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MOXTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



"WOOL-GROWIXa AT THE SOUTH. 



EY WILLUM DAJRBY. 



Washington, Oct. 20th, 1845. 

 To John S. Sionneb, Esq : 



Dear Sir — TVith no slight degree of plea- 

 Bure, I received Xo. TV, (October, 1845,j of your 

 " Farmers' Library," so too narrowly named. 

 Such a work saits, more or less, all classes of so- 

 ciety, and none more, if as mtich, as the legisla- 

 tor. Those who have to watch over and con- 

 serve the interests of all, otieht to know the rela- 

 tive value, and what measures to adopt in order 

 to give dee legal and political attention to every 

 separate interest Your monthly Magazine, for 

 such it is, has one inherent feature, which, to an- 

 swer the great purposes I have stated, gives to 

 it an inestimable value ; that is, its being a com- 

 mon centre, where the experimental fruits of the 

 highest minds are collected for universal use. 



Your last number contains, with much other 

 very interesting matter, two articles which may 

 serve as texts to far more extended and de- 

 veloped vievfs. These are, "Whitemarsh B. 

 Seabrook on the Cotton Plant ; and the other, 

 '■ A Review of the Past, Present, and Future 

 State of the Wool Market" 



Nothing can be more idle than disquisitions 

 on the morality of extending the Domain of the 

 United .States over the wide, and by man, the 

 almost unoccupied regions of Central North 

 America. In all stages and aggregations of our 

 species, from the Farm to the Empire, landed 

 property is the sure inheritance of Industry, En- 

 ergy and Frugality. This Law of Nature may, 

 like all Laws, be opposed, but it is not to be re- 

 pealed. It is now not much under half a centu- 

 ry since I regarded the great central zone of 

 North America as the sure inheritance of the 

 Anglo-American. Time and circtim.stance have, 

 and are, annually in combination, fulfilling and 

 demonstrating llie irresistible force of this law ; 

 but public knowledge of the consequences is 

 very far from keeping pace with the reality of 

 ti:ings. 



Assuming therefore, what I have stated, as the 

 inevitable destiny of the zone of North Ameri- 

 ca, between N. Lat 26' and .50^, if no farther 

 south or north ; then if so limited, the Anglo- 

 American •will spread over and possess on an 

 area, not varjing much from an equality, with 

 all Europe, the regions of the earth best adapt- 

 ed to the production of the t%vo species of Wool, 

 the Animal and the Vegetable. From the At- 

 lauitic Ocean, as far westward as the experi- 



ments have been made, cotton of various tex 

 tures, and on all soils admitting the growth of 

 Indian com, and as far north as 36-, can be 

 abundantly produced. As the summers are 

 longer, and ■winters shorter and milder, on the 

 Pacific than on the Atlantic side of the continent, 

 cotton no doubt can be produced on the West 

 side many degrees farther north than on that of 

 the east 



As to animal wool, its production admits, per- 

 haps no limit but Oceanic or some other water 

 border, and mUlions on miUions of acres of land, 

 now regarded as waste, will be in less than an- 

 other half century covered with flocks of the 

 v.-ool-bearing animals. This is not to me a new 

 subject of thought, as in the Prairie section of 

 Louisiana, more than forty years past, I have 

 heard men of sense express their con%-iction of 

 how admirably these grassy plains were adapt- 

 ed to the sheep. As soon as I can command 

 time, I intend to forward for the ' Library-, ' a sta- 

 tistical article on the subjects merelj" glanced at 

 at present. 



Very eincerely, yours, 



WILLIA3I D-UIBY, 



Save the Leaves. — At this season a great 

 quantity of leaves may be readUy gathered in 

 man}' places. A rake used at the right time 

 will gather them very fast by the sides of build- 

 ings and fences. They make excellent beds for 

 cattle to lie on. and they are more valuable after 

 such n.se than before. Rake all clean as soon as 

 harvesting is over, and you will much increase 

 your manure heaps. 



As soon as the summer manure is scraped cot 

 of the cow-yard, leaves, litter, loam, sand, gravel, 

 or peat mnd may be spread over the yard. It 

 costs less to do this than to bu}- guano or pon- 

 drette, and it \\i.\\ prove more u.sefal. for you 

 will be able to improve tlie texture of jour soil 

 if you exercise good judgment in choosing your 

 materials. 



Your BTaveUy manure will .suit be.et your low- 

 est or coldest grounds. Your sandy loads will 

 do best on clayey soils. Your peat manure 

 works quickest and best, on your gravelly knolls 

 and sandy fields. It is quite important to con- 

 sider well the use you are to make of your ma- 

 nures at the time when you are gathering the 

 materials to increase j-our heaps ; for in this wav 

 you alter gradually the very texture of your soil. 

 You can render it more light and porous, or more 

 compact and retentive of moisture. You can 

 warm it or cool it by means of the muterials 

 that you gather to be impregnated by the excre- 

 ments of animals. 



