278 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
to pay more attention to rotation of crops, with the intervention of green 
_ crops; but as the county is better adapted to grazing than to grain cul- 
ture, the people only aim to produce grain sufficient for home consump- 
tion. Grayson: Decidedly more attention given to a judicious alterna- 
tion, with the intervention of green crops. The rotation is as follows: 
A sod is broken up and planted in corn; the next spring seeded in 
oats, and in the fall in wheat; the spring following, in clover and grass, 
which is generally mowed the first year for seed, "and then allowéd to 
remain in sod three to five years. The main business is stock- 
raising, horses and cattle being preferred. Cattle, both in number and 
quality, are far in excess of what they were five years ago. Washington: 
Increased attention given to rotation, with green crops. This is both 
a@ grazing and a grain county. The soil is very productive, yielding 
with an annualdressing of plaster and ashes (half bushel of each to 
the acre) three tons of hay per acre each year while it remains in grass, 
which is usually for three years. Wheat (drilled) on a clover sod pro- 
duces twenty bushels per acre ; corn, (which succeeds wheat,) fifty bush- 
els; and oats, (coming after,) Afty to seventy-five bushels. Scott : This 
being also a grazing county, the statements given above are in the main 
applicable to its condition. 
LABOR-SAVING IMPLEMENTS. 
Tide-water district, (Northside.)—Henrico: Every farmer able to do so 
is using implements as a substitute for manual labor, as the substitute 
is found to be profitable. The chief bar to a more general use is the 
want of intelligence among the laborers. Wherever grass is grown for 
hay, the mower, horse- rake, and hay-fork are brought into requisition, 
at a great saving of both labor and expense. Charles City and York: 
Little or no use made of improved implements. New Kent: There are 
anumber of northern settlers in this county, who have introduced Potts’s 
Separator, McCormick’s reaper, Buckeye dropper, and some other ma- 
chines. A marked improvement is observable in the county since their 
introduction. King William: Labor-saving machines have been eagerly 
sought after, and tested by many farmers. Thrashers, with separating 
attachments, reapers, corn-planters, and cultivators, are extensively 
used. The separator is considered a great saving of labor; a good 
reaper does the work of eight men with cradles ; a corn- planter saves 
the work of eight hands; the sulky-plow succeeds well where the land 
’ isin good condition. Essex, and King and Queen: The condition of the 
people is so impoverished that they have not been able to avail them- 
selves of improved machinery. The only implement which has been 
tried is the buggy-plow, and it proved a failure. King George: On some 
of the large plantations, wheat-drills and reapers are used, and in all 
cases with. advantage; also, mowers and horse-rakes. Richmond : 
“Reapers, mowers, drills, gleaners, and stump-pullers are in use. A | 
reaper will do the ‘work of three to five men; a2 mower, of six to eight 
men; a drill, of five one-horse plows; a gleaner, or steel-tooth rake, of 
twenty men, "and i in a better manner. Two men, with a stump-puller, 
will do the work of ten men with grubbing hoes. In cost of labor, ma- 
chines save 75 per cent.” Lancaster: Sulky plows and cultivators have 
been introduced with marked advantage. A number of wheat-reapers 
and mowers are now used, which reduce harvest expenses one-third. 
Piedmont, (Northside. )—Statfor d: Reapers, mowers, and horse-rakes 
are used extensively, and with considerable saving of money and labor. 
Prince William: Reapers and mowers, with other implements of less 
note, are being gradually introduced. Alexandria: Improved machinery 
