716 



FARMERS' REGISTER— MANAGEMENT OF TOBACCO— POSTS. 



lishing a new Flora of North America, brought 

 down to the present time. It is a great desidera- 

 tum, and the work is in good hands. 



[The foregoing are answers lo queries sent to our 

 correspondent, and not designed for publication — but 

 we have taken the liberty thus to use the extract, 

 presuming that there can be no objection.] 



Henry county, March 7lh, 1835. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



The subjoined remarks I received from one of 

 the most experienced commercial houses of Rich- 

 mond, upon the management of tobacco (our sta- 

 ple.) I think they contain useful, solid, practical 

 suggestions, which if made public, as the prizing 

 season is now approaching, may be of service to 

 this region of country, though they were not thus 

 intended by the author, being merely addressed to 

 me in a letter, after making sale of my crop. If 

 you should think them of sufficient importance to 

 give them a place in your Register, you can do so. 



Respectfully, yours, &c. 



USEFUL, HINTS UPON THE MANAGEMENT OF 

 TOBACCO. 



Wft take the liberty of offering some sugges- 

 tions for your consideration, in the management of 

 your tobacco, which our experience here, as well as 

 remarks made to us by our friend in Great Britain, 

 induce us to believe,if adopted, would add material- 

 ly to the value of tobacco for the British markets. 

 The tobacco should be so assorted, as that each 

 hogshead be unitbrm in color, size, and substance, 

 •well cured, and with as little fire as can be applied, 

 to secure against injury in the sweat — prized as it 

 can be to avoid injury by breaking the leaf. It 

 should not be bruised by heavy prizing, it being 

 important that the tobacco when taken from the 

 hogshead for use, should be free and leafy, not 

 matted and stuck together — from 1,300 to 1,500 ac- 

 cording to the quality of the tobacco, bemg suffi- 

 ciently heavy for the hogshead. In place of its 

 being prized flat and open, the leaves of the bun- 

 dles interlocking with each other, the leaves should 

 be closed and appear as if each bundle had been 

 drawn through the hand, laid straight in the hogs- 

 head, a bundle only at a time, so that when the 

 sample is drawn, it looks bulky for its weight, and 

 each bundle separating from the other without 

 force, which preserves the leaf from being injured 

 by breaking, when handling for use. We are sat- 

 isfied that such management will be well compen- 

 sated by the additional price the planter will obtain 

 for his tobacco. We presume you are aware of 

 the importance of tobacco standing on the ground 

 until it' is fully ripe. Many planters err by cutting 

 too soon. Stout body, that is rich, thick tobac- 

 co, is greatly preferred. As to color, from a lively 

 bright to a nutmeg brown, are preferred. Red, or 

 what is familiarly called "foxy," is the worst color. 

 Green is also objectionable; but a mixture of 

 green and yellow, when the tobacco is new, is a 

 good color. In the sweat such, in a good degree, 

 loses the green appearance. 



ON THE PROPER MANAGEMENT OF POSTS, 

 WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR DURABILITY. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Perhaps there is no subject connected with ag- 

 riculture, on which a greater diversity of opinion 

 prevails than the question, whether, with reference 

 to their durability, posts should be put in the 

 ground green, or seasoned? When 1 first settled, 

 I took considerable pains to inform myself on this 

 point, by consultation with those Avhose expe- 

 rience, should constiiute them proper fountains of 

 information. The diversity to which I have al- 

 luded, impaired greatly the acquisition of decisive 

 results. Mr. Thomas Thweatt, of Dinwiddle, (a 

 gentleman of great judgement and observation on 

 all agricultural subjects,) related to me a circum- 

 stance which contributed much towards the at- 

 tainment of my object. He stated (if my memo- 

 ry be correct,) that in the erection of his garden — ■ 

 a sufficient number of posts as he supposed, were 

 prepared and suffered to remain until they were 

 thoroughly seasoned. Its completion, however, 

 required one in addition, which was taken from an 

 adjacent tree, and inmiediately put in the ground. 

 Seventeen years had elapsed, and every post had 

 rotted down except that one, which remained 

 sound. In the progress of my investigation ano- 

 ther instance was related in which an entire side 

 of a garden exhibited the same results. My own 

 limited experience furnishes an incident worthy of 

 being mentioned. My garden enclosure was 

 erected of posts while green. Several pieces re- 

 mained exposed, until they were completely sea- 

 soned. Out of these a horse-rack was construct- 

 ed, which has entirely rotted down, while eveiy 

 post in the garden remains firm. From these 

 facts I deduce the belief, that a post planted 

 when green will last longer than one previously 

 seasoned; and lor the reason, that the operation 

 of seasoning produces cracks in the timber, which 

 admitting the moisture from the ground cause its 

 decay. I recollect to have read the account of an 

 experiment, proving that the inversion of posts, 

 from the direction in which they grew, operated 

 beneficially. Two gate posts were hewn from the 

 same tree — one was planted in the manner in 

 which it grew, the other inverted. The former 

 rotted down while the latter was sound. It was 

 accounted for in this way — that nature had formed 

 valves for the ascension of the sap, which allowed 

 the moisture from the ground to penetrate through 

 the same channel; but that the inversion of these 

 valves, interposed a barrier to its admission. This 

 theory corroborates the idea previously expressed, 

 that the moisture of the ground, alternately pene- 

 trating within the timber and in droughts, mea- 

 surably receding, causes its decay. Whether the 

 posts should be cut while the sap is up or down, I 

 am unable to determine. A writer in some of the 

 numbers of the American Farmer, states that oak 

 timber should be cut while the sap is up, because 

 it is glutinous and forms a cement, or substance 

 which acts as a preservative. 



I have ventured to express these hasty and im- 

 perfect reflections, with the hope that though they 

 may not impart any useful information, they may 

 elicit some from others. These are controverted 

 subjects, in which every person who erects a gate 

 or encloses a garden is deeply interested — and their 

 further discussion will be valuable, at least to 



