FARMERS' REGISTER— PONDS AND CANALS FOR MILLS. 



579 



A PROFITABLK CHANGK OF A 3HLL TOXD 

 FOR A CAjVAL. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Amelia, Dec. 20th, 1834. 



The farmers of Virginia may indeed congratu- 

 late tiienvselves that there has been estabJislied in 

 their state, in your valuable publication, a medium 

 through which useful information and suggestions 

 may be dilfused t()r the public good, which might 

 otherwise j)robably be known but to a few. 



In accortlance with your request lor presenting 

 such improvements as may have been made to 

 the public, I will endeavor to lay before your 

 readers what I conceive to be an improvement of 

 a kind important to owners of mills, (and not un- 

 important to the I'arming interest,) which has been 

 made by myselij by means of a canal, dispensing 

 entirely with the pond. The mill is situated on a 

 small stream, known by the name of Buck Skin 

 Creek, near the dividing line of Amelia and Not- 

 toway, not exceeding three miles in length from 

 the mill to its very source. The pond covered 

 about twenty-five acres of" land, and had probably 

 been erected nearly a century. In the summer of 

 1833, the dam was swept away, and such a breach 

 made, as induced me, as a matter of convenience 

 to mj'self, to try the experiment with a canal, un- 

 til the dam could be repaired. The canal was 

 dug, and in a short time, principally with my 

 crop hands, and upon trial was found to far exceeil 

 my most sanguine expectations — so much so, that 

 I have declined rebuilding the dam. The present 

 plan is much less troublesome and expensive. I 

 have been enabled to grind tor all the custom the 

 mill gets, producing a toll from ten to twelve bar- 

 rels of corn per month. In addition, I shall be en- 

 abled to bring into cultivation aboLit tliirty acres of 

 valuable land, and it is highly probable will pro- 

 mote the healthiness of the ncighboriiood. 



There are now two other mills in operation in 

 my countj' upon the canal plan, that succeed won- 

 derfijlly well; and could their owners be induced 

 to give their views and experience, they might 

 confer a greai benefit upon the community. I do 

 not hesitate to sa\^, that in rny opinion, one-half 

 the mills in this section of Virginia might be work- 

 ed by canals, dispensing with their ponds, thereby 

 adding many valuable acres to the farms, and jiro- 

 moting the general health of the country. The 

 experiment could be made without cutting down 

 the dam. A canal should be cut around the pond 

 at high water mark, until it reaches the stream 

 above the pond. I should never have been in- 

 duced to have made the experiment had I not 

 been in some degree compelled by a concurrence 

 of providential events; which fact forcibly evinces 

 how unwilling we are to forsake early impressions 

 and habits — believing witli most of my neighbors, 

 that such an attempt was futile and visionary. 



For tlie Fiirmors' Register. 



OX THE NECESSITY OF SYSTEM AND ATTEN- 

 TION IN THE farmer's BUSINESS. 



It is entirely useless and unnecessarj- to waste 

 time, which is precious to all, in querulous narra- 

 tion of the exceedingly deplorable state of agricul- 



ture — the impoverished, cadaverous aspect com- 

 monly exhibited on the surface of the Old Domin- 

 ion. It is equally useless and unprofitable, to write 

 a funeral oration lor soil, long since dvjunct, or de- 

 parted, and soon to be deposited in the gra\-e of 

 the "great waters." We shall briefly, and we 

 hope more profitably, suggest a lew disjointed and 

 unconnected remarks, glancing at the causes, and 

 designating the means to remedy or alleviate evils 

 generally existing, and, we are compelled to ac- 

 knowledge, exhibited in bold relief 



One of the most prominent causes which de- 

 press agriculture in Virginia, is the opinion en- 

 tertained by man}', that slavery is incompatible 

 with improvement in agriculture. There never 

 was a greater mistake — a more fallacious position. 

 There never was an error more iiital in its con- 

 sequences. A belief in this position, renders it 

 impossible to him who entertains it, ever to im- 

 prove his system of agriculture. We cannot, we 

 will not persevere in toiling tor that wiiich we be- 

 lieve we shall ultimately fail to obtain. Why 

 should we believe the position? We have the en- 

 tire control of our slaves, and can give their labor 

 what direction we please. INIany hold them by 

 inheritance, and have nought to ])ay lor their la- 

 bor but the moral obligation to feed and clothe 

 them well. No free laborer in America, would 

 perform the amount of labor performed by our 

 slaves for the same remuneration. None can be 

 obtained, either from the North or the South, who 

 ^vill agree to work for their food and clothing alone. 

 All require more than this — consequently, slave 

 labor is cheapest; and the cheapest labor presents 

 the greatest iticilities for improvement. 



TJie misapplication of labor, is also a great 

 cause of the depression of agriculture. Because, 

 among other reasons, labor is cheap, no pains have 

 been taken, no thought bestowed, to have it pro- 

 perly applied. This important item of good hus- 

 bandrj^, has commonly, and is even now, iefl to 

 agents uninterested in improvement, and frequent- 

 ly to the ignorance of the negroes themselves. 

 Virginians are peculiarly averse, and bestow but 

 little attention to what they consider the minutiae 

 of the farm: they think it sufficient to give general 

 directions, without attending to the particular ap- 

 plication of labor. Consequently, labor is often 

 badly applied — time and attention devoted to one 

 branch of business, which ought to be bestowed 

 on another. In close connection with this e\nl, 

 is another, and of equal magnitude — a want of 

 pr.tctical knowledge, which renders us Uable to be 

 imposed on at every point. If w'c are destitute 

 of practical knowledge, most of the work on the 

 fiirm will be badly executed, and many evils will 

 follow in tlie train. From bad work, we cannot 

 reasonably expect good production; it must be 

 proportionably deficient. This makes it necessary, 

 in order to make even a tolerable crop, to ex]:;os8 

 a larger surface, which must be annually increased, 

 in proportion to the progressive deterioration of the 

 soil, until improvement becomes a dead letter, and 

 soon the last remains of fertility are washed and 

 extracted from the exhausted soil. IVIany pro- 

 p,rietors are so entircl}" wanting in practical know- 

 ledge, that they do not know how to set a hilling 

 hoe — and CufTce may hold a high hand, and for 

 ought they know, be doing good work, with his 

 hoe so fixed that it cannot be made, by ordinary 

 exertion, to cut an inch deep. It would be well if 



