48 



FARMERS* REGISTER— HARVEST MANAGExMENT. 



Undoiil.'todly tlic condition of a slave is dcjjlora- 

 blc, and it must ever be afllicting tliat sucl) a stale 

 should exist, and lie extended so -widely over the 

 globe, as to seem to lie the inevitable lot of a larce 

 ])ortion of mankind. Eut in our benevolent /cal 

 for the removal of slavery, we should not for^^et that 

 there are afilictions, numerous, wide-spread, and 

 unavoidable in the most refined and advanced state 

 of society, that are even more intolerable th.an the 

 slave's toil, stimulated by the slave-owner's lash. 

 The substance, tliougli not the name of slavery is 

 to be found almost every where in this miserable 

 Avorld — and tlic fcAv fa\ ored spots now free from 

 such causes of human sutrering, must in their turn 

 be visited with like inflictions. Except in newly 

 settled countries, or in others having" as yet a sparse 

 population and plentiful means of subsistence, and 

 a free government witlial, the laboring poor are 

 slaves in fact, either to individuals, to government, 

 or to their own craving and never satisfied neces- 

 sities. Tise negro slaves of Virginia present strik- 

 ing examples of the first kind — tlie peojjle of Egyjjt, 

 and emancipated llayti of the second — and the en- 

 tire laboring population of free and j)hi!anthropic 

 England of the tliird. Of these three kinds, per- 

 sonal slavery as existing in Virginia, is the most 

 injurious, or the least profitable, to the masters, 

 and attended with the least unhappiness (so far as 

 mere animal comforts are considered) to the slaves; 

 and where hunger is the only taskmaster, its vic- 

 tims are the most miserable of slaves, and yet com- 

 pelled to yield tlic greatest possible nett amount, 

 by their labor, and abstinence from enjoyment. li 

 a rich English manufacturer, or landholder, was 

 offered all the laborers in his employment, with 

 their wives and children, and all their posterity, to 

 be held jn'ccisely as the negro slaves are held and 

 maintained in Virginia, considcra.tionr; of economy 

 alone, would instruct him to reject the fatal gift, 

 as he would avoid certain bankruptcy and ruin. 

 On the other hand, if all the slaves of Virginia 

 were at once emancipated, and left to provide for 

 themselves, want, wretchedness and disease, would 

 make such havoc among them, as to threaten 

 finally, and at no remote period, the extinction of 

 the race. Tiie adult males, and even the females 

 not burthened with children, might possibly do 

 well ; but the greater number of the feeble and in- 

 firm from old age, infancy, or disease, would in- 

 evitably perish. Marriages would nearly cease, 

 and births greatly diminish, and the work of death 

 proceed as if a general pestilence was raging. The 

 effects of emanci])ation in equal time, would di- 

 minish the African race in Virginia, more than the 

 operation of any scheme tliat philanthropy has yet 

 devised, though aided by the general will, and all 

 the disposable wealth of the countrj'. 



Harvest Maiiagemeiii. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Sir — Tlie interesting season is approaching 

 Avhen, if ever, the following hints on the manage- 

 ment of the wheat harvest will be useful. They 

 are furnished rather in compliance v/ith your wish 

 than from any confidence I have in their merit. 

 Your partiality has caused you to form expecta- 

 tions which are not, I fear, destined to be realized. 

 There are sources, whence you may derive much 

 and valuable inlbrmation on this subject, and on 

 another equally important, the management of 



wheat fallows. I refer to my friends of Shirley 

 and Westover, with whose distinguished success 

 in tlie culture of the wheat crop you are not un- 

 ac<|uainted. Communications from them on these 

 sulijects would, I venture to affirm, be among the 

 most important with which the pages of the Regis- 

 ter could ha enriched. To myself, individually, 

 tliey would be fraught with interest. 



To get ready previously tocommencing harvest, 

 is tlie first and fundamental rule. It should be 

 Ijorne in mind that, in this critical operation, as 

 much may sometimes be done in one or two good 

 days as in a whole unfavorable week, independent- 

 ly- of the injury sustained by tlii3 grain. Abundant 

 and timely preparation should, therefore, be made ; 

 a supply of meal laid in, extra implements, timber 

 fashioned out for prompt use, &c. provided. In 

 line, every thing that can, shculd be dene, to pre- 

 vent interruption. When maiiy laborers are en- 

 gaged, and at a distance from the work-shop, as is 

 often the case in Virginia, a carpenter should fol- 

 low the reapers with tools, timber, and grindstone, 

 so as to afford, in fact, an ambulatory shop. When 

 not em])loyed grinding the scythes and making re- 

 pairs, he may be Avith the shockers. Food and 

 wafer sh.ould be hauled in a cart, by which some 

 labor may be saved. For the latter, barrels should 

 be provided, with an aperture in the upper side, 

 and a flap of stout leather over it, to prevent the 

 water from splashing out. One of these should 

 always be convenient to the hands, to wliom the 

 Avatcr may be carried without their leaving the 

 ranks. 



The next rule is to commence as early as possi- 

 Ide. This may be done when the straw is dry a 

 short distance below the head, if the weather be 

 fine. Do not wait for large bodies of wlicat, but 

 begin with tliose spots that rijien first. Let the 

 reajiers be an hour or two in advance of the bind- 

 ers, and set the sheaves in stooks till fit to be 

 shocked. If left long on the ground, as it is dis- 

 charged fi'om the cradle, exposed to our scorching- 

 sun, the straw is too suddenly dried up, and the 

 grain denied the nourishment necessary to its per- 

 fection. The skin of wheat cut thus early, is thin 

 and bright, though some persons think the prac- 

 tice more advantageous to the miller than the far- 

 mer ; and it would, perhaps be so, could there be 

 a guarantee agahist rain, by which both too fre- 

 quently suffer. It is certainly better to cut wheat 

 rather green, when properly managed, than to cut 

 it wet, which persons are not unfrequently obliged 

 to do in a protracted harvest. Light wheat, too, 

 may be cut with more expedition and less waste 

 when the stem is somewhat succulent, than when 

 dry and brittle, as it becomes at the end of a long 

 harvest. 



Cut that portion of the wheat first of which you 

 can secure most. It should never be cut v.hen too 

 wet to be tied in slieaves, and soon shocked. — 

 Wheat cannot possibly bain so good a situation to 

 dry rapidly as when standing erect in the field. 

 Much more has been lost in our warm climate, by 

 its sprouting in the sheaf and the shock, than from 

 exposure when standing in the open field. At a 

 juncture so busy, despatch should lie the farmer's 

 watchword. Every hand should l)e turned out, 

 who can render the least service ; the old as sliock- 

 ei'S, the very young as sheaf carriers, — •without, 

 however, exacting too much from either. 



My cradles are now all constructed on the same 



