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eription  REDUCED  to  TWO  DOLLARS  Par   Annum  in" Advance 


ESTA-BLXSHEI}      I  IV      1S40 


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DEVOTED    TO 


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


Ch.  B.  Williams,  Ed.  &  Pro'r. 
Frank  G  Ruffin,  Co-Editor. 


^  *  New  Series. 


RICHMOND,  VA.,  JULY  1869 


Agricultural  Department  : 
High,  Medium  and  Low  Farming. 

Making  Manures 

Clov<-r  as  a  Renovating:  Crop 

The  Farmer— A  Beautiful  Work  of  Nature  and  Art. 

Knowledge  is  Power 

Mr.  G.  E.  Gilmer  working  out  his  PiOblem,  by  F. 
The  Best  Farmer  in  the  Country 

Rye  for  Eariy  Green  Food 

Relations  of  P;ants  to  their  Food. 

Hint*  on  the  Cultivation  and  Management  of  Tobacco. 

Disappointment  in  Swedes  ami  German  Labor 

Fertilizers  in  Morth  Carolina,  by  the  State  Geologist,  W.  C.  Kerr,  Esq. 

Will  Lime  Kill  Sorrell? .- 

Cooked  Food  for  Hogs 

Deep  Ploughing  in  Autumn 

New  Fodder  Plant 

Sabbath  for  the  Working  Man 

The  Effects  of  Gathering  Clover  Seed  on  the  Fertility  of  the  Soil,  &c. 
Let  us  Manufacture  our  own  Productions. 
Improvemeut  of  Worn»-ont  Farms. 

A  Steam  Plough ^. 

Straight  and  Crooked  Streams 77... 

Horticultural  Department: 
Strawberry  Exhibition^  the  Virginia  Horticultural  and  Pomological  Society. 

Raspberries 436.     Strawbprries 

Guano 437.    Harvesting  Navy  Beans  and  Gathering  Potato  Crops. 

How  to  Preserve  Melons  from  the  Striped  Bug 

Nut  Cultu^  ....439.    Must  a  Berry  Box  have  Sloping  Sides  ?. 
■P"uniiij£  'Tomatoes 

Household  Department  : 
Alsike  Clover  for  Bee  Pasturage. 
Yellow  Wash  for  Buildings 

Editorial  Department  : 
The  Great.  Reaper  and  Mower  Trial  at  Westover. 
Correspondence  of  Southern  Planter  and  Farmer— Lucerne— Tobacco  Stalks  for 

Manure,  &c 

Extermination  of  Sassafras. 
Editorial  Notices,  &c 


FERGUSSON  «&  RADY,  Printers,  1328   Main  Street. 


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HEAGOGK  «£  CO., 

(Sums   .rs  t.  J.)L{M  M.  GRIFFITH  &  CO) 

41  &  43  N.  Paca  Street,  Baltimore,  Md., 

MANUFACTURERS  OF  THE  CELEBRATED 

BUCKEYE  fflHIUHKIK  STEBL-TQBTH 


? 


WHEEL-HORSE  RAKE 

Which  (wherever  introduced)  is  acknowledged  by  all  leading  Agri- 
culturists in  all  sections  of  the  country  to  be  the  best  Wheel-IIorse 
Ltake  now  in  us 3. 

Are  also  Aagents  fo    the  Celebrated 
CUT-GEAR  WORLD  MOWER  &  REAPER, 

TO  UN  .\Do  triRESHER  &  CLEANER, 
JJULLARDS  HAY  TEDDER, 

SWIFT'S  LAWN  MOWER, 
RUN  HALL'S  110  KFE  HAY  FORK, 
VICTOR  CANE'S  CANE  MILL, 

COOK'S  SUGAR  EVAPORATORS, 

And  all  leading  AGRICULTURAL  MACHINERY. 

Keep   constantly  on  hand  a  general   supply  of  all  the  different 
varieties  of  FIELD  and  GARDEN  SEEDS,  FERTILIZERS,  &c. 
Send  for  Circular  and  Price  List.  may — dm 


NOAH  WALKER  Be.  CO. 

WHOLESALE  AND  RETAIL 

CLOTHIER 

1211  Main  Street, 

RIGHMOMD,  VA, 

Chief  House Washington  Building,  165  and  167,  Baltimore  St.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Branch  Houses— Petersburg,  Va.,  Norfolk,  Va.,  Washington,  D.  C.  feb— ly 


BALTIMORE  KM1MI  EMPORIUM. 

SISCO  BROTHERS, 

No.  14  North  Charles  street,  corner  of  Fayette,  Baltimore  Md., 

MANUFACTURERS  AND  DEALKR8   IN 

MASONIC,  I.  0.  0.  F„  RED  MEN'S,  SONS  OF  TEMPERANCE 

AND  AL,Ii  OTHER  SOCIETIES' 

REGALIA,  JEWELS,  &C,  &C. 

OF"  Paticular  attention  paid  to  FLAGS  and  BANNERS.     Designs  furnished  fret. 
Seud  for  Price  List.  sr-p— ly 


SOUTHERN  PLANTER  &  FARMER 


New  Series,  vol,  3,  May-Dec.  1869 
Missing:  no.  6,  June  and  no.  9,  September 


THE  SOUTHERN 

PLANTER  &  FARMER, 


DEVOTED  TO 


Agriculture,  Horticulture  and  the  Mining,  Mechanic  and  Household  Arts. 


Agriculture  is  the  nursing  mother  of  the  Arts„— Xenophon. 
Tillage  and  Pasturage  are  the  two  breasts  of  the  State.— Sudly. 

CII:   B.  WILLIAMS, 

Editor  and  Prope 
Co-Editor. 

LIETOR. 

FRANK  G.  RUFFIN, 

New  Series. 

RICDHOXD,  VA., 

JULY,  1869. 

Vol.  Ill- 

-No.  7. 

High,  Medium  and  Low  Farming. 

POINT    OF    MAXIMUM    PROFIT. 


If  you  ask  the  moaning  of  these  terms,  I  reply,  reversing  the 
order  above:  profit  is  what  your  crops  give  you  over  and  above 
all  costs  of  production.  These  costs  are:  1.  Interest  on  the  value 
of  land ;  2.  Taxes,  if  any ;  4.  Value  of  labor  done  by  yourself  or 
others  at  the  time;  4.  Team  -work;  5.  Cost  of  manure;  6.  Wear 
and  tear  of  implements  and  farm  machinery;  7.  Any  other  cost  or 
costs  you  may  think  of,  not  included  in  the  foregoing. 

The  interest  on  value  of  land  must  come  in  as  part  of  the  cost, 
for  the  reason  that  you  cannot  afford  to  hold  land  and  draw  no  in- 
terest on  its  value.  The  taxes  must  come  in,  because  if  your  State 
tax  farm  land,  you  cannot  escape  paying.  So  of  every  other  item — 
all  must  be  charged  to  the  crop,  and  paid  by  it,  before  you  can 
begin  to  reckon  profit. 

Keep  accounts  with  your  farm,  and  with  each  crop  grown  upon 
it.  To  farm  without  keeping  accounts,  is  farming  in  the  dark,  and 
you  may  not  ascertain  whither  it  leads  till  too  late.  If  you  farm 
in  the  dark,  you  may  keep  on  twenty  years  with  some  crop  which 
loses  you  money  every  year,  or  may  stop  with  some  one  which 
gives  you  handsome  yearly  profits,  simply  from  not  knowing  which 
to  continue  and  which  to  stop.  Farmers  are  generally  supposed  to 
be  men  of  sound  judgment.  Their  employment  is  adapted  to  make 
vol.  in — 25 


386  THE    SOUTHERN  [July, 

them  such.  They  generally  are  such.  The  keeping  of  farm  ac- 
counts, so  as  to  throw  light  from  this  year's  doings  on  the  question, 
what  to  do  next  year,  is  not  easy;  but  in  the  exercise  of  such  a 
judgment  as  we  heartily  ascribe  to  farmers,  you  can  keep  them  well 
enough  to  prevent  your  going  blindfolded  many  years  in  courses 
leading  to  disaster,  and  wed  you  to  those  tending  to  prosperity. 

By  the  point  of  maximum  'profit,  I  mean  that  point  in  the  as- 
cending scale  from  low  to  high  culture,  which  gives  the  highest 
profits  over  all  costs.  This  is  not  a  fixed  but  a  variable  point, 
varying  with  the  value  of  land,  the  price  of  the  crop  grown,  the 
cost  of  fertilizers,  distance  from  markets,  etc.  As  a  general  rule, 
where  land  is  dear  the  cultivation  should  be  high,  and  of  course  ex- 
pensive, for  no  man  can  aiford  to  grow  small  crops  on  land  worth 
$300  an  acre.  Small  crops  would  but  little  more  than  pay  interest 
on  value  of  land.  On  land  worth  but  $30  an  acre,  he  might  make 
profit,  more  or  less,  from  small  crops.  On  land  worth  but  $10,  he 
might  make  something  from  still  smaller  crops.  Where  land  costs 
but  little  it  may  be  cultivated  cheaply  and  yet  pay;  but  let  a  man 
undertake  to  cultivate  an  acre  worth  $300  cheaply,  and  he  will  in- 
evitably find  it  a  losing  experiment.  Every  farmer  should  endeavor 
to  ascertain  at  what  amount  for  labor  and  fertilizers  he  can  grow 
crops  on  his  land,  with  a  better  profit,  than  by  the  expenditure  of 
more,  or  less,  for  the  labor  and  fertilizers ;  and  that,  if  he  can  as- 
certain it,  he  may  regard  as  the  point  of  maximum  profit  in  his 
case. 

But  what  is  to  be  understood  by  low,  medium  and  high  farming? 
Giving  your  land  little  or  nothing,  and  expecting  little  or  nothing 
in  return,  is  low  farming.  If  all  farmers  worked  in  this  way,  the 
soil  all  round  the  face  of  mother  earth  would  wax  worse  and  worse, 
till  it  would  be  equal  to  sustaining  but  half  the  present  population 
of  the  globe,  instead  of  becoming  able,  under  the  hand  of  man,  as 
God  designed  it,  to  sustain  ten-fold  more  than  its  present  inhabi- 
tants. Yes,  God  made  the  land  and  the  sea  such,  that,  by  the  natural 
laws  he  has  stamped  upon  them,  this  globe  must  perpetually  become 
better  and  not  worse,  as  the  abode  and  life-sustainer  of  the  human 
race,  till  ten  times  its  present  population  shall  be  able  to  nestle  on 
its  bosom  and  feed  on  its  bounties.  The  progress  will  be  slow  or 
fast,  as  man  fails  of  his  duty  or  discharges  it  earnestly  and  faith- 
fully. Low  farming  is  athwart  the  purpsse  of  the  Almighty.  He 
wishes  the  land  to  become  better  for  each  generation  than  it  was 
for  the  last.  The  man  who  farms  it  in  a  low  way,  giving  it  little, 
taking  less,  not  half  paid  for  his  labor,  makes  it  worse. 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  887 

There  may  be  cases  in  which  a  rather  low  grade  of  farming  is  to 
be  tolerated.  The  owner  of  a  large  farm  may  have  reasons  of  his 
own  for  not  selling  a  part  of  his  land  to  enable  him  to  cultivate  the 
rest  better.  He  may  have  good  reasons,  known  only  to  himself, 
for  holding  the  whole  a  while  longer.  But,  as  a  general  rule,  it  is 
folly,  not  to  say  wickedness,  to  go  over  large  extents  for  small  re- 
turns. It  affords  no 'profit;  it  less  ihan  pays  for  the  labor;  it  is 
the  costliest  way  possible  for  obtaining  the  productions  of  the  earth  ; 
a  wise  man  will  not  walk  in  it  long;  the  man  who  is  both  wise  and 
devout,  will  not  dare  persevere  in  it,  so  manifestly  is  it  opposed  to 
the  will  of  the  great  and  benevolent  Designer,  who  never  meant 
that  the  farmer  should  work  hard,  life-long,  for  small  pay. 

Medium  farming  may  be  considered  half  way  up  the  ladder  from 
low  to  high  farming.  By  the  low  farming,  of  which  we  complain, 
as  against  God  and  humanity,  and  most  of  all  against  the  man  who 
practices  it;  as  low  as  10  to  15  bushels  corn  per  acre,  and  other 
crops  proportionally  scrimped  are  often  obtained.  By  medium  farm- 
ing, our  idea  is  50  to  60  bushels  of  corn  and  other  crops  in  propor- 
tion. This,  in  large  portions  of  our  country,  yet  comparatively 
new,  not  yet  densely  populated,  distant  from  markets,  freights  high, 
may  just  about  tally  with  the  point  of  maximum  profit.  You  may 
perhaps  say  you  can  more  cheaply  win  the  productions  of  the  soil 
at  this  state  of  cultivation  than  by  one  higher' or  lower.  At  any 
rate,  by  such  cultivation  as  will  give  you  50  to  60  bushels  of  corn 
and  the  like  of  other  crops,  your  land  will  not  be  run  down,  and 
you  "will  not  sin  against  yourself  nor  against  posterity,  for  it  will- 
pay  you  and  will  leave  those  who  come  after  you  a  fair  chance. 
Perhaps  this  is  as  high  a  cultivation  as  should  be  aimed  at  by  the 
farmers  of  one-half  of  our  cultivated  land. 

But  this  is  not  high  cultivation ;  it  should  not  be  thought  of  as 
such ;  it  may  be  wise  temporarily ;  but  as  the  population  increases, 
it  must  be  superseded.  Where  population  is  already  dense  and  out- 
lets to  other  countries  dense,  and  especially  if  land  be  high,  larger 
crops  must  be  obtained,  or  no  great  profit  in  the  cost  of  production 
can  be  realized,  certainly  not  the  greatest.  From  80  to  90  bushels 
of  corn,  and  proportionably  for  other  crops,  should  be  the  aim,  un- 
der such  circumstances,  if  the  land  be  of  good  quality.  If  a  fail- 
ure to  reach  this  mark  be  attributable  to  divine  providence,  in  not 
giving  favorable  seasons,  cheerful  submission  to  a  higher  power  be- 
comes a  duty,  but  if  attributable  to  anything  the  farmer  himself 
did  or  failed  to  do,  he  should  not  be  satisfied  with  his  own  doings, 
but  should  try  again,  and  keep  trying,  till  he  can  grow  his  80  to  90 


888  THE   SOUTHERN  July, 

bushels  of  corn,  arid  other  crops  in  proportion,  in  an  average  sea- 
son, to  set  off  for  less  in  seasons  that  are  unfavorable,  that  the  ave- 
rage yield^may  be  as  high  as  above  named,  and  gradually  increas- 
ing, as  the  land,  under  a  system  of  high  cultivation,  increases  both 
its  productiveness  and  its  saleable  value. 

Medium  farming  pays  better  than  low  everywhere.  High  farm- 
ing pays  better  than  medium  wherever  the  circumstances  exist 
which  call  for  it.  Farming  in  a  way  that  deteriorates  the  soil,  will 
not  pay,  in  the  long  run.  Farming  that  improves  the  soil  a  little 
each  year,  as  God  made  it  to  be  improved  by  the  brains  and  hands 
of  man,  will  pay  always  and  everywhere.  Thousands  of  farmers, 
in  all  parts  of  our  country,  fail  of  the  best  rewards  of  farming  by 
too  low  cultivation,  for  every  one  who  fails  by  cultivating  too  highly. 
The  danger  of  failure  by  going  down  the  scale  too  low,  is  a  thou- 
sand times  greater  than  that  of  ascending  too  high.  Let  us  strive 
to  avoid  the  former,  and  not  be  over  fearful  of  the  latter. — Nash, 
in  the  Working  Farmer. 


Making  Manure. 

It  should  be  a  cardinal  principle  with  every  farmer  to  economize 
his. manure.  Upon  it  depends  his  success,  and,  without  it,  his  la- 
bors must  to  a  very  great  extent  be  without  profit,  if  not  attended 
with  absolute  loss.  If  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  barn-yard  on  a 
hill-side,  it  is  equally  necessary  to  have  the  lower  side  of  it  pro- 
tected by  a  wall,  or  some  arrangement  by  which  the  escape  of  liquid 
manure  may  be  prevented.  It  is  almost  equally  important  to  have 
a  spout  to  convey  rain  water  from  the  roof  of  the  barn  in  some 
other  direction  than  immediately  through  the  barn-yard.  It  is  bad- 
enough  that  the  manure  heap  should  be  exposed  to  the  rains  which 
fall  directly  upon  it,  without  adding  to  it  the  droppings  from  the 
roof  of  the  barn. 

If  such  improvident  farmers  were  to  behold  the  actual  value  of 
the  fertilizing  material  thus  lost,  rolling  from  their  purses  in  the 
shape  of  dollars  and  cents,  how  energetically  would  they  labor  to 
prevent  this  waste.  The  loss  of  a  single  little  gold  dollar  would 
stir  them  up  to  a  greater  activity  than  the  direct  waste  of  a  hundred 
times  that  little  dollar's  value  in  the  form  of  liquid  manure.  Year 
after  year,  silently,  steadily,  the  golden  streams  are  flowing  from 
their  purses.  Tell  them  of  their  error,  and  they  acknowledge  it, 
but  rarely  does  it  happen  that  being  reminded  of  it  in  a  friendly 
manner,  they  make  a  single  effort  to  correct  it. 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  389 


How  many  are  there  who,  after  a  lifetime  of  steady,  unremitting 
toil,  find  themselves  no  richer  in  lands  or  money  than  when  they 
began  !  They  cannot  explain  the  reason.  Other  causes  may  have 
led  to  such  discouraging  results,  but  if  the  drain  of  liquid  manures 
from  their  barn-yards  had  been  checked  when  they  began  farming, 
very  many  of  these  unsuccessful  ones  would  have  been  as  prosperous 
as  their  more  provident  neighbors. 

Every  farmer  subscribes  to  this  ;  he  knows  it  well ;  but  thinks  he 
can  do  no  better,  "  under  the  circumstances,"  than  to  let  it  go.  He 
thinks,  if  he  had  conveniences,  he  would  like  to  try  the  effects  of 
liquid  manure  ;  but  "  everything  wants  doing  first,"  and  it  gets  ne- 
glected ;  or,  if  he  had  any  vegetable  refuse  at  hand  which  he  could 
haul  to  soak  up  the  waste  liquid,  he  would  do  that,  but  such  waste 
he  has  not. 

Now,  one  of  the  very  best  things  to  soak  up  manure  water,  and 
make  into  the  best  of  manure,  is  common  clay.  It  will  pay  any 
farmer  well  to  haul  clay  to  his  barn-yard  for  its  absorbing  proper- 
ties. When  this  cannot  be  had,  the  washing  of  roadsides,  cleaning 
of  ditches,  qr  anything  that  comes  to  hand,  may  be  used  instead. 
There  are  many  other  more  complicated  ways  of  "  making  manures" 
by  chemical  ingredients,  but  this  is  a  simple  one,  which  every  one 
can  understand.  All  it  wants  is  the  command  of  labor,  and  this  is 
the  main  point  in  which  so  many  farmers  err.  Not  to  "employ 
much,"  but  to  do  all  possible  one's  self,  and  let  the  "  rest  go,"  is  the 
general  plan.  The  farmer  forgets  that  when  he  buys  a  ton  of 
guano  he  has  employed  sailors,  ship-owners,  commission  merchants, 
and  many  others,  at  a  rate  at  which  another  hand  on  his  farm,  em- 
ployed at  nothing  else  but  making  manure,  would  have  produced 
him  immeasurably  more  value.  It  is  not  so  much  what  is  made,  as 
what  is  saved,  that  leads  to  riches;  and  how  to  economise  in  ma- 
nure, and  yet  have  an  abundance,  is  one  of  the  great  secrets  of  be- 
coming a  rich  farmer. — T.  Meehan,  in  Forney's  Press. 


To  be  Noted. — In  a  cloudy  morning  it  is  a  matter  of  impor- 
tance to  the  farmer  to  know  whether  it  will  be  sunshiny  or  showery 
in  the  afternoon.  If  the  ants  have  cleared  their  hole  nicely,  and 
piled  the  dirt  up  high,  it  seldom  fails  to  indicate  a  clear  day,  though 
it  may  be  cloudy  until  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  Spider  webs 
will  be  very  numerous  about  the  tops  of  the  grass  and  grain  some 
cloudy  mornings ;  and  fifty  years  observation  have  shown  the  wri- 
ter that  these  little  weather-guessers  seldom  fail  in  their  prediction 
of  a  fair  day. 


390  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

Clover  as  a   Renovating  Crop. 

Some  idea  of  the  relative  value  of  the  manure  made  from  clover, 
and  common  stable  manure,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  carbona- 
ceous matter,  may  be  obtained  from  the  careful  experiments  of  Pro- 
fessor Lawes.  The  results  of  his  experiments  have  been  given  to 
the  world  many  times  through  the  agricultural  press.  I  had  my 
attention  first  called  to  them  about  a  year  ago  by  an  article  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Joseph  Harris,  in  the  American  Agriculturist. 
Since  then  I  have  examined  the  matter  somewhat  carefully,  and 
have  been,  I  must  own,  astonished  at  the  results  of  repeated  chemi- 
cal analysis  of  this  plant,  made  for  the  purpose  of  showing  its  vast 
superiority  over  all  other  grasses  as  a  hay  or  forage  plant. 

According  to  Prof.  Lawes,  the  manure  from  a  ton  of  straw  is 
worth  about  $2.60,  taking  the  price  of  artificial  manure  as  a  basis. 
The  manure  from  a  ton  of  clover  hay  is  worth  a  little  over  $9. 
Allowing  two  and  one-half  tons  of  manure  to  a  ton  of  straw  or  hay, 
then  a  ton  or  ordinary  load  of  manure  from  straw  would  be  worth 
about  $1,  while  a  load  of  manure  from  clover  hay  would  be  worth 
about  $3.50.  The  former  would  hardly  be  worth  drawing  into  the 
field.  Certainly  not  worth  buying  at  $2  per  load  and  draw- 
ing a  long  distance.  The  value  of  any  manure  depends  upon 
the  amount  of  potash,  nitrogen  and  phosphoric  acid  it  con- 
tains ;  the  carbonaceous  or  woody  matter  being  usually  in  excess  of 
that  required  by  the  soil.  According  to  Prof.  Lawes,  a  ton  of  com- 
mon barn-yard  manure  contains  8  lbs.  nitrogen,  11  lbs.  potash  and 
soda,  and  4  lbs.  phosphoric  acid ;  while  a  ton  of  manure  made  from 
clover  hay  contains  about  20  lbs.  nitrogen,  16  lbs.  potash  and  soda, 
and  5  lbs.  phosphoric  acid.  Nitrogen  being  confessedly  the  most 
valuable  element,  it  will  be  seen  at  once  how  much  more  valuable  is 
the  manure  from  clover  than  from  straw  or  other  hay.  And  let  it 
be  borne  in  mind  that  while  it  returns  so  much  more  to  the  soil,  it 
takes  much  less  from  it,  and  that  while  timothy  exhausts  land  al- 
most as  much  as  a  crop  of  wheat,  clover  actually  benefits  it,  by  ab- 
sorbing instead  of  dissipating  ammonia.  Farmers,  1  believe,  do  not 
generally  understand  this  difference.  Hence,  in  selling  hay,  many 
prefer  to  sell  the  clover  because  it  is  "  coarse."  But  when  men  un- 
derstand that  in  selling  a  ton  of  clover  hay  they  are  parting  with 
what  if  fed  out  would  be  worth  $9  to  them  in  manure  alone,  besides 
its  value  as  fodder,  I  think  they  will  decide  to  feed  out  their  clover 
and  sell  some  other  kind  of  hay,  if  any.  Perhaps  farmers  will  not 
believe  these  figures;  but  the  estimates    are  made  from    careful 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND    FARMER.  391 

analysis,  and  are  no  doubt  approximately  correct.  The  prices,  of 
course,  are  based  upon  the  price  of  artificial  manures  in  England. 
But  let  the  price  of  these  be  what  it  will,  it  does  not  affect  the 
relative  value  of  clover  and  common  barn-yard  manure.  If  a  load 
of  the  latter,  a  great  part  of  which  is  straw,  is  worth  $1,  then  a 
load  of  manure  from  clover  is  worth  $3.50.  Now  the  clover 
ploughed  under,  it  would  be  worth  a  little  more — as  there  is  a  loss 
of  about  five  per  cent,  in  feeding  out,  which  goes  to  make  blood, 
bone,  muscle,  &c,  in  the  animal. 

It  has  been  the  practice  of  many  very  good  farmers  in  the  Mid- 
dle States  for  many  years  to  sow  clover  to  plough  under ;  planting 
corn  or  potatoes  on  the  clover  sod.  This  method,  when  hay  and  its 
products,  beef,  mutton,  butter  and  cheese  were  cheap,  was  undoubt- 
edly a  good  one.  But  with  present  prices  and  with  a  scarcity  of 
hay  throughout  the  country  every  year  or  two,  it  seems  to  me,  that 
now  it  would  be  a  wasteful  practice.  I  believe  a  much  better  way 
is  to  cut  the  clover  for  hay  and  return  the  manure  to  the  soil. 
Surely  the  value  of  the  fodder  will  pay  for  curing  and  carting  both 
ways.  Or,  if  one  objects  to  mowing,  it  may  be  fed  off  with  fatten- 
ing sheep — oil  cake  or  meal  being  fed  to  them  at  the  same  time — 
against  which  practice  no  objection  can  be  raised,  that  I  am  aware 
of.  In  either  case  the  loss  would  be  trifling,  and  a  good  deal  of 
valuable  fodder  would  be  saved.  The  roots,  of  which  there  are  said 
to  be  from  20  to  40  tons  to  the  acre,  are  of  course  subject  to  no 
loss  at  all.  At  present  prices  it  seems  bad  policy  to  turn  under  a 
good  crop  of  clover.  If  the  crop  be  a  light  one,  undoubtedly  the 
best  way  is  to  depasture  it  with  sheep.  In  this  way  the  manure  is 
distributed  evenly  over  the  ground.  Sheep  are  also  popularly  sup- 
posed to  manure  the  ?oil  by  simply  lying  upon  it;  imparting,  it  is 
said,  nitrogen  from  the  yolk  in  the  wooL  It  is  probable  that  there 
is  some  truth  in  this  idea.  At  least  the  heavy  rains  of  spring  and 
fall  must  wash  out  portions  of  the  yolk,  which  is  well  known  to  be 
exceedingly  rich  in  fertilizing  properties.  However  this  may  be,  it 
is  certain  that  land  sown  with  clover  and  depastured  with  sheep  be- 
comes enriched  to  an  extent  surprising  to  those  who  have  not  prac- 
ticed this  method.  This  plan  would  also  save  the  necessity  of  turn- 
ing out  sheep  in  the  mowing  fields  in  the  fall,  to  their  very  great 
injury — unless  covered  with  an  abundant  rowen. 

"  But,"  says  one,  "  my  land  won't  produce  clover.  It's  of  no  use 
to  sow  it — it  won't  grow." 

Very  true,  and  reason  enough  for  it.  It  has  been  exhausted  of 
the  phosphates,  and  of  potash  and  soda,  perhaps,  by  long  continued 


■■ 


302  THE  SOUTHERN  [July 

cropping  with  potatoes,  followed  with  oats  or  barley,  without  ma- 
nure. At  least  such  is  the  case  with  nine-tenths  of  the  land  that 
will  not  produce  clover.  But  if  it  will  not  produce  clover,  it  will 
not  grow  anything  that  will  pay  expenses  of  cultivating.  In  order 
to  start  clover  upon  such  lands  it  will  be  necessary  to  use  top  dress- 
ing of  some  kind.  On  heavy  clay  soils  lime  or  plaster  will  often 
be  sufficient.  These  seem  to  disintegrate  the  soil  and  set  free  ele- 
ments that  were  before  locked  up  and  useless.  Lime  also  acts  me- 
chanically, making  the  soil  more  porous  and  less  liable  to  bake; 
while  plaster  is  supposed  to  absorb-  ammonia  from  the  air.  Ashes, 
I  believe,  are  the  most  valable  top  dressing  for  sandy  land  where 
barn-yard  manure  cannot  be  obtained.  Sown  at  the  rate  of  from 
30  to  50  bushels  to  the  acre,  ashes  produce  a  most  marked  effect 
upon  clover.  Last  spring  I  sowed  a  piece  of  sandy  land,  a  portion 
of  which  had  been  top  dressed  with  leached  ashes  the  previous  sum- 
mer, for  barley,  seeding  with  clover.  No  other  manure  was  applied. 
Where  the  ashes  were  used  the  clover  came  up  thick  and  stout,  but 
where  no  ashes  were  used  it  could  hardly  be  seen. 

Once  get  a  good  stand  of  clover,  and  other  crops  may  follow. 
Perhaps  a  good  and  profitable  rotation  on  ordinary  loamy  soils, 
would  be:  1st,  clover  sown  with  top  dressing,  if  needed,  on  in- 
verted sod ;  2d,  corn  or  potatoes,  with  a  heavy  dressing  of  barn- 
yard manure  ploughed  under  in  the  fall  (?);  3d,  wheat  or  barley  and 
clover  again.  The  first  crop  of  clover  might  be  mowed  or  fed  off 
with,  or  ploughed  under,  according  to  the  previous  condition  of  the 
land.  If  in  good  condition  enough  to  produce  a  fair  crop  of  hay, 
it  might  be  mowed  one  or  two  years  before  ploughing.  This  would 
insure  a  good  supply  of  roots,  and  the  pulverization  of  the  soil. 
What  we  want  is  to  plough  the  land  while  the  clover  is  large  and 
vigorous,  in  order  to  get  the  benefit  of  the  immense  weight  of  roots. 
There  is  nothing  equal  to  a  clover  sod  for  any  kind  of  hoed  crop. 

It  is  evident  that  we  must  sow  and  grow  more  clover— not  only 
as  a  hay  crop,  but  to  renovate  our  worn  out  fields.  It  will  not  do 
to  crop  with  oats  and  potatoes,  year  after  year,  and  then  say,  "  It's 
of  no  use  to  talk  about  renovating  my  land  with  clover;  it  won't 
grow.'''  It  will  grow.  It  may  require  something  to  start  it;  but 
after  that,  being  what  is  called  a  leguminous  plant,  it  will  derive  its 
chief  nourishment  from  the  air.  This  is  one  reason,  probably,  why 
plaster  acts  so  beneficially  as  a  simple  top  dressing,  as  it  is  well 
known  that  sulphate  of  lime  "fixes"  the  ammonia,  which  is  being 
constantly  evolved  by  heat,  by  fermentation,  and  perhaps  by  the 
growth  of  plants.     Clover  also  acta  mechanically  upon  the  soil — 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  393 

sending  its  long  fibrous  roots  down  into  the  sub-soil,  and  bringing 
up  fertilizing  matter  before  inaccessible  as  plant  food.  In  this  way 
it  acts  both  as  a  disintegrator  of  the  soil  and  as  a  conductor  of  fer- 
tilizing  elements  from  the  lower  or  sub  soil  to  the  surface.  Finally, 
clover  is  the  best  and  cheapest  known  eradicator  of  weeds.  Sown 
liberally  upon  rich  soil,  it  completely  chokes  out  even  the  strongest 
and  most  noxious  of  our  field  weeds — and  in  this  way  saves  the 
farmer  an  incalculable  amount  of  labor. 

I  have  written  upon  this  subject  at  much  greater  length  than 
I  intended  when  I  began — for  which,  Messrs.  Editors,  and  readers 
of  the  Farmer,  I  beg  pardon — hoping  that  more  experienced  culti- 
vators will  at  some  future  time  write  upon  this  subject. — Young 
Farmer,  in  the  Maine  Farmer. 

South  Norridgewock. 


The  Farmer. 

A  BEAUTIFUL  WORK  OF  NATURE  AND  ART. 

Mr.  Geo.  William  Curtis  has  given  to  the  public  the  following 
beautiful  picture,  recently  painted  by  him  while  summering  at  Ash- 
field,  Mass.  He  calls  it  "The  Farmer."  It  will  undoubtedly  be 
extensively  copied  throughout  the  country.     He  says  : 

But  the  farmer  stands  still  nearer  to  Nature,  and  she  is  his  im- 
mediate teacher.  Nature  herself  gives  him  the  broad  hints  of  his 
art.  The  sun  warms  the  earth;  the  winds  sift  it  and  dry  it;  roots 
loosen  it ;  the  dew  and  showers  moisten  it ;  the  dead  leaves  and 
birds  manure  it.  But  this  is  only  a  vague  suggestion.  So  the 
wind  draws  imperfect  sounds  from  the  strings  of  a  harp.  But 
presently  man,  the  master,  comes,  and  sweeping  the  strings  with 
knowledge,  he  pours  out  a  melody  which  becomes  the  hymn  of  na- 
tions. And  so  the  farmer,  following  the  hint  of  nature,  is  the  mas- 
ter musician  who  touches  the  landscape  with  skillful  art,  and  plays 
a  tune  of  peace  and  plenty  all  over  the  globe. 

Behold,  then,  the  splendid  scene  of  his  labors.  Sunrise  and 
morning,  the  moon  after  the  sun  as  the  echo  follows  music;  granite 
hills  enchanted  by  distance  into  rosy  clouds,  drifting  along  the 
horizon — groves,  pastures,  rivers,  blooming  fields ;  the  song  of  a 
thousand  birds,  the  hue  of  innumerable  flowers ;  the  rustle  of 
leaves,  the  hum  of  insects  marking  the  changing  months  with  vary- 
ing sound ;  the  breeze  that  whispers  and  the  wind  that  roars ;  the 
unfailing  procession  of  the  seasons  circling  through  the  heavens — 
all  that  is  grandest  and  most  graceful,  tenderest  and  most  terrible 


394  THE  SOUTHERN  [July, 

in  nature  are  his  familiar  associations.  He  learns  by  experience 
•what  science  constantly  discloses,  that  there  is  nothing  useless  or 
superfluous  in  nature.     "The  whole,"  as  old  George  Herbert  sang: 

"  The  whole  is  either  his  cupboard  of  food, 
Or  cabinet  of  pleasure." 

But  while  this  is  the  magnificence  of  his  workshop,  see  .also  the 
direct  moral  influence  of  his  toil.  The  earth  in  which  he  works  is 
just  and  honest.  If  the  farmer  sow  wheat  the  ground  does  not  re- 
turn him  sugar-cane.  If  he  transplant  carelessly  the  tree,  like  a 
neglected  child,  will  pine  and  die.  If  he  plant  potatoes  and  shirk 
hoeing,  the  weeds  will  shirk  dying  and  the  potatoes  will  shirk  grow- 
ing. If  he  be  stingy  of  manure,  his  fields  will  be  equally  stingy  of 
crops.  Thus  the  eternal  sincerity  of  nature  giving  him  peas  for 
peas  and  beans  for  beans  ;  fair  crops  for  patient  industry  and  weeds 
for  idleness,  passes  into  his  character,  and  he  does  not  send  his  bar- 
rels of  apples  to  market  with  all  the  large  fruit  on  top,  nor  sell  a 
horse  wih  blind  staggers  to  a  man  who  paid  for  a  sound  animal. 

So  the  necessities  and  fatigues  of  a  work  that  can  be  done  only 
by  daylight  call  the  farmer  with  the  sun  in  the  morning  and  the 
morning  star  in  winter,  send  him  early  to  bed  and  teach  him  regu- 
larity. Then  as  by  his  ceaseless  toil  he  counts  out,  in  blows  of  his 
arm  and  drops  of  sweat,  every  hundred  cents  in  every  dollar  he 
earns — every  penny  stands  for  so  much  time  and  muscle,  and  thus 
he  learns  economy.  With  economy  comes  frugality  and  temper- 
ance, and  so  upon  the  farm  grow  the  hardy  virtues,  like  tough  trees 
upon  the  rough  mountain-side,  and  so  the  ideal  farmer  is  the  strong, 
robust,  simple,  sensible,  truly  conservative  citizen,  and  as  the  spec- 
tator sees  him  standing  crowned  with  content  in  the  midst  of  his 
rural  realm,  he  asks,  as  the  poor  clergyman  asked  his  richer  bro- 
ther, as  they  walked  through  the  rich  minister's  magnificent  estate: 
"  What,  Brother  Dives,  all  this  and  Heaven  too?" 

But  look  once  more  at  a  still  finer  spiritual  result  of  the  condi- 
tions of  the  farmer's  life  than  any  of  these.  See  what  pains  he 
wisely  takes  to  secure  a  perfect  fruit.  How  cautiously  he  import8 
and  examines  the  stock ;  how  sagaciously  he  grafts  and  buds ;  how 
he  hides  the  tree  from  the  frost  and  nurses  it  in  the  sun ;  how  he 
ponders  and  studies  the  habits  and  diseases  of  that  fruit ;  how  he 
toils  to  surround  himself  with  perfect  trees,  that  he  may  walk  in 
the  garden  of  the  Hesperides  whenever  he  goes  into  his  own  orchard. 
At  last  he  plucks  the  pear  in  triumph.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  fair. 
The  dimensions  of  that  fruit  fly  round  the  world  by  telegraph,  over 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  395 

the  land  and  under  the  sea.  It  is  photographed,  engraved  and  de- 
scribed in  a  hundred  horticultural  papers  and  magazines  ;  the  mouth 
of  the  public  waters  for  that  pear,  and  it  bears  the  name  of  the 
happy  grower  forever.  Is  that  all  ?  Is  there  nothing  more  ? 
Look  !  Not  yet  has  the  farmer  reaped  all  his  harvest  of  success, 
nor  tasted  the  finest  flavor  of  his  fruit.  But  when  walking  under 
his  trees  in  the  cool  of  the  day,  God  meets  him  in  the  thoughts  of 
his  mind — for  when  a  man  thinks  a  lofty  thought  it  is  as  if  God 
met  him — and  says  to  him,  "  You  are  a  tree  in  my  garden  of  the 
world,  and  if  you  sought  the  sweet  fruit  of  character  and  a  noble 
life,  as  carefully  as  you  trim  and  water  and  bud  to  produce  a  pear, 
the  world  would  be  again  what  it  was  when  I  walked  in  Eden,"  then 
the  farmer  has  learned  the  last  lesson  of  his  calling  as  at  all  other 
human  pursuits,  for  he  perceives  that  as  a  tree  produces  a  flower 
not  for  the  sake  of  the  flower,  but  for  the  seed  which  the  flower 
covers,  and  which  will  reproduce  the  tree — so  it  is  not  the  wheat, 
though  it  grew  a  thousand  bushels  to  the  acre,  nor  the  pears,  al- 
though a  single  one  would  feast  the  country,  but  it  is  the  manhood 
and  moral  development  of  the  farmer  himself,  wrought  out  by  per- 
petual contact  with  the  beautiful  processes  of  nature,  which  is  the 
crop  of  lasting  value  that  grows  upon  his  farm,  a  crop  whose  har- 
vest is  human  happiness.     *     *     *     New  York  Evening  Mail. 


11  Knowledge  is  Power," 

The  best  capital  with  which  a  young  man  can  start  life  is  a  sound 
and  well  cultivated  mind.  We  hear  a  good  deal  in  this  utilitarian 
age  about  safe  investments,  and  insurance  against  loss,  but  know- 
ledge, the  wealth  of  a  well-stored  and  disciplined  mind,  is  the  safest 
investment  of  time  and  money,  and  the  wisest  insurance  against  the 
misfortunes  and  difficulties  which  we  have  to  encounter  in  the  tug 
and  tussle  of  life.  But  the  great  effort  of  the  mass  of  mankind 
seems  to  be  to  secure  the  material  blessings  of  life,  even  at  the  ex- 
pense of  intellectual  and  moral  nature,  and  to  protect  them  against 
the  disasters  of  change  and  chance  by  all  the  safeguards  which  the 
ingenuity  of  human  invention  can  devise.  Men  spend  toilsome 
days  and  nights  to  heap  up  riches  for  others  to  enjoy;  to  leave  a 
princely  dowry  for  profligate  sons  to  squander  in  the  beastly  grati- 
fication of  depraved  tastes  and  appetites,  or  after  having  clutched 
and  hoarded  their  money  bags  to  the  very  last  inch  of  time,  with 
affected  generosity,  to  rear  up  a  monumental  pile  of  bricks  and 
mortar  for  the  promotion  of  some  educational  or  benevolent  object, 


396  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

in  order  to  gloss  over  the  stains  of  a  mean  and  niggardly^life.  In 
the  constant  fluctuation  of  material  values,  and  amid  the  financial 
and  political  shocks,  which  are  ever  and  anon  convulsing  society, 
all  mere  pecuniary  investments  are  Table  to  be  swept  away  by  these 
disastrous  convulsions.  Few  indeed  are  the  safeguards  around 
property,  which  can  stand  the  tide  of  social  and  political  revolu- 
tion. Banks  and  other  corporations  may  break  and  stocks  become 
worthless ;  bills  of  exchange  may  be  protested ;  men  may  become 
bankrupt,  and  private  obligations  be  repudiated ;  in  fact  all  the 
representatives  of  material  value,  like  an  unsubstantial  frostwork, 
may  vanish  under  the  touch  of  the  demon  change,  and  utter  finan- 
cial ruin  sweep  over  society ;  but  the  man  who  has  a  mind  strength- 
ened by  constant  exercise  and  filled  with  gems  of  thought,  gleaned 
from  the  treasure-house  of  ages,  and  a  will  which  quails  before  no 
opposition,  has  a  store  of  wealth  which  is  unaffected  by  all  the  mis- 
fortunes which  overwhelm  more  sordid  things,  and  is  panoplied  in 
an  armor  that  can  defy  disaster,  and  win  success  amid  the  wreck 
and  ruin  of  all  other  sources  of  power.  Let  it  be  the  first  aim, 
then,  of  every  young  man  to  secure  a  thorough  education,  and  hay- 
ing done  this,  he  will  then  be  qualified  to  take  any  position  which 
circumstances  may  offer,  and  thoroughly  prepared  to  enter  with 
courage  the  great  arena  of  life.  Knowledge  is  in  truth  the  lever, 
for  which  the  Grecian  philosopher  longed,  by  which  the  world  is 
moved.  And  that  father  who  wears  out  the  machinery  of  life  in 
heaping  up  wealth  for  his  children,  while  their  intellectual  and 
moral  culture  is  neglected,  is  sadly  blind  to  their  truest  interests, 
and  thoroughly  insensible  to  all  the  nobler  emotions  of  man's  na- 
ture. I  know  no  truer  object  of  pity  than  the  man  whose  pleasures 
are  purely  material;  who  has  no  aesthetic  aspirations  and  joys,  but 
who  surrounds  himself  with  the  base  and  sordid  things  of  earth,  and 
seeks  his  enjoyment  in  these  alone.  Such  a  man  is  ill-prepared  to 
breast  the  tide  of  misfortune,  and  when  disaster  comes  and  sweeps 
away  these  groveling  means  of  enjoyment,  he  stands,  like  a  blasted 
tree,  stricken  by  the  lightnings  of  heaven,  the  poorest  and  most 
miserable  of  all  the  sons  of  men,  being  cursed  with  the  double  pov- 
erty of  mind  and  estate. — H.,  in  the  Deaf  Mate  Casket. 


A  correspondent  of  the  Rural  World  has  a  very  good  opinion 
of  the  Harrison  potato.  He  thinks  it  more  even  in  size  than  the 
peach  blow,  and  that  it  looks  better  and  tastes  better,  and  is  seldom 
hollow  inside.     He  also  says  the  potatoes  lie  in  a  bunch  in  the  hill. 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  397 

Mr.  G.  C.  Gilmer  Working  out  his  Problem. 

Messrs.  Editors, — Your  May  No.  contains  an  assurance  from  Mr. 
G.  C.  Gilmer  that  he  is  in  a  fair  way  of  working  out  his  theory  of 
fanning,  published  in  May  No.,  and  reviewed  in  June,  1868,  by  his 
"'Friend  Ficklin." 

These  opinions  are  assuming  a  serious  form,  since  they  are  re-as- 
serted as  a  whole,  and  liable  to  make  converts  to  a  theory  it  will 
require  several  years  to  test;  and  should  failure  ensue,  it  will  fall 
heavily  on  the  class  of  struggling  farmers  to  whom  his  system  is  most 
applicable.  He  carries  his  eggs  in  too  few  baskets,  and  lets  go  his 
hold  on  mixed  husbandry,  avoids  stock,  and  works  but  "two  plough- 
men" as  a  regular  force  and  other  hands  as  "a  frolic  in  busy  sea- 
sons." Now,  four  hands  on  a  six  hundred  acre  farm  is  his  practice, 
and  to  do  all  the  work  the  year  round.  One  of  these  hands  is  his 
manager,  who  tells  his  sanguine  employer  that  "he  has  conquered 
the  bushes,  broom-straw  and  briars  in  the  field  on  which  he  had  at- 
tacked them,  and,  with  his  present  force,  in  three  years  more  he 
could  bury  the  last  member  of  these  unsightly  and  unprofitable 
pests."     Stick  a  pin  here. 

Mr.  G.  assumes,  on  his  own  responsibility,  that  he  will  cultivate 
his  600  acres  of  open  land  better  and  cheaper  with  this  force  than 
he  formerly  did  with  22  slaves ;  if  better,  then  he  is  wonderfully 
reconstructed  and  improved  by  new  examples  of  industry  and  thrift 
around  him.  With  this  increased  leverage  of  4  against  22  hands, 
he  proposes  "  to  put  in  10  to  15  acres  in  corn  certainly,  not  over 
20,"  and  give  his  four  hands  time  "to  devote  to  fencing,  clearing 
up,  ditching,  picking  up  rocks,"  &c,  for  seeding  rye  and  wheat  in 
the  fall.  Why  rye  instead  of  wheat  ?  Mr.  G.  theorizes  what  is 
best  suited  to  a  large  body  of  farmers,  and  if  they  adopt  his  policy, 
who  is  to  raise  the  excess  of  corn  needed  in  the  country  around 
him  ?  who  to  raise  stock  and  give  employment  to  all  others  than 
the  few  magieal  hands  to  be  had  of  the  class  he  employs  ?  and  who 
will  send  grist  to  his  mill  that  enables  him  to  live  and  raise  but 
garden  spots  of  corn  ?  How  much  ? — tell,  Mr.  G.  And  if  your 
neighbors  curtail  in  corn  as  you  do,  how  much  must  you  add  to 
your  crop  to  make  up  the  toll  from  others  ? 

Are  you  not,  Mr.  G.,  breeding  from  four  fine  mares,  and  had  you 
not  better  increase  your  stock  of  cattle  and  sheep  to  assist  in  de- 
stroying the  sassafras,  sedge,  briars  and  pests  in  their  season,  and 
some  of  your  excess  of  forage  in  winter  and  early  spring,  as  well  as 
hogs  to  eat  what  excess  of  corn  you  ought  to  raise,  since  the  latter 


398  THE  SOUTHERN  [July 

produces  bacon  worth  now  20  to  25  cents,  equal  to  an   average  of 
15  cents  for  pork  ? 

Lastly,  Mr.  G.,  tell  us  how  the  "100  acres  in  yard,  barn,  garden 
and  truck  patches"  are  managed  "to  pay,"  and  favor  us  occasion- 
ally with  reports  how  your  theory  is  working  out,  and  particularly 
your  results  from  your  farm,  and  which  of  the  many  fertilizers  you 
are  trying  has  done  most  towards  these  results.  F. 


Agriculture. 

THE    BEST   FARMER    IN    THE    COUNTY. 

The  name  of  the  county  is  not  material,  nor  would  the  honest, 
industrious  man  who  is  generally  admitted  to  beat  all  his  neighbors 
in  the  quantity  of  his  crops,  and  the  general  excellence  of  his  til- 
lage, be  pleased  to  see  his  name  paraded  before  the  great  public. 
He  lives  about  twenty-five  miles  from  Philadelphia,  and  the  fortieth 
degree  of  latitude  is  very  near  his  north  line.  His  area  is  a  little 
over  200  acres.  More  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  when  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  the  most  conspicuous  citizen  and  the  ablest  editor  on 
this  continent,  the  ancestor  of  our  hero  came  hither  from  Wales. 
In  the  quaintness  of  those  colonial  days  he  spelled  his  name  with  a 
double-f  and  double-o.  His  son  took  the  clearing,  and  pushed  the 
ring  fence  of  old  oak  and  walnut  further  and  further  from  the  cen- 
ter. His  son  succeeded,  and  his  son  and  his  son,  to  the  present 
generation.  Now  these  ancestral  acres  are  hallowed  by  the  labors 
of  a  pedigree  of  farmers  who  all  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  one 
general  father,  earning  their  bread  and  making  the  bread  for  many 
other  mouths  by  honest  sweat,  and  wearing  to  their  coffins  the 
bronzed  face  and  the  calloused  hands. 

The  soil  is  a  light  clay  loam,  so  admixed  with  sand  as  not  to  hold 
water  except  on  two  or  three  low  places  that  have  been  thoroughly 
tile-drained.  There  is  not  a  stone,  nor  a  stump,  nor  a  log,  a  clump 
of  bushes,  or  a  nest  of  weeds  on  the  place.  The  whole  area  comes 
under  the  ploughshare  once  in  four  or  five  years.  The  general  sur- 
face of  the  region  is  level,  but  on  this  place  are  two  swells,  very 
moderate  indeed,  not  worth  noticing  by  one  accustomed  to  hills,  yet 
just  sufficient  to  allow  good  drainage.  We  mention  these  details 
because  there  are  thousands  and  thousands  of  such  farms  all  over 
the  great  West — farms  that  could  be  made  just  as  productive  and 
as  profitable.  The  average  American  farm  is  nearly  200  acres,  and 
as  the  art  of  agriculture  is  now  understood  and  practiced,  this  is 
the   best   size   for  regular    tillage    husbandry,    such  as   the  best 


1889.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  399 


farmer  in  the  county  carries  on.  As  this  statement  will  not  be  re- 
ceived by  some,  and  as  it  is  wide  of  the  catch  words,  "  Ten  Acre3 
Enough,"  we  will  give  a  few  reasons  for  the  faith  that  is  in  us  : 
1.  Except  in  the  vicinity  of  cities,  where  the  manure  of  great  sta- 
bles and  breweries  can  be  obtained,  the  profit  of  farming  must  de- 
pend on  the  use  of  yard  composts.  The  quantity  of  this  must  de- 
pend on  the  number  of  animals  kept,  its  strength  on  the  quantity 
of  rich  food  which  they  consume.  The  same  attendance  and  labor 
will  feed  and  fatten  the  animals  on  a  two  hundred  acre  farm  that 
would  be  required  on  a  hundred  acre  farm.  2.  In  the  improved 
condition  of  all  farm  tools,  it  will  not  pay  to  use  poor,  old-fashioned 
implements.  The  progressive  farmer  will  have  the  best ;  they  cost 
several  hundred  dollars,  and  when  bought  they  will  do  the  work  on 
200  acres  as  well  as  100.  3.  On  a  large  farm  the  fields  are  larger, 
the  roads  longer,  not  so  many  bouts,  headlands,  fence-corners,  and 
dead  furrows. 

If  the  farmer's  methods  are  good  and  his  thinking  sound,  it  costs 
no  more  to  spread  it  over  a  larger  area.  If  a  man  can  plan  well 
for  a  good  crop  of  wheat  from  20  acres,  he  can  plan  as  well  for  40, 
60,  or  80  acres. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  a  farm  is  much  over  200  acres  in  area, 
there  will  arise  a  grave  difficulty  in  harvesting  grain  and  grass  at 
precisely  the  right  time.  The  more  acres  one  has  down,  the  more 
dependent  he  becomes  on  the  weather,  the  more  risky  and  specula- 
tive becomes  the  business  of  agriculture. 

This  farm  is  divided  into  fields  of  not  over  fifty  acres,  nor  none 
less  than  fifteen.  Many  interior  fences  he  has  removed,  and  more 
might  be.  His  general  plan  is  to  have  about  fifty  acres  in  grass. 
After  cutting  three  or  four  crops,  of  about  2J  tuns  per  acre,  he 
turns  the  sod  under  in  April  and  plants  corn.  In  a  few  cases  he 
allows  corn  to  follow  corn,  but  not  often.  The  upturned  sod  is  fur- 
ther enriched  with  yard  manure,  which  is  well  harrowed  in,  the 
harrow  teeth  being  small  and  short,  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  sod. 

When  the  season  is  a  good  one  he  gets  70  bushels  to  an  acre,  and 
sometimes  80,  but  these  are  exceptions.  On  a  rich  soil  like  his,  in 
this  climate,  the  tendency  of  corn  is  to  run  to  stalk,  and  his  diffi- 
culty is  never  to  get  it  to  grow  tall,  but  to  make  the  ears  corres- 
pond to  the  bigness  of  the  stalk.  Here  is  one  of  the  unsolved  prob- 
lems in  our  tillage.  One  might  suppose  it  easy  to  lift  an  acre  from 
a  capacity  of  60  to  80  bushels  in  corn  by  extra  doses  of  manure, 
just  as  it  can  be  raised  from  40  to  60.     But  let  the  farmer  try.     If 


400  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

the  season  suits  he  will  get  corn  stalks  that  run  up  like  fishing  rods. 
Some  of  the  tallest  will  have  no  ears  at  all,  others  12  or  15  feet 
high  will  give  one  nubbin  eight  feet  from  the  ground.  With  fifty 
acres  in  grass  and  fifty  in  corn,  our  farmer  has  one  hundred  left  for 
pasturage,  roots  and  small  grain.  Most  cultivators  would  allow 
thirty  or  forty  for  pasturage  ;  he  does  not.  This  year  he  has  nearly 
fifty  acres  in  wheat,  fifteen  in  rye,  and  will  put  in  fifteen  acres  of 
potatoes.  Like  Mr-  Mechi,  he  believes  in  the  plough,  and  would 
not  keep  wide  reaches  of  old  sod.  Of  wheat  he  raises  from  18  to 
25  bushels  per  acre.  In  this  great  cereal  we  have  another  unsolved 
problem.  Any  good  farmer  will  say  that  by  using  more  manure  he 
can  get  a  ranker  growth  of  blade  and  stem,  but  his  bushels  will  not 
be  increased  in  proportion  ;  for  the  crop  will  begin  to  lodge  by  the 
middle  of  June,  and  half  of  it  may  be  flat  by  harvest.  Are  these 
difficulties  with  our  grand  cereals — the  bars  that  so  often  stop  the 
corn  grower  at  60  bushels  and  the  wheat. grower  at  25  bushels  per 
acre — are  they  the  work  of  climate,  of  shallow  ploughing,  of  the 
unskillful  application  of  manures,  or  bad  sowing?  Our  farmer  un- 
derstands potatoes,  and  can  make  an  acre  bring  him  $300.  Like 
all  cultivators  of  rich  level  surfaces,  he  has  the  rot  to  contend  with. 
Of  the  many  varieties  he  has  found  the  peach  blow  the  most  popu- 
lar in  market,  and  the  best  late  potato.  He  plants  about  three  feet 
apart  each  way,  and  cuts  his  seed  small,  so  as  to  allow  but  one  or 
two  vines  to  a  hill.  When  the  shoots  are  fairly  out  of  the  ground 
he  throws  a  furrow  from  each  side  so  as  to  cover  them.  The  potato 
is  such  a  hardy  and  vigorous  grower  that  it  will  push  out  from  this 
shallow  burial  and  so  outstrip  the  weeds  as  to  gain  and  keep  posses- 
sion of  the  surface.  He  never  has  use  for  the  hoe,  and  never  ma- 
nures in  the  hill  for  potatoes.  If  it  were  not  for  the  rot  this  crop 
alone  would  soon  make  him  rich.  He  is  planting  the  Harrison  this 
year,  well  aware  of  its  inferiority  as  a  table  potato,  but  he  hopes 
with  this  new  and  vigorous  variety  to  elude  his  enemy  for  two  or 
three  years.  His  sales  have  been  of  potatoes,  hay,  corn,  wheat, 
rye,  and  rye  straw,  pork,  and  fat  cattle.  Experience  is  showing 
him  the  advantage  of  feeding  out  most  or  all  of  his  hay  and  corn  to 
fattening  animals,  and  parting  with  no  vegetable  products  of  the 
surface  but  wheat  and  potatoes.  Such  is  without  doubt  his  true 
policy,  and  he  would  have  been  driven  in  that  direction  much  sooner 
had  there  not  been,  at  the  edge  of  his  farm,  an  inexhaustible  bed 
of  marl  as  rich  in  potash  as  wood  ashes.  This  fertilizer  he  has 
used  freely  for  twenty  or  thirty  years,  but  of  late  the  conviction  is 
forced  upon  him  that  marl  has  made  his  land  as  rich  as  marl  alone 


I860.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  401 

can  make  it.  Quite  likely.  A  highly  productive  soil  contains 
three  or  four  important  substances,  such  as  potash,  lime,  ammonia, 
phosphorus.  The  first  of  these,  potash,  he  gets  in  abundance  when 
he  applies  marl;  but  for  the  active,  concentrated  fertilizers,  that 
make  the  deep  green  blade,  the  long  ear,  and  the  heavy  head,  he 
must  look  to  rich  stable  manure,  to  bone  dust,  and  to  guano.  White 
oak  is  choice  timber  for  a  cart  wheel,  but  ten  cords  of  the  best  oak 
that  ever  grew,  without  iron  for  the  bolts  and  tires,  would  not  do 
the  farmer  as  much  good  as  a  fourth  of  a  cord  with  the  iron.  Just 
so  of  potash  manures.  Alone  they  cannot  carry  lands  to  the  high- 
est productiveness. 

Let  us  calculate  how  far  this  excellent  farmer,  with  his  200  he- 
reditary acres,  benefits  society.  It  will  illustrate  the  fundamental 
value  and  worth  of  the  ploughman.  His  wheat  crops  made  into 
flour  supply  200  mouths  annually  with  white  bread.  His  potatoes 
feed  300  persons  a  year  at  the  rate  at  which  this  tuber  is  usually 
consumed  in  families.  .  If  the  grass  he  grows  were  changed  to  milk, 
it  would  supply  300  persons;  changed  to  beef,  it  would  feed  60 
persons.  His  corn  transmuted  to  pork  would  give  200  consumers 
full  annual  rations.  Why  should  the  man  who  can  do  this  aspire  to 
the  .  degradations  of  local  or  of  national  politics?  Why  hanker 
after  the  gambling  uncertainties  of  traffic?  Why  rasp  his  temper 
between  the  endless  chafing  of  other  men's  quarrels? — J.  B.  L.,  in 
New  York  Times. 


Rye  fop  early  Green  Food. 

The  importance  of  a  supply  of  green  feed  for  stock  in  the  Spring, 
is  very  often  realized  at  that  time,  but  generally  overlooked  at  the 
proper  season  of  preparing  for  it.  Experienced  graziers  know  the 
value  of  an  early  bite.  Cattle,  horses,  and  all  stock  thrive  faster 
for  an  early  supply  of  green  food.  Youatt  says  of  the  horse: 
"  The  Spring  grass  is  the  best  physic  that  can  be  given  to  a  horse. 
To  a  degree  which  no  artificial  aperient  or  diuretic  can  reach,  ifc 
carries  off  every  humor  that  may  be  lurking  about  the  animal.  It 
fines  down  the  roughness  of  the  legs,  and  except  there  be  some 
bony  enlargement,  restores  them  to  their  original  form  and 
strength."  To  horses  that  cannot  conveniently  have  a  run  at 
grass,  it  is  especially  important  that  a  supply  of  green  food  be 
duly  provided  for. 

There  is  no  plant  which  so  readily  offers  a  supply  of  this  as  rye, 
and  we  suggest  the  sowing  of  a  lot  either  for  early  pasturage  or  for 
vol.  m — 26 


402  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

cutting.  It  will  afford  a  good  cutting  full  two  weeks  before  the 
clover,  and  so  far  as  we  know  the  use  of  it  is  attended  with  no  ill 
effects.  One  of  the  most  successful  farmers  we  ever  knew  was  in 
the  habit  of  sowing  rye  in  rich  lots,  chiefly  for  Spring  grazing.  If 
seeded  in  September,  the  plant  becomes  firmly  rooted,  and  affords 
a  great  amount  of  herbage  during  March  and  April,  until  the  clover 
is  large  enough  to  graze,  and  if  the  stock  is  then  taken  off,  the 
yield  of  grain  will  be  almost  as  good  as  if  the  crop  had  not  been 
grazed. 

A  light  rich  loam  is  the  best  soil  for  rye.  It  makes  a  good 
growth  of  straw  on  ground  not  fit  to  be  put  in  wheat.  But  the 
richer  the  better  of  course  for  a  good  yield.  We  would  sow  not 
less  than  a  bushel  of  seed,  when  intended  chiefly  for  grazing  or  cut- 
ting.    Sow  early  in  September. — Rural  Minnesotian. 


The  Relations  of  Plants  to  their  Food. 

The  agriculturist  who  would  obtain  the  largest  results  from  a 
given  expenditure  of  time,  labor,  money  and  material,  should  not 
content  himself  with  the  mere  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  charac- 
ter of  the  food  required  for  each  crop  he  cultivates,  but  should  also 
make  himself  familiar  with  the  physiological  action  of  the  growing 
plant  itself  upon  the  various  agents  presented  to  it  by  the  soil,  ma- 
nure, the  air  and  the  rain.  Ignorance  in  this  particular  will  lead 
to  as  ridiculous  errors  as  that  of  the  self-conceited  correspondent  of 
a  British  provincial  newspaper,  who  having  in  some  way  or  other 
acquired  the  information  that  nitrogenous  matter  was  the  basis  of 
the  formation  of  all  the  tissues  of  the  body,  immediately  rushed 
into  print  with  a  furious  denunciation  of  the  extravagant  habit  of 
using  bread  and  meat  to  support  animal  life.  "  What  we  want," 
said  he,  "  is  nitrogen.  Why,  then,  adopt  as  the  sources  of  nitro- 
gen, materials  which  are  so  expensive,  and  which  contain  so  much 
extraneous  matter?"  He  then  went  into  a  calculation  of  the 
amount  of  nitrogen  contained  in  the  ordinary  articles  of  human 
food,  and  triumphantly  contrasted  it  with  the  quantity  which  an 
equal  weight  of  Peruvian  guano  would  supply.  He  then  calculated 
the  relative  cost  of  these  two  varieties  of  nitrogenous  materials, 
and  indignantly  demanded  why  so  valuable  a  source  of  supply  of 
the  inevitable  waste  of  living  tissue  had  been  so  long  neglected  ? 
He  also  cited  numerous  statistical  arguments  to  prove  the  enormous 
saving  which  would  result  from  feeding  the  inhabitants  of  the  Brit- 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  403 

ish  islands  on  guano  soup,  instead  of  those  ancient  dainties  so  dear 
to  every  British  stomach,  roast  beef  and  plum  pudding. 

Of  course  it  is  easy  to  laugh  at  the  ignorance  of  this  reform  in 
gastronomy,  and  to  point  out  the  glaring  errors  of  his  theory. 
But  is  it  any  less  absurd  to  undertake  to  feed  a  plant  without  know- 
ing in  what  form  it  appropriates  its  food,  and  how  it  disposes  of  it 
when  once  introduced  into  its  organism  ?  Much  has  yet  to  be  dis- 
covered in  reference  to  this  matter ;  but  enough  is  already  known 
to  give  important  practical  hints  to  those  who  will  master  truths 
already  acquired,  and  who  will  add  to  their  number  by  careful  ob- 
servations of  their  own. 

Every  one  knows  that  there  is  a  great  diversity  in  the  appetites 
of  plants,  some  being  what  are  commonly  termed  gross  feeders, 
while  others  are  known  as  moderate  in  this  respect.  Much  de- 
pends, of  course,  upon  the  duration  of  the  plant's  life,  and  upon 
the  size  it  attains  at  maturity.  A  large,  succulent,  rapidly  ^growing 
plant  like  corn  or  tobacco,  will,  of  course,  demand  more  food  in  a 
given  time  than  a  smaller  vegetable,  which  takes  a  longer  time  to 
reach  maturity.  The  existence  of  a  plant  is  dependent  upon  the 
time  it  takes  to  form  and  ripen  its  seed,  perennials  being  left  out  of 
consideration.  Some  of  our  little  spring  flowers  shoot  up,  expand 
their  blooms  and  ripen  their  seed  within  a  few  days.  Their  task  in 
the  world  being  accomplished,  nothing  is  left  them  but  to  fade  and 
perish.  Others  require  the  entire  summer  for  their  maturity,  while 
others  again  need  the  influences  of  two  seasons  to  complete  their 
existence. 

It  is  not  our  intention  at  present  to  enter  into  a  consideration  of 
the  varieties  of  nutrition  dependent  upon  these  varying  vital  condi- 
tions, but  rather  to  call  attention  to  certain  facts  which  bear  upon 
all  varieties  of  growth.  Every  one  knows  that  the  young  leaf  in 
the  spring  manifests  its  greatest  activity  during  the  earlier  periods 
of  its  existence.  Chemical  examination  shows  the  same  fact. 
Chemical  activity  is  always  proportioned — every  thing  else  be- 
ing equal— to  the  solubility  of  the  agents  reacting  upon  one  an- 
other. In  the  ashes  of  the  young  leaves  of  the  beach  we  find  30 
per  cent,  of  potash,  while  in  the  same  leaves  withering  in  the  au- 
tumn blasts,  but  1  per  cent,  remains.  So,  too,  phosphoric  acid, 
which  existed  in  the  proportion  of  24  per  cent,  in  the  spring,  has 
fallen  to  2  per  cent,  in  the  fall.  The  insoluble  materials,  on  the 
other  hand,  greatly  increase  as  the  leaf  grows  larger. 

The  truth  is,  the  earlier  part  of  the  existence  of  any  plant  is  oc- 
cupied in  preparations  for  the  future.     For  example,  the  turnip, 


404  THE   SOUTHERN  [July 

immediately  after  sprouting,  devotes  its  energies  for  half  the  period 
of  its  growth  chiefly  to  the  production  of  leaves.  At  the  end  of 
sixty-seven  days,  the  turnip  crop,  according  to  Anderson's  experi- 
ments, had  formed  twelve  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  pounds  of  leaves,  and  two  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  sixty- 
two  pounds  of  roots.  At  the  end  of  the  next  twenty  days,  the  leaves 
weighed  nineteen  thousand,  two  hundred  pounds,  while  the  roots 
weighed  fourteen  thousand,  four  hundred  pounds.  In  thirty-five 
days  more  the  crop  was  gathered,  and  weighed  eleven  thousand, 
two  hundred  and  eight  pounds  of  leaves,  and  thirty-six  thousand, 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-two  pounds  of  roots.  Of  course  it  will 
be  understood  that  these  figures  all  represent  equal  areas  of  the 
same  field,  cultivated  in  the  same  manner.  The  point  to  which  wre 
wish  to  call  attention  is,  that  during  the  last  period  of  growth  there 
has  been  a  reduction  of  the  actual  weight  of  the  leaves,  due  to  a 
transference  of  already  elaborated  material  from  the  leaf  to  the 
root.  We  thus  see  that  the  turnip,  during  the  early  and  more  vig- 
orous stages  of  its  growth,  has  expended  its  energies  in  laying  up 
and  organizing  nourishment  in  the  leaf,  which  is  afterward  carried 
back  to  the  root. 

This  is  no  exceptional  case.  All  plants  have  experiences  more 
or  less  simlilar.  Thus  winter  wheat  spends  much  of  its  early  vege- 
tative power  in  developing  strong  roots,  at  the  expense  of  its  young 
leaves.  Indeed,  it  has  been  observed  in  the  fox-hunting  districts  of 
England,  that  a  field  trampled  by  horses  in  the  winter,  so  as  to 
leave  scarcely  any  wheat  visible,  he.s  produced  far  more  grain  at 
harvest  than  another  not  subjected  to  so  rough  a  system  of  im- 
provement. 

It  is  plain,  then,  that  as  a  general  rule  it  is  the  duty  of  the  agri- 
culturist to  see  that,  at  the  beginning  of  their  growth,  his  young 
crops  shall  be  abundantly  supplied  with  soluble  plant  food.  There 
are,  of  course,  some  exceptions  to  this  rule,  which  need  not  be  here 
considered.  The  young  plant  needs  a  very  full  supply  of  food ; 
first,  because,  as  we  have  already  seen,  it  is  busy  for  the  future  as 
well  as  for  the  present ;  and  secondly,  because  its  roots  being  small 
and  weak,  it  cannot  go  far  in  search  of  nutriment,  but  must  find  it 
on  the  very  spot  on  which  they  are  growing.  A  crop  well  started 
by  a  judicious  supply  of  soluble  manure,  will  grow  vigorously,  and 
maintain  the  advantage  thus  secured  to  the  very  end  of  the  season. 
It  is  impossible  to  over-estimate  the  importance  of  insuring  to  the 
young  crop  a  rapid  and  active  growth  at  the  beginning.  More 
roots  are  formed,  and  they  are  pushed  farther  through   the  soil. 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  405 

More  leaves  and  stem  rise  into  the  air,  and  consequently  a  far  more 
energetic  appropriation  of  the  atmospheric  constituents  of  the  grow- 
ing plant  becomes  possible.  Indeed,  the  strong,  healthy  plant  is 
able  to  rob  its  weaker  neighbor  of  the  nourishment  universally  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  atmosphere  itself. — Baltimore  Leader, 


Hints  on  the  Cultivation  and  Management  of  Tobacco. 

Messrs.  Editors, — Some  time  ago  I  promised  to  give  you  my  no- 
tion about  raising  Tobacco,  and  now  proceed  to  fulfill  my  engage- 
ment.    And  first,  I  will  speak  of 

PLANTS. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  raising  tobacco  profitably  without  early 
plants,  and  yet  if  earlier  than  the  first  of  June  they  will  be  sure  to 
make  narrow  leaf  tobacco.  In  selecting  my  plant  land,  I  prefer  to 
do  it  in  July,  for  the  next  year,  and  choose  a  valley  detached  from 
any  field,  facing  the  southeast,  on  which  is  a  growth  of  whortle- 
berry and  some  ivy.  I  cut  off  the  bushes  and  timber,  but  let  the 
leaves  and  litter  remain,  and  manure  it  heavily  with  the  best  ma- 
nure I  can  get.  I  prefer  cow  manure,  collected  in  May,  and  piled 
under  a  shelter  to  protect  it  from  rain.  This  has  fewer  grass 
seeds  in  it  than  any  other  manure.  Tobacco  stalks  answer  very 
well.  A  little  before,  or  as  soon  after  Christmas  as  the  weather 
will  permit,  I  take  off  the  leaves  and  other  litter,  and  if  I  think 
there  is  grass  seed  that  has  not  germinated,  I  cover  the  bed  with 
dry  brush,  if  to  be  had,  putting  the  leaves  on  the  brush,  and  burn 
them  ;  then  with  grubbing  hoes  sunk  in  the  ground  as  deep  as  pos- 
sible, giving  the  handle  a  wrench,  I  loosen  the  ground,  but  not 
so  as  to  bring  the  clay  to  the  top ;  I  then  chop  with  sharp 
hoes,  take  off  the  rocts,  and  prepare  for  sowing  the  seed.  I  prefer 
not  to  sow  the  seed  until  the  25th  February,  and  then  sow  about  half 
the  quantity  of  seed  (a  table-spoonfull  is  common,)  on  every  hun- 
dred square  yards  ;  a  little  before  I  think  the  seed  is  sprouting,  I 
sow  the  other  half  spoonfull,  and  tread  without  raking.  .  If  the  first 
sowing  come  up  well,  the  second  does  not  molest  the  first.  Thin 
sowing  yields  more  plants  than  thick.  I  prefer  to  tread  when  some 
of  the  dirt  will  stick  to  the  feet ;  the  plants  grow  better  trod  then 
than  when  the  ground  is  dry. 

When  the  plants  are  large  enough,  I  plant,  but  would  much  pre- 
fer to  set  them  out  when  the  land  is  in  good  order  to  work ;  if 
set  out  when  the  land  is  too  wet,  the  plants  do  not  thrive  well ; 
if  set  out  early  in  the  season,  and  they  are  large,  or  if  set  out  in 


40G  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

the  evening,  and  there  comes  rain  on  them  before  they  wilt  or  lap 
from  the  sun,  they  are  apt  to  be  narrow  leafed;  but  this  may  be 
altered  by  running  a  coalter  on  each  side,  so  as  to  make  them  wilt 
or  lap  ;  then  it  will  take  a  broader  growth. 

When  tobacco  is  cut  and  it  rains  on  it  so  as  to  make  it  strut,  and 
the  stems  turn  upward,  unless  this  be  corrected  the  stems  will  rot, 
and  the  quality  of  the  tobacco  is,  of  course,  much  injured  by  it ; 
the  leaf  on  each  side  of  the  stem  loses  nearly  all  the  quality  of  to- 
bacco, and  is  hard  to  get  soft  enough  to  strip  ;  if  the  stem  be  soft 
enough  not  to  break,  the  leaf  is  too  soft.  When  tobacco  gets  in 
that  state,  the  best  remedy  I  know  of  is  to  re-cut  it.  Some  years  past 
I  had  a  scaffold  of  tobacco  strutted  as  above.  About  12  o'clock  I 
went  to  it  and  re-cut  one  stick;  an  hour  after  I  went  to  it;  the 
stems  of  what  I  had  cut  were  soft  and  hung  down  straight.  I  then 
re-cut  all  on  the  scaffold.  Before  night  all  the  stems  were  soft  and 
tough,  and  it  cured  well,  having  no  appearance  of  ever  having  been 
strutted.  Since  then  I  have  re-cut  all  that  were  strutted  with  good 
result.  Charles  Brown. 

Albemarle,  Va.,  June  14,  1869. 

[Our  octogenarian  friend,  who  has  favored  us  with  the  above  arti- 
cle, prefers  to  select  the  ground  for  growing  his  plants  in  this  month 
for  his  next  year's  crop  of  tobacco.  For  this  reason  his  suggestions 
are  seasonable  to  those  who  may  desire  to  adopt  his  plan  for  regu- 
lating their  future  practice. — Eds.  S.  P.  &  F.] 


Disappointment  in  Swedes  and  Germans  as  Laborers. 

Messrs.  Editors, — I  feel  it  to  be  a  duty  I  owe  to  brother  farmers 
to  give,  through  your  valuable  paper,  my  experience  with  regard  to 
white  labor.  Much  has  been  said  and  written  on  the  subject,  which 
amounts  to  nothing  more  than  mere  opinions.  I  propose  to  give 
you  naked  facts,  leaving  the  reader  to  draw  his  own  inferences. 

In  the  Fall  of  1868,  through  the  medium  of  the  Newberry  Immi- 
gration Society,  I  ordered  from  New  York  three  white  single  labo- 
rers. On  the  20th  November  three  stout  red-faced  Swedes  arrived 
at  my  farm.  I  put  them  to  work  at  once  in  chopping  and  splitting 
rails.  They  performed  admirably ;  so  well,  indeed,  that  I  ordered 
a  Swede  family  from  New  York.  (We  always  have  to  advance 
about  twenty  dollars  to  pay  traveling  expenses  of  each  emigrant 
from  New  York,  including  the  continued  expenses  of  the  Society.) 
On  the  30th  of  December  I  received  a  "splendid"  Swede  family, 
as  the  agent  called  them,  but  really  as  mean  and  degraded,  es- 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  40T 

pecially  the  woman,  as  the  lowest  order  of  free  negroes.  I  kept 
them  until  the  3d  of  April,  when  I  discharged  them,  after  losing  up- 
wards of  one  hundred  dollars  on  them.  The  first  three  determined 
to  go  to  Chicago,  and  on  the  25th  of  January  also  left  me,  minus 
several  dollars. 

I  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  a  people  who  eat  so  much  as  the 
Swedes.  If  a  man  has  to  feed  them  to  the  extent  of  their  wants, 
and  is  not  strong  in  purse,  they  would  ruin  him,  even  if  he  allowed 
no  wages. 

I  concluded  next  to  try  Germans.  On  the  12th  of  February 
three  good  looking  specimens  came  on  my  farm.  They  did  very  well 
for  a  while.  One  of  them,  however,  turned  out  to  be  crazy,  and  I 
had  to  send  him  off,  losing  his  traveling  expenses.  (I  have  heard 
of  another  crazy  one  in  our  district.)  The  other  two  staid  and  did 
tolerably  well  until  the  sun  commenced  shining  warm.  They  loved 
the  shade ;  would  stop  ploughing  or  hoeing,  take  a  rail  off  the  fence 
and  put  it  across  from  one  pannel  to  the  other,  and  sit  down,  and  if 
I  didn't  show  myself  they  did  not  work  near  as  much  as  the  freed- 
man  on  the  same  place.  I  finally  told  them  they  must  work  better, 
or  I  could  not  pay  them  ten  dollars  per  month  and  board,  as  I  was 
then  doing.  They  proposed  to  leave,  and  with  my  full  consent  they 
departed  the  12th  of  June.  While  in  my  service,  they  staid  in  my 
own  house,  ate  at  my  table,  and  fared  as  I  did. 

I  am  now  done  with  white  labor.  This  Immigration  Society  in 
New  York  sends  to  us  (down  South)  the  offscouring  of  the  earth — 
penitentiary  birds  and  lunatics  out  of  their  asylums.  There  have 
been  a  great  many  immigrants  brought  to  this  district,  very  few  of 
whom  have  been  worth  their  board.  I  think  this  immigration  busi- 
ness one  of  the  grandest  humbugs  of  the  day.  H.  D.  B. 

Newberry,  S.  C,  June  14,  18G9. 


Several  English  gentlemen  who  went  last  September  to  Virgi- 
nia to  spend  some  time  in  hunting  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  were  so  de- 
lighted with  the  country  that  they  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land 
on  the  Manassas  railroad,  near  Gainesville.  A  colony  of  English 
will  settle  on  the  land  in  the  spring. 

A  correspondent  of  an  exchange  advises  American  farmers  to 
adopt  the  rule  of  many  English  farmers — that  is,  never  to  allow  two 
white  straw  crops,  such  as  wheat,  oats,  barley  and  rye  to  follow 
each  other. 


408  THE  SOUTHERN  July, 

Fertilizers  in  North  Carolina. 

A  committee  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society  of  North  Caro- 
lina, appointed  "to  investigate  the  subject  of  producing  fertilizers 
in  this  State,  for  sale  to  the  farmers  of  the  State  at  fair  remune- 
rating prices,"  addressed  to  the  State  Geologist,  W.  C.  Kerr,  Esq., 
a  letter,  stating  that  "the*object  of  the  Society  is,  first,  to  ascertain 
"whether  the  materials  exist  out  of  which  fertilizers  can  be  manufac- 
tured; secondly,  to  ascertain  whether  they  can  be  produced  in  such 
quantity  and  form  as  to  compensate  the  manufacturer  and  remune- 
rate the  farmer,"  and  asking  any  information  he  might  find  leisure 
to  give  them  on  the  subject. 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Kerr  made  the  following  reply  : 

Raleigh,  June  10,  1868. 
Geo.    W.    Whitfield,  Esq.,  Eon.  D.  31.  Barringer,  Col  John  L. 
Bridgers,  Committee,  &c.: 

Gentlemen, — I  have  not  yet  had  time  to  give  the  subject  of 
your  communication  the  attention  which  its  importance  demands, 
having  been  wholly  occupied  with  the  survey  of  the  Western  section 
of  the  State.  It  is  my  purpose,  in  a  few  months,  after  completing 
the  examination  of  that  region,  to  take  up,  in  detail,  the  study  of 
the  marls  of  the  eastern  counties,  and,  in  connection  with  them,  to 
discuss  the  whole  subject  of  our  resources  of  fertilization  in  this 
State,  and  the  best  methods  of  utilizing  them.  But  it  has  occurred 
to  me  that  it  might  be  worth  while,  preliminarily,  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  your  Committee  and  of  the  Agricultural  Society  to  some 
general  considerations  which  must  direct  and  limit  our  investiga- 
tions and  experiments  in  this  direction. 

"Without  going  into  the  general  subject  of  manures  and  the 
theory  of  their  action  upon  the  soil,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  state  in 
general,  that  the  principal  problem  of  practical  agriculture  in  our 
State  and  region  is,  how  to  restore  and  maintain  the  supply  of  lime 
and  humus  in  our  soils.  This  is  so,  partly  because  these  are  among 
the  most  important  ingredients,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  most 
liable  to  exhaustion,  and  partly  because,  whatever  method  is  adopted 
of  supplying  these,  the  other  exhaustible  elements  are  also  restored 
incidentally. 

The  methods  of  supplying  humus  are  mainly  two :  First,  the 
ploughing  in  of  green  crops ;  and,  second,  the  direct  addition  of  it  in 
the  form  of  stable  manure,  peat,  muck,  &c. 

Lime  may  be  restored  directly,  as  lime,  or  in  the  form  of  marl  or 


1869,]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  409 

gypsum.     And,  still  better,  either  or  both  of  these  may   be  com- 
posted with  the  peat,  &c. 

Since  the  process  of  improving  soils  by  ploughing  in  green  crops, 
however  advisable,  will  not  readily  nor  speedily  be  adopted  by  our 
farmers,  and  since  the  quantity  of  stock  in  our  region  is  and  must 
long  remain  utterly  inadequate  to  furnish  a  supply  of  stable  ma- 
nure, it  is  important  to  inquire  whether  there  are  other  available 
sources  of  supply.  The  immense  peat  beds  of  our  coast  region 
will  at  once  occur  to  you  as  capable  of  furnishing  unlimited  quan- 
tities for  an  indefinite  period.  In  fact,  there  is  enough  to  supply 
for  one  hundred  years  every  acre  of  cultivated  land  within  ten 
miles  of  a  railroad  or  navigable  river. 

As  for  lime,  of  course  the  marl-beds  of  the  same  region  furnish 
an  inexhaustible  supply.  The  manufacture  of  lime  for  agricultural 
purposes  ought  to  become  at  once  a  large  and  lucrative  business. 
The  soils  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  State  being  of  granitic 
origin,  are  generally  very  deficient  in  this  most  important  element. 
It  might  be  supplied  to  a  large  part  of  the  eastern  and  middle  sec- 
tions of  the  State  from  the  marls  near  the  coast,  which  are  often 
almost  pure  limestone.  This  is  one  manufacture  your  Society  would 
do  well  to  ecourage. 

As  to  the  matter  of  transportation  of  peat  and  marl  to  consid- 
erable distances,  I  have  no  doubt  that  much  might  profitably  be 
done  in  that  way.  Peat,  air-dried,  loses  from  §  to  f  of  its  weight. 
The  marls  of  the  coast  are  in  many  places  rich  onough  in  fertilizing 
ingredients,  phosphates,  potash,  &c,  to  bear  transportation  (and 
where  they  are  not,  they  might,  in  some  cases,  be  concentrated  by 
simple  mechanical  means)  over  large  districts,  along  the  rivers  in 
whose  banks  they  abound,  and  on  the  line  of  the  railroads,  as  is 
done  so  extensively  in  New  Jersey. 

But  this  is  not  the  enterprise  which  I  propose  for  your  considera- 
tion. It  is  the  utilization  of  these  materials,  together  with  the 
waste  from  the  fisheries  of  the  sounds  and  rivers  of  the  same  sec- 
tion, for  the  manufacture  of  a  manipulated  manure  which  may  be 
profitably  transported  over  the  whole  State  by  water  and  rail. 
These  fisheries,  as  you  are  aware,  furnish  thousands  of  tons  of 
refuse  and  offal  annually,  which  are  now  little  better  than  thrown 
away. 

Consider  the  composition  of  these  materials  :  The  marls  contain, 
besides  lime,  which  is  the  principal  ingredient,  iron,  magnesia, 
phosphate  of  lime  and  organic  matter,  and  some  of  them,  also,  pot- 
ash and  soda. 


84.1 

per 

cent. 

2 

u 

u 

1 

a 

u 

4.2 

a 

<c 

5 

a 

a 

1.0 

it 

a 

31 

u 

a 

1.3 

a 

« 

1 

a 

a 

fi 

a 

u 

410  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

Here  is  an  analysis  of  a  stone  marl  near  Wilmington,  given  by 
Mr.  Emmons:  Silex  20  per  cent.,  phosphate  5,  magnesia  4,  carbon- 
ate of  lime  72,  organic  matter,  &c,  2. 

When  the  sand  constitutes  a  large  proportion  of  the  marl,  it  may 
be  separated  by  simple  means,  so  as  to  concentrate  the  more  valua- 
ble ingredients,  as  lime,  potash,  phosphates,  &c. 

The  composition  of  peat  may  be  stated  (as  an  average  of  many 
analyses)  to  be  as  follows,  viz . 

Humus, 

Potash, 

Soda, 

Lime, 

Magnesia, 

Alumina, 

Iron, 

Sulphuric  acid, 

Chlorine, 

Phosphoric  acid, 

Silex,  4.4    "     " 

An  analysis  of  the  fish  offal  gives  the  following,  viz : 

In  120  parts,  oil, 
Other  organic  matter, 
Lime, 
Potash, 
Soda, 

Phosphoric  acid, 
Chlorine, 
'  Silica, 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  by  a  judicious  selection  of  marls  and 
peats,  (and  the  concentration  of  the  former  when  necessary,)  and 
the  addition  of  fish  offal,  (and  in  some  cases,  if  desirable,  a  small 
portion  of  guano  and  gypsum,)  an  unlimited  quantity  may  be  made 
of  a  fertilizer  superior  to  most  of  the  imported  articles,  at  a  trifling 
fraction  of  their  cost,  and  capable  of  transportation  to  all  parts  of 
the  State, — a  fertilizer  which,  besides  the  principal  ingredients, 
wanting  in  our  soils,  lime  and  humus,  contains  all  the  other  ele- 
ments of  stable  manure,  or  the  best  guanos.  Here,  then,  you  have 
all  the  necessary  materials  in  unlimited  abundance,  without  cost, 
in  immediate  proximity  to  each  other,  on  navigable  waters,  and 
connected  with  all  parts  of  the  State  by  railroad.     It  is  not  easy 


20.0  per 

cent. 

78.3    " 

u 

8.7    " 

it 

1.6    " 

a 

1.0    " 

a 

7.8    " 

a 

7    " 

n 

1.3    " 

a 

1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  411 

to  see  what  better  conditions  could  exist  anywhere  for  a  profitable 
enterprise  of  the  kind  you  contemplate. 

It  will  give  me  pleasure  to  aid  you  in  any  manner  in  furthering 
such  an  undertaking. — W.  C.  Kerr,  in  the  Sentinel. 

POSTSCRIPT. 
To  Gr.  W.  Whitfield,  Esq.,  Hon.  D.  31.  Barringer  and  Col.  John 
L.  Bridgers,  Committee  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society : 
Gentlemen, — By  way  of  postscript  to  a  recent  communication 
on  the  subject  of  manures,  I  enclose  a  brief  article  on  composts, 
which  was  recently  prepared  as  a  general  answer  to  inquiries  on 
this  subject,  which  are  frequently  addressed  to  me  by  practical 
farmers  in  different  parts  of  the  State. 

With  the  view  of  promoting  the  manufacture  of  manures  in  a 
small  way,  by  all  our  farmers,  and  the  saving  of  an  enormous 
amount  of  material  which  annually  goes  to  waste  for  want  of  a  lit- 
tle care  and  a  little  instruction,  it  is  desirable  to  place  in  their 
hands  a  few  simple  compost  formulae,  applicable  anywhere  in  the 
State,  and  calling  only  for  such  materials  as  are  generally  accessi- 
ble. 

Here  are  two  which  should  be  prepared  in  summer  or  fall,  to  be 
used  the  following  spring;  the  materials  may  be  either  thoroughly 
mingled  and  then  thrown  into  heaps,  or  laid  down  in  alternate 
strata : 

Formula  1.  Peat,  1  cord. 

Ashes,  10  bush. 

For  ashes  may  be  substituted  twice  the  quantity  of  marl,  or  of 
leached  ashes. 

Formula  2.  Peat,  3  cords. 

Lime,  5  bush. 

Salt,  1     " 

For  peat  may  be  substituted  muck,  leaf  mold,  pond  mud,  &c. 
Dissolve  the  salt,  slake  the  lime  with  the  solution,  and  then  mix 
with  the  peat,  &c. 

The  following  may  be  prepared  in  any  season,  and  in  warm  wea- 
ther will  be  ready  for  use  in  two  or  three  weeks ;  over-heating 
should  be  prevented  by  watering  and  occasional  turning  : 

•  Formula  3.  Peat,  2  cords. 

Stable  Manure,    1  cord. 

This  will  give  three  cords,  nearly  as  rich  as  stable  manure  itself. 

Formula  4.  „   Peat,  10  bush. 

Night-soil,  1     " 


412  THE   SOUTHERN  [July 

For  night-soil  may  be  substituted  the  same  quantity  of  guano 
(Peruvian),  hen  manure,  cotton  seed  meal,  fish,  fish-offal,  or  any 
putrescent  animal  matter.  A  dead  horse  will  convert  5  cords  of 
peat  into  excellent  manure,  sufficient  to  enrich  an  acre  of  land. 

Formula  5.  Straw,  3  tons. 

Ashes,  3  bush. 

Plaster,  1     " 

Night-soil,  5     " 

Salt,  i     " 

The  result  will  be  nearly  equal  to  so  much  guano.  For  straw 
may  be  substituted  leaves,  weeds,  potato  vines,  corn  stalks,  Chinese 
cane,  &c. 

Plaster  is  an  excellent  addition  to  any  of  the  above  formulae. 
To  any  of  them  also  may  be  added,  with  great  advantage,  yard 
sweepings,  scrapings  of  hen-house,  smoke-house  and  privy,  kitchen 
and  chamber  slops,  animal  offal  of  all  sorts,  soot,  ashes,  waste  brine, 
&c. ;  all  of  which  are  turned  to  valuable  account,  instead  of  being 
allowed  to  pollute  the  air  by  their  noxious  exhalations,  and  to  poison 
the  wells  by  their  teachings,  as  so  often  happens,  especially  in 
towns.  These  may  seem  small  matters,  but  they  are  not  so  to  those 
who  look  for  the  "causes  of  things/'  and  cannot  be  so  regarded  by 
any  to  whom  the  health  and  wealth  of  society  are  not  also  such. 

Perhaps  you  will  not  consider  it  an  intrusion  if  I  add  a  few  sug- 
gestions on  the  subject  of  the  revival  of  Agricultural  Societies  in 
the  State,  and  the  best  means  of  promoting  the  ends  which  your 
Society  has  in  view. 

I  desire  to  call  your  attention  to  some  considerations  on  the  pro- 
priety of  organizing  three  subordinate  Agricultural  Societies,  cor- 
responding to  the  three  natural  divisions  of  the  State,  viz ;  East- 
ern, Middle  and  Western.  These  regions  are  as  diverse  in  their 
leading  geographical,  climatic  and  agricultural  features  as  if  sepa- 
rated by  half  a  continent.  The  eastern  division  is  characterized 
by  the  prevalence  of  level  or  slightly  undulating  plains,  and  by 
peaty,  alluvial  and  sandy  soils ;  the  middle,  by  a  rolling  and  hilly 
surface,  and  clayey  and  gravelly  granite  soils ;  the  western,  by  a 
succession  of  lofty  mountain  ranges,  with  infinite  cross-chains  and 
spurs,  intersected  and  divided  by  narrow  valleys  and  elevated  pla- 
teaus, with  various  soils,  generally  gravelly  and  open,  often  clayey. 
And  these  differences  are  accompanied  by  climatic  features  quite  as 
distinctive,  the  western  section  being,  in  this  respect,  as  strongly 
diverse  from  the  eastern  as  the  latter  is  from  New  York.     And  it 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  413 

is  apparent  that  the  agricultural  products,  the  modes  and  imple- 
ments of  cultivation,  the  means  and  scurces  of  fertilization — in  a 
•word,  all  those  matters  which  constitute  the  staple  of  the  discussions 
of  Agricultural  Societies,  must  show  a  corresponding  diversity. 
What  interest,  e.  g.,  have  the  farmers  of  Buncombe  in  the  discus- 
sion and  experimentation  of  marls  and  peat,  or  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  scuppernong  or  cotton  ?  And  on  the  other  hand,  why  should ' 
the  farmer  of  Edgecombe  or  Perquimans  waste  his  time  in  studying 
the  conditions  of  stock-raising,  or  the  manufacture  of  cheese,  but- 
ter, &c.  ? 

The  suggestion  I  would  make  is,  that  the  leading  farmers  of  the 
middle  section  of  the  State — Mecklenburg,  Guilford,  Orange,  &c. — 
unite  their  influence  and  efforts  to  form  a  Society  for  the  discussion 
and  development  of  those  points  which  are  common  to  the  farming 
interests  of  those  counties,  such  as  the  proper  selection  and  rota- 
tion of  crops,  the  best  method  of  renovating  exhausted  soils,  the 
kinds,  sources,  manufacture,  cost,  transportation  and  modes  of  use 
of  fertilizers,  &c. ;  while  a  similar  association  of  farmers  in  the  east 
take  up  such  subjects  as  market-gardening,  the  utilization  of  marls, 
peat,  &c,  the  cultivation  of  the  vine,  and  other  matters  of  special 
importance  to  the  agriculture  of  this  region  ;  while  in  the  west  they 
will  naturally  occupy  themselves  with  cattle,  fruit,  dairy  farming, 
&o. 

There  would  remain  a  large  residuum  of  subjects,  whose  interest 
is  as  wide  as  the  limits  of  the  State,  which  would  belong  to  the  pro- 
per province  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society.  Among  these  may 
be  mentioned  agricultural  education,  the  Agricultural  College,  the 
conduct  of  a  State  Agricultural  paper,  the  introduction  of  agricul- 
tural implements  and  machinery ;  the  manufacture,  transportation 
and  inspection  of  fertilizers,  the  whole  matter  of  immigration  and 
labor,  the  requisite  changes  in  our  system  of  farming  and  the  like. 

You  will  no  doubt  agree  with  me  that  it  is  time  to  consider  these 
matters  in  a  practical  way,  with  a  view  to  immediate  and  effectual 
action. — W.  C.  Kerr,  in  the  Raleigh  Sentinel. 


Will  Lime  Kill  Sorrell? 

Several  agricultural  papers  have,  during  the  past  year,  published 
a  short  and  comprehensive  article  on  the  exterminating  of  sorrel. 
The  method  is  to  apply  lime.  The  author  of  the  article  arrived  at 
the  conclusion  that  lime  would  kill  sorrel,  by  some  such  syllogistic 
reasoning  as  this:  Plants  get  their  sustenance  from  the  soil.     Sor- 


414  THE  SOUTHERN  [July 

rel  contains  an  acid  ;  hence  an  acid  is  in  the  soil.  An  acid  is  neu- 
tralized by  an  alkali ;  hence  lime  will  prevent  the  growth  of  sorrel. 
The  trouble  about  this  reasoning  is,  that  it  abounds  with  too  glaring 
generalities  to  be  of  any  value.  Oxalic  acid,  which  is  a  peculiar 
principle  found  in  sorrel,  is  not  likely  to  be  a  constituent  of  the  soil 
on  which  the  plant  grows,  but  is  produced  from  other  substances 
taken  from  the  soil  or  air  by  the  action  of  the  vital  force  of  the 
plant.  It  is,  in  short,  a  product  of  the  growth  of  certain  plants, 
sorrel  among  the  number,  just  as  sugar  is  a  product  of  the  corn 
stalk,  opium  of  the  poppy,  and  oil  of  the  flax  seed  or  the  castor  bean. 
If  sugar,  opium  and  oil  existed  in  the  soil,  the  plants  that  abound 
in  them  at  certain  stages  of  their  maturity  would  not  profit  by  their 
presence  since  they  could  take  them  up,  only  after  they  were  de- 
composed. We  presume,  too,  that  sorrel  would  not  thrive  any  bet- 
ter on  oxalic  acid  than  poppies  would  on  pure  opium,  while  castor 
beans  would  show  as  much  repugnance  to  castor  oil  as  invalids  do. 
Nor  is  it  probable  that  oxalic  acid  would  long  remain  in  any  soil 
undecomposed,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  unstable  of  compounds,  and 
chemists  find  it  very  difficult  to  keep  it  from  decomposing. 

A  writer  in  the  Farmers  Gazette  contends  that  the  growth  of 
sorrel  is  caused  by  the  presence  of  carbonic  oxide  in  the  air,  instead 
of  carbonic  acid.  He  argues  this  from  the  composition  of  oxalic 
acid,  which  is  the  peculiar  ingredient  of  the  sorrel  plant,  and  from 
which  it  derives  its  scientific  name.  According  to  this  theory,  ex- 
cess of  carbon  in  the  soil  and  a  disproportionate  amount  of  oxygen 
circulating  through  it,  would  tend  to  develop  the  growth  of  sorrel, 
because  the  carbon  would  be  imperfectly  oxydized.  To  prevent  this 
pest  or  to  kill  it  out,  we  should  then  cause  a  free  circulation  of  air 
through  the  soil  by  deep  tilling  and  drainoge.  The  application  of 
quick  lime  would  not  effect  this  result,  as  it  would  result  in  abstract- 
ing the  free  carbonic  acid  from  the  air,  and  the  formation  of  car- 
bonate of  lime.  The  presence  of  protoxyd  of  iron  in  the  soil  would 
also  encourage  its  growth,  since  it  would  abstract  oxygen  from  the 
air  and  become  converted  into  the  sesquioxyd  or  the  peroxyd  of 
iron.  So,  too,  the  presence  of  iron  pyrites — sulphuret  of  iron — 
would  tend  to  the  same  result,  because  both  the  sulphur  and  the 
iron  would  abstract  oxygen  from  the  air  more  readily  than  carbon 
does,  and  the  two  substances,  becoming  oxydized  to  different  de- 
grees, would  unite  to  form  the  sulphate  of  iron  or  copperas.  Simi- 
lar results  would  take  place  when  other  sulphides  are  exposed  to 
the  action  of  the  atmosphere. 

According  to  the  above  mentioned  theory,  the  application  of 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  415 


ashes,  or  any  form  of  soda  or  potash,  would  result  unfavorably  to 
the  killing  out  of  sorrel ;  as  their  first  action  is  to  absorb  carbonic 
acid,  and  to  pass  either  into  the  form  of  a  carbonote  or  bi-carbon- 
ate.  It  is  true  that  in  time,  after  the  carbonate  of  lime,  soda  and 
potash  have  been  worked  into  the  earth,  the  carbonic  acid  may  be 
liberated  from  the  bases,  in  consequence  of  the  action  of  some 
stronger  acid,  like  humic  acid.  Thus  the  secondary  effect  of  the 
application  of  alkalies,  like  those  we  have  mentioned,  may  be  favor- 
able to  the  growth  of  sorrel,  by  causing  a  growth  of  better  plants 
to  spring  up,  which  will  respire  carbonic  acid  from  the  air,  and  in 
turn  exhale  oxygen ;  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  would 
not  be  the  direct  effect  of  alkalies  on  the  growth  of  sorrel. 

Many  have  the  idea  that  oxalic  acid  exists  in  the  soil,  and  that 
the  office  of  lime  or  other  caustic  bases  is  to  sweeten  the  soil  by 
combining  with  it ;  but  nothing  is  farther  from  the  fact  than  this. 
And  even  if  this  was  the  case,  it  would  not  follow  that  the  applica- 
tion of  alkalies  would  prevent  the  growth  of  plants  containing  it, 
since  oxalic  acid  exists  in  sorrel,  in  the  form  of  oxalate  of  potash, 
and  in  lichen  it  is  found  in  combination  with  lime.  Lichens  contain 
a  larger  proportion  of  oxalic  acid  than  does  sorrel,  and  still  it  is 
not  unusual  to  find  them  growing  in  crevices  of  lime-quarries,  and 
it  is  said  that  the  marble  pillars  of  the  ancient  Pantheon  at  Athens 
are  covered,  for  a  considerable  distance,  with  a  growth  of  lichens, 
the  lime  of  the  wrought  marble  obviously  contributing  to  their  sus- 
tenance. 

It  is  certain  then  that  the  application  of  an  alkali  will  not  work 
the  change  that  is  expected  of  it — that  it  will  not  play  the  part  of 
an  antidote. 

Still  we  think  there  is  reason  to  argue  that  the  use  of  any  alka- 
lies will  greatly  help  to  eradicate  plants  which  contain  the  salts  of 
oxalic  acid,  by  encouraging  the  growth  of  useful  plants.  But  it 
must  be  admitted  that  the  way  in  which  it  operates  to  bring  about 
this  change  is  somewhat  obscure,  and  that  its  method  of  action  can 
not  be  pointed  out  with  the  precision  that  characterizes  an  ordinary 
chemical  formula. 

We  are  not  prepared  to  indorse  or  to  dissent  from  the  theory 
that  plants  abounding  in  oxalic  acid  owe  their  development  to  the 
presence  of  carbonic  oxyd  in  the  air.  Chemists  are  by  no  means 
united  in  the  opinion  that  this  gas  is  produced  by  the  natural  decay 
of  vegetable  matter;  and  the  majority  of  them  are,  we  think,  op- 
posed to  the  theory.  There  is  a  strong  disposition  in  all  substances 
that  admit  of  several  degrees  of  oxydation  to  pass  from  the  lower 


416  THE  SOUTHERN  [July 

to  the  higher  forms  in  the  presence  of  atmospheric  air.  Thus  the 
protoxyd  of  iron  will  pass  into  the  peroxyd,  and  sulphurous  acid 
into  sulphuric  acid. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  carbonic  oxyd  is  generated  in 
large  quantities  in  the  combustion  of  both  bituminous  and  anthra- 
cite coal,  and  to  some  extent  in  the  combustion  of  other  sorts  of 
fuel.  Nor  do  we  consider  it  improbable  that  the  gas  may  be  set  free 
from  carbon  during  the  operation  of  slow  decay.  'Some  time  must 
necessarily  elapse  before  this  gas  would  take  on  another  equivalent 
oxygen,  so  that  it  is  probable  that  it  will  find  its  way  to  plants  be- 
fore it  is  converted  into  carbonic  acid. 

Admitting,  for  argument's  sake,  that  such  is  the  philosophy  of 
the  growth  of  sorre],  lichens,  and  other  forms  of  vegetation  that 
contain  oxalic  acid,  let  us  see  if  we  can  prevent  the  formation  of 
the  gas  on  which  they  feed.  It  is  plain  that  we  can  accomplish 
this  by  oxydizing  the  carbon  of  the  soil  to  a  greater  degree  than  is 
now  done.  Mechanically,  we  can  expect  much  by  draining,  deeper 
tilling,  and  exposing  the  soil  to  the  action  of  the  air  and  light. 

But  what. can  we  add  to  the  soil  to  produce  any  chemical  result? 
We  think  none  of  the  substances  that  have  been  recommended,  we 
should  have  greater  faith  in  than  the  application  of  nitric  acid,  or 
some  of  the  salts  that  are  derived  from  it,  as  the  nitrate  of  soda, 
or  nitrate  of  ammonia.  Both  of  these  salts  have  been  used  to  some 
extent  in  Europe  for  agricultural  purposes,  with  the  most  happy  re- 
sults. Nitric  acid  is  a  most  powerful  oxydizer,  and  is  used  for  that 
purpose  in  most  operations  in  the  laboratory.  These  substances 
must,  of  course,  be  used  very  sparingly — the  nitrates  pulverized 
and  dusted  on  the  soil  broadcast,  or  dissolved  with  much  water,  and 
applied  with  a  sprinkler.  The  nitric  acid  should  also  be  used  very 
sparingly — that  is,  diluted  with  several  hundred  times  its  volume  of 
water. — Prairie  Farmer. 


Cooked  Food  for  Hogs. 

My  first  experiment  was  with  old  corn,  in  three  forms,  viz : 
shelled  and  fed  whole;  ground  and  made  into  slop  with  cold  water; 
and  ground  and  thoroughly  cooked. 

The  pigs,  five  in  number,  were  from  the  same  litter,  and  were 
the  produce  of  a  good  common  sow  crossed  with  a  Berkshire  boar. 

In  each  case  the  food  was  given  them  as  fast  as  consumed,  and 
all  possible  care  taken  to  avoid  any  waste  or  irregularity  of  feed- 
ing ;  in  every  case  of  a  change  of  food  three  days  were  allowed  be- 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  417 


fore  the  weighing  for  the  experiment,  in  order  that  the  effect  of  a 
sudden  and  entire  change  of  diet  might  not  affect  the  result. 

I  found  that  five  bushels  of  whole  corn  made  forty-seven  and 
three-fourths  pounds  of  pork.  Five  bushels  (less  miller's  toll)  of 
corn,  ground  and  made  into  thick  slop  with  cold  water,  made  fifty- 
eight  and  a  half  pounds  of  pork.  The  same  amount  of  meal,  well 
boiled  and  fed  cold,  made  eighty-three  and  a  half  pounds  of  pork. 

With  the  whole  corn  the  pigs  had  the  slops  from  the  kitchen  (no 
milk),  and  for  drink  with  the  boiled  mush,  one  or  two  quarts  were 
thinned  with  cold  water  or  slop  from  the  house ;  in  each  case  the 
house  slop  was  used  in  some  form  or  other,  but  all  the  milk  was  re- 
served for  small  pigs.  The  fifteen  bushels  of  corn  cost  one  dollar 
and  thirty  cents  per  bushel ;  and  you  will  notice  that  while  the 
pork  made  from  the  whole  corn  barely  paid  for  the  corn,  that  from 
the  same  amount  of  ground  corn  cooked  paid  the  whole  cost  of  the 
corn  and  a  little  more  than  one  dollar  per  bushel  over,  and  that  the 
economy  of  grinding  and  making  into  slop  will  fully  warrant  the 
extra  trouble  and  expense.  How  could  it  be  otherwise,  when  the 
whole  economy  of  profitable  feeding  consists  in  bursting  or  break- 
ing the  indigestible  hull  which  incloses  the  minute  particles  of  food  ? 

In  the  above  experiment  the  data  are  based  upon  pork  at  four- 
teen dollars  per  hundred  weight  and  corn  at  one  dollar  and  thirty 
cents  per  bushel ;  but  it  will  apply  as  well  to  other  prices. 

The  second  experiment  was  exclusively  with  new  corn,  in  two 
forms,  viz :  on  the  ear,  and  shelled  and  ground  before  boiling;  and 
all  in  each  case  was  what  we  know  as  "  nubbins"  or  soft  corn.  The 
best  of  this  class  of  corn  was  reserved  for  the  pigs  and  the  worst 
fed  to  the  cattle.  Ten  bushels  on  the  cob  made  twenty-nine  and  a 
half  pounds  of  pork,  fed  in  the  usual  way,  on  the  ground.  The 
same  amount  shelled,  ground  by  horse-power,  and  well  boiled,  made 
sixty-four  pounds  of  pork.  Of  course  a  portion  of  that  fed  on  the 
ear  was  wasted ;  but  it  is  the  common  plan,  and  forms  but  a  fair 
test  of  the  comparative  merits  of  cooked  food.  I  have  made  no  ex- 
periment with  sound,  new  corn,  but  may  have  a  favorable  opportu- 
nity before  the  season  is  past ;  but  would  suppose  my  experiment 
with  old  corn  would  form  a  good  criterion  to  judge  by. 

I  have  found  that  there  is  economy  in  allowing  the  food  to  be- 
come thoroughly  cold  before  it  is  fed ;  that  in  this  state  a  larger 
amount  will  be  eaten,  with  more  apparent  good  appetite  ;  that  while 
scalding  is  beneficial,  thorough  and  prolonged  cooking  under  pres- 
sure is  more  economical.  In  more  than  one  case  I  fastened  the 
lids  of  the  barrels  down  until  the  pressure  was  as  high  as  five 
vol.  m — 27 


418  THE   SOUTHERN  [July 

pounds  per  square  inch  in  the  barrel  and  steamer,  and  an  examina- 
tion into  the  condition  of  the  food  convinced  me  that  its  globules 
were  thoroughly  burst,  and  it  was  all,  or  nearly  all,  rendered  avail- 
able. During  a  given  time,  the  same  pigs  will  consume  rather  more 
corn  cooked  than  uncooked. — Practical  Farmer. 


Deep  Ploughing  in  Autumn. 

There  is,  probably,  no  one  of  the  labors  of  the  farm,  about  which 
there  is  so  much  controversy  and  such  diversity  of  opinion,  as  that 
of  ploughing.  We  believe  that  if  the  question  were  asked  to-day 
of  ten  farmers,  which  method  of  ploughing,  whether  deep  or  shal- 
low, in  autumn  or  spring,  they  believed  to  be  most  desirable,  not 
three  of  them  would  agree  on  any  particular  system,  but  each  would 
furnish  a  theory  of  his  own,  that  would,  in  some  cases,  be  entirely 
opposed  to  those  of  some  of  the  others ;  and  this  goes  to  show  that 
ploughing  is  a  labor  entirely  dependent  upon  circumstances  of  soil 
and  crop,  and  that  no  arbitrary  rule  can  be  made  to  apply  to  all 
cases.  We  believe  that  the  weight  of  opinion  is,  that  in  autumn, 
on  a  majority  of  soils,  deep  ploughing  is  preferable  to  shallow ;  and 
in  spring  that  six  inches  is  in  most  cases  the  greatest  depth  advisa- 
ble ;  and  when  we  look  carefully  into  the  matter,  we  readily  dis- 
cover why  this  should  be. 

Frost  is  a  well  known  disintegrator  and  ripener  of  soils,  and 
when  they  have  been  exposed  to  its  action,  its  beneficial  effect  upon 
them  has  always  been  apparent.  On  all  qualities  of  soil  has  this 
been  noticeable.  * 

Now  if  we  have  a  green  sward  overlaying  a  heavy  clay  subsoil, 
if  the  latter  were  not  broken,  we  can  easily  see  that,  acting  as  it 
does,  as  a  perfect  water  shed,  entirely  unabsorbent,  the  falling 
moisture  must,  of  necessity,  remain  collected  in  the  upper  soil,  the 
effect  of  which  would  be  to  render  it  cold  and  sour ;  but  if  the  clay 
be  broken  in  fall  by  a  judicious  deep  ploughing,  (even  subsoiling,  if 
it  is  broken  in  its  place,  and  not  thrown  to  the  surface,)  Ave  can  see 
that,  as  clay  when  broken  is  very  absorbent,  the  effect  must  be  to 
warm  and  mellow  the  upper  soil,  and  even  deepen  it,  the  frost  me- 
chanically amalgamating  the  strata  to  a  considerable  extent. 

We  do  not,  of  course,  wish  to  be  understood  as  recommending 
deep  ploughing  on  all  heavy  lands,  for  when  they  are  not  thoroughly 
drained  it  is  undesirable,  and  even  to  be  avoided ;  but  where  tho- 
rough drainage  has  been  attained,  we  believe  that  the  heavy,  clayey 


1869,]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  410 

subsoil  should  be  broken,  and  the  whole  exposed  to  the  action  of  the 
winter's  frosts. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  at  Concord, 
last  winter,  this  matter  of  fall  ploughing  was  fully  discussed,  and 
the  weight  of  opinion  decidedly  seemed  in  favor  of  deep  ploughing 
of  heavy  lands.  Mr.  Hubbard,  of  Brimfield,  found  in  his  expe- 
rience in  the  cultivation  of  certain  crops,  that  the  fall  is  the  best 
time  to  plough  the  ground ;  he  thought  that  all  will  concede  the 
fact,  that  the  land,  if  it  is  heavy,  clayey  soil,  can  be  worked  much 
earlier  in  the  spring  by  putting  the  manure  on,  and  ploughing  it  in 
the  fall.  He  did  not  care  how  soon  it  is  put  on  after  the  crop  is 
taken  off;  his  advice  was  to  "spread  it  on,  plough  it  in  ;  and  so  far 
as  my  experience  goes,  I  have  got  a  better  crop  in  that  way  than 
by  allowing  the  land  to  remain  until  spring,  and  then  putting  the 
manure  on  and  ploughing  it  in." 

Mr.  Ward,  of  Monson,  thought  that  much  depends  upon  the 
ground  to  be  ploughed,  whether  it  is  ploughed  in  the  fall.  "  If 
you  have  a  tough,  hard  piece  of  ground  that  jou.  desire  to  break 
up,  it  is  better  to  plough  in  the  fall ;  the  frost  has  considerable  ef- 
fect upon  the  hard  soil,  and  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  very  great 
loss  by  the  wind  blowing  off  the  surface  soil.  I  think  a  light  soil 
may  as  well  be  ploughed  in  the  spring  as  in  the  fall." 

Mr.  Thatcher,  of  Lee,  in  speaking  of  deep  ploughing,  in  describ- 
ing a  subsoil  attachment  for  a  plough,  said  ;  "  We  are  now  using  in 
southern  Berkshire,  a  plough  which  turns  over  the  sod  from  six. to 
seven  inches,  with  a  subsoil  attachment  running  from  two  to  four 
inches,  which  still  does  not  lift  the  virgin  soil  the  first  year  to  the 
surface.  This  attachment  running  behind  the  mould  board  to  the 
depth  of  four  inches,  usually  stirs  the  whole  width  of  the  furrow  to 
that  depth  after  we  have  turned  over  the  sod. 

"Our'idea  is,  that  by  loosening  the  subsoil  by  this  attachment 
we  enable  the  rains  to  soak  down  through,  which  they  would  not 
do,  our  subsoil  being  clay,  (which  will  not  take  in  water  unless  the 
earth  was  loosened,)  and  our  corn  root's"  run  down  there  to  get  their 
moisture.  The  effect  of  the  manure  is  felt  there ;  and  the  second 
year,  when  we  come  to  plough  up  again  after  this  stirring  of  the 
subsoil,  we  drop  our  plows  down  and  throw  up  part  of  it.  I  think 
we  certainly  in  our  northern  country  derive  a  benefit  by  stirring 
the  soil  the  first  year,  and  very  great  benefit  without  lifting  it  to 
the  surface,  and  then  lifting  it  to  the  surface,  and  mixing  it  in  the 
succeeding  ploughing.  I  have  in  my  mind  now  a  six  acre  piece, 
which  would  not  half  feed  a  cow  through  the  season.     We  could 


420  THE  SOUTHERN  [July 

not  get  more  than  four  or  five  inches  of  soil  before  we  came  to  a 
hard  clay  subsoil,  that  retained  the  water  upon  it,  making  the  land 
cold,  backward  and  sour.  After  ditching  that  land,  and  putting  in 
some  under-drains,  (which,  of  course,  benetted  it,  without  plough- 
ing,) we  commenced  ploughing  this  land  in  this  way  to  get  a  deeper 
soil ;  not  using  the  subsoil  attachment  that  time,  because  we  did 
not  have  it,  but  using  a  common  plough,  following  the  furrow  after- 
wards, and  lifting  one  or  two  inches  at  a  time.  I  am  speaking 
within  bounds  when  I  say  that  the  second  year  the  crop  of  corn 
paid  twice  over  for  the  labor  of  ditching  and  double  ploughing.  It 
is  as  good  a  piece  of  land  now,  I  think,  as  can  be  found  in  the  town 
of  Lee." 

Deep  ploughing  of  heavy  lands,  then,  with  clayey  subsoils,  is  to 
be  recommended  in  autumn,  and  a  plough  which  turns  the  sod  and 
lifts  and  breaks  the  subsoil,  permitting  it  to  fall  back  into  its  place, 
without  bringing  it  to  the  surface,  is  the  implement  which  seems 
most  desirable. 

Sward  land  with  a  gravelly  subsoil  may  also  be  broken  up  in 
autumn,  and  it  is  even  to  be  recommended ;  but  it  does  not  seem  so 
essential  to  us  as  with  the  other. 

Stirring  the  subsoil  is  also  in  this  case  desirable,  although  it 
should  not  be  brought  to  the  surface.  It  is  well  known  that  lands 
with  a  sandy  or  gravelly  subsoil  lose  their  moisture  sooner  than 
others,  and  vegetation,  though  languishing  for  the  want  of  it,  can- 
not send  down  through  the  hard  firm  stratum  its  tender  roots  suffi- 
ciently deep  to  be  supplied.  If  it  is  stirred  and  loosened  to  the 
depth  of  five  or  six  inches  below  the  sward  the  result  must  be  ap- 
parent. 

We  believe  that  the  matter  of  subsoil  ploughing  has  not  been 
properly  understood,  or  has  too  often  been  conducted  in  a  careless, 
unsystematic  manner,  so  that  when  in  some  cases  it  has  produced 
unfavorable  results,  it  has  been  condemned  for  all  others ;  burying 
the  upper  matured  soil,  and  bringing  up  the  cold,  raw  subsoil  to  the 
surface,  seems  to  us  to  be  the*  great  evil  which  has  resulted  from  in- 
judicious deep  ploughing.  If  this  is  guarded  against  in  the  manner 
recommended  above,  we  cannot  see  any  objection  against,  and  can 
see  many  recommendations  for  its  practice. — Mass.  Ploughman. 


The  time  is  fast  coming  when  landed  proprietors  will  be  esteemed 
for  the  condition  of  their  acres  rather  than  for  the  extent  of  ter- 
ritory. 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  421 

New  Fodder  Plant. 

M.  Laslier,  of  Boston,  has  introduced  and  is  cultivating  a  plant 
which  he  is  confident  will  prove  to  be  a  great  acquisition  to  the  fod- 
der plants  now  commonly  grown  in  this  country.  This  is  the  Galega 
officinalis  of  the  botanist,  a  native  of  Spain,  and  first  introduced 
into  England  in  the  latter  part  of  the  16th  century.  It  belongs  to 
a  genus  of  hardy,  ornamental,  perennial-rooted,  herbaceous  plants, 
of  the  lotus  division  of  the  composite  order.  The  roots  consist  of 
many  strong  fibres,  frequently  jointed,  stems  numerous,  hollow, 
erect,  from  three  to  six  feet  high.  Its  flowers  are  produced  in  loose 
spikes  from  the  top  of  the  stem,  and  bloom  from  June  to  Septem- 
ber. The  pods  are  erect,  nearly  cylindrical,  from  five  to  eight 
seeded,  and  swollen  out  with  air.  The  color  of  the  flowers  is  light 
blue,  or  light  purple,  white,  or  variegated.  The  variety  with  which 
M.  Laslier  is  experimenting  is  white,  we  believe. 

The  plant  was  cultivated  many  years  ago  in  gardens  for  medici- 
nal purposes,  but  it  has  of  late  years  been  recommended  as  a  forage 
plant  for  cattle.  It  yields  a  large  bulk  of  produce.  Cattle  do  not 
appear  to  relish  it  at  first,  and  will  eat  it  but  sparingly  ;  but,  like 
many  other  feeding  substances,  it  is  thought  they  will  soon  learn  to 
like  it.  At  any  rate,  its  composition  shows  it  to  possess  a  high  nu- 
tritive value,  being  nearly  two  to  one  as  compared  with  good  hay; 
1.92  as  compared  with  lucerne.  A  distinguished  chemist,  Prof. 
Gaucheron,  of  Orleans,  France,  says  412,000  pounds  of  the  Galega 
officinalis  are  quite  equal  in  nutritive  value  to  200,000  pounds  of 
good  hay.  The  plant  grows  readily  in  most  soils.  It  maybe  man- 
ufactured into  paper. 

M.  Laslier  showed  us  plants  that  had  come  up  from  seeds  sown 
in  the  open  air  in  October  last.  They  were  about  four  inches  high, 
and  looked  not  very  unlike  young  clover  plants. — Massachusetts 
Ploughman. 


Sabbath  for  the  Working   Man. 

The  Sabbath  is  God's  special  present  to  the  working  man,  and 
one  of  its  chief  objects  is  to  prolong  his  life  and  preserve  efficient 
his  working  tone.  In  the  vital  system  it  acts  like  a  compensation- 
pond;  it  replenishes  the  spirits,  the  elasticity,  and  vigor  which  the 
last  six  days  have  drained  away,  and  supplies  the  force  which  is  to 
fill  the  six  days  succeeding ;  and  in  the  economy  of  existence,  it 
answers  the  same  purpose  as,  in  the  economy  of  income,  is  answered 
by  a  savings'  bank.     The  frugal  man  who  puts  aside  a  pound  to- 


422  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

day  and  another  pound  next  month,  and  who,  in  a  quiet  way,  is  al- 
ways putting  by  his  stated  pound  from  time  to  time,  when  he  grows 
old  and  frail,  gets  not  only  the  same  pounds  back  again,  but  a  good 
many  pounds  besides.  *  And  the  conscientious  man,  who  husbands 
one  day  of  existence  every  week,  who,  instead  of  allowing  the  Sab- 
bath to  he  trampled  and  torn  in  the  hurry  and  scramble  of  life, 
treasures  it  devoutly  up — the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  keeps  it  for  him, 
and  in  length  of  days  and  a  hale  old  age  gives  it  back  with  usury. 
The  savings'  bank  of  human  existence  is  the  weekly  Sabbath. — 
North  British  Review. 

The  Effects  of  Gathering  Clover  Seed  on  the  Fertility  of  the  Soil 
Shown— Value  of  Oil  Cake. 

I  planted  potatoes  this  year  on  clover  sod.  The  clover  last  year 
was  cut  for  hay,  and  afterwards  for  seed.  This  is  running  the  land 
pretty  hard,  but  as  nothing  is  exported  from  the  farm  except  the 
seed,  and  as  a  bushel  of  oil-cake  meal,  which  costs  about  $1.50, 
contains  more  fertilizing  ingredients  than  a  bushel  of  clover  seed, 
the  farm  is  benefitted  by  exchanging  the  clover  seed  for  oil-cake. 
But  unless  some  such  plan  as  this  is  adopted,  growing  clover  seed 
impoverishes  your  land.  Last  fall,  in  cutting  the  clover  seed,  a 
strip  about  the  width  of  the  machine  was  skipped,  and  you  can  now 
see  the  effect  on  the  potatoes.  They  are  far  better  than  on  the 
rest  of  the  field.  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  the  yield  was  one- 
third  or  ono-half  greater,  and  this  will  a  good  deal  more  than  pay 
for  the  clover  seed.  With  such  effects  it  is  not  surprising  that 
many  good  farmers  object  to  raising  clover  seed.  But  I  think  it  is 
nevertheless  true  that  if  the  money  obtained  for  the  seed  is  ex- 
pended in  oil-cake,  and  the  manure  returned  to  the  land,  there  is  a 
decided  gain.  You  do  not  see  the  effect,  however,  quite  so  soon  as 
if  the  clover  was  pastured  with  sheep,  or  ploughed  under. — Walks 
and  Talks  on  the  Farm,  in  American  Agriculturist. 


Let  us  Manufacture  our  own   Productions. 

The  nation  that  exports  its  crude  products  or  raw  material  for 
manufacturing  purposes,  and  imports  the  fabrics  manufactured  out 
of  them,  as  a  general  rule,  never  grows  rich. 

The  true  secret  of  national  wealth  is,  for  the  nation  to  manufac- 
ture its  own  productions,  thereby  impressing  upon  them  additional 
value  by  every  manufacturing  process  through  which  they  pa3s,  and 
retaining  the  profits  to  herself,  her  wealth  and  capital  increasing  in 
proportion  to  the  profits  realized,  both  in  the  growth  and  manufac- 
ture of  its  productions.  ■  W. 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND   FARMER.  423 


Improvement  of  Worn-out  Farms. 

BY   THE   HON.    GEO.    GEDDES. 

"  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  in  regard  to  a  class  of  men  who  have 
done  as  much,  if  not  more,  to  promote  the  agricultural  interests  of 
this  country  than  any  other,  and  yet,  since  my  earliest  recollection, 
they  have  been  sneeringly  called  Fancy  Farmers!  They  are  gen- 
erally mechanics,  manufacturers,  or  merchants  who  have  been  suc- 
cessful in  their  vocations,  and  who  have  invested  the  first  money 
they  could  spare  from  their  business  in  land,  and  in  making  im- 
provements upon  it.  They  may  occasionally  have  a  ditch  dug,  and 
find  that  the  water  runs  the  wrong  way,  but  this  hurts  nobody,  and 
gives  employment  to  those  who  need  it  for  the  support  of  their  fami- 
lies. They  do  not  watch  the  almanac,  and  discharge  their  work- 
men when  the  days  become  short,  but  employ  the  poor  when  the 
weather  and  the  hours  for  work  do  not  admit  of  a  compensating  re- 
turn, which  the  man  who  has  no  other  mean*  of  support  than  the 
product  of  his  farm  cannot  afford  to  do.  These  men  are  to  be 
found  in  almost  every  part  of  our  country,  and  may  be  known  by 
the  houses  for  their  workmen,  their  land,  and  their  out-buildings 
being  in  better  order  than  any  others  in  their  neighborhood.  They 
are  the  first  to  buy  what  is  called  improved  agricultural  machinery 
and  implements,  which  do  not  always  prove  so.  Not  being  depen- 
dent upon  their  farms,  they  can  afford  to  experiment;  sometimes 
they  are  successful,  sometimes  not;  but  when  they  are,  every  farmer 
gets  a  benefit  from  their  outlay.  It  is  largely  to  such  persons  that 
we  are  indebted  for  many  of  the  improvements  in  husbandry,  and 
still  they  are  sneeringly  called  Fancy  Farmers!" — [Address  of 
Thomas  H.  Faile,  President  of  the  New  York  State  Agricultural 
Societ}',  delivered  at  Albany  in  February,  1869. 

Mr.  Faile  brings  prominently  out,  in  the  foregoing  extract  from 
his  valedictory  address,  an  important  point  for  the  consideration  of 
those  of  us  who  have  spent  all  our  lives  on  farms,  working  hard  to 
improve  the  soil,  and  to  lay  up  a  competence  for  old  age. 

The  merely  practical  man  may  be  an  adept  in  the  handling  of 
tools,  and  he  may  become  highly  skilled  in  the  application  of  labor, 
so  as  to  produce  great  results  with  comparatively  small  means,  and 
thus  plume  himself  on  a  supposed  superiority  over  his  neighbor,  who 
makes  farming  a  recreation  and  a  pleasure  rather  than  a  business. 
He  is  prone  to  judge  his  neighbor  by  his  own  standards,  and  to  for- 
get that  in  one  case  farming  has  been  the  life  struggle  against  pov- 


424  THE  SOUTHERN  [July 

erty,  and  that  in  the  other  it  is  the  reward  of  successful  industry 
in  some  more  exciting  and  perilous  business.  I  once  asked  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  who  in  very  early  life  had  been  a  successful  sailor, 
■why  he  left  the  sea,  with  all  its  tempting  excitements,  and  settled 
down  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  The  answer  was,  "  T6  own  and 
cultivate  a  piece  of  solid  earth  is  the  dream  and  hope  of  most  men 
who  follow  the  seas,  and  I  took  the  earliest  time  that  my  savings 
would  allow  to  gratify  this  desire."  This  feeling  is  not  confined  to 
sailors,  but  is  to  be  found  in  every  branch  of  active  business.  Be- 
sides those  named  by  Mr.  Faile,  editors,  lawyers,  clergymen,  and 
all  who  live  lives  of  active  mental  labor,  are  apt  to  cast  longing 
eyes  to  green  fields  and  lowing  herds,  and  to  covet  the  bracing  air 
of  country  life.  When  the  very  few  of  these  men  that  ai;e  able  to 
carry  out  this  desire  plant  themselves  on  farms,  and  turn  those  same 
mighty  energies  that  conquered  success  in  the  other  walks  of  life  to 
the  less  exciting  but  still  more  important  business  of  cultivating  the 
earth,  they  are  very  apt  not  only  to  succeed,  but  to  become  models 
and  exemplars  in  their  new  calling. 

"William  Chamberlain,  of  Red  Hook,  Dutchess  county,  is  one  of 
these  men.  At  16  years  of  age  he  left  his  native  hills  in  Vermont, 
and  in  due  time  became  a  great  merchant,  having  ship*  on  many 
seas.  Industry,  integrity,  economy,  and  sagacity,,  in  due  time, 
reaped  its  harvest  of  wealth.  The  time  came  when  his  love  of  the 
country  and  the  farm  could  be  gratified ;  and  about  the  year  1840 
he  went  to  Red  Hook,  and  in  the  Winter,  when  snow  covered  the 
ground,  he  bought  a  large  farm.  His  eye  told  him  that  the  surface 
was  gently  rolling,  and  those  of  whom  he  inquired  told  him  that 
the  land  was  good.  The  place  was  near  enough  the  city  of  New 
York  to  be  reached  in  a  reasonable  time,  while  he  should  continue 
in  business  in  that  city,  so  he  purchased  what  proved  to  be  an  old 
Worn-out  Farm,  that  had  been  producing  hay  for  New  York  until 
it  had  arrived  at  that  condition  of  things  that  its  principal  produc- 
tion was  sorrel. 

The  year  1841  revealed  to  the  new  owner  the  true  condition  of 
things.  The  440  acres,  less  60  acres  of  wood  land,  leaving  380 
acres  under  what  was  called  cultivation,  yielded  seventeen  (17) 
loads  of  hay.  Forty  acres  of  rye  gave  10  bushels  to  the  acre;  25 
acres  of  corn  gave  20  bushels  to  the  acre ;  20  acres  of  oats  gave  15 
bushels  to  the  acre.  The  remainder  of  the  farm  was  in  what  was 
dignified  by  the  name  of  pasture,  which  proved  adequate  to  the 
grazing  of  one  span  of  horses,  two  pairs  of  oxen,  and  one  cow.  Not 
to  put  too  fine   a  point  on  the  matter,  our  friend  discovered  that 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  425 

mid-Winter  was  a  bad  time  for  judging  of  the  quality  or  condition 
of  land. 

For  a  more  perfect  understanding  of  this  case,  it  is  necessary  to 
add  to  what  has  been  said  of  the  farm  by  way  of  description,  that 
the  soil  is  generally  a  sandy  loam,  sand  strongly  predominating. 
There  was  a  swamp  of  many  acres  made  by  a  small  brook  and  some 
springs  nearly  in  the  middle  of  the  farm,  that  had  not  been  drained, 
and  that  was  so  miry  that  a  yearling  steer  could  not  cross  it. 
There  is  so  little  lime  in  the  soil  that  the  springs  and  wells  give 
what  is  called  soft  water — such  as  will  answer  for  washing  clothes. 
This  farm  lies  about  200  feet  above  the  Hudson  river,  its  center 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  distant  from  the  wharf  at  Barrytown,  and 
is  part  of  a  beautiful  plain  of  several  miles  in  width  and  length,  of 
gently  varying  surface,  and  on  which  stands  the  pleasant  little  vil- 
lage of  Red  Hook. 

According  to  the  standards  of  the  farmers  of  Livingston  county, 
or  of  Ohio,  this  land  never  was  first-rate.  There  is  too  much  sand, 
too  much  ground  up  granite  rock,  and  too  little  lime  in  it  to  place 
it  in  the  rank  of  the  best  lands  ;  and  a  miserable  system  of  farm- 
ing, or  rather  skinning,  had  taken  from  it,  by  1841,  all  that  it  ori- 
ginally Lhad  of  fertility.  It  was  so  poor  that  it  would  not  bear 
clover. 

We  can  imagine  Mr.  Chamberlain's  disappointment  on  finding 
out  the  real  state  and  condition  of  his  purchase.  Those  who  know 
the  man  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  he  did  not  surrender, 
but  that  he  addressed  himself  to  the  work  of  reconstruction  with  the 
same  energy  that  had  made  him  successful  as  an  importing  mer- 
chant; and  that  he  has  succeeded  in  making  this  worn-out  farm  so 
to  re-create  itself,  and  pay  its  own  way,  that  now  it  is  entitled  to 
rank  in  productive  power  with  the  best  lands  in  this  State.  I  will 
now  describe  the  process,  and  give  the  result. 

THE    PROCESS    OP   RECONSTRUCTION. 

A  few  sheep  were  purchased.  Leaves  from  the  wood  lands  were 
put  in  the  sheds,  and  the  sheep  fed  and  kept  on  these  leaves.  Thus 
all  the  manure  was  saved.  The  swamp  required  draining  as  the 
first  movement  toward  reclaiming  it.  Ditches  were  dug,  and  the 
muck  thrown  from  them  was  drawn  into  the  sheds,  and,  like  the 
leaves,  saved  the  manure  of  the  sheep.  Before  investing  much  la- 
bor in  handling  muck,  a  simple  but  conclusive  experiment  was  made 
to  test  the  question  of  its  value.  A  single  cart-load  that  in  the 
Spring  had  been  thrown  out  of  a  ditch,  was  drawn,  when  dry,  and 


426  THE  SOUTHERN  [July 

spread  over  four  rods  of  ground  then  prepared  for  a  crop  of  rye. 
This  load,  being  at  the  rate  of  40  to  the  acre,  produced  a  very 
marked  effect  on  the  clover  that  was  sown  the  next  Spring,  causing 
it  to  head  out  before  harvest,  while  all  around  there  was  little  to  be 
seen. 

The  manure  from  the  sheep  sheds  was  piled  in  the  Spring,  mixing  it 
thoroughly  with  the  leaves  and  muck.  The  straw,  corn-stalks,  and 
whatever  got  under  the  feet  of  the  sheep  was  also  put  into  the 
heap,  and  composted  and  made  as  fine  as  practicable  by  the  time 
the  land  for  rye  was  ready.  So  much  of  this  manure  as  was  fine 
enough  not  to  clog  the  harrow,  was  put  on  the  land  just  before  the 
rye  was  sown,  and  mixed  with  the  surface  by  the  same  process  that 
covered  the  seed.  The  coarsest  part  of  the  manure  pile  was  ploughed 
in  at  the  last  ploughing.  Four  quarts  of  timothy  seed  to  the  acre 
was  sown  on  the  rye  in  the  Fall,  and  the  next  Spring  six  quarts  of 
cloverseed  was  put  on  an  acre,  and  the  last  of  May  or  the  first  of 
June  one  and  a  half  bushels  of  Nova  Scotia  gypsum  was  sown  on 
an  acre.  The  manure  was  applied  in  light  dressings,  so  as  to  cover 
as  many  acres  as  it  was  thought  it  would  answer  to  secure  the 
growth  of  the  clover  and  grass. 

For  ten  years  the  owner,  being  absorbed  in  his  business  in  New 
York,  could  give  but  little  personal  attention  to  the  farm.  A  hired 
man  was  kept  on  it,  who  acted  under  general  instructions,  and  the 
process  was  but  slowly  going  on,  when,  about  1850,  improvement 
really  commenced  its  rapid  march.  From  that  time  till  now  Mr. 
Chamberlain  has  lived  on  the  farm  and  given  it  his  personal  atten- 
tion. On  land  not  manured  clover  would  not  grow.  Thus  the  ma- 
nure question  became,  from  the  start,  the  important  one.  Mr.  C. 
pays,  in  a  letter  before  me  :  "By  drawing  leaves,  weeds,  and  every 
thing  that  would  make  manure,  I  managed  to  have  a  nice  little  pile 
to  top-dress  my  Fall-sown  grain,  and  was  delighted  to  find  I  could 
raise  clover,  and  then  I  found  improvement  of  the  soil  quite  easy. 
I  have  purchased  very  little  manure  ;  have  tried  guano  and  phos- 
phate, but  was  dissatisfied  with  both ;  purchased  two  canal-boat 
loads  of  ashes  at  Syracuse,  and  found  them  good  for  clover;  but 
now  depend  for  my  manure  on  the  farm  supply,  and  calculate  to 
give  to  all  the  land  I  plough  a  small   supply  when  I  seed  it  down." 

In  personal  interviews  I  have  learned  that  guanos  and  super- 
phosphates have  been  fully  tested,  not  merely  by  the  observation  of 
the  eye,  but  by  measuring  products.  Super-phosphates  gave  corn 
a  great  start,  so  that  in  early  July  it  was  very  promising ;  but  at 
harvest  it  was  found  by  measurement  to  have  added  nothing  to  the 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  427 

grain,  or  from  appearances  to  the  stalks.  One-half  of  the  field  had 
the  super-phosphate  applied,  the  other  half  did  not  have  it. 

As  to  guano,  he  says  in  a  wet  season  it  did  great  good,  but  that 
in  a  dry  season  it  did  injury. 

The  ashes  made  from  wood  burned  in  the  manufacture  of  salt  at 
Syracuse  had  considerable  salt  and  much  of  the  impurities,  such  as 
sulphate  of  lime,  that  are  taken  from  the  water,  mixed  among  them, 
In  all,  25  or  30  acres  of  land  have  had  these  ashes  applied,  at  the 
rate  of  about  50  bushels  to  the  acre.  This  is  but  a  very  small  part 
of  the  whole  farm,  so  that  in  truth  farm -made  manure  has  done  the 
work.  Purchased  manures  have  only  had  their  value  tested,  and 
excepting  gypsum,  have  really  performed  no  other  part  than  to 
show  either  their  worthlessness  or  that  they  cost  too  much.  Gyp- 
sum has,  as  in  many  other  places,  proved  its  great  value  in  increas- 
ing the  growth  of  clover;  and  the  time  has  come  when  it  is  thought 
to  give  too  much  rankness  to  clover  on  this  farm  to  make  first-rate 
hay  for  sheep. 

SHEEP    AS    MANUFACTURERS    OF    MANURE. 

The  Spanish  proverb  that  says  that  where  the  sheep  treads  he 
produces  gold,  has  been  acted  upon,  and  proven  to  be  true,  by  Mr. 
Chamberlain.  He  has  fed  the  produce  of  his  farm  principally  to 
sheep,  selling  the  increase  and  the  wool  and  the  mutton  produced, 
rather  than  the  food  that  produced  it.  The  sheep  have,  in  the 
strictest  use  of  language,  been  used  as  machines  to  manufacture 
grain,  hay,  corn-stalks,  straw,  swamp-muck,  leaves  and  weeds  into 
material  to  recuperate  1his  once  exhausted  and  worn-out  farm  ;  and 
the  system  has  been  followed  with  an  unwavering  tenacity,  until  the 
result  has  been  fully  secured,  and  the  time  has  come  when  a  large 
surplus  is  produced"  that,  when  the  market  is  high,  finds  its  way 
to  it. 

How  Mr.  Chamberlain  came  to  know  that  sheep  were,  of  all  ani- 
mals, by  far  the  best  adapted  to  carry  out  his  determination  to  re- 
create this  farm,  I  do  not  know ;  but,  in  some  way,  he  found  this 
out  at  a  very  early  day. 

In  the  first  years  he  was  forced  to  use  the  common  sheep  of  this 
country ;  but,  desirous  to  have  something  better,  he  employed  what 
was,  and  still  is,  supposed  to  have  been  a  competent  person  to  se- 
lect a  flock  of  sheep  in  Spain,  and  imported  in  1849  from  Estrema- 
dura,  forty  in  number.  These  sheep,  though  every  effort  had  been 
made  to  procure  the  best,  did  not  give  satisfaction,  and  after  trial, 
were  condemned  and  sent  to  the  butcher.    This  satisfied  Mr.  Cham- 


428  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

berlain  that  Spain,  though  the  original  home  of  the  Merino,  was  no 
longer  the  place  from  which  to  procure  the  basis  of  a  first-rate 
flock  of  fine-wooled  sheep.  He  then  visited  Europe  in  person, 
and  made  a  thorough  examination  of  the  best  flocks  in  the  great 
wool-producing  countries ;  visiting,  among  others,  the  royal  flocks 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples.  In  Calabria  he  studied  the  manage- 
ment of  the  flocks  of  Merinoes  that  King  Bomba  had  cared  for,  as 
one  of  the  important  matters  of  State.  In  one  place  he  saw  600 
lambs,  none  of  them  two  days  old.  From  this,  some  idea  may  be 
formed  of  the  vastness  of  the  flocks.  He  also  visited  the  Merino 
flocks  of  France  and  Prussia,  purchasing  some  in  both  countries. 

From  time  to  time  further  importations  have  been  made  of  sheep 
selected  from  what  Mr.  Chamberlain  believes  to  be  the  best  flocks 
in  Europe.  The  French  sheep  have  all  been  disposed  of,  and  the 
flock  now  consists  entirely  of  sheep  that  have,  by  common  consent, 
received  the  name  of  Silesians. 

I  shall  not  attempt,  at^this  time,  any  minute  description  of  this 
somewhat  famous  flock  of  sheep,  nor  go  into  the  detail  of  the  man- 
agement. It  must  suffice  for  me  to  say  that  the  earlier  importa- 
tions were  a  cross  ^between  the  Infantado  and  Negretti  families, 
with  pedigrees  that  had  been  carefully  kept,  and  reached  back  to 
Spain,  whence  they  were  imported  in  1811,  and  before  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Spanish  flocks  had  been  completed  by  contending. ar- 
mies. Two  hundred  and  forty-six  sheep  were  imported  by  1856, 
all  coming  from  two  flocks  that  had  the  same  origin.  Other  impor- 
tations have  been  made — one  the  last  year.  The  later  importations 
have  all  been  pure  and  unmixed  Negretti,  Mr.  Chamberlain's  ma- 
tured judgment  leading  him  to  give  the  preference  to  this  branch 
of  the  Merino  family  over  all  others. 

During  the  season  of  grass,  the  sheep  are  turned  into  the  pas- 
tures after  the  grass  has  become  dry  in  the  morning,  and  before 
much  dew  has  fallen  at  night  they  are  brought  into  the  yards.  Of 
course  they  are  housed  during  all  storms,  and  are  under  cover  dur- 
ing night  time. 

The  flock  is  under  the  immediate  charge  and  management  of  Mr. 
Carl  Ileyne,  who  was  regularly  trained  and  educated  as  a  shepherd 
in  Silesia,  his  native  country.  Very  likely  Mr.  Heyne  has  no  su- 
perior as  a  flock  master  on  this  continent  or  any  other.  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain has  so  much  confidence  in  this  shepherd's  judgment,  that  he 
has  several  times  sent  him  to  Germany  to  select  and  bring  out 
sheep.  The  best  proof  of  great  skill  in  management  is  the  flock 
itself.     No  diseases  have  ever  attacked  it,  and  the  sheep  live  to  a 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  429 

great  age,  preserving  health  and  vigor  beyond  anything  that  has 
elsewhere  come  under  my  notice.  I  have  seen  in  February  more 
than  100  lambs,  from  a  few  hours  to  six  weeks  old,  in  a  single 
sheep-house  with  their  mothers.  None  had  died  from  the  whole 
number,  except  one  unfortunate  who  happened  to  have  some  de- 
formity, for  which  he  had  been  killed,  as  not  suitable  to  raise.  The 
death  of  a  lamb  is  a  very  rare  event  under  Mr.  Heyne's  manage- 
ment, and  one  of  the  largest  and  best  formed  sheep  I  have  seen  in 
the  flock  was  yeaned  by  a  mother  13  years  old. 

At  ni^ht  the  sheep  are  fed  hay  and  straw,  and  again  in  the 
morning.  Straw,  or  other  litter,  is  always  on  the  floors  of  the 
sheep-houses  in  sufficient  quantities  to  absorb  all  the  manure,  and  is 
by  the  sheep  itself  converted  into  manure. 

This  system  of  feeding  dry  food  at  night,  has  the  advantage  of 
promoting  health,  and,  as  all  experienced  feeders  of  farm  stock 
know,  it  suits  the  appetite  of  the  animals,  especially  when  grass  is 
fresh — and  the  great  point  of  working  straw,  leaves,  weeds,  and  all 
the  refuse  stuff  into  manure,  is  satisfactorily  accomplished.  Much 
pasture  is  saved  by  allowing  the  grass  to  grow  undisturbed  during 
so  great  a  portion  of  the  time;  and  thus  one  of  the  important 
points  of  soiling  is,  at  least  in  part,  gained. 

By  this  system  15  acres  of  pasture  is  made  to  carry  300  sheep, 
until  after  wheat,  &c,  has  been  harvested. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  is  a  believer  in  deep  ploughing,  and  often  re- 
news his  grass — seldom  allowing  a  piece  of  land  to  be  pastured 
more  than  three  years  from  the  seeding;  and  whenever  a  piece  of 
land  is  put  into  a  crop,  it  is  intended  to  put  on  it  manure,  so  as  to 
improve  it. 

LIME. 

In  1853,  twenty  acres  of  this  farm  was  treated  to  lime,  at  the 
rate  of  50  bushels  to  the  acre,  applied  in  the  Spring  on  inverted 
sod.  The  first  crop  was  not  improved,  but  ever  since  the  land  has 
been  better ;  but  Mr.  C.  says  the  cost  was  too  great  for  the  benefit 
received. 

To  sum  up  all  his  experience — Mr.  Chamberlain  says  that  rather 
than  purchase  special  manures,  except  gypsum,  and  he  had  no  muck 
on  his  farm,  he  wonld  go  to  the  road  sides  and  pare  off  the  turf 
and  compost  it  with  his  barn-yard  manure.  In  regard  to  swamp 
muck,  he  says  that  so  much  as  comes  from  near  the  surface,  only 
requires  to  dry  and  have  the  sun  of  one  Summer,  while  that  which 
is  dug  from  some  considerable  depth  should  be  composted  with  yard 
manure. 


430  THE   SOUTHERN  [July 

In  regard  to  housing  the  sheep  at  night,  the  question  may  be 
asked,  Is  not  this  too  much  trouble,  and  does  it  not  cost  too  much? 
Having  observed  this  management  for  some  years,  I  am  ready  to 
say  that,  all  things  taken  into  account,  there  is  no  system  whatever 
that  gives  so  satisfactory  results,  and  that  really  pays  so  well.  To 
give  my  reasons  for  this  opinion  would  require  too  much  space  to 
be  taken  now. 

The  plan  of  having  the  lambs  yeaned  during  December,  January 
and  February,  may  not  meet  the  approval  of  all  flock  managers* 
but  Mr.  Heyne  has  his  reasons,  and  to  my  mind  they  are  abun- 
dantly sufficient  to  sustain  the  wisdom  of  his  methods. 

I  have  now  made  the  way  clear  to  state  the 

RESULT  OF  MR.  CHAMBERLAIN'S   SYSTEM  OF  FARMING. 

Wheat  is  yet  an  uncertain  crop,  but  800  bushels  have  been  pro- 
duced in  a  single  crop  on  20  acres  of  land — an  average  of  40  bush- 
els to  the  acre  ;  but  this  was  his  fortunate  crop,  and  is  the  excep- 
tion. 

Let  us  take  the  year  18G6.  This  year  he  cut  800  loads  of  hay, 
which  he  and  his  men  believe  would  weigh  600  tons.  Hud  his 
whole  cultivated  land  been  in  one  grand  meadow,  consisting  of 
about  37G  acres,  he  would  have  cut  one  ton  and  six-tenths  to  the 
acre,  which  is  much  above  the  average  yield  of  the  meadows  of  this 
State.  But  his  farm  was  not  all  meadow.  He  had  that  year  about 
40  acres  of  Indian  corn,  that  was  estimated  to  yield  about  50  bush- 
els to  the  acre.  He  had  30  acres  of  wheat,  that  gave  15  bushels 
to  the  acre;  30  acres  of  oats  and  eight  acres  of  roots;  and  he 
summered  over  300  sheep. 

Making  reasonable  allowances  for  land  used  for  orchards,  gar- 
dens, yards  and  buildings — the  particulars  in  regard  to  which  I 
have  not  obtained — we  shall  find  that  the  productions  of  this  once 
worn-out  farm  have,  by  skillful  management,  been  raised  to  a  stan- 
dard that  would  probably  satisfy  a  farmer  of  the  famed  Scotia  Val- 
ley in  Ohio. 

The  stock  carried  through  last  winter  was  300  sheep  purchased 
for  feeding.  They  paid  $1  each  of  profit  over  and  above  the  mar- 
ket value  of  the  feed,  and  left  their  pile  of  manure  in  addition; 
He  also  fed  35  steers,  three  and  four  years  old,  and  12  oxen,  and 
also  wintered  his  flock  of  Silesians,  300  in  number,  his  teams, 
young  cattle  and  cows. 

CONCLUDING   REMARKS. 

I  think  I  have  now  fulfilled  a  promise  made  in  a  former  article, 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  431 

by  showing  how  an  old  worn-out  farm  has  been  made  to  bring  itself 
to  more  than  its  pristine  fertility.  I  have  used  an  example  to  show 
the  force  and  truth  of  Mr.  Failes'  position  taken  in  his  address. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  has  fairly  conquered  his  position,  so  that  the 
words  "fancy  farmer"  are  probably  no  longer  applied  to  him,  by 
even- the  most  inveterate  followers  of  ancient  routine  that  the  town 
of  Red  Hook  can  now  show.  They  see  the  once  miry  swamp  now 
thoroughly  drained  and  solid  ground,  bearing  the  weight  of  heavy 
crops  of  grass  or  grain,  and  the  sandy  uplands  fruitful  as  a  garden. 
But  has  all  this  paid?  Yes,  whether  we  consider  the  investment  as 
one  merely  looking  to  a  return  of  seven  per  cent,  on  cost,  or  in  the 
great  pleasure  such  a  victory  must  give.  It  pays  again  in  the  en- 
hanced value  given  the  farm,  if  we  consider  it  a  thing  to  be  some 
day  sold. 

The  example  that  I  have  thus  held  up  for  farmers  is  of  a  value 
that  I  shall  not  attempt  to  compute.  The  personal  gratification 
that  this  man  has  a  right  to  feel  can  be  imagined.  He  who  once 
sent  out  his  fleets  of  thirty  vessels  to  gather  or  distribute  the  mer- 
chandise of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  now  in  a  green  old  age  contem- 
plates the  work  of  his  hands  as  a  farmer  with  a  serenity,  and  dis- 
courses of  it  to  those  wrho,  though  to  the  "manner  born,"  come 
around  him  for  advice  with  a  modesty  that  becomes  greatness. — 
Fairmount,  -ZV".  Y.9  June  7,  1869. — New  York  Tribune. 


A  Steam  Plough, 

The  steam  plough  and  accompanying  apparatus,  imported  by  Col. 
Win.  E.  Patterson,  from  Leeds,  England,  was  put  in  operation  on 
Tuesday  last,  on  the  recent  purchase  of  that  gentleman  at  Atsion, 
New  Jersey. 

Col.  Patterson's  large  tract  of  land  in  that  locality  is  to  be  de- 
voted to  the  culture  of  sugar  beet.  As  the  soil  is  a  sandy  loam, 
closely  akin  to  that  in  which  the  French  have  been  so  successful  in 
the  sugar  beet  culture,  Col.  Patterson  sees  no  reason  why  a  profit 
cannot  be  realized  in  this  country  in  the  same  direction. 

The  test  of  this  steam  plough  was  made  in  the  presence  of  a 
considerable  congregation  of  people,  including  Gen.  Capron  of  the 
United  States  Agricultural  Bureau  at  Washington. 

The  machinery  is  by  no  means  complicated.  At  opposite  sites  of 
the  space  to  be  ploughed  are  two  steam  engines  upon  wheels.  On 
the  trial  on  Tuesday  they,  stood  three  hundred  yards  apart.     The 


432  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

plough  has  six  shares.  It  is  a  distinct  piece  of  mechanism,  and  is 
fastened  to  a  steel  wire  cable  extending  between  the  two  locomotives 
across  the  ground  to  be  turned  over.  It  is  literally  a  shuttlecock 
between  two  steam  battledores.  It  moves  at  the  speed  of  a  hun- 
dred yards  a  minute,  turning  six  furrows  a  foot  each  in  width,  and 
eight  inches  in  depth.  Its  average  work,  therefore,  is  twenty  acres 
per  day.  The  locomotives  are  sriug  machines,  capable  of  being 
applied  to  many  useful  purposes  independent  of  duty  as  steam- 
ploughers. 

A  man  rides  on  the  plough  as  it  crosses  the  soil. 

A  digging  machine  accompanies  the  plough,  intended  for  use  in 
soils  where  roots  and  stones  are  obstacles  to  the  course  of  the 
ploughshare.  This  is  a  wonderful  apparatus.  It  so  triturates  the 
stiffest  soil  that  a  Yankee  might  put  it  into  bladders  and  vend  it  as 
a  substitute  for  snuff. 

To  work  it  costs  extremely  little.  Anything  answers  as  fuel,  and 
at  the  rate  of  twenty  acres  per  day  a  large  estate  is  soon  put  under 
cultivation.  The  locomotives  are,  then,  ready  for  ordinary  duty  as 
steam  engines,  either  to  grind  or  thresh,  saw  or  mash. — Philadel- 
phia North  American, 


Straight  and  Crooked  Streams. 

"When  doctors  disagree,  who  shall  decide?" 

Messrs,  Editors, — Having  been  interested  with  the  perusal  of 
the  recent  discussion  in  the  Southern  Planter  and  Farmer,  relative 
to  the  merits  of  straight  and  crooked  streams,  suffer  me  to  make  a 
few  remarks  relative  thereto. 

The  question  at  issue  is,  are  not  the  small  streams,  in  their  origi- 
nal state,  governed  by  the  same  natural  laws  as  are  the  rivers  ?  If 
so,  crooked  streams  are  in  accordance  with  the  general  laws  of  na- 
ture. This  position  has  not  been  disproved,  nor  indeed  can  it  be. 
Art  has  been  called  to  the  assistance  of  nature  as  applied  to  this 
subject,  but  with  what  effect  let  the  present  state  of  our  bottom 
lands  testify.  Facts  are  stubborn  things,  and  cannot  be  invalidated 
by  either  preconceived  opinions  or  theoretical  disquisitions. 

Respectfully,  R.  W. 

Prince  Edward  Co.,  June  22,  18C9. 


Some  one  estimates,  we  do  not  know  from  what  data,  that  there 
are  37,000,000  hogs  in  the  United  States. 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  433 


iortieultaral  Department. 


JOHN  M.  ALLAN, Editor. 

Strawberry  Exhibition  of  the  Horticultural  and  Pomological  Society. 

We  append  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Examination,  upon 
the  strawberries  exhibited  on  the  27th  of  May  at  St.  Alban's  Hall. 
As  we  said  in  our  last  issue,  the  exhibition  was  a  complete  success, 
and  the  Society,  as  well  as  the  public,  are  under  obligations  to  the 
committee  under  whose  care  it  was  gotten  up  and  so  successfully 
conducted  ;  and  without  detracting  from  the  merit  of  the  other  gen- 
tlemen upon  the  committee,  it  is  but  just  to  mention  Messrs.  Cham- 
berlain, Stansberry  and  Morton  as  prominently  and  especially  ac- 
tive in  its  arrangement  and  management.  A  speech  from  Major 
Sutherlin,  practical  and  useful  as  his  speeches  always  are,  and  ex- 
cellent music,  added  to  the  pleasure  of  the  evening.    - 

As  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  another  page,  there  is  some  di- 
versity of  opinion  concerning  the  correctness  of  the  conclusions  ar- 
rived at  by  the  Committee  of  Examination,  as  to  the  merits  of 
various  varieties ;  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  committee 
could  only  judge  by  appearances  which  are  often  deceptive,  and 
thus  they  may  have  erred  in  some  respects,  such  as  the  fitness  for 
shipping,  the  general  usefulness,  and  kindred  matters,  which  cannot 
well  be  determined  save  by  experience  in  growing.  Then  again,  tastes 
differ  so,  that  it  is  hard  to  decide  so  as  to  suit  every  one  concern- 
ing flavor.  As  proof  of  this,  we  once  heard  a  grower  (never  but 
one,  it  is  true,)  say  that  the  Wilson  was  a  good  flavored  berry.  So, 
after  all,  each  one  must  decide  for  himself  what  best  suits,  and  the 
experience  of  our  correspondent  and  the  report  of  the  committee 
will  both  be  useful  in  directing  our  readers : 

The  Committee  of  Examination  of  Fruits  and  Flowers,  appointed 
on  the  24th  instant  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Horticultu- 
ral and  Pomological  Society  of  Virginia,  met  at  St.  Alban's  Hall 
on  Thursday  evening,  the  27th  of  May,  for  the  inspection  more  es- 
VOL.  in — 28 


434  THE  SOUTHERN  [July, 

pecially  of  the  many  varieties  of  strawberries  that  the  now  nume- 
rous growers  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Richmond  had  been  soli- 
cited to  exhibit.  In  entering  upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties 
assigned  to  it,  the  committee  was  animated  by  an  earnest  desire  to 
do  full  and  impartial  justice  to  every  exhibitor  on  so  interesting  an 
occasion. 

Previous  to  the  examination  it  had  been  decided  that  the  report 
should  embrace  the  following  points,  viz. : 

First. — Best  shipping  berries. 

Second. — Be3t  berries  for  home  market. 

Third. — Best  flavored  berries. 

Fourth. — Best  berries  for  family  use. 

Fifth. — Largest  berries. 

Sixth. — Best  berries  combining  all,  or  the  largest  number,  of 
these  qualities. 

Seventh. — Best  collection  of  berries  exhibited. 

In  reply  to  the  first  inquiry,  the  committee  decided  upon  the 
Wilson's  Albany,  the  Triomphe  de  Gand,  and  Russell's  Prolific. 

To  the  second. — Same  as  above. 

To  the  third. — Golden  Queen,  Empress  Eugenie,  and  Lenning's 
White. 

To  the  fourth. — Wilson's  Albany,  Empress  Eugenie,  Golden 
Queen,  Lenning's  White,  and  Napoleon. 

To  the  5th. — Wilson's  Albany  and  Golden  Queen. 

To  the  sixth.— Wilson's  Albany. 

The  largest  collections,  and  embracing  the  greatest  varieties  and 
of  fine  quality,  were  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Franklin  Davis  &  Co. 
and  Messrs.  Allan  &  Johnson — the  former  furnishing  no  less  than 
eighteen,  and  the  latter  twelve,  most  of  them  of  the  most  approved 
kinds,  and  all  having  their  peculiar  merits.  The  "Napoleon,"  fur- 
nished by  the  latter  firm,  was  a  splendid  berry.  Mr.  J.  E.  Stans- 
berry  exhibited  a  seedling  bearing  his  name,  a  fine  berry,  and  repre- 
sented as  very  prolific  ;  some  fine  specimens  of  the  "  Hovey  Cross  " 
and  u  McEvoy  Superior";  likewise  a  beautiful  vine  known  as  the 
"Alpine,"  growing  very  erect,  bearing  small  but  beautiful  scarlet 
berries,  and  in  every  stage  of  growth  from  bloom  to  maturity. 

Mr.  L.  Chamberlain  exhibited  a  small  but  very  showy  collec- 
tion, numbering  among  them  the  M  Golden  Queen,"  a  beautiful 
berry  and  of  delicious  flavor.  The  attention  of  the  committee  was 
especially  called  to  the  collection  of  Mr.  William  M.  Ledley, 
through  the  agency  of  his  gardener,  Mr.  W.  J.  Hendrick,  who  ex- 
hibited some  splendid  specimens  of  "  Wilson's  Albany,"  "  Russell's 


1839.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  435 

Prolific,"  and  "  Jucunda."  There  was  also  a  remarkably  fine  speci- 
men exhibited  by  Mr.  W.  L.  Harrison,  of  Henrico,  no  name,  but 
very  large  and  sweet.  Mr.  W.  W.  Turner  also  furnished  a  box 
containing  a  very  agreeable  arrangement  of  flowers,  interspersed 
■with  some  gigantic  specimens  of  "Russell's  Prolific,"  "Agricultu- 
rist," a  variety  called  "Philadelphia,"  and  some  very  large  "Ju- 
cunda." The  collection  of  "  Wilson's  Albany,"  exhibited  by  Mr.  A. 
M.  Morris,  was  remarkably  fine — equal,  we  think,  to  Mr.  Ledley's. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  those  furnished  by  Mr.  William  Coulling. 
Mr.  J.  W.  Lewellen  presented  a  specimen  of  "  Russell's  Prolific  " 
— very  large  in  size  and  fine  flavor.  Mr.  Channing  Robinson,  a  cu- 
rious variety  called  "Lady's  Finger" — sweet  and  of  an  agreeable 
flavor.  Late  in  the  evening  Dr.  J.  G.  Beattie  sent  in  some  very 
fine  specimens  of  "Russell"  and  "Agriculturist."  Many  of  the 
berries  were  so  large  that  it  seemed  as  if  three  or  tour  were  rolled 
into  one. 

To  Messrs.  Allan  &  Johnson,  and  Mr.  John  Morton,  the  So- 
ciety is  much  indebted  for  the  rare  and  beautiful  display  of  green- 
house plants  and  Jowers,  which  added  so  much  to  the  embellish- 
ment of  the  halL  And  we  cannot  let  the  occasion  pass  without  re- 
turning the  thanks  of  the  Society  to  Miss  Isabella  Webb  for  the 
beautiful  bouquet,  as  large  as  an  ordinary-sized  centre-table ;  and 
the  very  many  sent  by  Mrs.  Judge  Clopton,  of  Manchester,  em- 
bracing every  variety  of  the  most  beautiful  flowers  we  have  ever 
seen  at  this  season  of  the  year. 

The  exhibition  was  a  complete  success,  and  we  cannot  close  this 
report  without  tendering  our  congratulations  to  the  President  and 
members  of  the  Society  under  whose  auspices  it  was  gotten  up. 

William  H.  Haxall,  Chairman; 

I.  S.  Tower, 

S.  P.  Moore, 

C.  B.   Williams,  % 

J.  C.  Shields, 

J.  P.  Brock, 

H.  K.  Ellyson, 

Joseph  R.  Rennie. 


The  Hartford  Prolific  Grape  does  better  on  clay  than  on  sandy 
and  gravelly  soils.  The  great  objection  to  this  grape  is  its  ten- 
dency to  drop  its  berries  as  soon  as  they  are  ripe.  On  clay  land,  it 
retains  the  berries  better  than  on  light,  warm  soils. 


436  THE   SOUTHERN  [July, 

Raspberries. 

The  difficulty  in  the  Northern  States  is  to  get  a  variety  of  rasp- 
berry that  will  stand  the  winter  ;  here  it  is  to  get  one  that  will  en- 
dure the  summer.  This  season  has  only  increased  the  record  of 
failures.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  we  have  had  a  more  than 
usually  cool  and  moist  spring  and  summer,  yet  we  have  had  no  suc- 
cess with  any  of  the  red  raspberries  except  the  Philadelphia,  and 
only  partial  with  that  variety.  All  save  the  Philadelphia  died  be- 
fore maturing;  and  while  that  matured  a  good  proportion  of  its 
fruit,  still  it  was  by  no  means  prolific.  Its  flavor,  however,  we 
think  is  decidedly  better  here  than  farther  North.  The  Clarke  was 
not  fairly  tested,  and  we  still  hope  it  will  prove  useful. 

The  Black  Caps  succeed  admirably,  bear  enormously,  ripen  well, 
and  are  highly  flavored.  It  will  be  prudent  for  our  growers  to  rely 
mainly  upon  these,  at  least  until  the  Philadelphia  and  Clarke  have 
been  more  fully  tested. 

Why  do  not  our  fruit  growers  give  us  more  raspberries  ?  There 
were  none  in  market  this  season,  and  yet  the  Black  Caps  are  well 
adapted  to  this  climate,  and  are  prolific  enough  to  be  very  profi- 
table. 


Strawberries. 

Messrs.  Editors, — For  the  last  two  years  I  have  been  giving  you 
the  results  of  my  experiments  with  leading  varieties  of  strawberries, 
and  hope  a  continuation  may  not  be  unprofitable. 

Last  year  the  varieties  under  culture  were  Wilson,  Hovey,  Rus- 
sell, Jucunda,  Triomphe  de  Gand,  Peabody,  Agriculturist,  and  Na- 
poleon ;  this  year  the  same,  with  Austin,  Hooker,  Early  Scarlet, 
and  Empress  Eugenie  added  (the  latter  a  new  variety  originated  by 
Mr.  Lemosy,  near  Portsmouth,  Va.)  They  ripened  in  the  follow- 
ing order,  commencing  May  17th :  Early  Scarlet,  Russell,  Hooker, 
Wilson,  Agriculturist,  Peabody,  Hovey,  Triomphe  de  Gand,  Em- 
press Eugenie,  Jucunda,  Austin,  Napoleon,  the  last  not  maturing 
until  June  1st.  In  size  the  order  was  as  follows  :  Empress  Euge- 
nie, Russell,  Jucunda,  Agriculturist,  Austin,  Wilson,  Napoleon, 
Triomphe  de  Gand,  Hovey,  Peabody,  Hooker,  Early  Scarlet.  In 
yield :  Russell,  Empress  Eugenie,  Wilson,  Agriculturist,  Triomphe 
de  Gand,  Napoleon,  Jucunda,  Austin,  Hovey,  Peabody,  Hooker, 
Early  Scarlet.  In  flavor:  Russell,  Triomphe  de  Gand,  Agricul- 
turist, Hovey,  Peabody,  Early  Scarlet,  Napoleon,  Jucunda,  Em- 
press Eugenie,   Hooker,  Austin,  Wilson.     In  firmness  and  other 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  437 

shipping  qualities,  I  found  the  following  to  be  the  only  useful  ones, 
and  they  ranked  in  the  order  they  are  stated  :  Wilson,  Russell, 
Napoleon.  For  all  purposes,  save  shipping,  the  Russell  has  again 
proven  itself  to  be  by  far  the  best  variety,  and  it  bears  transporta- 
tion very  well,  though  it  is  not  equal  to  the  Wilson  in  this  respect. 
This  season  it  ripened  several  days  before  the  Wilson,  and  during 
the  entire  season  commanded  higher  prices.  The  Empress  Eugenie 
proved  to  be  a  very  large,  handsome  and  prolific  berry,  but  not 
highly  flavored.  The  Jucunda  did  well,  but  ripening,  as  it  does,  at 
the  middle  of  the  season,  is  valueless  as  a  market  berry.  The  Aus- 
tin and  Napoleon  are  both  valuable  because  of  their  late  maturity ; 
the  latter  is  very  prolific  and  well  flavored ;  both  are  large  sized. 

If  I  may  be  permitted  to  differ  with  the  committee  of  the  Horti- 
cultural and  Pomological  Society,  I  would  say  for  the  best  early 
shipping  berries,  take  Wilson  and  Russell.  For  home  market,  Rus- 
sell, Empress  Eugenie,  Triomphe  de  Gand,  Agriculturist,  and  Na- 
poleon. For  best  flavored,  Russell,  Triomphe  de  Gand,  Agricul- 
turist, and  Hovey.  For  family  use,  Russell,  Empress  Eugenie,  Ju- 
cunda, and  Napoleon.  For  largest  berries,  Russell  and  Empress 
Eugenie.  For  the  most  generally  useful  variety,  Russell.  All  of 
the  above  rank  in  the  order  they  are  named.  Empress  Eugenie 
and  Golden  Queen  are  claimed  by  some  to  be  synonymous.  I  do 
not  think  they  are  the  same,  but  they  very  closely  resemble  each 
other,  and  air  that  I  have  said  of  the  one  is  true  of  the  other,  with 
a  slight  advantage,  in  size,  in  favor  of  the  Golden  Queen.  How  the 
Triomphe  de  Gand  can  be  put  down  as  good  for  shipping  purposes 
is  a  mystery  to  me.  Of  all  soft  berries,  it  is  the  softest ;  and 
though  highly  flavored,  of  good  size,  and  moderately  prolific,  it  will 
hardly  bear  transportation  beyond  the  spot  where  grown.     "M." 


Guano. — Some  experienced  cultivators  have  given  us  instances  of 
the  use  of  guano  on  fruit  trees  with  beneficial  results.  Although  the 
trees  seemed  to  wither  up  and  become  sickly  looking  the  first  year, 
nevertheless  the  second  year  they  grew  so  fresh  and  green  and  lux- 
uriant as  to  astonish  their  owners. 

We  have  seen  guano  water  applied  to  grape  vines,  causing  them 
to  wither  up,  as  it  were,  with  intense  heat,  the  first  year,  but  the 
second  year  exceeding  all  former  years  in  beauty  and  fruitfulness. 
Guano  should  never  be  brought  directly  in  contact  with  seeds  or 
the  roots  of  trees  or  plants.  It  should  always  be  mixed  with  about 
six  times  its  weight  of  finely  sifted  soil  or  loam. — Horticulturist, 


438  THE  SOUTHERN  [July 

Harvesting  the  Navy   Bean   and  Gathering  the  Potato  Crop, 

Messrs.  Editors, — In  yours  of  June,  inquiry  is  made  as  to  the 
best  mode  of  harvesting  the  navy  bean.  When  ripe,  and  when  the 
vines  are  dry,  (that  is,  when  the  dew  or  rain  has  left  them,)  pull  by 
hand,  and  place  in  heaps ;  turn  the  heaps  not  oftener  than  once  a 
day,  till  the  vines  are  dry,  and  then  thresh  them  either  by  hand  or 
power.  In  carrying  them  from  the  field  to  be  threshed,  use  a  tight 
hay  wagon  or  cart,  for  in  loading  they  will  shell  out.  I  don't  ad- 
vise to  stow  them  away  to  be  threshed  at  some  future  time,  but 
finish  the  job  at  once. 

There  is  no  better  plan  of  gathering  the  "  Irish  "  potato  than  by 
digging  them  with  a  five-prong  potato  fork.  By  gathering  the  crop 
with  the  fork  the  work  is  done  better  and  the  ground  is  also  bene- 
fitted. More  and  better  work  can  be  done  by  two  men  with  the 
"forks,"  than  three  can  accomplish  by  the  "hoe." 

Respectfully  yours,  Wm.  H.  S. 

Philadelphia,  June  19,  1869. 


HOW   TO    PRESERVE   MELONS    FROM   THE    STRIPED    BUG; 

The  practice  of  the  "  Long  Island  "  melon  growers  to  preserve 
their  melons,  &c,  from  the  striped  melon  bug,  is  to  sow  through  a 
fine  sieve,  ground  plaster  or  gypsum  on  the  plants,  so  soon  as  they 
are  above  ground,  early  in  the  morning  while  the  dew  is  on  the 
plants — such  plaster  forming  a  crust  through  which  the  bug  will  not 
eat.  Two  applications  are  generally  enough  to  preserve  the  crop. 
It  has  never  failed,  at  least  for  twenty  seven  years,  to  my  personal 
knowledge.     Tobacco  dust,  ashes,  &c,  have  failed. 

Respectfully  yours,  Wm.  H.  S. 

Philadelphia,  June  19,  1869. 

[We  thank  our  correspondent  for  the  above  communications,  and 
hope  he  will  favor  us  with  frequent  opportunities  of  enlightening 
our  readers  in  regard  to  such  interesting  matters  of  inquiry  as  can 
be  satisfactorily  answered  only  by  such  persons  as  have  gained  a 
store  of  practical  knowledge  through  their  own  experience  and  ob- 
servation.—Eds.  S.  P.  &  F.] 


Beets. — To  raise  beets  with  best  success,  sow  the  Early  Bassano 
in  drills  eighteen  inches  wide ;  thin  out  to  one  foot  apart.  Top- 
dress  the  ground  with  Peruvian  guano,  and  you  will  have  prime 
beets  fit  to  pull  in  seventy  days. — Horticulturist. 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.       '  439 

Nut  Culture. 

Messrs.  Editors, — I  promised  to  give  you  some  account  of  my 
progress  in  the  cultivation  of  nuts,  which  I  am  now  prepared  to  do. 
As  I  stated  before,  I  obtained  my  principal  supply  of  nuts  for 
planting  from  A.  F.  Cochran,  Esq.,  importer  of  fruits  and  nuts, 
New  Orleans.  This  gentleman  furnishes  nuts  at  cost  of  importa- 
tion to  all  who  wish  to  plant.  The  rest  I  obtained  from  J.  M. 
Thorburn,  No.  15  John  street,  New  York.  The  following  varieties 
vegetated  freely,  and  are  growing  as  vigorously  as  Indian  corn : 

Spanish  chesnuts  (Oastanea  vesca). 

English  walnuts  (Juglans  regia). 

Pecans  (Gary  a  olivwformis). 

Italian  pines  (Pinus  pinua). 

Jujube  (Zizyphus  sativa) — not  a  nut,  but  a  very  valuable  fruit 
tree. 

The  following  varieties  failed  to  vegetate  : 

Filberts  (Corylus  avellana).  Of  this,  however,  I  obtained  plants 
from  the  nursery  of  P.  J.  Berckman,  Augusta,  and  they  are  grow- 
ing finely. 

Pistachio  nut  (Pistachio,  vera). 

Salisburia  (Ginkgo  biloba).  I  give  this  name  according  to  Mr. 
Thorburn's  spelling  ;  other  nurserymen  give  it  differently.  It  is  a 
valuable  nut  tree. 

So  out  of  the  eight  varieties  of  tree  seeds  planted,  only  three 
failed  to  vegetate.  These  three  are  constantly  grown  from  seed 
by  our  nurserymen,  and  why  they  failed  in  my  hands  I  cannot  tell. 
They  are  worth  another  trial,  however. 

Few  persons  are  aware  of  the  value  of  nuts  as  an  article  of  food. 
The  idea  that  they  are  unwholesome  is  as  absurd  as  the  now  ex- 
ploded opinion  that  grapes  and  peaches  were  unwholesome.  All 
food-stuffs  are  divided  by  chemists  into  two  great  classes,  viz : 
albuminous  substances,  which  contain  15  per  cent  of  nitrogen,  and 
are  called  "  flesh-formers ;"  and  amyloids  and  fats,  which  are  called 
"  heat-producers,"  and  contain  no  nitrogen.  The  necessity,  there- 
fore, of  constantly  renewing  the  supply  of  albumen  arises  from  the 
circumstance  that  the  loss  of  nitrogen  (in  the  secretion  of  urea 
from  the  body,)  is  going  on  constantly,  whether  the  body  is  fed  or 
not ;  and  there  is  only  one  form  in  which  nitrogen  can  be  taken 
into  the  blood,  and  that  is  in  the  form  of  a  solution  of  protein,  or 
albumen.  Albumen,  which  may  be  taken  as  the  type  of  the  pro- 
teids,  contains  15  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  and  the  moment  this  sub- 


Water. 

Albumen 

74 

20 

12 

15 

3 

24 

440  THE  SOUTHERN  FJuly 

stance  is  withdrawn  from  the  food,  man  begins  to  suffer  from  what 
may  be  called  nitrogen  starvation,  and,  sooner  or  later,  will  die. 
Now  let  us  compare  the  three  classes  of  human  food — herb,  tree, 
and^flesh  foods — and  see  which  contains  the  largest  quantity  of  this 
valuable  substance,  albumen.  Of  each  class,  we  will  take  the  arti- 
cle most  used  on  our  tables — beef  as  the  representative  of  flesh 
food,  wheat  as  the  representative  of  herb  food,  and  almonds  as  the 
most  generally  used  tree  food,  and  as  the  representative  of  nuts : 

Beef, 

Odessa  wheat, 

Sweet  almonds, 

The  figures  are  obtained  from  Webster's  American  Family  Ency- 
clopaedia, and  it  will  be  observed  that  almonds  contain  a  larger 
quantity  of  nitrogenous  matter  than  either  beef  or  wheat.  All  nuts 
consist  largely  of  albumen ;  and  when  we  recollect  that  man,  in  his 
unfallen  condition,  lived  entirely  upon  the  fruit  of  trees,  it  seems 
that  both  science  and  revelation  point  to  the  fruit  of  trees  as  his 
natural  food. 

Not  only  so,  but  the  soil  constantly  grows  richer  under  tree  cul- 
ture, and  poorer  under  herb  culture.  (We  use  the  term  herb,  be- 
cause every  plant  which  has  not  a  hard  woody  stem,  comes  under 
this  designation.)  Trees  also  purify  the  atmosphere  and  beautify 
the  landscape.  It  is  an  actual,  and  very  significant  fact,  that  where 
ever  a  country  becomes  denuded  of  trees,  man's  physical,  mental 
and  political  power  decays.  Witness  Spain,  Italy,  Greece,  and 
Syria.  They  have  each  in  their  turn,  stood  first  in  power,  prosper- 
ity, and  civilization.  But  they  each  swept  their  beautiful  fruit- 
bearing  trees  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  each,  like  Samson, 
shorn  of  his  locks,  lost  their  strength.  To  destroy  fruit-bearing 
trees  is  in  direct  disobedience  to  the  divine  command;  "for,"  says 
Holy  Writ,  "  the  tree  of  the  field  is  man's  life."  Phosphorus  feeds 
the  brain,  and  phosphorus,  as  food,  is  only  found  in  albumen,  and 
albumen,  in  its  purest  state,  and  in  most  abundance,  is  found  in  the 
fruit  of  trees.  So  says  science ;  and  the  Bible  confirms  the  teach- 
ings of  science,  by  informing  us  that  the  food  of  Eden  was  only 
the  fruit  of  trees.  Where,  in  modern  times,  was  such  a  brain 
formed  as  that  of  the  first  Napoleon,  who  grew  up  amidst  the  cbes- 
nut  groves  of  Corsica  ?  The  chesnut  is  to  the  Corsicans  what  the 
potato  is  to  the  Irish.  Their  name  for  it  signifies  "  bread  tree."  A 
recent  writer  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  describes  a  visit  to  Corsica, 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  441 

the  "  Land  of  Paoli,"  and  says :  "  Our  companion,  the  prefect, 
pointed  to  the  chesnut  groves.  *  There,'  said  he,  'is  the  main  sup- 
port of  our  people  in  the  winter.  Our  Corsican  name  for  it  is  the 
'  bread  tree.'  The  nuts  are  ground,  and  the  cakes  of  chesnut  flour, 
baked  on  the  hearth,  are  really  delicious.  We  could  not  live  with- 
out the  chesnut  and  the  olive.'  "  The  chesnut,  as  well  as  the  wal- 
nut, pecan  and  other  nut  trees,  fully  answers  the  description  of  the 
trees  of  Eden,  which  were  not  only  good  for  food,  but  pleasant  to 
the  sight.  No  trees  on  earth  are  more  beautiful  than  these  massive 
nut-bearing  trees.  In  form,  foliage,  and  trunk,  they  stand  first  for 
beauty,  amongst  park  and  pleasure-ground  trees.  Whilst  taking  a 
drive  recently,  I  was  struck  with  the  majestic  beauty  and  dark  lux- 
uriant foliage  of  a  group  of  trees  in  the  distance.  On  coming 
nearer,  I  found  they  were  shell-bark  hickory,  from  around  which 
the  other  forest  trees  had  been  cufr  away,  allowing  them  full  room 
to  develope  their  grand  proportions.  The  nut  is  one  of  the  most 
delicious  known,  superior,  in  my  estimation,  to  the  pecan,  and  the 
shell  is  thin  enough  to  yield  readily  to  the  nut-crackers.  The  pres- 
ent Emperor  of  the  French,  whose  practice  of  rural  economy  sur- 
passes all  of  Bousingault's  theories,  has  had  millions  of  chesnuts 
planted  in  Algeria,  with  the  object  of  improving  that  country.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  European  chesnut  is  a  much  larger 
and  more  valuable  nut  than  ours,  and  does  not  seem  to  suffer  from 
the  disease  which  is  sweeping  ours  from  our  forests.  When  the 
nuts  are  fresh,  they  grow  as  easily  as  black-eyed  peas.  What  the 
chesnut  is  to  the  Corsicans,  the  English  walnut  (so-called)  is  to  the 
Persians — an  article  of  every  day  diet.  Is  it  the  oil  and  albumen 
of  this  nut  which  make  them  the  most  war-like,  intellectual,  and 
handsome  of  Asiatics  ?  Compare  the  fine  features  and  athletic, 
graceful  figures  of  the  nut-eating  Persians  with  the  square,  squat, 
hideous  forms  of  the  rice-eating  Chinamen,  and  say  if  diet  has  not 
something  to  do  with  the  difference. 

Lastly,  nut  and  other  fruit  trees  yield  a  larger  amount  of  food  to 
the  acre  than  any  other  crops  whatever.  This  can  be  proved  by 
figures,  which  never  lie,  notwithstanding  the  stupidly  jocose  asser- 
tion that  they  do.  Pecans  will  fruit  anywhere  south  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  when  situated  in  deep,  alluvial  soils,  will  commence  bear- 
ing in  four  or  five  years.  There  are  many  varieties,  some  superior 
to  others,  but  all  are  delicious,  and  indigenous  to  America.  They 
are  said  to  bring  a  higher  price  in  the  European  market  than  any 
other  nut.  Let  them  become  to  us  what  the  chesnut  is  to  the  Cor- 
sican, the  walnut  to  the  Persian,  the  sweet  acorn  to  the  ancient 
Greek. 


442  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

Must  a  Berry  Box  op  Basket  have  Sloping  Sides? 

Much  valuable  information  is  contained  in  an  article  of  the  April 
number  of  the  Horticulturist,  entitled  "  Additional  Hints,"  etc. 
But  I  think  the  writer  was  much  too  sweeping  in  his  condemnation 
of  all  berry  boxes  but  those  with  sloping  and  ventilated  sides.  The 
fruit-growers  in  this  neighborhood  have  used  for  two  years,  a  square 
box  with  strait  sides  and  ventilated  bottom,  and  have  sent  it  in  the 
same  shipments  with  the  sloping  baskets,  to  the  same  markets,  with 
equal  success.  And  said  box  being  only  one-third  the  price,  and  so 
arranged  in  the  crate  as  to  present  the  fruit  in  market  in  heaped-up 
measure  after  the  shaking  of  transportation,  has  run  the  sloping- 
sided  basket  out  of  this  market. 

As  it  is  customary  now  in  our  Western  cities  to  give  the  box, 
when  the  berries  are  sold,  it  makes  a  great  difference  in  the  cost  of 
shipping  whether  a  one-cent  box  or  a  three-cent  basket  be  given 
away. 

There  are  two  reasons  why  baskets  and  boxes  are  not  sent  back 
to  the  shipper.  First,  the  dealers  find  it  a  very  perplexing  matter 
to  gather  and  return  each  box  to  its  proper  owner.  Second,  berries 
should  be  shipped  in  a  new,  clean  box,  as  a  second  using  involves  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  impurity  and  uncleanliness. 

It  is  not  true  that  expensive  baskets  always  insure  the  best  prices* 
as  it  depends  on  the  manner  of  picking  and  putting  in  boxes  and 
crates. 

Such  is  the  experience  of  myself  and  neighbors  who  have  tried 
sloping-sideu  baskets  and  the  boxes  above  referred  to. — A.  J. 
Moore,  in  Horticulturist. 


Pruning  Tomatoes. — It  is  stated  that  gardeners  in  France  cut 
oft*  the  stem  of  the  tomato  plants  down  to  the  first  cluster  of  flow- 
ers which  appears  on  them,  thus  impelling  the  sap  into  the  buds 
below  the  cluster,  which  pushes  up  vigorously,  producing  another 
cluster  of  flowers.  "  When  these  are  visible,  the  branch  to  which 
they  belong  is  also  topped  down  to  their  level ;  and  this  is  done  five 
times  successively.  By  this  means  the  plants  become  stout  dwarf 
bushes,  not  over  eighteen  inches  high.  In  order  to  prevent  them 
from  falling  over,  sticks  or  strings  are  stretched  horizontally  along 
the  rows,  so  as  to  keep  the  plants  erect.  In  addition  to  this,  all  the 
laterals  that  have  no  flowers  whatsoever,  are  nipped  off.  In  this 
way  the  ripe  sap  is  directed  into  the  fruit,  which  acquires  beauty, 
size,  and  excellence,  unattainable  by  other  means." — Horticulturist. 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  443 


irastjjolb  department. 


Alsike  Clover  fop   Bee  Pasturage. 

Early  in  the  year  1868,  I  was  induced  by  an  article  I  saw  in  the  "  Bee  Jour- 
nal," to  try  the  Alsike  clover  for  my  bees.  I  accordingly  purchased  a  pound 
of  the  seed,  which  I  sowed  upon  a  small  piece  of  land,  (about  one-quarter  of 
an  acre,)  though  too  much  seed  for  the  quantity  of  land.  It  germinated  well, 
and  like  the  red  clover,  only  made  a  good  stand;  but  this  spring  (1869.)  it 
came  up  vrell,  and  now,  the  16th  of  June,  it  will  stand,  if  erect,  20  to  30  inches 
high,  and  is  covered  with  blooms  and  bees;  indeed,  I  have  rarely  seen  bees 
more  numerous  on  buckwheat  blooms  than  on  this  clover.  I  shall  sow  a  lot  o* 
buckwheat  for  fall  pasturage  ;  but  for  May  and  June.  I  think  the  Alsike  clover 
furnishes  more  food  than  any  plant  I  have  ever  seen.  When  not  too  cool  or 
rainy  for  them  to  be  out,  you  will  find  the  patch  covered  with  bees  pretty  well 
all  day,  and  at  times  almost  in  swarms.  They  have  sent  forth  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  swarms,  and  filled  the  bodies  of  the  hives  well  with  store  honey,  and  I 
hope  will  yield  a  good  surplus.  I  shall  sow  this  fall  another  lot  much  larger 
than  the  one  I  now  have,  reserving  that  till  the  other  is  sufficiently  advanced 
to  afford  them  food — and  as  long  as  I  am  able  to  procure  seed  to  sow — shall  do 
so  to  keep  up  a  succession  ;  besides,  it  yields  an  abundant  crop  of  hay — not  so 
much  as  the  red  clover,  but  the  sweets  furnished  the  bees  more  than  make  up 
any  difference.  The  bloom  is  like  that  of  the  white  clover — folding  back  in 
such  a  way  as  to  enable  the  bees  to  get  into  every  part  of  it — while  on  the  red 
clover  coming  up  in  the  same  patch,  you  never  see  one.  M.  G.  F. 

Henrico  county,  Va. 


Yellow  Wash  for  Buildings. 

Dissolve  1  pound  of  pulverized  copperas  in  8  gallons  of  water ;  let  it  stand 
for  24  hours,  stirring  two  or  three  times  from  the  bottom.  Use  this  for  slaking 
the  lime  and  thinning  it  to  the  consistency  of  ordinary  whitewash  ;  add  hy- 
draulic cement  equal  in  quantity  to  the  lime  used,  and  there  may  also  be 
added,  with  advantage,  £  gallon  of  clean  fine  sand  to  every  15  gallons  of  the 
wash.     While  using,  stir  frequently,  to  prevent  sand  from  settling. 

The  walls  or  buildings  should  be  first  well  cleaned  of  dust,  and  thoroughly 
wet  with  the  rose  of  a  watering  pot,  and  the  wash  applied  immediately  after, 
beginning  at  top,  laying  the  coat  on  horizontally,  and  finishing  vertically. 

Before  leaving  the  work  at  any  time,  finish  the  course  to  a  point  in  the  wall, 
to  prevent  leaving  a  mark  where  the  two  courses  join  on  a  renewal  of  the 
work. 

This  wash  is  stated  to  have  lasted  for  fifteen  years  without  requiring  re- 
newal. 

For  a  gray  or  stone  color,  add  to  above  lamp  black,  previously  deadened  with 
whiskey. 


A  wise  son  maketh  a  glad  father;  but  a  foolish  man  despiseth  his  mother. 


THE  SOUTHERN  PLANTER  AND  FARMER 


RICHMOND,  VIRGINIA JULY  1869. 


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(Editorial  Department. 


The  Great  Reaper  and  Mower  Trial  at  Westover. 

"We  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  lay  before  our  readers  at  this  time  a  circumstan- 
tial and  full  account  of  the  great  trial  of  Reapers  and  Mowers  which  came  off 
at  Westover,  the  residence  of  A.  H.  Drewry,  Esq.,  on  the  9th  ultimo,  but  un- 
controllable circumstances  have  conspired  to  defeat  our  expectation.  We  have 
to  rely  upon  general  report  for  the  materials  of  the  brief  notice  we  ar  •  about  to 
give  below. 

It  is  universally  conceded  by  all  who  were  present  that  it  was  a  grand  af- 
fair, and  the  performance  of  the  large  number  of  machines  exhibited  in  opera- 
tion on  the  field  of  trial  was  fully  equal,  if  not  beyond,  public  expectation,  and 
every  way  worthy  of  the  occasion. 

These  machines  were  generally,  if  not  all  of  them,  gotten  up  in  a  finished 
style  of  workmanship,  and  being  the  best  specimens  selected  from  the  number 
and  variety  in  use  in  the  North  and  West,  presented  an  array  of  excellence 
which  challenged  general  admiration.  McCormick's  Reaper  was  not  entered, 
nor  was  it  on  the  ground. 

The  committee  of  adjudication  carefully  tested  the  machines  in  operation  by 
the  standard  prescribed  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  State  Agricultural 
Society,  under  whose  auspices  the  trial  was  conducted,  noting  the  merits  of 
each  machine  in  relation  to  every  specification  on  the  scale  of  points,  so  that, 
in  summing  up  the  points  of  excellence  exhibited  by  each  machine,  the  rela- 
tive merits  of  all  might  be  determined  by  comparison,  and  the  awards  rendered 
in  favor  of  those  standing  the  highest  on  the  standard  or  scale  of  points.  The 
awards  of  the  judges  will  not  be  made  known,  we  understand,  until  the  close 
of  the  State  Fair  in  November  next,  at  which  time  they  will  be  announced  and 
published,  in  connection  with  the  awards  of  premiums  on  the  various  other 
subjects  comprised  in  the  schedule  of  premiums  offered  by  the  Society. 

The  munificent  and  princely  hospitality  of  Mr.  Drewry  manifested  in  his 
bountiful  and  abundant  preparations  for  the  entertainment  and  social  enjoy- 
ment of  the  officers  of  the  Society,  the  exhibitors,  and  numerous  visitors,  is 
above  all  praise.    We  will  not  farther  trench  upon  the  prerogative  of  those 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  445 

whose  grateful  duty  and  pleasure  it  will  be  to  do  justice  to  the  claims  of  such 
uncalculating  beneficence  upon  the  gratitude  and  admiration  of  all  who  shared 
in  his  noble  generosity,  on  an  occasion  so  important  in  its  relations  to  the  pro- 
gress and  development  of  the  industrial  interests  of  Virginia. 


Correspondence  of  the  Southern  Planter  and  Farmer. 

Dear  Sirs, — I  enclose  $2  for  the  renewal  of  my  subscription  to  the  Planter 
and  Farmer. 

What  of  lucerne,  and  why  are  there  not  more  instances  of  its  cultivation  in 
our  midst?  In  writings  on  English  husbandry  more  than  a  hundred  years 
ago,  its  large  yield  of  hay,  its  nutritious  qualities,  and  the  high  relish  of  it  by 
stock,  are  always  recognized  ;  and  at  the  present  day  we  know  it  to  be  a  lead- 
ing favorite  in  France  and  other  portions  of  Europe.  Impressed  by  represen- 
tations of  its  superiority  over  other  grasses  as  green  forage,  on  account  of  the 
number  of  cuttings  it  affords,  and,  unlike  clover,  of  its  not  salivating  stock  at 
any  period  of  its  growth,  I  am  growing  it  on  a  somewhat  extensive  scale,  with 
the  purpose,  if  my  hopes  of  it  are  realized,  of  extending  the  cultivation.  But 
if  more  recent  experience  has  shown  that  there  are  more  valuable  grasses,  or, 
what  I  in  some  degree  fear,  that  there  is  a  too  great  difficulty  in  its  successful 
management,  I  would  like  to  know  it,  as  in  either  case,  I  might  stay  the  fur- 
ther increase  of  its  surface.  My  hopes  of  it,  in  opposition  to  the  (to  me)  un- 
known grounds  of  the  omission  by  others  to  cultivate  it,  rest  on  the  inclination 
to  believe  that  this  omission — this  implied  rejection  of  it— may  be  owing  to  a 
defect  in  its  cultivation  ;  that  it  requires  the  land  to  be  better  cleansed  before 
it  is  planted,  or  that  it  should  be  more  carefully  freed  of  weeds  and  other  pests 
in  the  earlier  stages  of  its  growth,  than  is  in  most  cases  observed.  I  recently 
came  across  an  old  volume  of  a  work  published  in  London  in  th  a  year  1728, 
with  a  loDg  title  embracing  "all  sorts  of  country  affairs,"  in  which,  in  addition 
to  its  mertis  as  a  hay  crop,  it  is  commended  as  an  improver  of  'Jdry  and  bar- 
ren land."  And  certainly,  in  accordance  with  the  theory  of  renovating  lands 
by  vegetable  growths,  in  bringing,  through  their  roots,  the  mineral  consti- 
tuents of  the  subsoil  and  clay  to  the  surface,  on  account  of  its  long  straight 
root,  the  commendation  is  just.  Dr.  Thos.  P.  Atkinson,  to  whom  the  readers 
of  the  Planter  and  Farmer  owe  so  much  for  his  scientific  and  practical  commu- 
nications, in  a  letter  of  response  to  enquiries  relative  to  the  process  of  culti- 
vating it,  (I  had  entertained  the  thought  of  planting  it  myself  from  reading  an 
article  by  him  in  the  Planter  and  Farmer  recommending  it  for  keeping  up  the 
borders  of  a  garden,)  writes  me  that  be  had  measured  a  root  of  it  14  inches  in 
length.  In  repeated  trials,  I  have  never  found  a  root  of  less  length  than  a 
third  of  that  of  the  stalk.     In  some  instances  the  root  is  longer  than  the  stalk. 

There  is  one  subject  on  which  I  feel  qualified  to  speak  by  the  "card,"  and 
that  is,  the  value  of  tobacco  stalks  on  certain  garden  vegetables.  I  have  grow- 
ing in  my  garden  a  square  of  cabbages  of  unsurpassed  luxuriance,  and  a 
square  of  potatoes  surpassing  in  yield  any  instance  within  my  experience, 
both  manured  with  this  material.  I  have  used  them  on  cabbages  for  several 
years  with  unvaried  success.  The  potatoes  are  planted  in  hills  three  feet  apart 
— a  whole  potato  of  good  size  with  a  double  handful  of  stalks  above  it,  at  the 
bottom  of  the  hill.    I  more  than  incline  to  think  that  their  efficacy  on  this  crop, 


446  THE  SOUTHERN  [July 


when  thus  applied,  is  owing,  in  part,  to  their  mechanical  action  on  the  soil; 
that  the  cavities  in  their  midst  filled,  when  filled  at  all,  with  loose  earth,  afford 
room  for  the  potato  to  grow ;  and  further,  that  the  soft  pulpy  consistence  to 
which  they  are  reduced  by  the  time  the  potato  is  formed,  yields  to  its  pressure 
to  enlarge  itself.  I  know  not  why  they  should  not  be  a  valuable  manure  on 
other  vegetables,  and  it  is  my  intention  hereafter  to  use  them  on  all.  It  is  cus- 
tomary to  spread  them  broadcast  as  a  preparation  for  tobacco,  in  which  case 
they  are  so  scattered,  often  imperfectly  covered  by  the  plough,  that  their  vir- 
tue as  a  manure  must  in  a  measure  be  lost;  whereas,  when  placed  in  a  com- 
pact mass  in  the  trenched  furrows  on  which  most  vegetables  are  planted,  their 
fertilizing  properties  will  be  fully  developed  and  concentrated. 

Very  respectfully,  &c, 

Jobn  C.  Taylor. 
Oxford,  N.  C,  June  24,  1969. 


Dear  Sir*, — I  have  a  lot  of  red  clay  land  containing  two  acres,  in  which  I 
set  young  apple  scions  or  trees  from  the  nursery  of  F.,  D.  &  Co.,  in  the  Fall  of 
1867.  The  lot  is  now  very  well  set  in  red  clover,  but  the  sassafras  bushes  have 
grown  up  so  thick  (and  continue  to  thicken),  that  T  do  not  know  what  to  do  to 
destroy  them — being  a  young  farmer. 

My  idea  is — the  clover  being  now  cut  as  soon  as  it  starts  out  pretty  well — to 
sow  in  two  barrels  of  air  slacked  lime,  and  fallow  as  deeply  as  I  can  with  two 
horses,  following  in  their  furrow  with  a  coalter  furrow,  and  let  it  remain  so 
some  ten  days,  and  then  plough  with  the  "shovel  plough"  once  every  week 
till  about  the  middle  or  last  of  August,  and  then  put  on  say  400  lbs.  of  the 
Gallego  Company's  potato  and  cabbage  fertilizer,  (unless  you  can  tell  me  a 
better  for  turnips,)  and  sow  it  down  in  turnip  seed,  and  next  year  cultivate  in 
shipping  tobacco. 

My  object  being  to  get  rid  of  the  sassafras  bushes  and  bring  my  young  trees 
into  bearing  as  early  as  possible,  I  have  thought  probably  the  repeated  plough- 
ing in  the  hot  dry  weather  might  kill  out  a  great  many  of  the  sassafras  bushes, 
and  by  adding  manure  and  cultivating  the  land,  improve  the  young  trees. 

If  you  will  give  me  your  opinion  upon  what  I  have  written,  or  suggest  any 
other  plan  as  being  better  adapted  to  promote  the  objects  desired,  I  shall  be 
greatly  obliged,  &c. 

Very  respectfully,  C. 

June  11,  1869. 

[W.  D  Gresham,  Esq.,  published  some  time  since  an  article  containing  the 
following  plan  for  the  extirpation  of  sassafras,  which  he  highly  approves  : 
"The  remedy  which  I  propose  is  as  follows:  in  the  month  of  June,  when  sas- 
safras bushes,  roots  and  briers  have  obtained  their  full  amount  of  leaves,  and 
are  in  a  vigorous  growth,  take  a  grass  scythe  and  cut  them  off  about  two  or 
three  inches  from  the  ground.  This  will  cause  them  to  bleed  freely,  and  if  an 
application  of  from  two  to  three  bushels  of  salt  is  immediately  made,  and 
evenly  scattered  over  them,  their  eradication  may  be  certainly  expected.  Salt 
being  injurious  to  the  growing  vegetation,  it  commences  its  action  by  an  imme- 
diate effect  upon  the  sap  of  the  plants." 

Mr.  W.  W.  Gilmer  prescribes  mowing  the  bushes  in  May,  and  grazing 
closely,  as  greatly  preferable  to  cultivation. — Eds.  S.  P.  &  F.] 


1869.]  PLANTER  AND  FARMER.  447 


To  our  Debtors. 

Accompanying  this  number  of  the  Southern  Planter  and  Farmer  will  be 
found  a  bill  for  arrears  of  subscription  due  by  the  subscriber  to  whom  the  pa- 
per is  addressed.  The  tobacco  crop  has  found  its  way  to  market,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds been  realized,  perhaps,  to  the  extent  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole,  and  ye* 
the  payments  made  us  out  of  its  proceeds  have  been  scarcely  appreciable.  The 
wheat  crop  will  presently  be  in  market.  We  do  earnestly  hope  our  debtors 
will  recognize  our  claim  to  share  in  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  these 
staple  productions.  Have  we  not  fulfilled  our  part  of  the  contract,  subsisting 
between  us,  without  stinginess  or  parsimony,  but,  on  the  contrary,  with  libe- 
rality and  in  good  faith?  And  will  not  our  debtors  atone  for  past  negligence, 
by  a  prompt  fulfillment  of  the  contract  on  their  part?  We  have  rendered  to 
them  the  quid  pro ;  let  them  promptly  return  us  the  needed  quo. 


The  Patrons  of  Husbandry. 

We  learn  from  the  St.  Paul's  Pioneer,  Minnesota,  that  an  Order  of  this  name 
was  founded  and  organized  by  a  number  of  distinguished  agriculturists  of  va- 
rious States,  at  Washington,  in  December,  1867,  for  the  purpose  of  general  im- 
provement in  husbandry,  to  encourage  social  intercourse  in  the  rural  districts, 
to  incite  a  love  for  horticulture,  and  to  relieve  the  tedious  monotony  of  farm 
life  and  labor.  It  is  founded  upon  the  idea  that  the  products  of  the  soil  com- 
prise the  basis  of  all  wealth  ;  that  individual  happiness  depends  upon  general 
prosperity,  and  that  the  wealth  of  a  country  depends  upon  the  general  intelli- 
gence and  mental  culture  of  the  producing  classes. 

They  have  provided  a  commodious  hall,  and  fitted  it  up  elegantly,  for  the 
purposes  of  the  Order,  in  which  they  hold  their  first  meeting  on  the  first  of 
June. 

If  this  Order  confines  itself  strictly  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  ends  and 
objects  above  set  forth,  they  cannot  fail  to  exert  a  beneficial  influence  in  "  the 
general  improvement  of  husbandry  and  in  the  encouragement  of  social  inter- 
course in  the  rural  districts." 


Periodicals. 

The  Land  We  Love  and  New  Eclectic  for  July.  This  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive magazine  comes  to  us  laden,  as  usual,  with  the  rich  fruits  of  the  taste  and 
industry  of  its  able  and  judicious  Editors.  Its  contents  always  tend  to  pro- 
mote purity,  elevation  of  purpose  and  refinement  of  manners,  and  deserves  to 
be  carefully  studied  by  all  those  who  aspire  to  the  possession  of  these  distinc- 
tive characteristics.  Turnbull  &  Murdoch,  54  Lexington  street,  Baltimore. 
Yearly  subscription,  $4 ;  single  copy,  35  cents. 

The  Galaxy  for  July.  This  is  an  exceedingly  rich  number.  The  article 
No.  II,  entitled  "Our  Impending  Chinese  Problem,"  is  the  topic  which  will  ar- 
rest the  attention  ©f  the  thoughtful,  and  lead  them  to  appreciate  the  fearful 
effects  of  the  political  inventions  which  have  been  sought  out,  ostensibly  for 


448  THE    SOUTHERN  [July 

the  perpetuation  of  power  in  corrupt  and  wicked  hands,  but  really  calculated 
to  bring  down  their  violent  doings  upon  their  own  heads,  and  precipitate  the 
downfall  and  ruin  of  our  country. 

Appleton's  Journal.  We  have  on  our  table  a  full  file  of  this  handsome  jour- 
nal, in  weekly  numbers,  and  shall  carefully  preserve  and  bind  them,  each 
quarter.  The. Messrs.  Appleton  deserve  much  credit  for  publishing  such  a 
capital  journal  at  so  low  a  price — 10  cents  per  number,  or  $4  per  annum,  in 
advance.  The  illustration  in  the  number  of  July  10th,  called  "  The  Country 
Blacksmith's  Shop/'  is  life-like  and  very  familiar  to  our  readers. 

Packard's  Monthly — The  Young  Men's  Magazine.  The  July  number  of  this 
journal  is  one  of  the  best  we  have  seen.  S  >me  of  the  articles  are  spicy ;  all  are 
entertaining ;  but  we  are  particularly  struck  with  the  un-gloved  style  in  which 
Miss  Olive  Logan  handles  modern  theatricals,  and  "  The  Nude  Woman  Ques- 
tion." We  do  not  admire  Miss  Logan,  or  her  Woman's  Suffrage  doctrines,  but 
she  certainly  deals  the  "  Black  Crook,"  "  White  Fawn,"  and  all  such,  most 
telling  blows,  and  we  trust  she  will  continue  to  "  fight  it  out  on  that  line,  if 
it  takes  all  summer." 

The  Richmond  and  Louisville  Medical  Journal.  The  June  number  of  this 
valuable  scientific  monthly  gives  evidence  that  it  is  well  sustained.  Its  pages 
are  enriched  by  the  best  medical  t.ilent  of  the  whole  country,  and  no  practicing 
physician — especially  in  the  South,  West,  or  Southwest — should  fail  to  send 
$5  to  Dr.  E.  S.  Gaillard,  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  become  a  subscriber. 

Peters'  Musical  Monthly  is  a  very  pleasant  monthly  visitor,  and  our  lady 
friends  should  send  for  a  copy.  The  new  music  obtained  in  twelve  numbers 
should  be  worth  the  subscription  price — $3  per  annum.  Address  J.  L.  Peters, 
publisher,  198  Broadway,  New  York. 

The  Reconstructed  Farmer.  A  monthly  magazine  of  32  pages,  published  at 
Tarborough,  N.  C,  by  James  R.  Thigpen  and  John  S.  Dancy.  It  is  gotten  up 
very  neatly,  and  is  of  a  prepossessing  appearance.  It  is  well  filled  with  se- 
lected and  original  matter  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  the  times.  We  wish 
for  it  a  career  of  usefulness  and  prosperity  commensurate  with  the  ability  and 
enterprise  with  which  it  is  manifestly  conducted. 

TJie  American  Artisan.  This  useful  journal,  devoted  to  the  interests  of  Ar- 
tisans, Manufacturers,  Inventors,  &c,  after  an  interval  of  some  weeks,  is  again 
restored  to  its  former  regularity  of  appearance  on  our  exchange  table.  Pub- 
lished by  Brown,  Combs  &  Co.,  189  Broadway,  New  York. 

Monthly  Report  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  May  and  June,  1869. 

This  interesting  cereal  contains  "  a  condensed  statement  of  the  growing 
crops,  and  articles  upon  Steam  Ploughing  in  New  Jersey  and  Louisiana;  Fruit 
Culture  on  the  Mississippi  Rapids  ;  Progress  of  Nebraska ;  Value  of  Sewage 
Deposits ;  Land  Drainage  in  California ;  Wheat  Culture  in  Virginia,  &c.  *  *  * 
Agricultural  Exports ;  Live  Stock  at  Chicago;  British  Wheat;  Imports  and 
British  Wool  Exports ;  together  with  Meteorological  Tables  and  Notes  on  the 
weather  for  the  months  of  April  and  May,  and  a  variety  of  Extracts  from  the 
Correspondence  of  the  Department,"  by  J.  R.  Dodge,  Statistician. 

The  Manufacturer  and  Builder  is  a  very  handsome  quarto  of  32  pages,  issu- 
ed monthly  in  the  interest  of  Manufacturers  and  Builders,  at  the  low  price  of 
$1.50  yearly,  or  sold  by  the  single  copy  at  15  cents.