THE FARMERS" REGISTER. 



309 



ble of prodiicinn: !i rich staple, and where labor is 

 atiaiiiablo, will produce ihe same results, whalever 

 may be the crop. We witness this in tiie south- 

 west, where coiion is mad«' exclusively lor sale ; in 

 Louisiana, where su^ar is the crop; and in most, 

 of llie West India islands. Even in KeniucUy, 

 so (avorable to the ijiasses, there are not waiiiiiicr 

 instance-! to show how certainly even the be.~t 

 hinds will be exhausted, without proper care and 

 att»-ntion. 



However lliis nnay he, it seems now n matter 

 beyond ^ douhi, thai we must make tobacco in a 

 certain rcirjon ot Virginia, or we must have no in- 

 come. Wneat, (all agree,) cannot be reiicd upon. 

 Our soil is too much exhausted, and the chmaie 

 too arid, lor grazing. For horticultural produc- 

 tions we have no market, and we are noiih ol" the 

 cotton region. 'I'obacco has lieeti a source ol 

 annual vvealih in times past — is so now in a por- 

 tion ot the state, and, in my opinion, may be pro- 

 f)tal)ly cultivated atfain wherever it has lieen so in 

 Ibrmer da\s. SoiT)e one, curious on such subjects, 

 has said, '-that il' you will draw a line liirough 

 Raleigh in North Carolina, Irom the Atianlic to 

 the Mississippi, auil anotlier [)arallel to it through 

 Fredericksburg in Virginia, to the same river, you 

 will include the best tobacco growing region." I 

 beheve that is true. It is certainly tiue that those 

 lines include a country unfit (in general) liir any 

 other staple cro|i, (since the acknowledged lailure oi 

 wheat,) and one where any improvement in the 

 culture of tobacco, which will preserve the land 

 and secure a good ci0[), ought to be nnost eageily 

 sought alter. The plan 1 j)ropose i:^ so simple, 

 that many will be deterred Irom trying it by that 

 fact. It is to ay apart two lots ot a size ade- 

 quate to your lorce and other i ircuuistances, and 

 cultivate them alternately in oats and tobacco, 

 rolling down the oats when perfectly ripe and 

 leaving them on the land. A- judicious manager 

 will certainly make these lots rich to begin \viih, 

 otherwise he can expect no crop ol' tobacco lor 

 a few years,' for although, I believe, in a series ol 

 years land may be made rich by this system, even 

 it originally poor, yet no one would be willing to 

 give up two, three or more crops whilst it was be- 

 coming so. He will likewise select, (if possible,) 

 land that lies well, to guard against the washing 

 rains, and of course would choose low-lands not 

 subject to inundation, if he had such. In addition 

 to the decided annual improvement of land tlius 

 used, there are other advantages, any of which 

 should induce every planter to try the plan. Your 

 manure, withdrawn from your tobacco crop, may 

 be applied to the improvement of the rest of the 

 farm. The field on which oais is rolled down is 

 put in finer tilth — better suited lor tobacco lo stand 

 well, and grow off in, than by any process I have 

 seen. Your fields are permanent, and therefore 

 your tobacco houses may be made so, instead of 

 being scattered all about th'* plantation wherever 

 you may chance to make a little tcbacco ; and, 

 lastly, there is less labor in the cultivation than on 

 common lots or new land. Some tubacco growers 

 believe they receive but small compensation lor 

 their labors unless they make a pound (or every 

 three plants. This is certainly a very good crop ; 

 but 1 have known it made more than once, and 

 by one gentleman very commonly. Tlie system 

 of alternating oals and tobacco will insure this 

 product in any year, (if your lots be well select- 



ed,) after a few crops of oals have been rolled 

 down. Kvory man at all versed ifi the cultivation 

 of the earth will readily perceive that plonghinc 

 in ihe oals and sowing peas would probably hasten 

 the fcrlilizaiion of liie lot. I have nol iried it, be- 

 cause ill the season when oals are ripe we gene- 

 lally are pu.-hed lor lime — iind roliintr down has 

 answered a <.'ood purpose, and is (|uickly done. I 

 had intended to add a lew words describing the 

 mode of cultivating tobacco most ap/iroved about 

 here ; but, |)eiceiviiig the last numbers of your 

 Register to contain two essays on thai siibjccl, the 

 one fioin Maryland, ifie other Irorfi Kentucky — 

 both of which are obviously unsuiied to us, I 

 will not doubt thai some one much belter qualified 

 than myself will at least adapt the above essays 

 to our country and climate. You will understand 

 that I am not vain enough to pretend lo in-Iruct 

 veteran tobacco growers. My object is to aid 

 some lew especial acquaintances who are just 

 about to commence the culture of ihis plant, and 

 with whom I iiave already had some conversation. 



H. M. 



[We are gratified to meet again, as a contri- 

 butor to the Farmers' Register, after a long in- 

 terval of silence, our personal acquaintance and 

 friend, the writer of the above communication. 

 As interesting as it is, and valuable lor the novel- 

 ty, (to most persons,) and simplicity and cheap- 

 ness of the mode of improvement which it re- 

 commends, it would have been more useful, and 

 had more weight, il, instead of being anonymous, 

 it had been signed by the name of the writer. 

 We should also have been pleased, and so 

 would hundreds of those who will be readers of 

 the communication, if he had been more flill irr 

 s'atements^ of experienced results of the plan of 

 culture proposed. We trust he will continue, 

 and enlarge upon I his inleresting subject hereaf- 

 ter. In the mean lime, we will copy below a 

 paragraph from the Farmers' Register, vol. 1 

 (p. 441,) which was reliarred to above, and 

 which has not been seen by much the greater 

 number of our present subscribers.— Ed. F. R.] 



"Mr. W"illiam Oid, of Powhatan, has, for the 

 last ten or twelve years, made as large crops of 

 tobacco, (I mean lor Ihe quantity cultivated,) as 

 any man in the stale, — never or veiy rarely less 

 ihan 1000 lbs. to the acre — sometimes a great deal 

 more; and this too . always commanding a high 

 (relative) price. He has two lots (or totiacco, one 

 ol which its planted every year, followed ihe next 

 Firing ivith oats, which, when ripe, are rolled 

 down, or turned under with the plough, as he 

 thinks besi. This crop of oals nol only supplies 

 as much l(>rtility hs ihe tobacco may have ex- 

 hausted, but the lois are becoming richer every 

 year. On these lots he uses no manure ; that is 

 reserved lor his corn and wheat. The cost of the 

 seed oats is about filiy rents the acre. The labor 

 of sowing and alierwards rollinfr down is veiy 

 trifling — not equal ID the expense of cariinff the 

 manure on the lot if it was given lo bin). What 

 I would irrincipally call your attention to is ihe 

 fact :— That the general character of his farm has 



