FARMERS' REGISTER— WORMS AND CROWS, &c. 



243 



object, he will sometimes brinij frold sands and 

 ores fi'om a distance, and bury them upon his own 

 grounds, which of course the purchaser finds out 

 to his sorrow when too late. Again, some per- 

 sons, on finding a lew grains of gold, suppose that 

 if they dig deep they will surely find the precious 

 metal in masses and blocks. It is needless to add 

 that such visionary day-dreams are rarely realized 

 — still many are sanguine enough to pursue the 

 chance with great ardor. 



To those persons who engage in this business 

 for the purpose of speculation, I would say that 

 they will only be benefitedat the expense of others, 

 and will injure the mining interest of the country 

 more in a tew days than they can possibly repair 

 in many years. 



Finally, persons ought not to engage in this bu- 

 siness without previous skill and experience. It is 

 obviously unsafe for them to do so; and here is the 

 cause ol' so many failures of companies and indi- 

 viduals. Gold mining is as much an art or trade 

 as iron mining. What company of farmers would 

 undertake of themselves to get iron from the ore? 

 And what would be the j^robable result of such an 

 undertaking? What would be the result if this 

 eame company of iarmers should undertake to 

 work the ores of zinc, so rich and abundant in this 

 country? I have no doubt you anticipate the re- 

 sult correctly; and the same result is to be expect- 

 ed in their undertaking to get gold. Some persons 

 in their ignorance su(>pose that if they expend a 

 large amount, or venture a large sum, that they 

 shall certainly realize someihing in return. Such 

 visionary men lose their all, generally; whereas, in 

 the hands of a discreet and experienced man, 

 every cent of that money, like the well directed 

 blows of the axeman, would be turned to a good 

 account; and instead of a loss he would reap a 

 reward of an hundred fold. In proof of this I 

 have known a man to expend ten hundred dollars 

 and get ten thousand dollars of gold for his reward, 

 and ti'om an examination of his lands, believe that 

 he might labor all his life in the same prudent way, 

 and with the same good success. Again I have 

 known another man in the same situation precisely, 

 expend the same sum and get nothing but a load 

 of debt upon his shoulders instead of gold. Now 

 will }'ou sav that these mines ought not to be 

 worked? No, you will say let them be worked by 

 honest, experienced and prudent men. Let this be 

 done, and the capitalist will find his money profita- 

 blv employed, and the millions of gold in Virginia 

 will be made to circulate and gladden the hearts of 

 millions of the human race now pining in want 

 and "perishing for lack of knowledge." 



wire-Avorm, grub- worm, &c.: one planter on 

 Roanoke in Charlotte county has had to plant his 

 whole crop over again. It is doubted by some 

 whether the enclosing sj-stem of Arator (Col. John 

 Taylor of Caroline) can be maintained unless our 

 Entomolofrists shall devise some remedy for the 

 worms which it permits to engender, to the proba- 

 ble ruin of the v\^hole produce of the earth. Until 

 the "butterfly-hunters" or "Horned Cock Socie- 

 ty"* shall devise a certain cure, take the following 

 palliative ("in mitigation of damages.") — Nurse 

 your crows and blackbirds and all birds that devour 

 earth worms, or their £,arvce; oi" which deccrip- 

 tion, the crow stands foremost, and the crow-black- 

 bird next. That they injure corn by pulling it up, 

 is a vulgar error that may add another item to Sir 

 Thomas Brown's Catalogue. The writer hereof 

 has been a planter five and twenty j-ears, and 

 never lost an ear of corn thereby. It is true that 

 they sometimes destroy a roasting ear by opening 

 the shuck, but for one thus injured by crows, hun- 

 dreds are opened by wood-peckers who do not eat 

 earth worms, but are useful allies to fruit andiim- 

 ber trees. Planters (they of the belting system 

 more especially,) who have dead trees in their 

 fields for wood-peckers to build in, are incorrigible 

 slovens, on whom even advice (cheap as it is) is 

 thrown away. The fact is, the crow like the dog, 

 eats bread when he can't find meat. 



While the pen is in my hand, let me remonstrate 

 against the barbarous custom of trimmino; up trees 

 into brooms J.iy way of improvement. If the tree 

 has obtained a tolerably large growth, the trim- 

 ming or topping of any main branch is (sooner or 

 later) certain death. Arthur Young protested 

 against this system of Pollard trees in France. It 

 is like the Abvssinian beef-steak from the live 

 cow, or the Chinese lady's club-fbot and thick. 



ON W0R3IS AND CROWS, AJTD THEIR OPERA- 

 TIOIVS ON CORN. 



[The following piece was attributed, and \ye believe 

 correctly, to the pen of the late John Randolph of 

 Roanoke. The errors in our copy (and which were 

 probably owing to the original manuscript) we have 

 not attempted to coiTect.l 



From the Richmond Enquirer, of May, 1820. 



CUTTING CORN TOPS. 



From the Cultivator. 



Mr. Fessendev — I have made a small experi- 

 ment the past season, to ascertain the damage, if 

 any, that results to the corn crop, from topping the 

 stalks in the usual way. And, influenced by the 

 request of several individuals, and the thought 

 that, perhaps, it might lead to a better knowledge 

 of this important branch of agriculture, (the 

 growing of corn,) I am induced to forward the 

 particulars to you for publication. Although lam 

 aware that guessing enters largely, and perhaps 

 necessarily, into the calculations and business of 

 the farmer, I am also aware that experiment can- 

 not be conducted with too much precision; indeed, 

 that experiment to be relied on, must be conducted 

 entirely v^^ithout guessing. Therefore, I have 

 been somewhat particular in conducting this. And 

 lest some of your readers may be a little sceptical 

 in regard to the result, and perhaps unwilling to 

 allow that the course which has been pursued by 

 our ancestors, from time immemorial, is not the 

 best course, I will give the details; and if an apolo- 

 gy be deemed necessary, for being so verj' minute, 

 I can merely say, that as the experiment seems to 

 me so deeply to involve the interests of com 

 growers, it may be well to give a detailed state- 

 ment of the case, so that any interested may be 

 able to draw their own inferences. And if, in 



You may make the following addition to your 

 agricultural news. 



In some parts of the country, the young Indian I your opinion, it Is worthy a place in your useful 



corn has been totally destroyed by innumerable — — 



worms of different descriptions; such as cut-worm, ' * See Chrysal. 



