[1837 



FARMERS' REGTSTKR. 



ofa little attention. Let us remember the old ad- 

 ncre, " lake careoftiie ponce, and the shillin<ri5 and 

 pound? will take care of themselves:." While I am 

 nn ihif sniiject, i will hazard a remark on the sub- 

 ject of haulinjT corn stalks. I think the custom of 

 iiaulin>r up the stalks, a bad one. Tthe stalks are 

 wortli sompihinir to remain in the field, tliey arc 

 valuable, it" ploui^Hied in with the wheat crop in 

 the fall, and worth somelhirig it' cut down and not 

 I'lounhed in, consecjuently, there is some loss ol 

 labor, especially when we take into the account, 

 that leaves, or other ve<2:etable matter is cenerally 

 more convenient to our farm pens. We have so 

 little labor to bestow to raisinj^ manure, we surely 

 oiifrht to lose none, every lick onsrht to count. By 

 haulnifj corn stalks, we are more or less, robbintr 

 Peter to pay Paul. We can ijeneraliy ffet leaves 

 from land which we do not desiirn for cultivation. 

 J. F. Edmunds. 

 fVardsfork, Charlotte. 



For the Fanners' Register. 

 TiiR u^'FIT?f^:ss and unsuxtablenkss of 



THE CUI/rt'RIO OF COTTON ON OUR FARMS, 

 WHKN THKIR IMPllOVEMENT IS DESIRED. 

 THE ABUNDANCE AND VALUE OF MARL 

 AND GREEN SAND IN SURRY COUNTV. 



Surry County, February, 1S37. 



As the season is now fast approachin<jr for our 

 Hirmers to be prepariuG; their land tor their hoe 

 cro|)s, I will offer a liiw remarks, which it is hoped 

 may be of some use to the farmers on [)oor land, 

 who, I am sorry to say, constitute a majority in this, 

 as well as the adjoinin<r counties. 



I am well satisfied that one (jreat cause (but by 

 no means the sole one) of the slow improvemeiu 

 of the farms in this vicinity is the cultivation oJ"the 

 cotton crop. The most of us will persist in culti- 

 valini^ it, althouifh we have been warned by two 

 or three successive and almost entire failures that 

 our climate is by no means favorable to its <rrowth, 

 even if our lands were rich enouijh. Our fields are 

 very lar dlflereni from some of the far-famed Tex- 

 an, where (I have heard) it is only necessary to 

 sow the seed, to obtain what we would call a fine 

 crop. I would recommend the total abandonment 

 of the cotton crop, forthwith, to all the llirmers in 

 this section, or at least, only to make just enough 

 lor the use of the plantation. All of the manure 

 that we make on our farms, instead of being 

 spread on the poorest parts, where it is most need- 

 ed, is put on the cotton lots; where it is ploughed, 

 harrowed, and hoed up, from May until Septem- 

 ber, by which time it is nearly exhausted by con- 

 stant exposure to the deleterious influence of the 

 hot sun. The land is but little benefited, and very 

 often, althouirh you may have a very promising 

 crop, before half of the pods are formed and ready 

 to open, they are bitten by an untin)ely frost, which 

 nearly destroys the cro[). I do not think the cotton 

 farms in this county, taken collectively, average 

 more than six or seven hundred weight to the 

 acre, though I believe, there are many on the 

 river, that make near double that quantity. The 

 generality of our corn ground is poor, yielding not 

 more than three and a half, or perhaps lour bar- 



rels o( corn per acre. * If we think the, cotton crop 

 is the most profitable, and are determined to per- 

 severe in its culture, let us first get our liirms in a 

 better state of improvement, by marling, and ap- 

 plying all the manure to the poorest parts of the 

 fields, instead of on the standiiii!: lots. The funis 

 would then improve rapidly, iiut so long as siaiid- 

 inir lots iif<' kept, and cultivated in cotton every 

 year, we may not expect our larnis to improve 

 much, if any. 



A very perious objection to the cultivation of" 

 cotton with us, at present, is the unprecedented 

 high price of labor ; for, of all crops ever cultivat- 

 ed by us, I think cotton certainly requires the most 

 manual labor. I think Indian corn and oats wouUl 

 be by far the most profitable cro[is we could raise 

 in this section, not only in a pecuniary point of 

 view, but what should be yet more recommenda- 

 tory in their favor, we would have it so much more 

 in our power to marl and improve our firms, than 

 we can possibly do now. Wheat, no d<5uht would 

 be more gainful than oats, if our lands were ailapt- 

 ed to its growth, but our soils (with a li^w excep- 

 tions) are generally too liijht and acid. We would 

 then be enabled to make more than double the 

 quantity of manure that is now made, whilst cul- 

 tivating cotton; provender would be more plenti- 

 ful, and our stock of every description would have 

 far better support. By the cultivation of cotton, our 

 corn ground is not only deprived of the little ma- 

 nure that is made, but what is still more to be la- 

 mented in many cases, the whole farm is debarred 

 ir-om the invaluable benefit of marl — for there are 

 many of us under our present system, who do not 

 cart out a sinirle bushel. If we were not compel- 

 led to pick out our cotion during the fall, we would 

 marl over many acres fi'om the time corn is laid by 

 until harv^est. The most of us think that the last of 

 the summer, and first of the fall, are the only limes 

 that we can, with any possible convenience, spare, 

 the force of the fiirm to haul marl, as the winter is 

 spent in mauling rails, repairing fiances, &c. &c. 

 As many liirms as there are in this county that 

 have marl in abundance, there are not more than 

 one or two farmers who allot a separate force lor 

 marling, and only one farm within my know- 

 ledge, (Chipoax,) that has been entirely marled 

 over. It seems very strange, that notwithstand- 

 ing, on every iarm where it has been used, it has 

 had a most happy effect, and generally without 

 the aid of either clover or gypsum (but often with 

 the injurious accompaniment of grazing) that far- 

 mers should be so dilatory in availing themselves 

 of its great fertilizin£r properties. Our marl, too, is 

 generally of excellent quality, averaging from fifty 

 to eighty per cent, of carbonate of lime ; and very 

 often green sand is found in considerable quantities; 

 in many banks there is as mucli as from thirty to 

 forty per cent, of it. I think the marl in Surry is 

 commonly more accessible and more abundant 

 than any I have ever seen. Very many of the 

 banks are not only almost entirely hare, having 

 not more than four or five inches of earth over the 

 marl, but what is another great advantao;e, there 

 is often little or no hill to rise, in liauiing it to 

 the fields. I discover that the marl which has the 



*We should have estimated these several rates of 

 product, both in cotton and corn, much lower than our 

 correspondent has done. — Ed. 



