1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



343 



when in a state of ferlilify, oillier naturally, or by 

 improvement.'?. [ think l1ie [incroflso ol] |)rniluct 

 from this kind of corn will be more than lillcen 

 per cent. INly wiiole crop the last year was Ma- 

 ryland twin-corn, and I tiiou<rht 1 observed a mani- 

 fest advantarre from its cuUivation upon bottom 

 land and irood up-iand. 1 am not prepared to say 

 what per cent, it yielded above the averaire crops 

 of common corn hcretolbrc made upon the same 

 land; but it was, I am perlijctly sure, much the 

 heaviest crop I ever saw upon the bottom and 

 ffood up-Iand. I should s;ucss at least by one- 

 fourth. The case, liowever, was very different 

 upon the exhausted parts ot^ the field — for there, 

 the corn over-shot, and produced very little more 

 than stalk and fodder. It will not do, so far as 

 my limited observation extends, upon any other 

 than land that is (in common parlance) in "good 

 heart," so well as our old corn, viz: gourd-seed and 

 Dearing corn. 



This, however, I do not consider any objection, 

 for no man ought to put exhausted land in any 

 crop for profit; for, if he does, he will verify the 

 vulgar maxim of '-working for nothing and find- 

 ing himself"' — this I have learned by sad ex- 

 perience. I have tried it ten years, and have al- 

 ways found my profits on the wrong side of the 

 leger — and of a man who would have the nerve 

 to push such an experiment farther, it might be 

 truly said, that "there is more hope of a fool 

 than of such a man." Can you not coax some 

 good man of meadows to give us more light upon 

 the art of grass culture ? For one, I should be 

 very thankful if you would convert a part of your 

 domain, ("the Farmers' Register,) into meadows 

 of a standing pasture, where we corn-fed nags 

 might luxuriate in fine grass; and mix haj' with 

 our grain — Verbum sat. With hearty good wishes 

 for the success of your eflTorts, I am, dear sir, your 

 obedient servant, 



P. A. BOLLING. 



REMARKS SUGGESTED BY THE PLAN ABOVE 

 PROPOSED. 



If all subscribers were as well disposed as our cor- 

 respondent, to be reminded of, and to correct, their er- 

 rors of omission or procrastination, then the very sim- 

 ple and cheap plan of notification which he proposes, 

 would save a great deal of trouble and of expense, of 

 vexation and sore feeling, both to the publisher and to 

 delinquent subscribers, which is now necessarily in- 

 curred, in the sending bills separately (and often re- 

 peatedly) by mail, and the maintaining the usual sys- 

 tem of collecting debts through travelling agents. And 

 though (for reasons stated at large in a former number) 

 the use of collecting agents, in Virginia, has been en- 

 tirely abandoned tor this publication, the discontinu- 

 ance of that mode of personal application makes writ- 

 ten apphcations the more necessary, and leaves in ac- 

 tion abundant sources of discontent and displeasure to 

 persons so notified, and of vexation, and wounded 

 feelings, besides " patronage" forfeited, and pecuniary 

 loss incurred, by the publisher. This is, by far, the 

 most disagreeable and galling of all the burdens which 

 the publisher of a periodical work has to bear. It is 

 not so much the enormous percentage of loss, upon the 



whole amount of debts due, that is and must be sus- 

 tained, as the numerous cases of olionce, unintention- 

 ally given, and not unfrequently of greater offence, 

 intentionally returned, in consequence of the mere no- 

 ti fication to delinquent subscribers of their dues, in such 

 general form, of circular letters or otherwise, as the 

 cases in general require. No man, who has the sensi- 

 bility of feeling, and delicate sense of honor, that a 

 gentleman should have, would undertake the endur- 

 ance of this odious duty and burden, if he knew its 

 magnitude before he commenced the labors of editor 

 and publisher. For our own part, we thought that the 

 plan of printed receipts for monthly payments, which 

 was adopted from the beginning of this work, would 

 prevent any continued ground of mistake or misap- 

 prehension of subscribers, or of just complaint on that 

 head; and leave us no ground for the " wear and tear" 

 of feeling, and of temper, in contemptible and irritat- 

 ing contests about five-dollar debts. In these printed 

 lists, (unless omitted by mistake,) the payment of 

 every subscriber appears in the month in which it is 

 received; and the preservation of that cover, or a 

 mere reference to it, is the most convenient and best 

 of vouchers, inasmuch, as so many hundreds are 

 printed, that it is scarcely possible that every copy of 

 the receipt can be lost. Moreover, the notification of 

 any omission or mistake in these receipts is requested 

 in every list, and immediate correction of all such 

 promised ; and in every case of information of error, 

 whether given early or late, (and no matter how de- 

 fective the proof,) the correction has been promptly 

 granted. With such ample means aflbrded by our regu- 

 lar usages, it is manifest, that if any subscriber is over- 

 charged, (by omitting his proper credit of payment,) 

 and remains so, it is his own fault, in not furnishing 

 the means of correction. With all the care that can 

 be used, some mistakes, and consequent overcharges, 

 cannot be avoided; but no such overcharge can re- 

 main two months on our accounts, if subscribers will 

 merely look for their names in the lists, preserve the 

 copy, or a reference to it, and give notice of errors 

 discovered. With such a system, the publisher may 

 lose in many cases by mistakes made in entries, but 

 cannot possibly gain by one. And it is as foolish and 

 unieasonable as it is unjust, for any overcharge to be 

 imputed to design, which would be an act of disho- 

 nesty as contemptible in its object, as for its motive. 

 We have committed very few mistakes of this kind, 

 compared to the number made by our subscribers — 

 and much fewer than their mistakes of the opposite 

 kind, where they have paid more than they owed, and 

 consequently were credited lor a year more than they 

 expected. It never entered our mind to suspect that 

 any subscriber meant to defraud, by his statement of 

 his dues and payments falling short of the true 

 amount ; and when the publisher has every thing to 

 lose, and nothing to gain, by similar mistakes and mis- 

 statements of account, surely he is entitled to at least 

 as much indulgence and respect. 



But the mere possibility of any such overcharge ex- 

 isting, would be a sufficient objection to the plan pro- 

 posed, of printing the hst of names of all supposed 



