466 



FARMERS' REGISTER— RULES FOR TOBACCO PLANTERS. 



becomes mc rather to be diligent, in seeking infor- 

 mation, than to presume to afford instruction to 

 others. 



It is strange to me that any one should contend 

 that the Paniunky plan of cultivating corn. viz. in 

 drills, and using the hoe two or three tmies in the 

 cultivaiion of the crop, is cheaper than where it is 

 cultivated both ways v/ith the plough. We are 

 obliged, in this neighborhood, to cultivate some of 

 our moist lands upon the Pamunky plan, and con- 

 sider the labor fully double. I incline to the opin- 

 ion, however, that rather more corn may be made 

 in drills, but not enough to comT)ensate for the 

 extra labor. This year I had a field of 150 acres 

 almost all laid oil" both ways, and not more than a 

 third of which was hoed at all, which will yield 

 between five and six barrels of corn per acre; and 

 if there is a cheaper wa}^ of making corn than 

 with the plough, it must, I think, be by the agency 

 of steam. 



W. B. H. 



[It is gratifyin<^that W. B. II. has come forward to 

 maintain his opinions in opposition to the four-shift 

 rotation — and it would have been more so, if the writer 

 had given to his opinions the additional support of his 

 name, than which, few deserve to command more res- 

 pect for views upon agriculture, whether founded 

 upon practice, or upon reasoning. It is not our inten- 

 tion (and it would be both uncalled for and unneces- 

 sary) to express any opinion as to the superior value 

 of either of the rotations in question, in addition to 

 the general remarks offered in No. 6, (page .380.) 

 But we wish the views on both sides to be fully pre- 

 sented — and until recently, the advocates of the three- 

 shift rotation, with a few exceptions, have, by their 

 silence, apparently acquiesced in the usual sweeping 

 denunciation of the rotation called the "three-shift," 

 however varied it may be in operation. The peculiar 

 advantages of the four-shift rotation (of three grain 

 crops and clover) have been ably maintained by Mr. 

 H. Carter and Mr. J. Selden — and if those who object 

 to that rotation, even for good wheat soils, remain silent, 

 it is a natural inference that their silence amounts to 

 admission of the inferiority of their own systems. 

 We shall be pleased to have the question discussed 

 more at length, by writers on both sides. All the 

 reasons given by good farmers, whether in support, or in 

 condemnation of either rotation, will be of value to 

 their readers — even tliough neither party may be able 

 to prove a general or marked superiority of one ro- 

 tation over the other.] 



SHORT RULES FOR TOBACCO PLANTERS. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



I send you a few plain practical rules, which I 

 wish |)ub!ished in your Farm.ers' Register, for the 

 special benefit of the tobacco section country. 



Keep no more stock than is necessary for the 

 domestic purposes of your ilirm. 



Sow all yo;jr up-lands in clover, that will pro- 

 duce it; and the flats in herds grass. 



Never exchange a gooc^ mcadow-, or herds grass 

 crop, for any other. 



Do not curtail, but increase your crop, especially 

 of wheat. 



Be diligent in the use of all the means for mak- 

 ing manuie — and never put it on land capable of 

 bringing clovxu', until all your iiirm be brought 

 under tfie influence of clover. 



Ditch or trench your hill-sides so as to prevent 

 its washing, or the water from flowing over it 

 broad cast. 



I feel confident in sajing, that a few years ad- 

 herence to the foregoing rules, will prove their 

 utility and value. Our exhausted lands would be 

 brought under profitable cultivation, and our crops, 

 and also our fiicilities for manuring, be greatly in- 

 creased. It is to the land we must look- for our 

 chief sources of manure. Let us then lay aside 

 the false doctrine, that we cannot make tobncco 

 and improve our lands at the same time. The 

 prevalence of such a.n opinion has, hcrotoiiire, 

 been a great barrier to improvement. I believe 

 tobacco to be the most profitable crop that we can 

 cultivate: it is less precarious than the cotton or 

 wheat crop — moreover, we can cultivate to ad- 

 vantage, tobacco and wheat, by the addition of a 

 few extra laborers, (not more than is usually cm- 

 ployed in all farming countries,) and improve our 

 land at the same time. 



II. c. 



MOTH WEEVIL, IN CORN. 



[The foliowing article is worth notice, as showing 

 the first appearance of the moth weevil as far north as 

 Massachusetts. This insect not many years ago was 

 not known- west of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Vir- 

 ginia, nor as far north as Delaware. There is no in- 

 sect more destructive to grain, where climate and the 

 farmer's neglect favor its propagation — and none more 

 easily guarded against by proper attention to its mode 

 of propagation and other habits. To those who are 

 uninformed on this subject, we will presume to recom- 

 mend a perusal of the article on moth weevil in No. 6 

 Vol. I of Farmers' Register.] 



From tlie New England Farmer. 



Thomas G. Fessenchn, Esq. — Sir, as editor of 

 the New England Farmer, I send you two ears of 

 corn of the growth of 1833. These are some of 

 the ears, which v/ere hung up for seed corn, and 

 fi'om appearances will give you a good idea of the 

 manner in which we have lost about 15 bushels, 

 which are in the ear; at least I should suppose the 

 corn useless for bread stufl". The insect which 

 escapes from the grain is a small insignificant look- 

 ing moth or miller. You will probably find it in 

 the grub or chiysalis state in the ears which I send 

 you. I cannot learn that any of the farmers about 

 here ever saw corn in this condition before. If it is 

 a new enemy, the sooner we are made acquainted 

 with it the better — that we may be able to guard 

 or provide against its ravages. There has been 

 the most mischief done in what was the sollest 

 corn. 



Respectf.illy yours, 



SAMUEL PLANT. 



From the New England Fanner. 

 SOIL OF PLYBIOUTH [mASS.] 



Mr. Fessenben — Dear Sir, I beg leave 

 through your valuable paper to correct an eiTone- 

 ous opinion which is abroad relative to the f?oil of 



