1836] 



FARMER S' REGISTER. 



185 



by woods, if possible. For the insect, tribe which 

 is multipiyinnj upon us at such a prodigious raie, 

 commit niucli greater ravages in places exposed 

 to the winds, and the grass and weeds in winch 

 tliey take shelter, than in the woods. Tliis grow- 

 ing evil is one cause that drives us to the culture 

 of" tobacco for our profits, which would otherwise 

 be derived in much greater measure li'om vviieat. 

 This crop is now the most uncertain of any we 

 make, which was once our principal staple in the 

 country I inhabit. 



I should have mentioned above, that every plant 

 should be primed and topped as soon as it is large 

 enough. It is a practice with some planters not to 

 prime at all; but I do not approve of it. This ope- 

 ration requires more judgment than is generally 

 believed; because, it depends upon the sirenirth 

 of the land and the growth of the plant, how hiirh 

 it should be primed, and how many leaves it should 

 be topped to, so as to make the most of it. The 

 best general rule I can advise is, to prime up to 

 the largest and most promising leaf, and top to 

 eight leaves. This will generally be found about 

 six to eight inches above the top of the hill, ac- 

 cording to the strength of the land; in poor land, 

 not so much. Where the land is rich, it will bear 

 as many as ten leaves — very rarely more. The 

 top leaf, when it comes to maturiij', ought to be 

 as rich as any on the plant: if it is not, it is a proof 

 that it has not been well managed, or that the sea- 

 son has not suited it. Deep cultivation is essen- 

 tial during its growth; but when it is near to ma- 

 turity, it is sometimes necessary to give it super- 

 ficial working, as well because it is too large to 

 plough, as because it is wrong to cut the roots 

 when it is about to make itself, and come *o the 

 knife. But I sometimes plough when some of the 

 leaves are broken off by the horse, under the be- 

 lief that more is gained than lost. In this case a 

 stretcher should be used to draw by, instead ot the 

 bar. 



I may perhaps, in due time, trouble you wilh 

 some observations upon the process of curing, 

 which may throw some light upon this very im- 

 portant branch of its management, although I 

 must assure you, it is my unfeigned belietj that 

 many modern planters understand it better than 

 1 do. 



PeriT.'t me now to return my thanks to the edi- 

 tor lor the handsome compliment bestowed upon 

 me in his last number. I must, however, express 

 my very sincere regret, that the subject upon 

 which 1 have treated is so little calculated to ad- 

 vance the permanent interest of our exhausted 

 country. It would be far more gratifying to me 

 if I could give encouragement to the business of 

 (arming. Let it not be understood by my brother 

 planters that I am altogether inattentive to the im- 

 provement of my estate. I did, I must confess, 

 exhaust the tract of land I becnn with; but I anj 

 now comforted with the belief, that each yearfinds 

 it a little more fertile than it was at the beginning 

 of the last. The profit of the tobacco crop enables 

 me to purchase clover seed and plaster, -which I 

 make considerable use of And a good portion of 

 the fall and winter is employed in collecting leaves, 

 corn stalks, &c., fi-om which I raise as large a mass 

 of manure as possible, till the time arrives for mak- 

 ing the necessary preparation for the summer's 

 work. Yet it must be confessed that the tobacco 

 crop costs too much labor to leave as much time as 



Vol. IV--23 



ought to be employed in improvement. The 

 amount of tobacco land which is rich enough with- 

 out dung, and other circumstances which the ju- 

 dicious cultivator must decide upon, must deter- 

 mine the question how far he is justified in con- 

 sulting immediate, rather than ultimate profit. 



A PLANTER. 



COLD VVKATHER — FLORIDA SOIL AND "lTME- 



STONe" SEA CUE AND OTHER MANURE, 



&C. 



To the Editor of tlic Farmers' Register. 



Old Point Comfort, \ 

 June, 2d, 1836. 5 



I am sitting by a cheerful Lehigh coal fire, and 

 do not know how I can better employ my time, 

 than by throwing together, for your journal, a 

 few promiscuous facts and refieclions connected 

 with agriculture. 



The fact already announced of the comfort of" 

 a good fire in June, is, in itself, worthy of record, 

 and forces us to the conclusion, that our climate is 

 undergoing a decided and progressive change. 

 What effect this is to have upon our general agri- 

 culture, lime alone will develope. Last winter, 

 nearly every orange tree in Florida was destroyed. 

 1 saw trees, known to be 40 years old, killed to the 

 ground, and could but admire the philosophic con- 

 fidence of an old gentleman on the St. John's, 

 nearly 80 years of age, whose grove I visited, and 

 who, when I wished to sympathize with him on 

 his loss, coolly observed, "it can't be helped — if I 

 have good luck, in ten or twelve years, it will be 

 as productive as ever." 



I was apprehensive I had noticed a flict in Flo- 

 rida, which might tend, insome degree, to weaken 

 the established theory of the operation of calcare- 

 ous manures, on soils producing acid plantsj in 

 which class the pine has been included. 



An attempt had been made, 3 or 4 years ago, to 

 sink a well in the pine woods near Fort King. At 

 the depth of 6 or 8 feet, a stratum of very rich 

 carbonate of lime was found : it was thrown out, 

 and formed an embankment around the mouth of 

 the well, from 1 to 3 feet thick. On this embank- 

 ment, I discovered a luxuriant growth of young 

 pines, some just emerging from the lime. The 

 natural conclusion was, that the pines received 

 their nutriment f"rorn the lime ; but I was not dis- 

 posed to concede the point without fiirther inves- 

 tigation. I returned to tlie spot the next day, and 

 after a careful examination, discovered that the 

 roots, in every instance, were deeply imbedded in 

 the sand below, and not a solitary fibre was found 

 penetralingthe lime. 



On another occasion I visited a spot, also in the 

 nine woods, where the lime for the use of the Fort 

 had been burned for two or three successive years. 

 Tiie refuse of" the kilns was scattered over a space 

 of about thirty yards square. The young pines 

 were springing plentifully all around the area; but 

 v.'iihin it, there was not one to be seen. The only 

 growth on it was the worm seed, (^Ariemesia San- 

 loniciirn,^ and this, though most luxuriant, was 

 found no where else in the neighborhood. May 

 not this fiict be of" importance in directing the ap- 

 plication of lime as a manure '? for it may turn out, 

 on investigation, that this plant will not thrive on 

 a soil devoid of calcareous matter. 



