STATUS OF VIRGINIA AGRICULTURE IN 1870. 285 
stable manure. Relative proportions of home-made and commercial about 
one to ten. Results of the crops about equal, but the land on which the 
home-made manure is used is more permanently benefited. Lunen- 
. burg: Fertilizers are applied to a very limited extent. Not more than 
one-hundredth of the cultivated land is improved at all, and that im- 
provement is effected both by home-made and commercial manures— 
800 bushels per acre of the former, or 300 pounds of the latter, by which 
production is doubled. Distance from transportation prevents the 
use of lime and other cheap manures. Nottoway: Fertilizers are 
used to a limited extent, being confined chiefly to tobacco lots, which 
constitute but a small portion of the tilled surface. Rate of applica- 
tion, two bundred and fifty to four hundred pounds per acre. Not 
much attention is paid to domestic manures. When applied to the 
same crop, a liberal coating of domestic manure is equal to about three 
hundred and fifty pounds of fertilizer in first production, but the 
former has the advantage in permanence. Appomattox: There are 
more home-made manures than fertilizers used. They are regarded 
as more economical, and are attended with better results. Com- 
mercial manures are not profitable unless when applied to tobacco, 
to be followed by wheat. Buckingham: Fertilizers are extensively 
used on the tobacco crop, but sparingly on other crops. About one- 
tenth of the tilled acreage is devoted to tobacco. The superphosphates 
have mostly taken the place of guano. Rate of application, about 
four hundred pounds to the acre. There is but a small number of 
‘stock in the county, and but little farm-yard manure is made; butso 
far as it goes, the tobacco grown with it is heavier and of richer body. 
Campbell: Very little commercial manure purchased by farmers; and 
what little manure of any kind there is used is derived from the stables, 
cow-pens, and ash-banks. Charlotte: Formerly commercial manures were 
very largely used, but latterly the results have not been satisfactory. 
Especially has this been the case with the wheat crop, so that in refer- 
ence to that they have been almost abandoned. They are still freely 
applied to tobacco, at the rate of two hundred to five hundred pounds 
per acre, and as this is universally followed by wheat, the success 
attending it is better. Home-made and commercial manures are some- 
times combined, and this is considered by many farmers the most econ- 
omical use that can be made of both. Prince Edward: The extent to 
which fertilizers are applied is limited only by the means of the farmer. 
About six per cent. of the land in cultivation is usually planted with 
tobacco, which is all fertilized. The rate of application is about one 
hundred and fifty pounds per acre, and the product is increased one 
hundred per cent. Farm-yard manures are looked after only in the 
old fashion. Pittsylvania: Commercial fertilizers are generally applied 
to the tobacco crop. Peruvian guano is the most popular, though sev- 
eral superphosphates are being introduced, and applied at the rate of 
one hundred to two hundred pounds per acre. Franklin: Almost all 
the lands cultivated with tobacco are fertilized in the same way, and in 
some instances portions of the corn and wheat crops. Nearly one-half of 
. the cultivated land is fertilized. The increased production cannot be 
accurately stated, but it is believed to be five-fold in some instances, 
and sometimes more. Some of the manipulated fertilizers for tobacco 
are the most profitable. Patrick: Very little use is made of fertilizers. 
The distance from railroad communication and from market, with the 
lack of improved implements, renders their use impracticable. 
The Valley—Clarke: Only a small proportion of fertilizers used, and 
farmers are not at all satisfied with the results. If they are beneficial 
