1836.] 



FARRIERS' REGISTER. 



43 



process has been going on in all the southern 

 states. The greedy havock of a wasteful, merci- 

 less system of agriculture, has (enJed to impover- 

 ish all (lie states bordering on the Atlantic — none 

 of the soil relains its original lerlihty, except the 

 deep alluvial banks of the rivers, and I suppose 

 even ihey begin to lecl the effects of wear aud 

 tear. 



The consequence of all this is two-fold : first — 

 necessity has driven a considerable portion of the; 

 people of these state to emigrate westward — and 

 .secondly — a re-action has ensued in the system of 

 agriculture ; and means are taken to renovate the 

 constitution of a deleriorated soil. Marl and 

 other modifications of lime are brought into use — 

 science and the press lend their aid, and at length 

 '•the wilderness blossoms like the ruse." 



JEmigraiioii. 



From Jamestown westward, the successive sur- 

 ges of emigration have been each subjected to the 

 same train of influences, and the same effects have 

 repeatedly resulted. The perils of a pioneer life 

 make the early settler brave — exposure makes 

 liim hardy — and labor makes him robust. These 

 dangers, difficulties and fatigues, however, while 

 they taught the necessary virtues of patience and 

 fortitude, to those who had emigrated, would have 

 deterred others from (bllovving in their wake — had 

 not their stern aspect been relieved by the many 

 pleasing features and singular advantages of a new 

 country — the "charm of adventure, the fresh and 

 lovely form of nature, the fertility of a virgin soil, 

 and perhaps the escape from recollections which 

 distance alone could efface. 



The lile of Boone — the pioneer ofpioneers — is an 

 example of th'^ pains and the pleasures, the lights 

 and the shadows of emigration. 



The obstacles fhowever which did not stop, 

 tended much to repress the tide of emigration ; 

 had it been otherwise — had the west held out en- 

 ticements alone— the Atlantic states vi^ould have 

 been almost emptied of their population, which 

 would have been precipitated upon the west. 



The current ofemigration, at first; attenuated — 

 gradually widens, as the obstacles to its course, 

 grow less. In the meanwhile the population ol' 

 the older states increases, until they can afford to 

 part with a portion of their inhabitants. This is 

 however the case, not so much in the states south 

 of Mason and Dixon's line, as in the north. The 

 peopling of the valley of the Mississi[jpi is the 

 grand moral phenomenon of modern times. Like 

 scenes may have been witnessed, wlien the pro- 

 geny of Noah peopled the eastern hemisphere : 

 but wel may doubt whether ever, in any age, a 

 tract of country so vast, so productive, and wa- 

 tered by so many navigable streams, has been filled 

 up in so short a time with a population so civil- 

 ized, as that of the basin of the Mississippi. 



C. CAMPBELL. 



CORN CULTURE IN BOTETOURT. 

 To tlie Editor of tlie Farniprs' Register. 



Peyton Hall, Baietnurt, \ 

 April 17, 1836. 5 

 * * # # * 



Instead of closing my letter with this matter of 



business) I will submit to you and your intelligent 

 subscribers, as far as the limits of this sheet will al- 

 low, the outlines of my mode of culture in several 

 crops. It is not my intention to give the reins to 

 my fancy, that your readers may be amused with 

 its visionary creations ; much less is it my design 

 to insult their good sense, as is too often done, by 

 tediously exjjlaining to them, as recent discoveries 

 and untried experiments, systems and modes of 

 culture, familiar to every intelligent agriculturalist 

 since the days of Columella. My object is to 

 give you, in a plain and unambitious style, the 

 mode of liu'ming pursued by myself, that it may 

 he scrutinized by others, compared with their own, 

 and its faults detected and made known. This 

 manner of oiving individual systems, and the re- 

 sults of individual exp^ipnce, seems to be the on- 

 1}' true means of advancing the science of agri- 

 culture, and placing it on asolid foundation. With- 

 out dwelling longer in preliininary observations, I 

 will proceed to give you in the first place my mode 

 of managing the corn crops. And as a further 

 guard against every thing merely speculative — I 

 will give you a transcript from my farm-book, of 

 the process pursued by me, in its cultivation last 

 year. 



I had about 70 acres in corn, not three of which 

 had a dressing of manure, and all old upland, any 

 20 acres of which taken together, would have been, 

 as to natural soil or improved condition, a fair av- 

 erage of the whole farm. The larger portion was 

 in v/heat the preceding year, 9 acres had been in 

 clover three years, and suflered to fall and rot for 

 the last two; and 10 had been in corn the year be- 

 fore. The whole was fallowed in the fall and win- 

 ter, with the Davis' plough. In the spring it was 

 cross-ploughed with "bull-tongues," a species of 

 plough between the shovel and coulter, uniting 

 most of the advantages, and free from the objec- 

 tions of both. I th;^ii levelled it with large har- 

 rows weighted, and drawn by two oxen. The 

 season for planting having b\'-this time arrived, we 

 listed it with shovel ploughs, having a board nailed 

 in front to widen the furrows ; in which furrows, 

 coulters followed immediately alter the shovels. 

 Upon hill-sides I planted in horizontal drills five 

 feet apart, with the corn dropped at intervals of 

 from 15 to 18 inches in the yov\\ When the land 

 was level or greatly undulating, it was checked 

 four feet each way. The land beingthus prepared, 

 we selected our seed corn with care, and steeped 

 it for 24 hours in a liquor composed of drippings 

 from rich manure, with plaster, salt and soot, ui 

 large quantities. As the droppers required it, we 

 took it li'om the liquor in its wet and swollen condi- 

 tion, and rolled it in plaster. The checked corn 

 was covered by foot, with the exception of a few 

 rugged places, and the drilled with the five tooth- 

 ed cultivators. So soon as the corn became suffi- 

 ciently visible to mark the rows, we commenced 

 working it with the bull-tongues, and continued 

 without cessation : so that no portion of the crop 

 was suffered to remain more than eight days un- 

 worked, until it was laid by. The only change ia 

 the cultivation, was about the lime the change ia 

 the color of the wheat, began to admonish us of 

 the near approach of harvest, when, we ran our 

 cultivators, or scarifiers as they are called by some, 

 over the whole ; and left it perfectly smooth and 

 li'ce from weeds. The pressure of my tobacco 

 prevented my blading or lopping any, except a vo- 



