744 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



No. 12 



all to his house, and of whose kind altentions and 

 eieijiint hos|)italityj we have lieard but one expres- 

 pion of o|>iuic)n hy the jrentlenien who were tlie 

 recijiients ot" it. The wliole of Friday w'as con- 

 euined in exaniiniiiii; ihe niaii piis about Wood- 

 slone, Marn;in2"on and Swed('si)oron.'ih, and pay- 

 inij a visit lo i\lr. Tonkins and his liunous stock. 

 The rich spp(;iinens exhibited to us of the shell 

 and <jreen sand marl brouuhi over bv one of the 

 cornniitlee. as ;ilso the liaiesinrie of JManrunirion 

 quarries, which are in -the inmiediate vicinity of 

 the finest beds of mail — must ni;ike Salem one of 

 the richest counties of the state, and Ihe clay soil 

 whicli abounds there, a fine wh;^at country; no 

 belter evidence was exhihiied to the (lomrnittee in 

 this improvinir county, (lo which nature has been 

 so bountiful in naiural manures) than was shown 

 on the fi;rms of Messrs. Reeves': lands which 

 cost them but -^4 per ai;re (and unini|)roved, was 

 dear at thaf,^ covered wiih cedar bushes and crab 

 grass,* and producing nothinjj like ijood grass or 

 grain — with the aid of lime and marl, are now 

 yieldirig three tons of clover and timothy to the 

 acre, wiih 25 bushels of wheat the past year- - 

 and corn, rye and other products in the same pro- 

 portions. The s.ime may be said of ail the otiier 

 Jands there, improved in this way No one with- 

 fout seeiuir, can imagine the contrast now made 

 'between the old sedxre commons and the culti- 

 vated fields reclaimed from them — the increased 

 value thus niven to indiviihial and national wealth, 

 is most obvious and uiteresiinor. Specimens of 

 Delaware marl such as were analyzed by Mr. 

 Eooth, state geologist, Cfrom St. George's hun- 

 dred,) were taken over by the committee and 

 compared with the best qualities of Jersey marl — 

 they appear very similar, and are no doubt equal- 

 ly enriching, if judiciously applied, being of the 

 same great veins which cross each of those states 

 and penetrate larirely into Maryland — and con- 

 taining by examination about the same fertilizing 

 matter. We auaur the best results to our aijricul- 

 tural interests of both states li'om this visit of prac- 

 tical and improving farmers to each other, and the 

 good example set by New Jersey, wi!} not be lost 

 on those of Delaware, who are now borins' and 

 finding marl daily, in most of the lower parts of 

 this county. 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 

 THE VIXE. 



The necessity of diversif^ying our agricultural 

 pursuits, and of the early developement of our re- 

 sources, cannot be too earnestly or too frequently 

 urged upon our readers. We have so long; rated 

 ourselves upon the value and importanceof our 

 cotton and rice, in the foreign and domestic com- 

 merce of the union, that we appear to believe we 

 monopolize the growth of, and trade in, both those 

 great staples, and to forget, that with the exten- 

 sion of the foreign production, the value of our 

 own must be diminished. We lose siaht of the 

 fact, that the removal of our slaves, and other la- 

 borers, to Texas, will enhance the value of labor 

 in Ihe cotton and rice-srowing states, and neces- 

 sarily the cost of production. To meet this state 



* Query — Hen's nest, or poverty grass? — Crab (or 

 crop) erass in the growtii of good and rich soils. — Ed. 

 Far. Reg. 



of things, we cannot too soon direct our attention 

 to ihe production of other articles, which will pay 

 better, and bring into employment, ihe vast 

 amount of free hd)or, v.diich is now a mere tax. 

 We allude to the thousands of white and colored 

 males and females, w.o cannot undergo ihe hard- 

 ships of ihe cotton or rice culture, but who are 

 perfiectly compeient to the production of wine, 

 silk, &c. If we do not soon bestir ourselves, we 

 shall find our monopoly of cotton and rice all a 

 dream, and, that iu some other divisions of agri- 

 cultural labor, we are at the distance post, while 

 others are at the goal. The countries lately un- 

 der the rule of Spain and Portugal, and now, al- 

 most in a state of anarchy, must ere long be tran- 

 quillized. Soon as this shall be done, agriculiure 

 vvili be encouraged, and so soon as those countries 

 shall occupy the positions in acriculture and com- 

 merce, which nature has fitted them for. our main 

 dependence, rice and cotton, will decline in value, 

 and perhaps ndnously to many. A certain soil 

 and ciimale, beirg necessary to the production of 

 the fine louij, or sea-island cottons, we do not refer 

 to them, but lo what are known as short, or 

 uplands. Cotton is indiifcnous of many vast 

 tracts of country south of the United Slates; of 

 some, where the spring is early, and the liill late; 

 of others, where frosts never fall, and consequent- 

 ly the yield to the hand will be greater than iiom 

 the best lands in any section of ihe union. These 

 peculiarities of location, will be likewise advanta- 

 geous to rice, and it will be pioduced by whites, 

 Creoles, Indians and negroes, in large and small 

 quamities, upon their swamp and tide lands. 

 Like wheat, in our northern slates and Europe, it 

 will be sold rough, and in large or small parcels, 



to merchants, who will ship it to- perhaps our 



own country. We have ourselves, set the exam- 

 ple of shipping "paddy," and it will not escape 

 imitaiion, for we have taught our customers, rice 

 is better, when transporied in its rough slate. In 

 our opinion the linie is not distant, when shipping 

 clean rice to Europe, will be a novelty. In Texas, 

 Mexico, and South America, we shall have for- 

 midable competitors in the growth of ihe staples 

 we now rely on so much, and we tliii.k it but a 

 prudent fore-cast, to engage in the production of 

 substitutes in commerce, so that if need be, we 

 may relinquish the culture of cotton or rice, and 

 suffer nothing fi-om doing so. Without a very 

 material fall in the price of lands and nejzroes, we 

 cannot grow either rice or cotton, so as to compete 

 successfuUij with the people of" those southern 

 countries, when brought under well established 

 governments. These views we are aware, some 

 will insist, are visionary; but we think little is ven- 

 tured when we say, "the reflecting" will perceive 

 they must be realized. 



These general remarks have been drawn from 

 us bv noticing the successl'ul culture of the grape 

 in the stale of Ohio. We allude to an article in 

 the Cincinnati 'Republican,' upon which the edi- 

 tor of the 'Horticultural Register' remarks, "it is 

 from one of the most scientific and successful cul- 

 tivators of the vine in the west, and will be read 

 with profit by all those who feel an interest in the 

 subject." As we of the south should be among 

 those most interested, we republish the article en- 

 tire, as the best mode of laying before our readers 

 the views of a practical and fortunate grower of 

 the vine. 



