FARMERS' REGISTER, 



633 



cessiiy perished, or were so late in vecretaiing that 

 they dill not produce seed. If the above conclu- 

 sions I'ollovv of necessity Iron) the Ikcis tis aliove 

 siaied, it will yei l)e a matter of doubt whether a 

 fanner could avail hinjself of them, owing to the 

 generally received opinion of the utility of an 

 early litllow, that the eiiiire field which is (he sub- 

 ject of the above reaiarUs seems to sustain. IT, 

 however, a reltillow were oxecuied to the depth of 

 the first J'uUuw, (which in most cases I should 

 think injudicious,) then the garlic would be sutli- 

 cienlly exposed to the Irosls of winter to be de- 

 siroyeii, or iheir growth so Car retarded from 

 oilier causes as to lail producing a crop of seed. 

 It may be asked, then, it' it is necessary to reltd- 

 low to avoid a growth of onions, why tiie remain- 

 der of the old land in my field did not produce many 

 or but lew onions, as there was no refallow '? Be- 

 cause, from existing circumstances at the time, I 

 was induced to fallow the whole field very shallow. 

 This, I think, superseded the necessity of a refal- 

 low, so liir as the oiaons are concerned. Enough 

 about garlic. 



I should like to have your views relative to one 

 of n)y fields which is much pestered with sassa- 

 fras. 1 will first give you a short sketch of the 

 course of management relative to the same lor 

 some years previous to this lime. That por- 

 tion of the field over which the sassafras seems 

 to be exercising almost entire control had been 

 in corn every other year, with close grazing 

 the intervening year, for many years, it being con- 

 sidered too poor to bring small grain, save only 

 a thw oats in detached spots, until lour or five 

 years ago, when 1 |)rohibited all grazing. This 

 change, together with the marl previously applied 

 has made it produce comparatively good crops, 

 of corn and oats throughout, and I believe would 

 bring more wheat a liivorable year now, than it 

 would oats previous to marling and non-grazing. 

 1 have had apart of it in wheat since, and it is 

 now seeded in wheat a second time. Indeed the 

 whole oi'it would now bring a respectable crop of 

 wheal, and I should put more of it in wheat, but 

 the growth of sassafras bushes forces me to leave 

 it to a less valuable crop iti the spring ; a part of 

 that as usual will be unavoidably lost at harvest. 

 Now, sir, what is to be done? shall I continue n)y 

 present system, by which my land is evidently 

 and rapidly improving, the sassafras gaining 

 ground with equal rapidity, and perhaps greater, 

 or shall I |)ut up again my cross tiiuces, and again 

 subject the field to the hoofj the snout and the 

 teeth, of every animal that can use them? I am 

 disposed to take the latteralternatlve, thinking that 

 two courses of rooting, trampling and biting will 

 either destroy, or so far subdue them, that 1 can at 

 less expense procure *' the siall'of life" — a plenty of 

 good bread and good old Virginia bacon and their 

 concomitants, — provided the latter alternative does 

 not deprive ihe land of the power to produce tiiese 

 good things. Will it? Please give me your 

 views in this matter. You see that I have writ- 

 ten out my paper nearly, (though not quite my no- 

 tions,) when I only intended to tell you about my 

 big Irish potato. If you can make so much sense 

 of this confused mass ac to find out what 1 want to 

 know about the sassafras bushes, and give me 

 your advice about ihem, you wiil much oblige an 

 old subscriber, Youre, very respectlully, R. 



Having had to contend long with the same evil, 

 and with, as little success as oar coi respondent has 

 Vol, VTII.— 80 



had, we must confess our inability to prescribe for 

 the destruction, or even the lessening, of the growth 

 of sassafras bushes, on land that is not grazed, and 

 rests from cultivation, as ours did, two years to- 

 gether in the rotation of four. But when the 

 land is so highly improved as to allow a crop of 

 either grain or grass to be made every year, and 

 to be either removed for market, or food, or plough- 

 ed under for manure, then these annual operations, 

 destructive to every first year's growth of the sas- 

 safras, may perhaps serve finally to extirpate the 

 nuisance. — Ed. F. R. 



A STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY FOR VIR- 

 GINIA. 



The following paragraph was a private commu- 

 nication from a correspondent whose services in 

 support of the cause which he here advocates 

 have been amongjthe most zealous and unwea- 

 ried. We take the liberty of putting his words to 

 other use, (besides that for which he designed 

 them, as matter of private and friendly correspond- 

 ence,) because they serve both as a text for our 

 comments, and an excuse for returning to a gene- 

 ral subject on which we have before labored so _ 

 often and so fruitlessly. 



" As it seems utterly vain to hope (or any legis- 

 lative aid to agriculture, I wish you would give ua 

 an editorial article in favor of a state agricultural 

 society. Several of our sister states, I believe, 

 have set us the example, and surely Virginia 

 might be roused to imitate them in so highly laud- 

 able a work. Such an institution on the plan of 

 the Scotch and English societies, to hold their an- 

 nual meetings in diflTerent parts of the state, I am 

 strongly incTmed to believe, might now succeed. 

 What say you ioUV 



As to the scheme itself, there can be no doubt asi 

 to its great value to Virginia, if there is enough ol' 

 public spirit, zeal, and even proper consideration 

 oC private interest, among all her intelligent agri- 

 culturists, to carry it into operation. But we fear, 

 and grievously do we lament that such a fear 

 should almost forbid the existence of hope, that a 

 universal lethargy pervades the entire agricultural 

 class, and has rendered them so torpid ag not to 

 be roused by any new efforts that we can possibly 

 make. It is not that they want excitability, spirit 

 and energy, on other subjects ; it is to the claims 

 of their own great and almost exclusive interest 

 that they turn a deaf ear, and unsteady eye — and 

 pay to it less attention than to other matters not to 

 be named in comparison of importance and value. 

 We mean not to depreciate the importance of the 

 present all-engrossing and absorbing political con- 

 test, nor to oppose the opinion of any one of our 

 readers, no matter which side he may support, 

 that the election of his fivorite candidate for the 

 presidency is of the highest importance to the 



