THE GENESEE FARliklEIl^ 



rcneral rule, very inadequately cultivated, and that 

 the bounteous bosom of our common mother is made 

 to yield far less than it should. Superficial and even 

 ruinous cultivation are far too frequently seen, and 

 hence lands " run out," lose their productiveness, are 

 left to waste, and their occupants seek other virgin 

 soil, where the same destructive experiment may be 

 repeated. 



A more frequent interchange of personal views, 

 and more frequent observation of various sections 

 of our country, by the residents of other portions, 

 would serve to correct many errors, and show us that 

 our preconceived ideas were baseless. A mere cen- 

 sus return, which rates New York land many dollars 

 sn acre more than that of Virginia, may yet not 

 t-'how that New York tillage is therefore proportion- 

 ately the more profitable. Labor and the price of 

 living may be proportionately higher here, and thus 

 the net returns of the investment be much diminished. 

 The high price of land, is not always the symbol of 

 prosperity or thrift 



• It is undoubtedly a mystery to a Northern man, 

 how the Southern farmer can exist and make money, 

 with so many hands to support, and yet the South- 

 erner does this, end, in multitudes of cases, without 

 ever resorting to the sale of any portion of his la- 

 borers, as he might do where the " peculiar institu- 

 tion" exists. 



In tide-water Virginia, the products are corn, 

 wheat, oats and potatoes. Fifty bushels of corn to 

 the acre, or twenty of wheat, are regarded as a good 

 yield. The farms are large, often of one thousand 

 acres, but more frequently of from three hundred to 

 seven hundred acres. The farmers own from thirty 

 to three hundred slaves — and a fair per centage of 

 field hands is one to seven or eight, often not more 

 than one in ten or twelve. There are farms on which 

 may be found over fifty slaves yet too young to work, 

 and as many more who have passed the age of active 

 labor, and all these to be sustained by the labor of 

 the few field hands I have named. The farmers have 

 plenty of horses and mules of fine quality, and num- 

 bers of cattle of fair quality. Hogs are abundant, 

 but small — one hundred and fifty pounds at killing 

 time being the ideal of excellence for Virginia bacon. 



Plows and hoes are hardly up to our Noi'thern 

 standard, but the first quality of reaping and mowing 

 machines is used. The land is underlaid with de- 

 posits of marl, but the farmers find it cheaper to buy 

 guano, and this they use freely. No where, is scien- 

 tific agriculture more thoroughly practiced, so far as 

 fertilizers are concerned. The negroes are comforta- 

 bly housed, fed and clothed, and the wliitewashed 

 " quarters " are like the bumble cottages of our 

 suburbs. We see, occasionally, tumble-down and 

 rickety buildings, but the hand of the slothful man 

 curses towns and settlements everywhere. There is 

 in tide-water Virginia, an appearance of thrift and 

 prosperity which is calculated to surprise a Northern 

 man who turns from the prejudiced observations of 

 jon;e books and newspapers, to look at life as it ac- 

 tually presents itself. 



Land here is worth from Sl2 to #40 an acre. 

 The latter price bringing a well cultivated place, with 

 buildings in perfect order. Some land is cheaper, 

 even, than the lowest price I have named, but it is 

 worn-out land, unfavorably located, and with poor 

 buildings, if, indeed, it has any at all. I am ac- 

 quainted with one farm in the region referred to, 



which, eight years ago, cost about $4,200, and in- 

 cluded over three hundred acres. It has in this time 

 paid for itself, and sustained thirty slaves, of whom 

 five were field hands. It is now in prime order, with 

 good buildings and " quarters," and is valued at over 

 ■$12,000. It has been a handsome source of revenue 

 to its owner, who is justly proud of the results of a 

 prudent management. I know another farm, in which 

 the investment is $17,000, and which yields a reve- 

 nue, yearly, over and above its expenses, of $10,000. 

 In this case, the proprietor uses the labor of hired 

 slaves, and of course does not have a host of unpro- 

 ductive young and old negroes to support. These 

 two instances,, out of many others, I have noted 

 down, not as extreme cases, but as good examples. 



Virginia has a milder climate than ours. Its rivera 

 teem with fish and oysters. It is generally healthy. 

 It is an agricultural State, emphatically, and it re- 

 turns a handsome support to those who cultivate its 

 soil lovingly and prudently. Its houses and furniture 

 are plain, bui Hs jjeople are given to hospitality, and 

 their tables groan under a profusion of good things. 

 Virginians delight in showing up strangers, and not 

 less in exhibiting to them the peculiarities of the 

 system under which they live. It would require time 

 to break in a Northern farmer to their way of doing^ 

 things, and perhaps he mi^ht never succeed as well 

 as they do, with the class of labor they employ. But 

 some might learn lessons of patience and content- 

 ment, to say nothing of the effect that might be pro- 

 duced upon a too common, and really stupid, preju- 

 dice against "book- farming," as they style scientific 

 agriculture. 



The rewards of agriculture are rarely as large and 

 tempting as those of other professions, but its fail- 

 ures are less disastrous and less numerous. The true 

 policy, is a small farm and a careful tillage, which 

 shall cause the willing earth to do its best, and which 

 shall make many ears of corn to grow where only 

 one is now produced. North and South, the evil of 

 large and unmanagable farms is too common. Acres 

 of land are to the cultivator like the Sybilline book?, 

 of which a portion was successively destroyed, till 

 out of the original twelve only three remained, and 

 for these the same price was asked as for the whole 

 original number. More money is often made from 

 fifty acres than from two hundred. Deep plowing 

 and steady care are essential. P. 



Western JVeto York, duty, 1857. 



OBJECTS OF HOEING. 



Messes. Editors: — The publication of my crude 

 thoughts on the " Objects of Plowing," in the April 

 number, encourages me to send you a few remarks 

 on the use of another implement — one often in my 

 hands, now-a-days. I mean the hoe — that univers^ 

 soil-stirrer among all nations which till the ground. 



"What are the objects of hoeing?" They are 

 three, and may be stated as follows: 



1. We hoe to mflloiv the soil. 



2. We hoe to deslroj/ weeds. 



3. We hoe to form hills. 



Hotv shall we use the hoe to best secure these 

 objects ? 



1. The cultivator, the horse-hoe and the like, are a 

 pre-requisite to the hand-hoe in all field culture. Let 

 them "do their perfect work" in mellowing and 

 cleaning the soil, Then "take up the hoe" — ba^ 



