r839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



235 



broadcast, to the acre ; and the crop is from 400 to 

 500 busliels. To horses they are considered supe- 

 rior to any other food. Two bushels ofcarrots and 

 one of chafT is the per diem allowance to a horse ; 

 or 7 bushels of carrots and one bushel of oats is 

 the allowance for a week. They are also profita- 

 bly led to all other farm-stock. They are raised 

 in Suffolk without duno^, at an expense of 9(7. (16 

 cents) per bushel. The yield of the carrot is 

 often 700 to iOOO bushels the acre. The crop 

 is gathered by making a deep furrow near to the 

 drill, when a man seizes, draws the top to the fur- 

 row, and pulls them up with great lacilily. 



Another root, the parsnip, is deserving of no- 

 lice, though its partial culture hitherto, will hardly 

 entitle it to be classed among field crops, it is 

 believed to be the most nutritious root of any that 

 have been named j is as easy cultivated as the 

 carrot or the beet ; and has this advantage over all 

 the others, that its value is not irnpared by frost. 



From the preceding views, the committee do 

 not hesitate to recommend the extention of root- 

 C4ilture, as the most ready means of keeping up 

 the fiirtili*^y of our farms, and of increasing the 

 profits of their cultivation. J. Bvel, (Ji'ti. 



ALLKGED EFFECT OF SLAVERY OX THE AG- 

 RICULTURE OF VIRGINIA. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Resistor. 



Portsmouth, Va., ^pril 1, 1839. 



You have indeed, from all accounts, a vast and 

 fine tract of country, from 60 to 80 miles broad 

 along the whole Atlantic coast. This vast coun- 

 try is now, in a good measure, a desert, or covered 

 with forests — the land ruined by continual crop- 

 ping, and now deserted. Good lands, as 1 am 

 told, may now be obtained in this vicinity for ii-ora 

 ^5 to ^8 an acre, in part covered with a young 

 and luxuriant growth. We know the causes of 

 tiiis destruction; and these same causes continuing, 

 it seems not very probable that these lands will 

 ever again be recovered, or rise in value until those 

 causes are removed. 



It appears to me that the soil answers well to 

 the description of the soil of Flanders, which is 

 said to be, now, the garden of the world, though 

 formerly it was very poor; and I am fully satisfied 

 that the whole of eastern Virginia, with suitable 

 management, by clearing and draining, may be- 

 come, one day. not only the most healthy country, 

 but the garden of all the Atlantic states. The 

 lands in this vicinity, as fir as I have seen, ap- 

 pear to be at least as fertile as any of those lands 

 of JNlassachusetts, which now faring SlOO an acre. 

 Larger crops by far, as [ am fiilly convinced, 

 may be obtained from these lands, at fiir less ex- 

 pense than are obtained on many of the best lands 

 in JVlassachusetts. 



Your state contains, as I believe, 44,000,000 

 acres of land, and, I am satisfied, capable of sus- 

 taining a population of fi-om 8 to 10,000,000. Your 

 treasures of calcareous manures, for the renovation 

 of these lands, are inexhaustible, and are profusely 

 scattered over the whole country, far and wide. 

 This is not the case in a very considerable portion 

 of New England. But one great objection with 

 many of our northern men to a permanent resi- 

 dence in this country, is the state of slavery that 

 here exista. For siavery in Virginia not only has 



a tendency to lower and degrade the wages of the 

 free laborer, but to degrade also the profession. It 

 is not thus in New England, but the reverse — idle- 

 ness being deemed in that country a vice, and use- 

 fiil labor honorable in all. This state contains 

 about 500,000 slaves, which are probably valued 

 by their owners, one with another, at S400 each, 

 or ^200,000,000, for the whole. Now, can any 

 one doubt but that if all these slaves were eman- 

 cipated, that the lands of Virginia would rise 

 •SS an acre, and this rise of ^5 an acre would be 

 equivalent to the estimated value of all the slaves. 

 1 am persuaded, however, that the rise of lands 

 would be far greater ; and that, were all the slaves 

 emancipated at this day, the state of Virginia 

 would experience a clear gain of more than 

 !5;500,000,000 in the rise of their lands alone. Em- 

 igration would then take place to a great extent 

 fi'om the noxihem free states. The Yankees would 

 then fiock hither, and hire up at advanced wages 

 the freed slaves, and the whole of eastern Virginia 

 would then become a perfect garden. The advan- 

 tages of this part of V^irginia for the production, 

 especially of all early vegetables and fruits lor the 

 supply of the markets of the great cities of the 

 northern and middle states, is ver}^ great, and un- 

 rivalled; as these cities, by the aid of rail-roads, and 

 steam navigation, will soon be brought within 24 

 hours of Norfolk ; yet the seasons are at Ports- 

 mouth full a month in advance of some of these 

 northern cities. The wheat of lower Virginia al- 

 most alwa3's commands a higher price than that 

 of the north, new flour being preferred by all. 

 The fields of Virginia may be reaped and the pro- 

 duce converted into flour, and this flour for sale at 

 New York and Boston, even before the wheat 

 fields of the north are read}- to harvest. 



Although the prices of provisions are generally 

 at least as low in this part of Viginia, and the price 

 of labor much lower than in New England, yet I 

 am inclined to believe that this difference in regard 

 to wages is rather nominal than real ; since the 

 expenses of fare and of entertainment to the tra- 

 veller are far greater on the main travelling routes 

 of the south, so far I have seen, than they are in 

 New England. I am persuaded that the people 

 of Virginia will never be able to compete with 

 their brethren of the less highly favored land of 

 New England, either in agriculture, or manufac- 

 tures, or commerce, until some great change, un- 

 der providence, can be brought about in the politi- 

 cal condition of their people, 



I have written to some of my northern friends, 

 and aver that an experienced northern farmer 

 might here make a great fortune suddenly in tlie 

 cultivation of early productions for northern mar- 

 kets, which there command a most extravagant 

 price. Your horses and cattle are generally lean 

 and poor; but this, I am confident, is owing not to < 

 climate, but to want of shelter and bad keeping, 

 want of attention and care. My horses, from Bal- 

 timore, owing to good care of ray Yankees, are in 

 the finest possible condition; so those of the Navy- 

 yard here, although I am told some of those horses 

 are now old. Very respectfully, 



William Kenrick. 



editorial re3iark.s. 



Ail of our northern readers, as well as some of 

 those in the southern states, may be surprised that 



