1833.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



2G1 



respectable crop on such land. It is a soil free 

 land, ami sasC(|iptible ofiniprovcrnent. At the fall, 

 the kuul was sown in wheat, and in Febrnary, in 

 clover; the crop of wheat is good and the clover 

 ver}^ proniisinii'. 



A piece of land adjacent mana£fed in I he same 

 way the vear before, a part of which was very much 

 exhausted, has produced an excellent crop of clo- 

 ver, much mixed with herd's grass, (the product 

 of seeds brought in manure from the stable.) 



I am now jjerfectly satisfied that our exhausted 

 lands may be restored to their original fertility; and 

 so confident I am in the success of the undertak- 

 ing, that it is a matter of choice to pitch a part of 

 my tobacco crop in such land every year. Indeed, 

 if we were to change our system, and cultivate all 

 of our highly manured tobacco lots in grain and 

 grass, we should do what is but sheer justice to our 

 native land. Tobacco mainly killed the soil, and 

 tobacco is justly chargeable with the expense of 

 restoring it. 



The improvement of land for corn to much ex- 

 tent, is not to be expected in the present circum- 

 stances of the country. Tobacco is the staple 

 crop, and all the manure that can be raised is in 

 requisition for the tobacco land. Now, if the thin- 

 ner land is manured, and cultivated in tobacco. I 

 feel no hesitation in saying (preposterous as the 

 advocates for manuring the richer lands may think 

 it,) the product will be in favor of the poorer land. 

 The tobacco will be respectable, the wheat and 

 clover following luxuriant, and the land raised in 

 value 200 per cent. 



The manuring of such land should commence 

 . early in the fall, covering the land with leaves, or 

 such litter as can be conveniently had, in addition 

 to which, the stable or farm-pen manure is indis- 

 pensable. The first manuring will then be effec- 

 tual, putting the land in heart for what is to fol- 

 low. 



In these remarks, I wish not to be understood as 

 recommending the improvement and cultivation of 

 the most exhausted land, to the neglect of a better 

 subject for improvement. Any lands that are 

 turfed and would produce more than a barrel to 

 the thousand hills, would certainly be preferable, 

 requiring less manure. The opinion is fast gain- 

 ing ground, that lands that have long been aban- 

 doned as commons, and grown up in pines, &c. 

 if taken up and judiciously managed, produce the 

 finest tobacco. The reason is obvious; these lands 

 were originally the richest; our fathers cleared 

 their best lands first, and as in all new countries, 

 supposed they could not injure them by cultivation. 

 The same system is progressing in Mississippi, 

 and the same result may be expected. 



Several of my neighbors have tobacco in lands 

 that produced little or no corn when last cultivated; 

 the lands have been manured by no means heavi- 

 ly, and ti-om present prospects, the tobacco promi- 

 ses to be good. They covered the land with 

 leaves in the fall and winter. 



The improvement of land will advance with the 

 facilities of intercourse; roads, canals and the navi- 

 gation of the rivers, are now receiving more atten- 

 tion. The public highways are under the manage- 

 ment of the county courts, and to improve them sys- 

 tematically, thfe Legislature has wisely thrown the 

 responsibility on each county to make such im- 

 provements on such roads as they may think pro- 

 per. May we hope they will use the power grant- 



ed for the good of the Commonwealth? Will the 

 [)cople shrink from a public duty wisely imposed 

 on all males of sixteen, and under sixty? I cannot 

 think they will. 



V^irginia i)rcscnls a wide field for all the im- 

 provemcnls of the day. It is a dear land to all her 

 sons. The traveller to the distant west, can tell 

 his own feelings best, when after a lon<r and wea- 

 risome journey he enters on the Old Dominion, 

 his YirgiJiia feelings are awakered, his attach- 

 ment is renewed, and all his speculations become 

 insignificant, when he thinks of having to leave 

 his native land; but restless spirits must and will 

 go — "there is much land to possess," the land was 

 made to be peopled, and so let it be. 



Cut to the question. What is gained by remo- 

 val to the west? A man who has a large and ex- 

 pensive family, desiring to settle his children, may, 

 for the sake of them, meet the sacrifice of the con- 

 veniences of an oldercountry, his own comfort, and 

 go. But can he look at the expense of building 

 such houses as he will leave, and clearing the hea- 

 vily timbered lands of the west, and not see that 

 the same amount expended in improving a good 

 old Virginia estate would be as profitable? It is 

 estimated to cost about ^10 to clear an acre of 

 land in the west; add to this the lowest price per 

 acre, ^1 25, and tlien erect such houses as a per- 

 manent settlement requires, and you have the cost 

 of a western estate. 



Has it occurred to many readers of the Register, 

 that it is about as easy to improve an acre of land 

 as to clear one? The felling of timber, grubbing 

 the undergrowth, mauling rails to fence the land, 

 the coultering and putting in order new land for a 

 crop, consumes more lime than to litter the same 

 quantity with such means as may be had on most 

 fi;irms. It is worthy of experiment. 



The friends of agriculture have much to encour- 

 age them; they should renew their diligence and 

 utterly disregard the sneers of those who ridicule 

 all improvement. The grand canal of New York, 

 with the able (Jlinton at the helm, was considered 

 a most preposterous undertaking. Clinton was dri- 

 ven fi^om the distinguished station of Commissioner, 

 but the work went on, was accomplished, and 

 serves as a monument to perpetuate the fame of 

 its projector. Yes, a more durable monument 

 than the pyramids of Egypt, or such an one as is 

 proposed to honor the immortal Washington; a 

 structure to look on, rather than to answer any use- 

 ful end, more to signalise the folly of the people, 

 than to honor him who has all honor, who will live 

 forever in the memory of a grateful people, with- 

 out the adventitious aid of a sculptor or painter. 



A system of improvement simple and practical, 

 the community demands; and if, sir, the Register 

 should be the instrument of setting in motion, (as 

 I believe it will,) the real improvement of this once 

 fertile Old Dominion, the state will remember the 

 efforts on your part to accomplish the end in views 



S. D. M. 



MIIVERAL, BIANURES. 



[Continued from page 249.] 

 jlpplicaiion of marl. 



Many farmers either lay marl upon land sown 

 with tares, thus making a bastard fallow; or they 

 apply it to grass land, or to a clover ley, to be bro- 



