212 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 4 



meadows now yield a sufficiency of hay to supply 

 his plantation, he expects to sell annually the pro- 

 duce of the thirty acres. He thinks our climate is 

 well adapted to the growth of timothy and herds 

 grass; and he has raised cropsof hay as large, per 

 acre, as the highest reported account of the pro- 

 duce, per acre, of any no, them farm. The plan- 

 ters on Wardsibrk, generally, have paid great at- 

 tention to meadows. They have been very suc- 

 cessful in reclaiming flat lands, that lie too low for 

 constant cultivation, and putting them down in 

 grass to mow. And there is a peculiarity about 

 their mode of preparation of a scene tor meadow, 

 that is worthy of notice. Their meadow lands are 

 all thrown up in beds, of the width of about twenty 

 feet. I observeo this management, particularly, on 

 the plantation of Capt. Henry A. SVaikins, who is 

 a very successful culiivator ofhcrds ixrass. 



Mr. E's teams for [)loughing, consist altogether 

 of mules. He is an enthusiastic admirer of these 

 animals, and uses them in his wagons, as well as 

 to the plough. He adds his testimony to the opin- 

 ions of all of those who have tried mules, for plan- 

 tation purposes— that they are stronger, (when of 

 large size,) hardier, longer lived, ami less expen- 

 sive to keep, than horses. Mr. E. has lately de- 

 voted much attention to the subject of hog rais- 

 ing. His hogs are confined, throughout the win- 

 ter nionths, in pens convenient to water, and fed 

 principally on corn. He gives them unusually larije 

 quantities of salt and ashes mixed, which, he says, 

 they devour as greedily as corn. This prepara- 

 tion is deemed necessary to keep penned hoi^s in 

 good health. Mr. E. showed me some very fine 

 porkers, that he had permed through the winter, 

 which he thought would weigh upwards of two 

 hundred pounds a head, at eighteen months old. 

 The pens are kept constantly well littered; and he 

 estimates the value of the manure made in his hoo; 

 pens, through the year, as fldly equal to the value 

 of the meat. Mr. E. admits that the subject of ma- 

 nure making is his hobby; but, I think that Taylor, 

 in his jjraior, makes nearly the same assertion 

 with regard to the value of the manure raised 

 from his hog pens. The pens are principally lit- 

 tered with leaves. 



The plantation under review, has been greatly 

 improved by the application of putrescent ma- 

 nures. It is the subject to which the eneriries of 

 the farmer are princlptilly directed. The proprie- 

 tor has entered upon this subject with ureat zeal 

 and enthusiasm. If all the manure, raised on his 

 farm, were applied to the tobacco crop, he thinks 

 it would manure two hundred thousand tobacco 

 hills, or the whole of the land cultivated in to- 

 bacco. The leaves of the f(>resr, swamp mud, al- 

 luvial deposite on the creek flats, the manure of 

 the hog pen, of the stables, the farm yard, are all 

 brought into requisition, to furnish their aid to- 

 wards the permanent improvement of the soil. 

 During my last visit to Mr. E's plantation, I found 

 him engaged in a new and interesting branch of 

 his subject. He had selected a large section of 

 the thinnest part of an enclosed field"^ for the pur- 

 pose of applyincr upon it loam from liis creek flat. 

 The spot selected, on the creek, was an almost 

 inexhaustible heap of rich loam, many feet deep. 

 There were two wagons, one team of mules, and 

 two hands, engaged in haulinij out this mud. 

 While the driver was carrying off' one load, the 

 other hand filled the other "wagon, which had no 



team attached to it, and as soon as the driver re- 

 turned, he geared his mules to the wagon loaded 

 in his absence, and left his own to be again loaded. 

 By this process, an incredible quantity of mud 

 could be carried out in a short time. The loaded 

 wasron was drawn by fine strong mules. The 

 loads were deposited in heaps, of a load each, tour 

 or five yards apart. Mr. E. informed me that he 

 had ordered an ox cart lo be made, for the purpose 

 of aiding in hauling out mud and other manures. 

 He said, he had determined to set apart two hands, 

 whose sole employment, ihrough life, should be to 

 make, collect, haul out and spread manure, except 

 when their services were much needed in harvest, 

 and on such days as they were prevented, by in- 

 clement weather, from attending to their vocation. 

 T asked him, if i.e meant that the labor of these 

 hands should Substitute the labor of his field 

 hands, in making and hauling out manure. He 

 said not: and that he meant to double his exer- 

 tions with his field hands on this subject. If Mr. 

 E's success in future, be equal to his success in 

 raising manure for the last two or three years, it 

 requires but a simple calculation to prove, that 

 every acre of land on his farm may be made rich 

 in a lew years. The manure obtained from his 

 ho2 }ard, and the mud from his flat land, are re- 

 sources but seldom availed of in this section of 

 country, and seem to be deservint; of attention 

 by other fiirmers. Mr. E. is not alone in his ex- 

 ertions to raise large quantities of manure. The 

 subject begins to command that attention, gene- 

 rally, which it so justly merits. The information 

 obtained on this subject, by the circulation oi' the 

 Farmers' Register, is convincing many of its great 

 importance. Many farmers are a>king the ques- 

 tions — ''Why is it, that the farmers in the northern 

 stales, are reaping three or four thousand dollars 

 nett profit, Ir-om farms of two hundreil acres ex- 

 tent? Why is it, that many fiirms in France, of 

 ten or fifieen hundred acres extent, support a 

 thousand sheep and a proportionate number of 

 neat cattle? Why is it, that the product of a 

 Flemish acre exceeds the product of five of our 

 best cultivated acres? Why is it, that land in the 

 inferior of the state of New Yoi'k, as far distant 

 fi'om the large markets as our interior, commands 

 a price of from sixt}' to one hundred dollars, that 

 was orLirinally poorer than the tobacco districts of 

 Virofinia?" The answers to these questions, are, 

 that they understand and practice the art of raising 

 putrescent manures, and the artificial grasses. It 

 is true, that such great improvements have been 

 partially effected by the application of mineral 

 manures; but mineral manures are in the reach 

 of more than half of the farmers of this state, 

 and the resources for making putrescent manures, 

 are fully sufficient to employ the leisure time and 

 energies of those who are deprived of the aid of 

 mineral manures. 



Mr. E. defends, with great tenacity, his practice 

 of suflering his corn stalks to remain on his fields, 

 to be plouo'hed under with the wheat, instead of 

 hauling them to his farm pen. His reasons, for 

 this practice, are, that the stalks prevent his land 

 from washino;; that they benefit the land to some 

 extent, scattered as they are, throuiih the field; 

 that it is unnecessary labor, to haul them up, be- 

 cause his supply of leaves is almost inexhaustiiile, 

 and he can haul a load of the latter, in as short a 

 time as he can haul a load of stalks; and he con- 



