only to destroy the value of these resources, 
but put on our name and fame the blot of dishonest dealing. 

We observe, with pleasure, that our State Agricultural Society has its hand- 
bills out too. 



TUCKAHOE FARMER'S CLUB. 

The Tuckahoe Farmer's Club met last month at the suburban residence of Hon. 
Charles E. Wqrtham, our*Senator for Henrico county and Richmond city. Mr. 
Wortham, we believe, is one of the oldest members of this famous Farmer's 
Club. When we say one of the oldest, we do not imply that Mr. Wortham is de- 
crepid or old in any pense of the word ; on the contrary, he is considered one of 
the most active and important members of this Club, as the records of the So- 
ciety will show. And we believe the community is indebted to him for the pres- 
ent road law, which enables the Supervisors of the county to employ convict 
labor in repairing the public roads, immediately around the city, which are a dis- 
grace to the entire community. 

Mr. Wortham has faithfully represented the interests of the city and county in 
the Senate, and has specially commended himself to the cordial support of the 
farmers of Henrico county and the State generally, by his interest and devo- 
tion to the farming interest. We are glad to know that he gives no uncertain 
views as to the debt question. He being a heavy tax-payer, knows what repudia- 
tion means to property holders. We hope to publish, at an early day, the re- 
report of Mr. Wortham's farm by a committee. 

Mr. Wortham't entertainment of the Club was well worthy of the dignity of the 
occasion ; where were assembled some of our most worthy representatives of 
Henrico county and the city of Richmond. 

The subject of "fodder pulling" was discussed, pro and con, and we think 
those in favor of pulling blade fodder were much in the majority. 

Prof. Puryear (Civis) was elected President ; J. A. Lynham, Vice-President ; 
Channings Robertson, Recording Secretary; Dr. Michaels, Corresponding Secre- 
tary. 

We wish we had space to speak more at length of the meeting; and, in future, 
we will depend on the very able and competent Corresponding Secretary. 



A Fact. — The matter we have to consider, in connection with the State debt, 
is not the principal, but the interest. The moment we can arrange to provide 
for the interest promptly, there will be no difficulty in arranging about the prin- 
cipal. The State's creditors have never been importunate about the latter at all ; 
nor have they been indisposed to treat with us concerning it. We can get all the 
time we want on the principal by standing manfully to the interest; and with 
any prudent management at all of our resources, we have demonstrated that we 
may, in a variety of ways, provide comfortably for that. Don't let the dema- 
gogues blind you. The State's credit is more to her people than the political 
prospects of any man or set of men. 



678 THE SOUTHERN [October 

Encouraging. — The several Commercial Agencies in the United States issue 
(each) a paper every Saturday, setting forth the names of the business firms in 
the United States and Canada that have failed during the previous six days. We 
have access to several of these reports every week, and have for a long time, 
been struck with the scarcity of failures in the South, as compared with the North, 
and that too after allowing fully for the difference in volume of population. There 
could be no more perfect index than this, of the improving condition of our sec- 
tion ; and it certainly gives us pleasure to chronicle the fact. 

Fine Yellow Tobacco Seed. — Our esteemed friend and correspondent, Maj. 
Robert Ragland, of Hyco postoffice, Halifax county, Va., writes us: "With- 
out an accident. I will have ready, in the Fall, a lot of the finest tobacco seed 
ever grown. My tobacco crop this year is as fioe as I ever produced, both in 
leaf and fibre.'' Every body in Virginia and North Carolina knows the standing 
of the Major, as a tobacco planter; and no one better than ourselves. His to- 
bacco seed are produced only in the crown shoot of the blossom, the lateral sprays 
being cut away. This throws the whole power of the plant into the seed, and 
gives, as a result, the best of its kind. Our friends in need, in this way, have 
in him a first-class resort. 



The Growing Crop of Tobacco. — It is said by " old stagers " that the crop of 
tobacco, grown this year in Virginia, will be finer in quality than anything we 
have produced since the war. The season for it to gain body and ripen has been 
all that could be desired. This information fills us with thankfulness. 

Foreign markets are loaded with " non-descript " leaf, which nobody wants to 
buy; but it will have to be closed out at something, and room made for tobaccos 
that are desirable. We see, indeed, no reason, the quality in general being so 
good this year, why a large crop should not be taken at paying figures. 



Query. — What has become of Col. Holliday, the Conservative nominee for 
Governor? The tax-payers of Virginia want to know badly. The time has 
come when he must speak out, on the vital issue now agitating the State, or 
count on a position utterly barren of any influence. 



Mr. V. S. Luck, N. C, writes: "Will you please inform me where, in Vir- 
ginia, I can purchase a thoroughbred Jersey bull, and some good thoroughbred 
Jersey cows? Will thank you for any information you may have on the subject." 

[We refer you to the advertising columns of Planter for the names and ad- 
dresses of some of the best breeders of the Jerseys in this country.] 



John Randolph of Roanoke. — Our brother, P. Bouldin, Esq, of the Dan- 
ville News, has completed his work entitled "Home Reminiscences of John 
Randolph of Roanoke," and it is going through the press. The first edition will 
number 1,000, of which 000 have already been subscribed for. Mr. Bouldin 
has been many years collecting the material for this work, and"it will form a con- 
tribution to Virginia history of which we will all be proud. It will contain 300 
pages, and be furnished at $2 on delivery. We need only, we know, mention 
the matter to our friends to secure their names at onceas subscribers. Mr. 
Bouldin's address is Danville, Va. 



PLOWS. 
We would advise all wanting plows to send their address to Messrs. Watt & Call, 
Richmond, and receive their Catalogue and Price-List of their celebratFd Watt 
Plows, which have been greatly improved, and are now as near perfection as it 



1877.] PLANTER AND FARMER 679 

is possible to arrive at. They do not expect you to keep their plows if you are 
not satisfied with their work after a thorough test. After trials by the most prac- 
tical farmers the past season, they are pronounced equally superior in every kind 
of soil and for any kind of work. Many who have been induced to buy newly 
introduced plows, say they have been compelled to lay them aside, either because 
of their choking on foul land, great expense of points, not turning some kinds 
of work properly, leaving an uncut strip between furrows, or other defect, and 
take the Watt, which is always ready for any work that a plow can do. These 
plows are in use from New Jersey to Texas, and of the many thousands daily in 
use, we believe ail give satisfaction. 

Scarcely a day passes that the firm are not in receipt of letters from all sections 
expressing the greatest satisfaction given by their plows. We note in particular 
the experience of our friends in the Valley, and in the red lands of the State. 

In this connection, we copy the following from the Rockingham Register : 

"The Watt Plow. — Messrs. Watt & Call, manufacturers of plows in Rich- 
mond, Va., sent a two-horse plow, with cast-iron point, a two-horse plow with 
wrought-iron share, and one for either two or three horses, with wrought share, 
to this county on trial. 

The plows were thoroughly tested the 7th of April, on a piece of land belong- 
ing to George Chrisman, Esq., which had the heaviest coat of coarse grass on it 
we ever saw plowed under. The three-horse plow did its work admirably, turned 
land smoothly and nicely up hill, covering the grass well without choking, and 
pulverized the soil well; no plow could have turned better; the draft was light 
while cutting a deep, wide furrow for a three-horse plow. We pronounce it a 
number one three-horse plow. 

One horse was then taken out, the plow changed according to directions to a 
two-horse plow, which is done in a few minutes. It did its work equally as well 
as a two-horse, as it had done as a three-horse plow, with certainly no more, and 
in our judgment, rather less draft than either the Bradley or Root two-horse 
plows. The point of the share to this plow never needs any hammering down 
as it wears off, to make the plow run deep enough, as the depth is at all times 
regulated by th-e length of the beam from the mould-board to double-tree, which 
can be done in a few minutes, thus relieving the team from carrying any of the 
weight of the plow upon its hips, as is often done when the plow runs too deep. 

We also consider this a number one two-horse plow, and cordially recommend 
it either as a two- or three horse plow, to all farmers who desire to do good plow- 
ing with ease to the team. 

The plow made only for two horses was also thoroughly tested. While it turned 
under this heavy coat of grass without choking, it is too light for heavy sod on 
our stiff lands, but we think it would be a good plow for light, smooth land, as 
the draft is light and it never chokes.' 1 

David Bear, 
Samuel Long, 
John Hopkins Ralston, 
George Chrisman, 

Rockingham Co., Va. William Vines. 

Your plow is the thing for this Summer's fallowing. 

H. M. Magruder. 
Charlottesville, Va., Sept. 12th, 1877. 

I have used the three-horse Watt Plow and P, and the two-horse K and L 
for several years. I regard the and P the most perfect plow I ever saw. The 
only objection that I have to the K and L plow is, that they are not heavy enough 
for the strong Valley horses, and in the stiff clay soil we have in the Valley. I 
consider the Watt Plow better than any plow I have ever used, for the following 
reasons: It is perfectly adjustable; pulverizes the soil better; is lighter draft ; 
lays the land higher, rendering it more friable upon application of the harrow. 

Staunton, Va., Aug. 1st, 1877, . - E. A. Fulcheb. 



080 THE SOUTHERN [October 

Green Springs Academy, Louisa County, Va. — In another column -will be 
found an advertisement of this school. It is hardly possible to find a more bean* 
tiful section of Virginia than that around the Green Springs, some ten miles south 
of GordonsvilJe. The Green Springs Academy is surrounded by a refined and 
intelligent community. Dr. C. R. Dickinson, the principal, will be aided by 
faithful and competent assistants. Boys and young men will be received into the 
family, and furnished with everything necessary to their comfort. Two physi- 
cians reside at the Academy, and attend, without charge, upon the pupils when 
sick. Parents and guardians who wish to place their sons and wards where they 
will be mo3t tenderly cared for, at very small cost, would do well to place them 
in the care of Rev. C. R. Dickinson. 



Virginia Lands. — Dickinson & Chewning, Real Estate Agents, 1115, Mais 
street, Richmond, Va. 

"We copy the following from the R&ligious HeraM of this city. 

This pamphlet of 24 pages contains much valuable information in regard to 
farms in this State for sale. Persons wishing to invest m such property could 
not do better, we judge, than send for a copy of tbis pamphlet. The low price 
at which Virginia lands are now offered is surprising, but to us it is a greater 
wonder that capital does not seek such investments. Why should a man risk 
losing his money by putting it in stocks of any kind when he can buy the best 
lands in Virginia for less than half what they. brought in the market until of late 
years, and at less than one-third of what they must soon be worth, if there should 
be any early return of prosperity to the country. 

Dickinson & Chewning have remarkably good advantages for selling city and 
country property. The senior member of the concern, Dr. L. R. Dickinson^ 
owns and edits the Southern Planter and Farmer, the best agricultural journal in 
the South, while Mr. Chewning is as full of enterprise and push as any man ia 
Richmond. And, what is better than all, the standing of this firm is such that 
those who have dealings with them need not fear being imposed upon. Our 
friends at the North, who are thinking of investing in Virginia lands, may rest 
assured that their interest will be safe in the hands of these gentlemen. 

RICHMOND PRICES CURRENT. 

October 1, 1877. 
Tobacco— Bright Lugs, $5a$15; Bright Leaf, $10a$60; Dark Lugs, $3a&>; Dark 

Leaf, £6a$15. 
Wheat — Market more active. We quote Furtz and Lancaster Prime to Choice, 

$1.55a$1.60; White Prime to Choice, $1.55a$.1.60. 
Corn — 68a70c. per bushel for white. 
Corn Meal— 75a80e. per bushel. 
Oats — New, 40a42e. per bushel. 

Flour— Fine, $4fa5; Superfine, $5fa$6; Extra, $6£; Family, $7fa8f. 
Beans — White Navy, none offering. 
Plaster — Ground, $8 per ton. 
Peas — Black Eye, none offering. 
Lime— Rockland, $1.05a$J.15; Virginia, $la$1.10. 
Hay— Virginia Timothy, $l.a$1.05; Clover, 85c. 
Feathers — 40c. lor live goose. 
Sugars— 9*alOJe. for Refined Yellow; Cut Loaf, 12c; Refined Standard A, 

lOfallc; StandardB, 10§al0fc; Extra C, 10£al0fc. 
Coffee — Rio, 19^a22|c. for good to very good; Laguayra, 21a22£c; Java, 27a29c. 
Molasses — Common, 27a30c; Porto Rico, 5oaSoc. 
Bacon — Hams, 13al5c; C. R. Sides, 10c. ; Shoulders, 9c. 
Wool— Washed, 30a33c; Unwashed, 23a25c. for choice. 
Cotton — 10al0|e. for low middling. 
Butter — Common, 10al2£o; Good to Choice, 20a28e. 
Salt— Fine, $1.75a$1.85; Ground Alum, $1.10a$1.15. 
Lard — Country, lOallc. per lb. 
Potatoes — 75a80c. per bushel* 
Beeswax — 27c. per lb. 



HIGH-BRED AND TROTTING STOCK FOR SALE AT FAIR- 
LAWN STOCK FARM, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY. 

I offer, at private sale, eighty bead of High-bred Trotting Stallions, Colts and 
Fillies from one to five years old, most of them sired by Almont, who has sired 
more winners of contested races than any trotting stallion of his age that hag 
ever lived. 

Fairlawn is strictly a Breeding Farm, with seventy Highly-bred Trotting 
Brood Mares used for breeding, with the noted Trotting Stallions Almont and 
Cassius M. Clay, Jr., in use as private Stallions. 

The Southern States should diversify their industry and the breeding of highly- 
bred stock, for which their soil and climate offer peculiar advantages — should be 
largely engaged in. and will constantly pay large profits if properly conducted. 

Liberal terms of payment will be given responsible parties. 

For Catalogues, which give descriptions and pedigrees of the stock and lowest 
prices, or other in formation, apply to 

WM. 1\ WITHERS, 

feb — ly Lock Box 892, Lexington, Kentucky. 



T 



HOUDANS A SPECIALTY. 



&5I35: -5ta.:r,:ds i?o select fxioisa:. 



As & Table Fowl, Unequalled. As a Layer, Unexcelled* 



Fowls. Pri-ces. Chicks. 

Single Cocks, $4 to $ 8. Single Cockerels, $2 to $ 5. 

Pairs, 7 to 14 Pairs, 5 to 10. 

Trios, 10 to 20. Trios, 8 to 15. 

I have one of the finest collections in the •country, and am continually 

improving it 

Birds delivered free of charge at Orange C. H. or Fredericksburg,Va. 

WM. L. BRADBURY, Montclair Stock Farm, 
sept — . Orange C. H., Va. 

IMPROVED STOCK. 

Thoroughbred Shorthorn Cattle, 
Merino Sheep and Berkshire Pigs 
bred and for sale at very moderate 
prices by 

S. S. BRADFORD, 

Au g- 1 y Culpeper, Va. 




ALDERNEY 

HEIFERS and COWS 

FOR. S.AJOE. 

Served by a 

REGISTERED JERSEY BULL 

B. H. JOHNSTON, 
Aug-2t Alexandria, Fa. 



The largest and most complete Slock of 
Fruit and Ornamental Trees in the U. S. 
Priced Catalogues sent as follows: No. 1, 

Fruits, with colored plate, 15 cts.; plain, 1© cts. No. 2, 
Ornamental Trees, ec, with plate, 25 cts.; plain, lSets. 
No. 3, Greenhouse; No. 4, W] 
of New Roses. FREE. Ad( 



1" 

d No. 5, List 

taster, N.Y. 



'holesale, 
ress. 




-sep 



Farmers Use tie Watt Flaw! 



I 



AND YOU WILL BUY NO OTHER. 



^ 



IH3 CHEAPEST ZME -£L X> IE2 . 



UNEQUALLED IN EVERY ESSENTIAL OF 










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"Wherever tested by the side of any other they are pronounced 

THE BEST FOR ALL PURPOSES. 

They are guaranteed to work in Sandy, Clay and Hard Land, in Sod, Stub- 
ble or Weeds of the heaviest growth, with Less Draught than any Plow in 
Use, and Without Choking. 

THEY LEAVE NO UNTURNED SOIL! 

Making some fifteen different numbers, we are prepared to furnish any size 
wanted. If you want a Plow that pult3 easy to the team, works easy to the plow- 
man, does its work well, eovers up all vegetation, and does not choke, get a 
WATT PLOW. 

We do not ask yon to buy these Plows on the strength of what we or others 
say of them. We only ask a trial. Test them to your satisfaction, and if they 
do not do what we claim, return at our expense, and price will be refunded. 

We warn you not to be deceived by Plows claimed to be an improvement on 
the Watt Plow. Get none but the Watt, each of which has our firm-name branded 
on the beam. The attention of those who have used our Plows is called to our 
new sizes, recently constructed. 

To meet the constantly increasing demand, we have erected a manufactory and 
warehouse, 

Nos. 1518 and 1520 Franklin Street, 

Five door's below our old stand, to which we have removed. In addition to Plows 
we have Plow Castings of all kinds, Corn Shelters, Feed Cutters, Har- 
rows, Cultivators, <&c, and Farming Implements generally, to which 
the attention of those in want is called. We offer these on best terms. 
Catalogue and Price List sent to any address. 




THE ONE-HORSE WATT 

The Best Combined 

TURNING & CULTIVATING 

PLOW. 



Meeting all the wants of the planter for the preparation of the land and culti- 
vation of the crop, without the use of any other implement and without the com- 
plications of useless attachments. 

Especially adapted to the Corn Grower. 

Equally adapted to the Tobacco Grower. 

Invaluable to the Gardner. 

Particularly adapted to the wants of the Cotton Planter. 

UNSURPASSED AS 

A Turning Plow, Sub-Soil Plow, Row Opener, Cultivator, Pea-Nut 
Digger, Cotton and Tobacco Scraper, Cotton Sweep. 



TRV OUR No. D &. E--Weight 35 Pounds. 

This is the cheapest and lightest draught plow made, and in proportion to size, 
will do more than any plow in use, either of our own make or any other. One 
man can pull it with ease. We have just completed patterns for a larger sized 
mould board and point for this plow, and its capacity is greater than ever. 

Has four different sizes of mould boards and will throw as small or as high a 
furrow as is desired. 

We have now ready as an attachment for this plow 

A Solid Steel Dickson Sweep 

of a very beautiful pattern. It is attached to standard, removing point and mould 
board ; and as the land slide remains on the plow this Sweep will run steadily 
and not slip sideways, thereby endangering the plant. We furnish them of dif- 
ferent sizes, and at very low prices. This attachment forms an implement of 
great value for keeping down the grass in corn and vegetables, simply shaving 
over the surface of the earth without touching the roots of the crop. As a grass 
and weed killer it has no equal. 

This SWEEP was not out in time for this present season. 

No. A & B Jr., MEDIUM ONE-HORSE, 

Weight, 42 Pounds. 

A &. B, No. 3, FULL SIZE ONE-HORSE, 

Weight, 48 Pounds. 

These two sizes of plows are used throughout the South, having been in use 
for a long time. 

The Points, Slides and Mould Boards of either of these A B Plows 

fit the other. 

We furnish three different kinds of points — one very thin and light, for hose, 
light land, free of stumps and rocks. Some of our friends will use no other point 
but this, since we began to make them this season. The second size is the regu* 



lar point for general work, and is always sent out unless the others are specially 
ordered. The third size is a wide point for cutting a very wide furrow, and is 
used with the large No. 6 mould fordoing two-horse work. 

There are also mould boards of seven different sizes. The smallest is num- 
bered "cultivating ;" then Nos. 1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6 repectively. Fastening on by but 
one bolt, they can be readily changed ; ihus increasing at the will of the plow- 
man the capacity of the plow, and adapting it to different circumstances of soil, 
depth and width of furrow. 

These Three One-Horse Plows are either of them the Best Cotton 

Plows in Use. 

Those who use them say they throw up the best bed. and opening it with small 
mould board makes the best preparation for planting cotton of any plow they 
have ever used. 

TWO, THREE AND FOUR-HORSE PLOW. 

From 58 Pounds Weight up to 150. 

For fallowing, for Turf, for Lands having heavy growth of Trash 
these Plow are unequalled. They will turn under out of sight the worst 
growth of weeds and vines, running any level and with light draught; requires 
no effort to keep them in place ; the heavier sizes running the entire length of 
the furrow without a hand being near them. They have been tested in every 
kind of soil and have been proven to be adapted to any, heavy or light, working, 
with as complete satisfaction in heavy upland as in river bottoms. Our Three- 
Horse Plows have been worked to Two-Horses and are pronounced to pull no 
heavier than Two-Horse Plows of other patterns. 

We solicit a trial of any size we make. Test it to your satisfaction, and if it 
does not prove to be all we claim for it, return at our expense. 

IMPORT A N'T - TcHf ARMERS. 

o 

Read this Carefully. 

The enviable reputation won by the Watt Plow, and the demand created 
for castings by its general introduction, has induced unscrupulous manufacturers 
to make our castings; these spurious castings are of same general appearance 
and pattern as the genuine, and are calculated to deceive any farmer, but are 
made of inferior metal and fit badly. We deem it necessary to inform you 
that George Watt is the patentee, and that 

"We are the Sole Manufacturers of the Watt Plow and every part thereof, 

including the standard or helve, point, slide, turning and cultivating moulds ; and 
any parties manufacturing these castings, or any part thereof, do so without auth- 
ority from us. 

For the mutual protection of our patrons and ourselves, and to prevent them 
from being deceived by bogus castings, we have registered in the Patent Office 

<o^Th A TRADE MARK, 

*&T ^f?-*^ ° F WHICH THIS 1S A REPRESENTATION, AND 

JA\T!a#/^ k CAUTIOlSr 

^LVf / y/^ M I ft ^ parties not to buy or sell castings for our Plows with- 
tk^LML^lllli 111 out *^ 8 trade mark being thereon. Persons using or deal- 
■''" ing in or infringing an article are just as liable as a man- 
ufacturer of them. We trust our patrons will hereafter use 
, no castings for Watt Plows that do not bear this trade 

/J^T^^^ mark. We guarantee them to be of first quality metal, to 

^tJEI N**"^ fit and to be well chilled. Our castings are made in our 

own foundry, under our personal supervision ; and as we make no castings but 
plow castings, our aim is to make the best that can be made. We ask your 
support and that you will take no castings for our plows that do not bear our 
trade mark. You will find them the most durable and the cheapest you can buy. 

WATT <Se CAIaI>, 

1518 and 1520 Franklin Street, Richmond. 



W. C, VIRG. MIDLAND & G. S. R. R. 



JOHN S. BARBOUR, Receiver. 



On and after Saturday July 14, 1877, Passenger Trains will run as jollows\: 



SOUTH BOUND. 


EXPRESS. 


MAIL. 


ACCOMDN. 


Washington le 

Alexandria. 

Gordonsville 


2 10 a. m. 
2 40 " 

6 18 " 

7 05 " 
10 05 " 

1 05 p. m. 
1 12 " 


8 15 a. ra. 
8 40 " 
12 45 p. m. 
1 50 *! 
4 50 " 


6 50 p. m. 

7 20 " 
a 11 55 " 


Charlottesville 

Lynchburg ar 


Conn't to 

Richmond 
& Hunt- 




ington. 






NORTH BOUND. 


EXPRESS- 


MAIL. 


ACCOMDN. 


Dundee 


10 20 a. m. 
10 27 " 
1 45 p. m. 

4 25 " 

5 13 " 

8 58 " 

9 25 " 


9 45 a. m. 
12 30 p. m. 
2 00 " 
6 05 " 
6 35 " 


Connect 

C. & O. 


Lynchburg 

Charlottesville 


East & 
West. 


Gordonsville .... 


1 3 00 a. m. 

7 25 " 


Washington 


7.55 " 







All trains daily on main line. 

The EXPRESS SOUTH bound connects at Lynchburg for the West and 
Southwest, and at Danville for the South, South East and South West. 

"The MAIL south bound connects with C. & O. East and West, and at Lynch- 
burg for the South and South West ; at Manassas for Strasburg, except Sunday. 

For WARRENTON 8 15 a. m. daily, and. 6 50 p. m., except Sunday. 

•GORDONSVILLE LOCAL leaves Alexandria 2 35 p. m. Tuesday, Thursday 
and Saturday. Leave Gordonsville at 4 45 a. m. Mondays, Wednesdays and 
Fridays, arriving at Alexandria at 2 30 p. m. 

FRONT ROYAL ACCO. leaves Washington 4 30 p. m., Alexandria 4 58 p.m. 
Saturdays only, arriving at Front Royal 8 40 p. m. Leaves Front Royal 4 40 
a. m. Mondays only, arriving at Alexandria 8 17 a. m., Washington 8 45 a. m. 

North bound trains make close connection with Balto. & Ohio and Balto. & 
Potomac trains to Boltimore, Philadelphia and New York, and to all points 
North and Northwest. 

The Mail has Parlor Cars, and the Accommodation train Sleeping Cars through, 
without change, to White Sulphur Springs ; also through Sleepers, without 
change, between Philadelphia and New Orleans, on the Express. 

Through tickets to the South and West and to all THE VIRGINIA SPRINGS 
at lowest rates. Special excursion tickets at low rates by the Front Royal Ac- 
commodation. 

S. SPENCER, Supt. Transp'n. 
J. M. BROADUS, G. T. A. 



THE PLACE FOR YOUR BOYS ! 

If you wish to put your son where he will be tenderly cared for, 

SEND HIM TO THE 




FOR PARTICULARS, ADDRESS, 

Dr. C. R. DICKINSON, < 

oct — It Trevillian's Depot, Louisa County, Va. 



EXPERIMENT IN FERTILIZERS MADE BY W. H. HOL- 
MAN, Esq., GRAHAM, N. C. 



Acre No. 1, 200 lbs. Sea Fowl Guano. 
" « 2, 200 lbs. Powhatan Phosphate. 
" ". 3, 625 lbs. Lee's Prepared Lime. 

All costing the same, say $5.50, put on the land. 

Each acre was cut and threshed separately. 

The acre No. 3 was an orchard with about two dozen fruit trees, which Mr. H . 
thinks made a difference of several bushel. The result was that No. 3. yields 5 
bushels wheat more than either No. 2 or No. 1, notwithstanding the fruit trees. 
I regret that Mr. H. did not give the number of bushels each acre produced. 

Respectfully, 

A. S. LEE. 



FI1J1I 



Habit Cured 

A Certain and Sure Cure. Large 
reduction in prices. A trial bot- 
tl© frs© 

Mrs! J. A. DROLLINGER, 

La Porte, Ind. 
(formerly Mrs. Dr. S. B. Collins.) 
Box 1038. Oct-3t 



G GRAND TRIUMPH IN HOR- 
TICULTURE! GLORIOUS RE- 
SULTS OF A USEFUL LIFE. 
CLIMAX ALMOST REACHED. 

FELTON'S NEW BERRIES. 

Cinderella and Continental Strawber- 
ries ; Early Prolific and Reliance Rasp- 
berries. The four best bearing, the best 
carrying, best selling, best paying mar- 
ket berries. Illustrated Circular and 
Price-List giving the history and full 
description, free to all. 

GIBSON & BENNETT, 
Nurserymen and Fruit Growers 



oct — It 



Woodbury, N. J. 




en harvest for Agents. We send free, 
our new 40-page illustrated catalogue 
of Jewelry and Watches, with instruc- 
tions how to make money. Address, 
M. CSONEQH & CO., Philadel- 
phia, Pa., or Milwaukee, Wis. 



HOLBROOK PLOW COS 

New Swivel Plows, 1,2 &3 
horse, avoid dead and back 
furrows, and have peculiar 
advantages over all other 
Swivel Plows. Prices low. 
5 Chatham Sow. Boston. Mass. 




Oct 



AGENTS WANTED FOR 

The American Statesman. 

A Political History of the United 
States, exhibiting the origin, nature, 
and practical operation of constitution- 
al government in this country ; the rise 
and progress of parties, &c, consti- 
tuting an Encyclopedia of American 
Politics. Over 1,600 pages. Price, $5. 
Address for terms, 

H. S. GOODSPEED&CO., 
New York or Cincinnati Ohio. 

oct— 13t 




iOOO Engravings ; 1S40 Pages Quarto. 

10,000 Words and meanings not in 
other Dictionaries. 

Four Pages Colored Plates. 

Invaluable in any Family, 

and in any School. 

More than 30,000 copies have been 
placed in the public schools of the 
United States. 

Recommended by State Superinten- 
dents of Schools in 30 different States. 

The sale of Webster's Dictionaries is 
20 times as great as the sale of any 
other series of Dictionaries. 

Contains 3000 Illustrations, nearly 
three times as many as any other Dic- 
tionary. 

[^"LOOK AT the three pictures 
of a Ship, on page 1751, — these alone 
illustrate the meaning of more than 100 
words and terms far better than they 
can be defined in words.] 

"August 4, 1877. The Dictionary 
used in the Government Printing-Office 
is Webster's Unabridged." 

Published by 

G. & C. MERRIAM, 

oct — Springfield, Mass. 

A SOUTHERN LADY 0E.EXPE- 
rience, taste and discrimination, 
and now a resident of New York City, 
will make purchases of all kinds of 
Dress Goods, Millinery, Children's 
Wear, Books, Music and Musical In- 
struments, (Pianos a specialty), Furni- 
ture, Carpets, &c, without commission 
from the person ordering. Circulars, 
containing full particulars, with refer- 
ences of the highest order, sent free, on 
application enclosing stamp. Adrress 
Mrs. MELEN MAKER DECKER, 

oct— Box 5345 New York City. 

Mrs. Decker is a widow who lost her 
husband in the Southern Army. We 
can confidently recommend her to our 
patrons. — L R. D. 



YADKIN HILL STOCK FARM. 
Brown Leghorns, (J. Y. Bicknell 
and Dr. Bussey Stock), 1877 hatch, 
three to six dollars a pair. Plymouth 
Rocks, 1877 hatch, fine plumage and 
good size, five to six dollars a pair. 
White Turkeys, six to fifteen dollars a 
trio. Berkshire Pigs, ten dollars each. 
Half Ayrshire Calves, thirty, to sixty 
dollars each. Will exchange any of 
above poultry and stock for good Seed 
Wheat, Oats and Rye. 

H. C. PARROTT, 
Kingston, 
oct — It North Carolina. 



B 



ERKSHIRES FOR SALE. 



west i aladdin 
« & SO^IS 5 1 SEC0R8TY OlL 9 

THE BEST HOUSEHOLD OIL IN U3E, 

Warranted 150 Degrees Fire-Test. 

WATEfS. "WHITE IN COLOR. 
Fully Deodorized. 

WSLLPJOTE5CPLOOE 

HIGHEST AWARD 

AT 

CentennialEMpositioai 

For Excellence of Manufacture 

AMU HIGH F1EB TEST. 



Endorsed by tho Instance Companies* 

Head this Certificate — One of Many. 

Howard Fire Insurance Co. op Balti- 
more, Baltimore, Dec. 23d, 1874.— Messrs. C. West 
& S071S, — Gentlemen: Having used the "various 
oils sold in this city for illuminating purposes, I 
take pleasure in recommending your " Aladdia 
Security Oil" as the safest and best ever used ia 
our household. Yours truly, 

[Signed] ANDREW REESE, President. 

Mamufactiiired toy 

Co WEST & $©M§ 9 [Baltimore. 

Try fit 9 and you -will use no other. 

Oct-6 t 



I have some good Berkshire Pigs of 
different ages, and two Berkshire Boars 
twelve months old, for sale. Prices 
moderate. Address 

Dr. THOMAS POLLARD, 



oct— tf 



Richmond, Va. 



INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 

Centennial Grounds, Philadelphia. 

The Largest, Grandest and Most Com- 
plete Exhibition in the "World. 

A GRA#D DISPLAY OF 
PLANTS AND FLOWERS, 

Pomological Products and Vegetables, 

will take place 

OCTOBER 3d TO oth. 

Large Premiums offered, and special 

inducements to Exhibitors from all parts 

of the country. 

For Premium List and further infor- 
mation, address the Manager. 

JOHN S. MORTON, President. 
CHAS. W. GREEN, Manager. 

oct— It 




VIRGINIA 



AND 



CIDER MILL 



Is superior to any MILL now made, and more sold annually in this 
market than of all other kinds combined. It does not grate, but 
thoroughly crushes every fruit cell, insuring all cider the apples will 
yield. Send for Catalogue. 

OHARLES ffi. PALMER, 



July— tf 



No. 1£>^ O Mlairi St., Richmond, Va,, 



F.AXjXj JSTYXjOESJS, 1874. 

CHARLOTTESVILLE WOOLEN MILLS 

SAMPLE CAEDS 

Are now ready for mailing. Our assortment embraces 

TWENTY-FOUR PATTERNS. 

Merchants desiring samples, will please address, 

CHARLOTTESVILLE WOOLEN MILLS, 

CHARLOTTESVILLE. VA 

D. H. ANDERSON, 

PHOTOGEAPHER, 

913 MAIN STREET, RICHMOND, VA. 



Largest and most complete Gallery in the South. Has taken the 
premium for best photographs at every State Fair since the war. 
july—ly 



THE GREAT CLOSING-OUT SALE. 

STOCK MUST BE REDUCED. 

Prices Reduced so as to work off Stock. 



Black Silks at 60, 75, 85, 90c, $1.25, $1.35, $1.50, $1.75, $2, $2.25, 
$2.50, $2.75, and $3 per yard ; 

Wide Black Lining-Silk at 35c. per yard worth 75c; 
Gray-and-Black Striped Silks at 70c worth $1 per yard ; 
Blaek-and Blue-and Brown-and-Black Striped Silks at 75c per yard 
worth $1 ; 

Brown-and-Black Striped Silks at 90c per yard worth $1.25; 
Black and- White Plaid Silks at 75c per yard worth $1 ; * 

Black-and-White and Black-and-Gray Striped Silks at 75 and 90c per 
vard worth $1 and $1.25; 

Gray-and-Black Plaid Silks at 90c and $1 worth $1.20 and $1.30 ; 
Colored Figured and Striped Grenadines at 5, 61, 8£, and 10c per yard 
worth more than double the money ; 

Black Striped Grenadines at 12} and 16fc per yard worth 20 and 30c ; 
Black Iron Grenadines at 20c worth 30c, at 25c worth 40c at 30c, 
worth 50c, per yard ; 

Handsome Lawns at 10, 12?, 20, and 25c ; 
Jaconets at 15c per yard very handsome styles ; 

Calicoes at 5, 61, and 8£c per yard — all less than the wholesale prices ; 
Knickerbocker Printed Cambrics at lie per yard — cost 1 He. by the 
case ; 

Domestic Ginghams at Si, 10, and 121c. per yard worth 12£, 15, and 
16 jc per yard ; 

Wash-Poplins at 6tc, Plaid Poplins at 8£c, Striped Delaines at 12?c, 
and a general reduction in all kinds of Fancy Dress Goods for ladies 
and children ; 

Double- Width Black Alpacas at 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50c, and up to 
$1.25 per yard ; 

Chiuese Grass-Cloth at 6i and 10c per yard worth 10 and 16fc. per 
yard ; 

Australian Crepe at 45, 50, 60, and 75c per yard, worth 25c per yard 
more ; this is the cheapest mourning goods manufactured ; 
Bargains in Cashmeres, Tamises, Bombazines, Delaines, and other Dress 
Goods suitable for mourning ; 

Lace-Striped Victoria Lawn at 12*0. worth 20c per yard ; 
Checked Muslins at 18 and 25c per yard worth 30 and 45c; 
Real French Pique at 25c per yard reduced from 75c ; 
Genuine Turkey-Red Table-Damask (or Wine-Cloth) at 75c per yard 
worth $1 ; extra qualities at $1 aud $1.25 per yard worth $1.25 and $1.75 ; 
Goods sent by express C. O. D., or upon the receipt of the cash or its 
equivalent. Parties ordering goods to be sent by mail will please en- 
close sufficient to pay the postage. 



1017 -AJSTJD 1019 JMLJLJUST STBEBT 
Aug.— tf Richmond, Va. 



C^N 



-^O 




July- 



PURE BRED ESSEX PIGS, 

CHOICE 
L. AND D. BRAHMA, 

WHITE LEGHORN, 

B. B. GAME CHICKENS, 

and White Holland Turkeys. 

T. J. WOOLDRIDGE, French Hay, Va. 



SAUL'S NURSERIES, 

ftsMnetoa. B. d 



The undersigned offers a fine stock of the following at low rates : 

PEARS — Souvenir du Congress, Pitmaston Duchess, and other new 
sorts, &c; a heavy stock of fine trees. 

NEW PEACHES — Alexander, Amsden June, &c; also the fine, 
new late varieties. 

FRUIT TREES— Of all kinds; an extensive stock, viz: Plums, 
Cherries, Apricots, Apples, suitable to the South, &c. 

GRAPE VINES — Strawberries, Raspberries, &c; new sorts. 

EVERGREENS— New Ornamental Trees, new Shrubs, &c, Small 
Signs suitable for Nurserymen, as well as large stock in 
great variety. 

DUTCH BULBS — Large importations direct from the leading 
growers in Holland ; First Quality Bulbs, Hyacinths, Lilies, 
Tulips, &c. 

New and Rare Greenhouse Plants, Winter Blooming, &c. 

PELARGONIUMS— A large stock of the new choice varieties. 

NEW ROSES— Duchess of Edinburgh, Perle des Jardins, &c, 
with an immense stock of finest varieties grown in pots or 
open ground. 

NEW WISTERIAS— New Clematis, Geraniums, Primulas, &c. 
Catalogues mailed to applicants. 

JOHN SAUL, 

sep-3t Washington, D.C. 



PURE HIGH GRADE FERTILIZERS. 



ETIWAN GXJAN0, 

7/ 



FOR TOBACCO, 

ETIWAN 
Dissolved Boxie 



ANALYSIS GUARANTEED. WARRANTED PURE. 



MANUFACTURED BY 



Sulphuric Acid and Superphosphate Co., 

CHARLESTOIST, S. G. 



W. A. James, Esq., 

Dear Sir : — I have used your Dissolved Bone on Tobacco, equal quantities to 
the acre, with other standard guanos, which cost twenty dollars per ton more 
than the Bone. I have left it to my neighbors, and they all agree with me that 
the tobacco on which the Bone is used, is equal in size and superior in color. I 
am so well pleased with your Bone that I shall try it on wheat this fall. 

Hanover Co., Va., Sept. 24, 1876. EDWIN VAUGHAN. 

Henrico Co., Va., February 1, 1877. 
Wm.A. James, Agent, 

In regard to the use of your Etiwan Dissolved Bone, it gives me much pleasure 
to state that I used it on Tobacco the last season and was much pleased with the 
result. During the growing season the tobacco kept a rich dark green, and at 
cutting time was at least 10 per cent, better than that grown with other fertilizers, 
costing 60 per cent, more than yours. 

Yours truly, G. D. GILLS. 



'or circulars and particulars apply to 

WM. O. BEE & CO., 

General Agents, 

Or Adger's Wharf, Charleston, S. C. 

WM. A. JAMES, Gen'l Traveling Ag't, Lock-Box 118, Richmond, Va. 

FOR SALE BY 
may Cor. 12th and Cary Sts., Richmond, Va. 



Peruvian Guano Guaranteed. 

By this Brand is designated Pure and Genuine Peruvian 

GuCinO, in which the lumps have been crushed, stones (when found) 
and all other impurities, removed : — it is, threfore, sold in purer Con- 
dition thau when landed from Peru, 

Put up in bags of 200 pounds each, on which the guaranteed' 
analysis is printed, and the retail price per ton of 2,000 pounds 
clearly, marked. 

The retail price is fixed according to the analysis, at the following rates, which 
are considerably below those adopted by Inspectors of Fertilizers in this country, 
orthe trade in Europe, thus making the Guaranteed Peruvian Guano the cheap- 
est Fertilizer in the world. 

For Ammonia 17|c. per pound. 

" Soluble Phosphoric Acid 10c. " 

" Reverted " " 8c. " 

" Insoluble " " 2c. « 

" Potash (as Sulphate) 7^c. " 

None genuine unless put up as above and bearing the following Trade Mark 

of the undersigned, Peruvian Government Agents in New York, and Lead 

rHUViAN'filli Seals— on which the Monogram of the Trade Mark is 

PEfS-" — — ^OS^F* stam P e( l — attached to the extremities of the twine with 

x { which the mouth of the bag is sewn, to guard against 

adulteration. 

As a specimen of Analysis and Price of Peruvian Guano 
Guaranteed, we give those of two cargoes, now on sale, 
respectively designated A and B. 

CARGO A. PRICE MARKED $56. 

Ammonia 6.80 per cent $23 80 

Soluble Phosphoric Acid... 3.80 " 7 60 

Reverted " " 11.50 " 18 40 

Total available Phosphoric Acid 15.30 u 

Insoluble Phosphoric Acid 3.00 u ...... 120 

Potassa 3.70 " 5 55 



Estimated Retail Price ....$56 55 

The commercial value of the above Guano is $79.40 per ton, at the. rates lately 
adopted for valuing fertilizing ingredients, by Hon Thomas P. Janes, Commis- 
sioner of Agriculture of Atlanta, Georgia, and State Inspector, Prof. Win. I 
Land, Chemist of the Department of Agriculture, which are as follows : 

For Ammonia 18£c. per pound. 

" Available Phos. Acid, (Soluble and Reverted) 15£c. " 

'• Insoluble Phosphoric Acid 4|c. " 

" Potassa , 6{c. " 

Thus, the commercial value of the above Guano is fully 42 per cent, in excess 
of the selling price, $.56 per ton. 

CARGO B. PRICE MARKED $70. 

Ammonia. 11.50 per cent $40 25 

Soluble Phosphoric Acid 5.40 " 10 80 

Reverted " " 10.00 " 16 00 

Total available Phosphoric Acid 15.40 " 

Insoluble Phosphoric Acid 1.70 " 68 

Potassa.. 2.30 " 3 45 



Estimated Retail Price... . ; $71 18 

According to the rates adopted by the Agricultural Department of Georgia, al- 
ready referred to. the commercial value of this Guano is $93.83 per ton, conse- 
quently, 34 per cent, above our selling price, $70 per ton. 

We invite Agriculturists to test the value of Commercial Fertilizers by our 
Standard, and to compare the result with their selling prices. 

Hiil>e**al Discount Alloyvecl to Dealers. 
For further information, Circulars, &c, apply to 

HOBSON, HURTADO & CO., 

— 6 m Agents of the Government of Peru, No. 63, Pine Street, N. Y. 



BELLEVUE STOCK FARM. 

LARGE ADDITIONS FROM THE BEST HERDS AND FLOCKS 
IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA. 

The large additions, both by purchase and otherwise, to my sup- 
ply of Improved Stock, enables me to offer a quality of stock rarely 
found in our Southern States, or that is seldom equaled, and never sur- 
passed even by the most distinguished breeders at the North. I offer 
fine specimens of 

SHORT-HORN BULLS & HEIFERS, 

bred from my Premium Cows, and the magnificent Bates bull, 5179 
Fidget's Oxford Twelfth, 23152, now at the head of my Shorthorn herd 

Berkshire, Essex and Poland-China Pigs 

From my best Imported and Premium Sows (some of which have never 
been beaten in the show-ring), and the get of first-class Premium and 
Imported Boars, My Berkshires are from the best herds in England. 
My .bssex from the importations of Harris, Thome & Brown, of New 
York ; and my Poland-Chinas have just been received from the best 
breeders in Illinois. 

SOTTTMDOWIH SHEEP. 

My Southdowns are from the best importations, and crossed with Im- 
ported rams. My crop of lambs of this year are the finest I ever saw, 
and by a ram bred by Mr. Cornell, of New York, he by a ram imported 
by Col. L. G. Morris, of New York. 

Dark Brahma, Houdan and White-faced Black 
Spanish Fowls, $ 6 per pair. 

Don't send North for stock, when you can get the same already 
acclimated from me, and save transportation charges. My motto S 
to keep up with the improvement of the age ; and I do not int ni 
that anybody shall excel me. Fair dealing and satisfaction in all 
cases ! For my new Catalogue, just issued, with pedigrees, prices 
and other information, address 

A. M. BOWMAN, 

feb — ly — Aug Waynesboro, Augusta co., Va. 



Wilber's Direct Draft 



El) ^m 



BSfoJE? 



I© 




CUTS SIX FEET 

WITH 

LIGHTER DRAFT 

THAN ANY FOUR FOOT SIDE 



CUT MOWER MADE. 
Farmers save twenty-five per cent, in gathering their Hay Crop by using the 

Professor John H. Winston, agent, Bristol, Tennessee; Look & Lincoln 
agents, Marion, Va. ; Fox & Ewald, agents, Wytbeville, Va. ; Graham & Robin 
son, agents, Graham 7 s Forge, Va. ; John D. Noble, agent, Dublin, Va. ; P. L 
Terry, agent, Big Lick, Va. 

Send for Circular. 

GEO. D. DAVIS' SONS, 

133 Main Street, Lynchburg. Va. 
General Agents for Virginia. 

f HI MASliAll 

Fertilizing &ManufacturingCo. 

Are Prepared to Furnish Farmers with their 



n 



?! 



A Complete Manure for ALL Crop?. 

ALKALINE PHOSPHATE, 
Dissolved Phosphate. 

J. EDWIN MYERS, General Agent, 
H. C HOWARD, Secretary. 

4 S. Holliday Street, Baltimore. 



E. & S. WORTHAM & CO., Agents, 

Richmond, Virginia, 
Aug— 3t 




HEADQUARTERS 
FREDERICKSBURG, VA. 



We are now prepared to fill orders for 

HERD BOOK JERSEY (Alderney) and AYRSHIRE CATTLE and CALVES, 

COTSVVOLI). LEICESTER, SHROPSHIRE and SOUTHDOWN SHEEP 
AND LAMBS— HERD RECORD BERKSHIRE SWINE, and ESSEX FROM 

BEST IMPORTED STOCK — AND FOR ALL THE LEADING VARIETIES OF LAND 
AND WATER FOWLS AND EGGS FOR SETTING FROM SAME. 

Every effort has been made, and no expense spared in securing the best speci- 
mens of Stock, selected in person at the Centennial, and from herds of the most 
prominent Northern breeders, and no other "Headquarters* of Improved Stock 
in the South'" succeeded in securing more premiusWin the various classes than 
were awarded to 

ott:r, stock: 

at the last Virginia State Fair. We sell at LESS than Northern prices, and 

GUARANTEE SATISFACTION, 

and would refer all to the WHOLE COMMUNITY in which we live, as well as 
to all our patrons in this and most of the Southern States, as well as those in 
some of the Northern States, whom we have supplied with Stock which we al- 
ways endeavor to make our best advertisement. Address 

A- P. or M. B. ROWE. 

July- Fredericksburg, Va* 

CHESAPEAKE OHIO RAILROAD. 

Richmond, Va., June 1, 1877. 
Ou and after SUNDAY, June 3, 1877, passenger trains will run as follows: 
• Mail. Express. 

Leave Richmond .... 8:45 A. M. 8:45 P. M. 

Arrive at Louisa 11:50 A. M. 11:25 P. M. 

Arrive at Gordonsville. . 12:30 P. M. 12:00 P. M. 
Arriveat Washington... 6:00 P.M. 7:35 A.M. 
Arrive at Charlottesville. 1:25 P.M. 12:50 A.M. 
Arrive at Lynchburg.... 5:00 P. M. 10:50 A. M. 

Arriveat Staunton...... 3:30 P. M. 2:50 A. M. 

Arrive at Goshen 5:08 P. M. 4:38 A. M. 

Accommodation train leaves Richmond daily (except Sunday) at 4:00 P. M., and arrives at Gor- 
donsville at 7:45 P. M., making connection with train for Washington. 

Mail train betweem Richmond and Hinton runs daily (except Sunday) ; between Hinton and 
Huntington runs daily, stopping at all regular stations. 

Express train runs daily, stopping at Hanover, Junction, Noel's, Trevillian's, Louisa, Gordon s- 
ville, Charlottesville, Staunton, Goshen, Millboro', Covington, and all regular stations west of 
Covington. » 

Mail and express trains connect at Gordonsville for Washington and the North, and at Char- 
lottesville fosr Lynchburg and the South. 

Express train connects at Cincinnati with trunk lines for all points in the West, Northwest 
Southwest, and at Ricbmond with the Richmond and Danville, and Richmond and Petersburg 
trains for all points South. 

Sleeping-cars run on night trains. 

Mail train arrives at Richmond at 5:30 P. M. 

Express train arrives at Richmond at 6:30 A. M, 

Accommodation train arrives at Richmond at 8:45 A. M. 

Through tickets sold and baggage checked to all principal points. 

For rates, information, &e., apply at Company's offices, and 826 Main street, Richmond, Va. 

CO.SWAY R. HOWARD, 
General Passenger and Ticket Agent. 
W. M. S. DUNN, 
Aug-tf Engineer and Superintendent. 





Mail. 


Exp&ess 


Arrive at Millboro'.. .. . . 


5:29 P. M. 


5-.00 A. M 


Arrive at Covington 


6:55 P. M. 


6:20 A. M 


Arrive at White Sulphur 


. 8:3 5 P. M. 


7:40 A. M 


Arrive at Hinton....... 


11:20 P. M. 


9:35 A. M 


Arriveat Kanawha Falls 


. 3-M A. M. 


12:40 P. M 


Arrive at Charleston 


6:05 A. M. 


2:42 P. M 


Arrive at Huntington... 


9:00 A. M. 


5:00 P. M 


Arriveat Cincinnati... 




6:00 A. M 



SOLUBLE PACIFIC GUANO. 

th^R/Teeostth: "3t:e.a.:r,. 

We again offer this standard, trustworthy Guano to planters and farmers 
as having stood the test of Twelve Years' use in our State on all varieties of 
soils, and in good and bad seasons. The fact that its reputation is better and 
the demand for it greater than ever before is, we think, conclusive proof of its 
excellence, and that it is sold at a price which enables the Planter to make a 
handsome profit by its use. 

Every Bag is GUARANTEED to be of STANDARD Quality. 

ALLISON & ADDISON'S "STAR BRAND" 

Complete Tobacco Manure. 

This preparation, made by ourselves, is of exceptionally high grade, and is 
intended to be a complete fertilizer for tobacco. It is carefully prepared of 
the purest and best materials known, and so proportioned as to make the best 
crop the soil and season will admit, of. It has been in successful use for many 
years, and has met the unqualified approbation of nearly every planter who has 
used it, the general report being 4t it is all you claim." 

We solicit a trial, if but a single bag, in competition with any other fertilizers. 

ALLISON & ADDISON'S "STAR BRAND" 

Flour of Raw Bone. 

WARRANTED PURE. 

We have a supply of this standard pure bone, prepared expressly for use on 
Tobacco and Corn. It will be found quick in action and lasting in its effects. 

THIS BONE is not equalled in fineness and purity by any other 
bone on the market. We GUARANTEE it in EVERY Respect. 

We think one or the other of these fertilizers will be found exactly adapted 
to every quality of soil, and a trial will show that they have few equals, and 
no superiors. 

^^g^These fertilizers are for sale by our agents 
throughout Virginia and North Carolina, at Richmond 
prices, with drayage and freight added. 

ALLISON & ADDISON, 

Ap — tf Richmond and Petersburg, Va. 



(Rose of Sharon). 

Breeders of high-bred Short-horns will do well to avail themselves 
of the services of this magnificent young bull at twenty-five dollars 
a calf. Good care taken of cows at one dollar and fifty cents per 
month ; but all risks entirely with the owner. 

I have a constant apprehension, that some Kentucky man will 
offer a price for this animal which we cannot decline. Address 

m. mmmmmit, 

Farmer, Virginia A. & M. C. Farm, 
feb — tf Blacksburg, Virginia 



TOCKFARK 



PULASKI COUNTY, VA. 
SHORT HCDIFLIKr CA-TTIjiIES 

of the most improved sorts, embracing representatives of Young Mary, Josephine 

and Illustrious Families. The latter from the herd of Abram Kenich, 

Ky., who used the bulls of this family upon his Rose of Sharons 

and vice versa, until there is no essential difference 

in the blood of the two families. 

American Short Horn Record. 
SOUTHDOWN SHEEP 

Bred from Webb Stock and from recent importations from the Peerless Merton 
Flock of Lord Walsingham, Eng. The latter are comprised of the pick of the 
lot imported in May, 1876 — sent to this Country as specimens of the Flock, and a 
part of the lot imported in August for exhibition at the Centennial, including 
some of the First Prize Sheep at the Royal Agricultural Society's Exhibition, 
July, 1876. 

OXFORDSHIRE DOWN SHEEP 

Comprised of those selected in England and imported for me in May, 1876, by 
T. 8. Cooper, of Pennsylvania, and of the First Prize Pen of Yearling Ewes at 
the Oxford Agricultural Show, 1876. These Sheep are very large and heavy, and 
have splendid fleeces of wool. 

Purity in Breeding and Individual Excellence Guaranteed. 

W* Wo ©lINnnmYs, 



mar- 



-tf 



P. 0., Martin's Station, Va. 




Premium Chester 
White, Berkshire and 
Essex Pigs, bred and 
for sale by George B. 
Hickman. 
Also Fancy Poultry. 

West Chester, Ches- 
ter County, Penn. 

Send Stamp for Circulars and 
Price List. sep — ly 



WOODHOUSE & PARHAM, Richmond, Va., 

Offer for sale in large or small quantities, 

bo o k:s 

In every department of literature, including School Books, Law Books, Medical 
Books, Religious Books, Bibles, Prayer Books, Miscellaneous Works, and the 
popular publications of the day. 

STATIONERY of every Description.— Having a Book Bindery, they 
manufacture Blank Books of all kinds, and bind Books, Periodicals, Music, &c, 
in any style desired. 

PAPER BOXES suitable for every purpose, manufactured to order. 

PIANO FORTES from Messrs. Chickering & Sons, Boston, and Bloomeeld 
& Otis, New York. Elegance in style, superb in tone, durable in workmanship, 
and most reasonable in price. 

8^ Orders receive prompt and faithful attention. ""^a 
Aug — it 



•VIRQII^riA. 

Agricultural and Mechanical College. 

SHORT-HORN CATTLE 

— AND— 



BERKSHIRE SWTnSTIE], 
For Sale at the College Farm. 

The Swine are bred directly from recent importations, and from the stock of 
Maj. J. T. Cowan, and A. M. Bowman, Esq. At the head of the Shorthorn herd 
is the Bates Bull, Raleigh, bred by Maj. Cowan ; sire and dam both bred by 
Abram Renick, of Kentucky, and both of the celebrated Ro'se of Sharon family. 
This Bull is believed to be equal in breeding and quality to any in the State. 
The cows are from the herds of Messrs. William A. Stuart, George W. Palmer, 
and John T. Cowan, and are animals of good pedigrees and excellent qualities. 
Stock will be sold at prices and on such terms as will enable farmers to obtain 
them. Correspondence invited. 

Address Col. NORBORNE BERKELEY 

July — tf Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Va. 



;WAIMDT GROVE FARM. 

THOROUGHBRED AND GRADE JERSEY CATTLE, BERKSHIRE, 
ESSEX and POLAND-CHINA SWINE, 

» 

My Stock were awarded first premium in every class contended for in 
1874-75 by the State Agricultural Society, and in 1876 by Culpeper 
and Lynchburg Societies. They are bred from Imported Stock, and are 
equal to the best to be found. 

Prices moderate. Satisfaction guaranteed. Address 

G. JULIAN PRATT, 

j u-tf Waynesbo ro' Va. 

B. H. JOHNSTON, 

EVERGRENE STOCK FaRM, NEAR ALEX- 
ANDRIA, Virginia. 
Breeder of Jerseys and Alderneys, 
registered and unregistered, from the 
best butter stock. Also Berkshire Pigs 
bred from best imported stock. Prices 
reasonable. mh-ly 



Two months old $10 per pair. 

CRANBERRY VINES, 

$2.50 per thousand ; $10 per barrel. 
C. R. CULLEN, 
1305 Main st., 
ap — Richmond, Va. 



CENTEN- 
NIAL. 



Commission House of Hull & Scot- 
ney, 346 N. Water st.„Phila. deal- 
ers in Vegetables, Fruit, Produce, 
Furs, &c. Marking Plates, Tags, 
Price Lists, etc., on application 



$5 to $20 M 

CO., Portland, Maine. 



at home. Samp e 
free. STINSON & 
jan-ly 







THE BEST AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL IN THE SOUTH 



To Wheat Growers! 

CHESAPEAKE* SMMO GO. 



Lllf 1 



OFFER at REDUCED PRICES their WELL-KNOWN 

Cksapeake Guano, 

OF SUPERIOR QUALITY AND HIGH ANALYSIS. 

It has been in use for the last 10 years, and has proven 
itself a RELIABLE FERTILIZER on all crops. 

Also their AMMONIATED ALKALINE PHOS- 
PHATE, a cheaper but very efficient manure for Wheat. 
Also DISSOLVED BONE PHOSPHATE of high grade 

fgg^For Prices, Circulars and Testimonials, apply to 
Agents, or to the Company's Office, 

40 Post-office Avenue, 
BALTIMORE. 

. AUG. C. PRACHT, Treasurer, 

Aug— 3t 

Valuable lew Forage Plant, 

THE PRICKLY COM FRET. 

PRODUCES FROM 20 TO 80 TONS PER ACRE. 

Price per 1,000 sets, $30 00 

" " 500 " . . . ' . . 17 50 

" « 100 " 4 00 

" 50 " 2 50 

Delivered at the express office free of charge. Orders of fifty or one hun- 
dred can be sent by mail, in which case enclose ten cents for postage. 
In all cases, cash in advance. 

Richmond, Va. 
Sole Agents fo^the Southern States. 




I Tit WITT f 1©W 

AND YOU WILL HAVE NO OTHER. 

UNEQUAL 

In every essential of Strength, 
Durability, Ease of Draught Ease to 
Plowman, Perfect Pulverization of 
the Soil, Complete Burial of Weeds 
Grass, &c, Simplicity of Con- 
struction, Entire Freedom from 
Choking. 

The WATT PLOWS are adapted to either light, sandy, or heavy clay 
soil, and, making some fifteen different numbers, we are prepared to 
furnish any size wanted. If you want a Plow that pulls easy to the 
team, works easy to the plowman, does its work well, covers up all 
vegetation, and does not choke, get a Watt Plow. We only ask a 
trial. Test it to your satisfaction, and if it does not do what we claim, 
return it at our expense, and price will be refunded. 

We warn vou not to be deceived by plows claimed to be an improve- 
ment on the Watt Plow. Get none but the Watt, each of which has 
our firm name branded on the beam. The attention of those who have 
used our Plows is called to our new sizes, constructed since last seaons. 

WATT & CALL, Sole Manufacturers 

THE ITHACA WHEEL RAKE. 

We are Sole Agents for this Celebrated Gleaner. 

JkJ J& xj Jk* JSJ «Aj JiJ JLt X. Jl» Jf~K- J& «0 J£j tj JS. Jk* JM U O JlZt ■ 

7,500 sold before 1877- 

Has taken 150 premiums at various Fairs. Every Rake war- 
ranted to do superior work and against breakage for one year. Will 
pay for itself in raking 30 acres of stubble. We offer them at greatly 
reduced prices. Also Malta Shovel Plows, Grain Cradles, Harrows, 
Cultivators, Feed Cutters, Corn Shellers, and Farming Implements gen- 
erally. Catalogue and Price List sent to any address. 

WATT & CALL, 

Nos. 1518 and 1520 Franklin Street, 

ju-tf ^V RICHMOND, VA. 

L. R. DICKINSON. A. J. CHEWNING. 

DNKDSQI & CBBWHIH6, 

REAL ESTATE AGENTS ND AUCTIONEERS, 
No- 1115 Main Street, Richmond, Va. P. 0. Box 54- 



A NUMBER OF SMALL FARMS 

near the city, also farms in every section of the State of every variety 
Persons wishing to buy should send stamp for descriptive list, 
feb— tf 



jSfUli&WUUU Si(JU\ tAKM. 




JBL.ACK BELL.^sss^ 

THE LARGEST AND BEST HERD OF 



IMPORTED 



SHIRES 



IIV THE SOUTH. 

From the pens of the most celebrated breeders in England, Messr 

Ileber Humfrey, Capt Arthur Stewart and Russell Swanwick. 

I have now on "hand, and offer*at reasonable prices, a beautiful lot of 
Pigs from my Imported SOWS, bred to the most celebrated boars 
owned by the above-named distinguished breeders. Also a number of 
Choice Pigs out of my Thoroughbred SOWS, by first-class boars, 
as good as any offered by any breeder in the North or South. 

Will sell several choice Berkshire Sows in pig to IMPORTED "TIM 
PINCH,". and two boars, "Gen. Scott" and "Gen. Johnson," now ready 
for service, and suitable, in breeding and points, to do credit to any 
herd. 

I also offer a few Choice Animals (young bulls and heifers) from my 
superior herd of 

ATRSHIRES, 
Many of them prize winners, and selected from the best breeders in 
America and Scotland. Also, 

PURE BRED ESSEX FIGS, 

And 

Thoroughbred and Grade Jersey Cattle. 

I have just added to my herd 

LIVERPOOL'S SMITHERBEN 

Son of Old Lady Liverpool (Sallie 6th) and by Smithereen. 

Special attention is called to the fact that I am breeding from three 
boars and fifteen sows, and can furnish pigs not related on either side, 
which, in my opinion, no other breeder in the State can say. 

Address A, R. VENABLE, Jr., 

sept — Farmville, ya. 




The FARQTOAR SEPARATOR 



A.B.FARQUHAR 

York, Pa. 



3* §91 

■g g «3 Wa»te» no Grain, ^fcU/ One Belt only. 

Threshers and Horse Powers of all 
Kinds a Specialty. 
Send for new Illustrated Catalogue. 

A. B. FARQUHAR, 
mh-tf ,___J[?lk : Pa- 

THOROUGHBRED ESSEX PIGS for 
SALE, bred from Prize Winners 
at the State Fair of 1876. 
This family of Essex is a cross of the importa- 
tions of Joseph Harris and Samuel Thorne, and 
is of the most superior quality. A trial of them 
will convince the most incredulous that the Es- 
sex is the best hog for the Virginia farmer. 
Prices to suit the times. 

E. H. FIFE, 
may — ly Charlottesville, Va. 



ELLERSLIE FARM.— 
THOROUGHBRED AND HALF BRED 

HORSES 

Pure Shorthorn Cattle & Berkshire Pigs 

For sale. Address 

R. J. HANCOCK, 
jan Overton, Albemarle co., Va. 

Breeder of TWou^Mbrec* Stock, 

I am breeding thoroughbred Poland China 
and Essex Hogs, Bronze Turkeys, Light Brah- 
mas, White Leghorns, White-faced Black Span- 
ish and Dark-crested Ducks, all carefully boxed 
and delivered at depot,with feed for destination. 
Satisfaction guaranteed. 

Bronze Turkey Eggs, $3 50 setting 12. Light 
Brahma Eggs, $2 00 setting 15. White Leghorn 
Eggs, $2 00 setting 15. White-faced Black Span- 
ish Eggs, $2 00 setting 15. Dark-crested Duck 
Eggs, $2 00 setting 15 

Eggs for hatching carefully boxed and deliv- 
ered at Express office. For further particulars 
address Z. C. DANIEL, 

Twyman's Store Postoffice, 
_Jan-ly Spotsylvania county, Va. 



DENJ ISiEY. 

Dr. F. DAVISON, 

Yll Grace Street, between 7th and 8th. 
Office hours from 9 A. M. to 5J P. 

M. july-ly 

TROTTING & HARNESS HORSES ' 

JERSEY CATTLE (herd register), 

SHETLAND PONIES, 

SOUTHDOWN SHEEP AND BERK 

SHIRE PIGS. 

For sale by 

CAMPBELL BROWN, 
Spring Hill, Maury co., Tenn. 
sep— ly 



&i £J£ a week in your own town. Terms and $5 
Kj)OD outfit free. H. HALLETT & Co., Port- 



4J>f^K 6 (Hi 7 7 a Week to Agents. Samples free. 
tyOO £ $ I < p. o. VICKERY, Augusta, Me. 
sept— 

Tout name printed on 40 Mixed Card 
for 10c. STEVENS BROS., Northford.Conn 



lan d, Maine. jan-ly 

AGER BEER, ALE and PORTER. 



ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE TRADE 

AND THE 

PUBLIC GENERALLY 

I have erected, in connection with the 
James River Brewery, an establishment 
for the bottling of 

LAGER BEER, ALE AND PORTER, 
and am now prepared to fill all orders 
in quantities to suit customers. 

Having adopted the latest and most 
important improvements in the manu- 
facture of these healthful beverages, 
(recommended by the medical profes- 
sion) I can furnish as good an article as 
can be found anywhere, at the lowest 
prices. 

JS@~ All GOODS delivered to any 
part of the city and to all depots, free 
of charge. 

D. G. YUENGLING, Jr., 

july-ly Richmond, Va. 



PURE BRED 

SHORTHORN CATTLE. 

CotsWc* anb Southbowtt Sheep 
AND BERKSHIRE PIGS, 

For sale at "CLINCHDALE," Bean's Station 
Grainger county, Tenn. 
jan-ly J. T. & W. S. SHIELDS. 




THOBOUGHBBED STOCK. 

I ail breeding 

DEVON CATTLE, LEICESTER, 

SOUTHDOWN and MERINO 

SHEEP, POLAND-CHINA. 

BERKSHIRE AND ESSEX PIGS. 

My Cattle, Sheep and Hogs took many first 
premiums at Piedmont, Lynchburg and Rich- 
mond Fairs. All bred from the most noted and 
fashionable strains of Prize Winningstock. Se- 
lected with great care from the best herds in"the 
United States. Send for price list. Address 
F. W. CHILES, 
jan-ly Tolersville, C. & O . R. R„ Va. 



R. P. LEDBfcTTtR, 
Columbia, Tennessee 

Breeder and importer of Berkshire 
Hogs and Black Spanish Fowls, And 
general live stock agent. Pigs, the get 
of imported Othello second,' and the 
great Longfellow, Choice Sallie and 
Sambo Pigs. Send stamp to ensure an 
answer to inquiries. sep — ly 



NURSERY 

STOCK. 

THE LARGEST and FINEST STOCK 

OF PEARS AND PLUMS IN 

THIS COUNTRY. 

Also Standard Apples, Cherries, and all va 
rieties of Nursery Stock of the finest quality at 
prices that will" make it an object for every 
nurseryman and dealer Jto correspond with us 
or call before purchasing. 

SMITH & POWELL, 

SYRACUSE, N. Y. 



CHARLES SPEAR, 

85 WEST ST., NEW YORK. 

IMPORTER OF 

" !££.£*. in. it," 

Or German Potash Salts, 

MURIATE 

— AND— 

SULPHATE OP POTASH. 

MANUFACTURER OF 

nm nnuunnn 

And Animal Matter, and Agents for the 
sale of Fertilizing- Materials Generally. 

Ground and Crude Phosphate Rock, Bone Black, 
Ground Bones, Bone Meal, Acids, &c. All goods 
warranted as represented. Orders promptly ex- 
ecuted at the lowest market rates. sept-3t 

' &m mm 

400 bushels of ORCHARD GRASS SEED o f 
my own raising, cut when fully matured, and 
free from all noxious seed. Will be delivered 
at Depot. 

WM. RODES, 

sept-2t Ivy Depot, 0. & 0. R. R. 



FOR SALE- 

REGISTERED JERSEYS from choice stock- 
Bulls. Cows and Heifers. Calves of both sexes- 
• Prices reasonable. 
Catalogues furnished on application. 

GEO. A. QUINBY, 
Loudoun Stock Farm, 
sept-3t Aldie, Loudoun county, Va. 



WINTER OATS. 

The subscribers offer 
1000 bushels Virginia "Winter Oats 

(raised in the latitude of Richmond) in new 
grain sacks of two bushels, weighing 70 
pounds, at $2.50 per sack. 

These uats are as hardy as wheat, and are an 
especial acquisition at the South, affording pas- 
turage throughout the winter, succeeded by an 
abundant yield of giam. They should bejsown 
early in autumn, the earlier the better. 

DAVID LANDRETH & SONS, 

SEED WAREHOUSE, 
Nos. 21 and 23 South Sixth St.. Phila. 



THE "POULTRY WORLD' 



The leading Ameri- 
can Magazine of its 
class. An elegantly 
Illustrated Monthly. 
$1.25 a year. Always 
fresh, practical, orig- m 
Inal and instructive. ^ 
tW~ The 12 Chromos are the 

H. H. STODDAED, Haxtford, Cfc 

Oct 




On trial, only 35 cts^ 
for 3 mos. (12 Chro- 
mos in present vol. 
1877.) 75 cts. extra, for 
the year, with theso 
choice pictures, to 
annual subscribers. 
best ever issued. 



dN"I Q a day at home. Agents wanted. Outfit 
kDlZj and terms free. TRUE & CO., Augusta, 
Maine. jan-ly, 



BERKSHIRES FOR SALE. 

A fine lot of 
Pigs, Boars 6 Months Old, and a Few 
Brood Sows. Address 

DR. 0. A CRENSHAW, 
Aug tf • Richmond, Va. 



THOROUGHBRED 

BERKSHIRE PIGS 

IFOR SALE. 

Bred from stock imported by T. S. 
Cooper, of Pennsylvania. Prices, pedi- 
grees, &c, upon application to 

JOHN M. PAYNE, 

Aug-ly P. 0. Lynchburg, Va. 

Belmont Stock Farm. 

I am breeding and have for sale Tho- 
roughbred Horses, Trotting and Ri- 
ding Stock, and from Imported Per- 
cheron-Norman and Clydesdales Draft 
Horses, and have Stallions to sell or 
let ; and it offers to Clubs and Granges 
the cheapest and best mode to get the 
services of the horses for the times ; 
also have Shorthorn Bulls for similar 
purposes, and all ages of the males and 
females of pure and the most fashiona- 
bly bred Shorthorn cattle, and Chester 
White and Berkshire Swine at prices 
to suit our depreciated values. Persons 
interested in good stock, will please 
send for a new catalogue. 

S. W. FICKLIN, 

Aug-ly near Charlottesville, Va. 



Prepared Agricultural Lime 



FOR THE 



A Complete Revolution in Fertilizers ! 

The Lowest Priced proves to be the Best ! 
it Prevents Smut ! 

I have not heard of a single complaint of Smut where it 

was used. Whereas, on the same farm, and 

from the same Seed, the Crop was 

materially injured where 

it was not used. 

When properly used, its results are superior to fertilizers COSting 

four times as much ! 

I have the results from farmers from the Tidewater and Piedmont 
sections of Va., and from various sections of North Carolina, showing its 
superiority over other costly fertilizers for .* heat 

Jno. B. Davis, Esq., President of the Planters National Bank, has 
been using it by way of experiment for the last two seasons, and is so 
.well pleased with its results on all his crops, especially on the various 
grasses, that he says he will use it altogether this fall in preference to 
any other fertilizer. 

Owing to the Eastern war, foreign freights have advanced, thereby- 
causing an advance in the material ; yet, I will not abate one particle 
from the standard, nor advance the price, but continue to sell it at the 
low price of $12 per ton cash. 

Eg^* Farmers will consult their own interest by buying, so as to have 
it on hand for return loads while delivering their crops of wheat. 

J8@* Send for Circulars containing certificates as to its results on the 
last crops of wheat. 

A. S. LEE, Richmond, Va. 

AGENTS.— N. M. Tannor, Petersburg; Warren Paulett & Co., 
Farmville, Va.; Moon & Bro., Scottsville, Va.; R. T. Knox & B'ro. 
Fredericksburg, Va.; J. M. Norvell, New Canton, Va.; Acree & 
Walker, Walkerton, Va.; Wm. A. Miller, Lynchburg, Va. 
Aug — tf 



■V-A-ICT DtTSBlT'S 

PATENT GRAIN AND SEED 






CD 




he* 
CD 

CD 



Separator and Fanning Mill Combined. 

ATTENTION FARMERS ! 

ATTENTION MERCHANTS ! ! 

ATTENTION MILLERS!!! 



r 



MONTGOMEKY'S MAGIC PERFOKATED ZING 



BUT O&T BSw BwMmm 



HI 



For Cleaning Seel Wheat. Sow no more CocMe or Small Grains. 




Every FARMER ought to have one ! Every MERCHANT ought to have one ! 
Every MILLER ought to have one ! 

H. M. SMITH & 00., General Agents, 

Richmond, Va. 





PATENT SELF-REGULATING 

em, f leaner and 

For 4, 6, andf 8 Horses. 

At a time like the present, when labor is scarce, it is important that farmers who are 
interested should give attention to any improvement that will tend to their relief. In the 
Geiser Self- Regulating Grain Separator the farmer will not only find a friendly labor- 
saving, machine in threshing and cleaning grain, but a great economizer, as can be sub* 
stantiated by the thousands of farmers now having it in successful operation. 

Impartial judges at all the State and County Fairs,, where it was thoroughly and prac- 
tically tested in competition with other leading machines, always agreed that it was more 
simple, more easily understood and operated by those unskilled in machinery, more 
portable, threshing as muoh and yet cleaning better, with less power and more comfort 
to hands, than any other Thresher and Cleaner in use — besides selling for less money, 
according to capacity. 

It requires but littletimn e setting up and starting. Being mounted on wheels, it can, 
be hauled about the farms or on ordinary roads without danger of detriment. The draft 
is light, the capacity large, and it never chokes unless the wheat is very wet, in which case 
it should not be threshed. 

There are three sizes of this machine made, each size being adopted to drive either 
with a belt or with gear. Of these we recommend the belt machine always, as being the 
less complicated and as suiting any kind of power; besides, the belt being a more elasti- 
coupling, allows the machine to yield to the variable feeding. 

GEISER PRICE LIST FOR 1878. 

No. 1 —On 4 wheels. Capacity per day, 500 I No. 2.— On 2 wheels. Capacity per day 250 

bushels of wheat $400 00 | bushels of wheat $250 00 

No. 2. On 4 wheels. Capacity per day, 350 I No. 3.— On 2 wheels. Capacity per day 200 

bushels of wheat 325 00 | bushels of wheat 225 00 

With Powers Complete, including Belts, Wrenches, Oil Cans, &c. 

No. 1. — On 4 wheels, with the Old Dominion I No. 2. — On 2 wheels, with Virginia Mounted 

Down-Power $575 00 | Power $425 00 

No 2. — On 4 wheels, with Virginia Mounted I No. 3.— On 2 wheels, with Richmond Mounted 

Power 500 00 | Power 400 00 

Note. — By comparison you will find the prices of this machine to be less, according to 
capacity and quality, than any other machine. Other combinations may be made at cor- 
responding prices, but we mention only those most recommended. 

N. B. — When we furnish these machines complete with Horse-Power, the price is tb e 
same whether the Separator is run by gear or belt ; but when Separators are ordered 
without Power, we charge extra for those with gear. We prefer belt machines, however, 
as being more simple, less liable to get out of order, and applicable to any kind of power 
Separator without Power, if geared, are charged extra, as follows : 

No. 1 $30. No. 2 $25. No. 3 $20. 

Stackers, if ordered, as follows : 16-foot, $35 ; 14-foot, $25. Patent Elevator, $20. 

H. M. SMITH & CO., Gen'l Agents, 

Richmond, Va, 



Wtk >** 



WHAT SOME OF OUR FRIENDS SAY ABOUT THE PLANTER 
AND FARMER. 

It is no mean boast to record praise from such sources as the followng repre- 
sentative farmers of the South ; and we do. hope our good friends, acting on it, 
will see to it that oar subscription list is doubled. One caunot do his best 
without some cheer. 

Judge William Fullerton, New York, in his address before the Pied- 
mont Agricultural Society, says : "Virginia is a favored State, and I can 
foresee a great future for her. There is a spirit of inquiry among her peo- 
ple which will bear good fruit. One of the most cheering indications of her im- 
provement is that there is now published within her borders one of the best agri- 
cultural journals in this or any other country. Each number is worth ten times 
\he yeai s subsciption to any one engaged in agriculture. As a matter of self im- 
provement, as well as State pride, it should be read in every farmer's household 
within the State. I refer to The Southern Planter and Farmer, published in 
Richmond. If it does not radically change the defective agriculture of the State, 
it is because its wise counsels are not heeded. " 

Gov. Vance, N. C. : "I read the Planter and Farmer from cover to cover, 
and find it abounding in the most interesting matter. Like Payne, the author of 
* Home, Sweet Home,'' who, it is said, hafl no jhome, I, who have no farm, am 
most intensely interested in all farm literature, and dream dreams of some day 
retiring to such a haven of old age, showing I suspect, that agriculture is the 
natural occupation of man. It was*a feeling strong in that old reprobate, Fal- 
staff; for in his dying hours, Dame Quickly tells us, he babbled 'of green 
fields.' 

"I desire greatly to see so Conservative a journal as the Planter and Farmer 
widely taken in North Carolina, and wi&h you a hearty God speed.'"' 

Hon. B. Johnson Barbour: "I speak the common opinion of our whole 
section in saying that the Southern Planter and Farmer is not only conducted 
with a zeal and ability worthy of its ancient fame, but it is especially commenda- 
ble for the courage with v.hich it grapples the novel and pressing questions of 
the day ; for. there are many questions which the politicians would varnit-h over 
for the time with the specious show of a hypocritical policy, whilst all who have 
duly pondered these problems feel that not only our welfare, but probably our 
very existence, as a people, depends upon their full and free discussion and pro- 
per solution. .For this praiseworthy spirit, together with your careful review of 
the general interests of agriculture, your journal deserves and should command 
the hearty support of our people." 

Col. Randolph Harrison: "Let me congratulate jou upon the complete 
successor your efforts to place the Planter and Farmer in the~front rarrk of the 
agricultural journals of the country. 1 can as c ure you that your work is appre- 
ciated. I am constantly hearing comments upon the wonderful improvement in 
the Planter. The 'Notes by the Editor' is a most valuable feature. I trust 
you will continue to give us these sparkling 'critiques? and ' clinchers,'' if I 
may so call them, to the excellent articles with which your journal is stored." 

Col. Robert Beverley : * * * "I see most of the agricultural journals 
of the country, and I don't hesitate to say that the Planter and Farmer is by far 
the best of the kind I see, and almost any number of it is worth the annual sub- 
scription." , 

Col. S. S. Bradford : " I believe that every Virginia farmer who regularly 
and intelligently reads the Planter and Farmer- has its annual subscription re 
turned to, him an hundred fold ; and- if it reached every farmer in the State 
would effect more, in a very few years, towards the State's redemption and the 
payment of her debt, than such Legislatures as we have had since the war would 
accomplish in a century." 



R. W. L. R ASIN & CO 

Chemical Fertilizer Manufacturers, 

32 SOUTH STREET, BALTIMORE. 



"i 



Are now preparing the following popular brands of fertilizer for 
the wheat crop, containing all the essential elements necessary to 
the growth of that important crop : 

SOLUBLE SEA ISLAND GUANO, 

Well known and of undoubted excellence. 
A high grade fertilizer of known merit. 

Ammoniated Alkaline Phosphate, 

An article especially prepared for wheat, and sold on satisfactory 
terms to Grangers. Endorsed by the patrons who have used it for 
the past four years. 

For sale by Grange Agents at Richmond, Norfolk, Petersburg, 
Alexandria, LynchbuVg and Baltimore. 

HAW, STEAMED 11 I1VED BOB, 



In store and for sale. 
^j^Special compounds prepared on orders. 

R. W. L RASIIT & CO., 

Southwest Cor. South and Water streets, 
jy — tf Baltimore