B60 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 6 



land, it had (that is the marsli) a black look, as if 

 ready to be resolved into its original elements. 

 The hoes with vvhich it was cut away, passed 

 through it wilh pecuHar ease and facility, as much 

 so almost, as if it had been all mud. This process 

 df making manure, recommends itself on several 

 grounds — first, its entire and perfect mingling, and 

 thereby meliorating the condition of each of two 

 substances, the one thought dangerous from the 

 excess of strength ; the other held useless by 

 some for the want of it. Secondly, the saving of 

 extra carting to the cow-pen, to be trampled as in 

 the usual way — and thinlly, ihe great facility with 

 which they arc brought to the place of deposit. 

 I have seen tiie negroes, when cutting on the side 

 of the river where the heap was to be made, leav- 

 ino- the boats, collect into great masses the cut 

 marsh, ami getting behind them, push up an im- 

 mense quantity to the shore with the greatest 

 ease. With the mixture thus collected last sum- 

 mer, 1 manured this spring fifty-nine acres, at the 

 rate of torty loads to the acre, which I hold to be 

 as profitaiile an investment of the work of sixteen 

 hands \'ov two months, as well can be made, being 

 at the rate of three acres and three quarters to the 

 hand. 



The making of cow-pen compost, with pine 

 trash and other leaves, was eflected by the wo- 

 men. The light trash was raked up and placed 

 at the edge of the woods, whence tlie trash carts 

 conveyed it to the pen. Here I would remark 

 upon the advantages which result from the proper 

 structure of the trash carts. An entire body of 

 light stuff, in open lattices, should be so fixed up 

 at the sides and back, as that a two ox wagon 

 should hold a cord of pressed leaves ; two oxen in 

 proper keep, will, with apparent ease, draw this 

 much. These useful animals, patient and sturdy, 

 require in the summer much care and attention — 

 an inhuman driver, inattentive to their wants, will 

 soon destroy them. They cannot work long with- 

 out water ; they require immeasurably more than 

 either the mule or the horse to sustain them — but 

 with this requisite properly attended to, they can 

 perform from their superior strength, although slow 

 of gait, almost as much work as either. The 

 primest fellows, therefore, and most industrious, 

 should be detailed for this service, otherwise time 

 wdl be idled away in the morning, which to re- 

 gain, the animals will be overworked in the after- 

 noon, and thus suffer much maltreatment and 

 abuse. Drivers of oxen should never be indulged 

 in carrying large sticks in their hands ; a small 

 switch, or a thong of leather fastened to a handle, 

 is quite sufficient, lor these docile and tractable 

 animals easily learn the word, and are as well so 

 directed, indeed better, than by the most severe 

 blows that can possibly be inflicted. Their yokes 

 should be light, with the haimes or bows fitting 

 tii^ht around the neck; by allowmgthem to be too 

 loose, they play upon the working of the shoulder 

 blade, and inflict dreadful wounds, lacerating the 

 skin in a shocking manner, and incapacitating the 

 animals for the performance of one half their la- 

 bor. With regard to the application of manures, 

 that must mainly depend upon the previous state 

 of the lands on which they are to be used. The 

 usual quantity allowed to the cotton crops, is from 

 twenty to thirty loads of compost to the acre, 

 and from forty to eighty of marsh mud, but it is 

 seldom that these extremes are reached, more 



comnnonly the lesser than the greater. The ap- 

 prehension which; when we first commenced ma- 

 nuring, I heard expressed by some, that manur- 

 inrr would in the long run prove more injurious than 

 beneficial, has I think entirely subsided. I pre- 

 sume there is not within the sound of my voice, 

 I may say indeed wiihin the bounds of this parish, 

 a planter who would now be willing to subscribe 

 to such an opinion. Like other schemes of im- 

 provement, it at first had its opponents, but like 

 all useful innovations, it has outlived to detraction. 

 Could I learn the name of the first man in this 

 parish who made a compost pen, and had I it with- 

 in my power, his litnie should be spread abroad, 

 and his name be inmiortalized ; for he has render- 

 ed to us an inestimable blessing, and far be it from 

 any one to withhold his meed of praise. 



From tlie Farmers' Cabinet. 

 WHAT IS THE GREATEST QUANTITY OF MA- 

 NURE TO BE OBTAINED FROM GIVEN MEANS. 



Mr. Editor — There are in agriculture, as per- 

 haps in every science, some leading propositions, 

 calculated in a particular manner to arrest atten- 

 tion by their prominent importance. Such I hold 

 that of a " Subscriber" m your May number — 

 " IVhat will an acre of land produce V and also 

 the question which heads this article. 



Were it possible at once to afford a complete 

 and palpable solution to these two propositions, 

 what mind can calculate the vast increase of trea- 

 sures that would instantly become accessible to 

 humanity? As then, we cannot inquire too strict- 

 ly, or know too much regarding them, I propose, 

 after recapitulating a k\v of the principal state- 

 ments of a "Subscriber'" concertiing the latter 

 question, to furnish my own experiments upon 

 the former. 



He informs us that a single acre of his land, 

 with abundant manuring and superior cultivation, 

 was made to produce the sum of ^'348 40 centa 

 per annum, for five successive years, besides the 

 vegetables used in a small family. He further 

 states in substance, as his present convictions that 

 the quantity of soil cultivated has nothing to do 

 with the secret of gathering money out of it; that 

 "this altogether depends on a judicious selection 

 of soil, on the facility of obtaining manure j and 

 on the proper application of it as food for plants," 

 &c. ; that he found, by actual experiment, made 

 upon a large scale, "that the profit of capital 

 laid out in land produced an interest of only five 

 per cent, per annum, the capital laid out in ma- 

 nure upon the same land produced tiventy per 

 cent." 



Now, my own experience, as I shall presently 

 show, abundantly confirms the probable accuracy 

 of all these statements. Let us distinctly under- 

 stand, then, that it is not the great quantity of 

 land, but the abundance of manure upon a little, 

 that is alone required to give wealth and inde- 

 pendence; that the man who owns five or six 

 acres may, (according to the above data,) with 

 the aid of manure and good management, draw 

 ii-om SBljSOO to ,92,000 from them each year, 

 while he of a hundred acres may scarcely obtain 

 half of it upon the conmion plan. 



But where is the requisite manure to be obtain- 



