FARMERS' REGISTER. 



621 



I'ul to ilip pouiliern planter as nature invariiibly is, 

 where overiirnlis on her munificence are never 

 made, her resources at that lime become exliausted 

 and the oHal of the ffalhered crop lijrnishes the 

 only means oCconducting his stoci<s salely through 

 the ordeal of winter. Accordingly, lor two-thirds 

 ol'theyear, they (urnish neither n)ilk, butler, nor 

 meat, for the ordinary consum|)tion of the planta- 

 tion ; and at no time are they capable of profita- 

 bly promoting any ol'lhe ends for which elsewhere 

 they arc so justly celebrated. Engaged as we are 

 in the culture of one of ihe most valuable commo- 

 dities in the world, the raising of cattle lor sale is 

 prohibited by ilie common dictates of prudence. 

 For their manure and (or table use alone are they 

 considered worthy of attention. To subserve these 

 purposes, a small number only, especially of sheep, 

 is necessary. The pursuits of the grazier and 

 ploughman, if in the attainment of their ends they 

 respectively depend upon the same grounds, are in 

 direct collision. Boih cannot succeed unless at 

 cost of labor and of lime which would soon anni- 

 hilate their profits. If the former prosper, is not 

 the husbandman thereby deprived of the natural 

 food lor his plants'? If the latter hope lor a lucra- 

 tive harvest, it can only be effected by circum- 

 scribing within very narrow limits the pasturace 

 of the grazier. Tb.c injury sustained by the de- 

 predations oi' stocks, according to our present im- 

 provident plan of husbandr}', may be ascertained 

 with some precision. As a preliminary suggestion 

 it may be remarked, that the sheep has an insa- 

 tiable appetite. If not trratifien, in the strong 

 language o( " Arator," he dies ; if it is, he depopu- 

 lates the country. Liable to numerous diseases, 

 he has never been a lucrative object where tillage 

 was the main support of the people. He is reared 

 too at a mucii greater expens*^ than the cow, and 

 furnishes for the table perhaps not one-lburth of 

 the Ibod which is provided by that useful and 

 hardier animal. Each head of black cattle annu- 

 ally keeps bare of grass, in ordinary seasons, about 

 two acres of ground, and each head of sheep, per- 

 haps three acres. Now as the land, where this 

 system of unrecompensed pillage is earrietl on, is 

 designed by ihe owner for his crop ol'lhe following 

 year, ii is fair to conclude that, as the planter is 

 engaged with his whole (orce between two and 

 three monthg in collecting putrescible subslances 

 to supply the place of the food which the tooth has 

 destroyed, a larire portion of that time is in effect 

 appropriated to the support of his cattle. Were 

 their number <rreaily reduced, probably only one- 

 half of the manure which necessity now obliges us 

 to procure, would be needed ; that is, if we be 

 satisfied with the present amount of artificial fer- 

 tilizing matter — otherwise, we could duplicate the 

 quantity now gathered. VVhen we look at the 

 poor and degenerated condition of our stocks, the 

 denuded state of our pastures, and connect these 

 with the startling truth, that, in despite of appa- 

 rently well directed efforts, our lands in regard to 

 their productive powers arc stationary, if not retro- 

 grading ; the conclusion is irresistibly forced upon 

 the mind that, in lijrnishing the domestic circle 

 with some of the necessaries of life, a price is sub- 

 stantially paid equal to the joint labor of the plant- 

 er and his slaves for one or two months. If an 

 ample supply of the best meats and the comforts 

 of the dairy be an object of importance, a small 

 Btock only will fiirniih it. If to add to the aaiouQl 

 \V>L. VIII.— 66 



and improve the quality of manures be desirable, 

 look to the same source ; for English authorities, 

 suslained by llie undivided o[)inion of the New 

 England farmers, assure us, that ten well fed cows 

 produce more n)anure and of decidedly more 

 enriching properties, than fifieen whose allowance 

 has been elinted. Should a larger provision in 

 vegetable aliment be sought lor, let not the tooth 

 and the hoof thwart the efibrts of nature to aid us. 

 From facts in the possession of the committee, and 

 from careful observations, they are led to think, 

 that ten head of black caitle and four of slieep to 

 every hundred acre?, would be ahuut the true 

 proportion lor our aral)le lands. 



2. The culture of too much land for the force 

 employed ; and, as a necebsary result, insufficient 

 manuring. It is known to the grower of cotton, 

 that his harvests are rarely gathered fiom the 

 whole crop, but only from those portions where 

 the soil is naturally productive, or where a large 

 amount of proper nutriment is applied. The 

 number of acn-s cultivated to the hand is from 

 three and a half to four. The usual quantity of 

 compost manure per acre, which the unceasing 

 labor and perseverance nf the planter have as yet 

 enabled him lo furnish, is fiom twenty to thirty 

 cart-loads. Is not this too meager an allowance 1 

 The substitution of quantity for fertility is indeed 

 an exhausting operation, without a single principle 

 to recommend it. To provide abundantly, there- 

 fore, for the wants of our soils, rather ihan to de- 

 prive them without reciprocaiion of their natural 

 ingredients by too extended cultivation, is demand- 

 ed by Ihe weightiest considerations. The com- 

 mittee will not comment on lliesavingof laborand 

 of time, now in a great measure nnprofiiably ex- 

 pended—or the great facility of attending a small 

 crop— or that thereby the planter may have it in 

 his power lo adopt in part the inclosing system — 

 or at least to allow his lean and dwarfish animals 

 more and better food; but they will assume the 

 impregnable position, that a given quantity of de- 

 composed orcranic mailer to an acre on exhausted 

 land will yield a larger return than ifthe same had 

 been placed on one and a half or two acres. The 

 history of afrricullure and of liorticulture in Eng- 

 land and America bears ample testimony to tiiis 

 interesting fact, and perhaps on no question in 

 husbandry are writers so well agreed. Without 

 bringing to the notice of the society the mass of 

 evidence in confirmation of this proposition, con- 

 cerning, however, the numerous crops that are 

 elsewlTere raised, they would at once, as having 

 a direct relation to the object of their solicitude, 

 state the results of only three among many trials 

 made on this. island. The last season a member 

 of this society used on an acre of good ground 

 eighty-fourcart-Ioadsof marsh and mud— the for- 

 mer greatly preponderating. From it he gathered 

 three hundred and ten pounds of clean ginned 

 cotton. His general crop yielded about one hun- 

 dred and ten pounds per acre. In 1832, another 

 member directed his overseer to double the usual 

 quantity of manure for a few acres, which were 

 marked by the usual indications of sterility. Indeed 

 they were in appearance so extremely poor, that 

 the cotton plant, through their asency, could^ 

 scarcely be said ever lo have reached the point ot 

 fructification. From some misapprehension, the 

 orders of the owner were exceeded, and the un- 

 precedented amount of eighty- four cart- loads of 



