1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



211 



ble to the pronged hoe, which is so iiijjjliiy recoiii- 

 nietuleii in Tuyior's Arator. It is ahnost impossi- 

 ble lor the fiiriner, wiio has not, used the manure 

 proiiif, to form a correct estimate of lis value lor 

 loadiiiir carls and scattering manure. The excel- 

 lency of this little instrument consists greiUly in 

 the maimerof its execution. And 1 im.ii;ine, that 

 but a poor substitute could be made lor it in the 

 country shops. Their cost, at the retail country 

 stores, is a dollar each, and he that knows their 

 value and reluses, from economical motives, to 

 purchase them, is a larmer who will "starve hi? 

 trade." Afrecjuent resort [o temporary expcdicnh, 

 (usually termed inake-shifls,) is the essence of had 

 economy. Wliaiever the planter undertakes to do, 

 should be done in the very best miumer — with a 

 view, principally, to utility and permanence, rather 

 than cost and appearance. The implements of his 

 trade should be of the best kind, and should be kept 

 alwavs in the best ordf^r. Attention to such things, 

 constitute the great ddFerence between farmers. — 

 An economical larmer will plough his land deep, 

 because deep ploughing will bury the seed of grass 

 and weeds, too deep to vegetate, and he will be but 

 Jit lie troubled with izrass. He will bush his oats — 

 wved out his corn early — will take time to drain his 

 land — will always n)end a breach in his lences. or 

 houses, as soon as they are discovered, because at- 

 tention to such matters, saves labor "in the end." 



E. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



NOTICE OF THE FARM OF .T. F. EDBf UIVDS, OF 

 CHARLOTTE. 



In fulfilling my engagement to visit the best 

 managed larms, imd report to the readers of the 

 Register such points o!' management as seem to 

 be most deserving of uiiitation, i find it a dilbcult 

 task to determine what models to select. There 

 are many plantations in Charlotte, Prince Edward, 

 Halitiix, &c., on which the best management ex- 

 ists, on the old plan of cultivation: that is to say, 

 their management denotes economy, industry, 

 good arrangement, and neat cultivation. Such 

 plantalions have been very profitable, in times 

 past, to their owners; but this profit has been de- 

 rived fi'om the cultivation of tobacco. And it must 

 not be disguised, that most of the estates that 

 have produced large tobacco crops, have greatly 

 deteriorated in value on account of the paramount 

 attention required by this crop, to the neglect ol" all 

 permanent improvement. I, by no means, intend 

 to assert, that tobacco culture is incompatible wiih 

 improvemeni. There are matiy successful tobacco 

 cultivators who have improved their estates; but 

 the great majority of the thorough-going tobacco 

 cultivators, have adopted the three-shift system — 

 have no standing pastures — raise no hay — sow but 

 little clover — and bestow but little attention on the 

 subject of manures. The planters, who are de- 

 riving the most profit from their plantations, are 

 practical men, who have been successful cultiva- 

 tors of tobacco, and who have devoted a part of 

 the labor and resources of their farms to raising 

 manure and the grasses. The sight of such a 

 plantation, a few years ago, in the tobacco region 

 of Virginia, was like an oasis in the desert — as 

 rare as it was refreshing — but their number is an- 

 nually increasing; and there are now considerable 



districts of countiy, in Charlotte and Prince Ed- 

 ward counties, that present a view of irood mea- 

 dows, well manured lots, and larire fields well set 

 in clover. i?ut, without indulging further in gen- 

 eral remarks, I will proceed to give a short account 

 of the successful management of the planters re- 

 siding on VVardslbrk creek, in the county of Char- 

 lotte. The planters in this part of the county at 

 first acquired their celebrity by making high priced 

 tobacco. A few years back, when the tobacco 

 that suited the French market commanded hitjher 

 prices than any other description of tobacco, almost 

 every planter, wilhout a single exceplion, known to 

 the writer of these lines, that raised a tobacco crop 

 on Wardsf^irk, obtained a good price for it. The 

 general character of this tobacco, was not only yel- 

 lower, but it possessed a finer texture, and contain- 

 ed more oil, than the tobacco grown in other parts 

 of the county. Such general success could scarcely 

 be attributed alone to superior management; and 

 it is now a prevailing opinion, that the Wardsfbrk 

 lands possess some ingredient very favorable to 

 the growth of tobacco; and as these lands have 

 been supposed by many to contain lime, in some 

 of its combinations, I have but litlle doubt, that it 

 IS the marl ingredient in the VVardslbrk soils, that 

 renders them so peculiarly adapted to the growth 

 of both tobacco and clover. There is a recupera- 

 tive energy in the soil on this little stream, that is 

 rarely met with in other soils. The sub-soil, after 

 a few years exposure to the sun and frosts, when 

 aided by a little manure, is almost as productive 

 as the original surface soil. 



As a specimen of the Wardsfork management, 

 f will solicit the readers attention to a hasty out- 

 line of the farming operations of John F. Ed- 

 munds, esq. In riding up to Mr. E's house, the 

 greater part of his cleared land appears in full 

 view from the road; and nearly the whole of his 

 uncultivated land is seen set in clover or herd's 

 grass. Mr. E. cultivates both corn and tobacco 

 on clover lej's; and considers clover to be well 

 adapted to precede a tobacco crop, provided plaster 

 is used on the tobacco as soon as it is weeded out. 

 He thinks that tobacco is a very precarious crop to 

 follow clover, unless plaster is used. There are 

 some features in his management different ii'om 

 his neighbors; and, in f.ict, diti'erent from the man- 

 agement of any planter with whoiri 1 am acquaint- 

 ed, in the tobacco section of the state. The oat 

 crop, is almost universally cultivated in this part 

 of the state, and is (generally considered one of the 

 Cew crops peculiarly adapted to our latitude and 

 soil; but Mr. E. does not sow an oat grain on his 

 plantation. He considers oats a very exhausting 

 crop — they require seeding at a very busy time 

 to the tobacco planter, and are taken from the 

 field, at a time of the year, when the land is most 

 exposed to injury from the sun. He uses herds 

 grass hay as a substitute for oats; and always 

 makes enough hay for his teams, and frequently 

 sells a part of the produce of his meadows. Mr. 

 E. sows down the whole of his corn land and to- 

 bacco land in wheat. He thinks tliat the tobacco 

 crop is the verj- best crop to precede wheat, and 

 contends that" it is bettf-r than a heavy clover 

 ley. His profits fi-om his wheat crop are much 

 greater than he ever realized fi'om the oat crop. 

 In addition to the flat land already set in herds 

 grass, Mr. E. has lately sown thirty acres of the 

 best of his flat land on Wardsfbrk. And as his 



