200 



FARMERS* REGISTER— AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



veil times ; and if he lost any time I cannot recol- 

 lect it, and it is not possible that all liis lost time 

 could have amounted to his seventli trip, which 

 would have made him to have travelled in " six 

 years andsix months adistance above 36,500 j/uVes." 

 I sold to William Smith, stage proprietor, more 

 than a dozen horses that had in my service per- 

 formed more than 17,000 miles, several of whom, 

 after having travelled half that distance, he sold 

 for upwards of slOO each. 



The average of time my horses do me good ser- 

 vice is not short of six years. 



It is true, a great diiference is produced often 

 by the distance per day at the rate of which a horse 

 is required to travel; but when we take into con- 

 sideration the rough hilly roads in this section, and 

 the first rate roads of Great Britain, there is as 

 much labor exacted and obtained here, as in Eng- 

 land, of the horse. And where our roads are good, 

 our horses perform their stage in as quick time : 

 for instance, between Lewisburg and the White 

 Sulphur Spring, a distance above nine miles, has 

 been, by the teams of Messrs. Porter & Belden, 

 Smith, Shanks and my own, travelled within fifty 

 four minutes : and they could have gone within 

 the hour with great ease the full ten miles, and in 

 doing this, would certainly be less worsted than 

 they would be over the other parts of their routes 

 at the rate of five miles the hour. 



The Greenbrier horse is remarkable for his 

 small leg (below the knee) and foot, and for his 

 " bottom" and muscle. The climate and country 

 have done all for him : little pains having as yet 

 been taken to avail ourselves of your Sir Archies, 

 Charles, Henrys, or Eclipses, a cross from which 

 I am confident would give an improvement greater 

 than in many other sections of this union. Grass, 

 the natural food for the horse, grows here to great 

 perfection, and he seldom gets any thing else un- 

 til he is three years old ; and then he is generally 

 fed with grain, because his owner cannot spare 

 the time for him to feed on grass : but many fine 

 horses live long and never taste of grain. 



Leap of a Greenbrier Filly. — I have a mare, 

 raised by A. Rodgers of this county, got by one of 

 the half blooded horses of Old Virginia ; in run- 

 ning, mounted by a light rider, who at starting 

 saw notliing to obstruct his course, but when at 

 full speed discovered a wagon with a body eighteen 

 inches high meeting him, the driver of which, to 

 avoid him, left the track he was in, atthe same time 

 my son with the motive changed his course : the 

 consequence was, the wagon was at a right angle 

 across the track of the mare, who unable to avoid 

 it, leaped over it, clearing the wagon ; and fi'om 

 her toe marks where she started, to the impres- 

 sions made by her hind heel, a distance of twenty 

 feet eleven inches intervened, and this up an accli- 

 vity of at least one degree. 



Narrow leafed Dock, afertilizerofland. — Dock 

 has, so far as my experience extends, been regard- 

 ed as a nuisance to land, and all good farmers were 

 required to wage constant war against it ; and per- 

 haps it is right that they should be vigilant in its 

 extirpation from other crops : but I am satisfied 

 we have not under our control a more powerful 

 restorer of worn out land. 



In a piece of my meadow, I discovered a large 

 portion of dock, and to prevent its taking entire 

 possession of it, I had all the stems pulled up be- 

 fore I thought they were ripe ; but in this I was 



mistaken, for I after.wards discovered that the 

 ground upon which they were deposited (a poor 

 sandy worn out bottom, that would not bring me 

 the seed of any thing I had put in it,) sent up a most 

 tremendous crop of docks, which I had mowed 

 down rather earlier than I had them puUed.up the 

 year previous, and while they were much greener : 

 but I was again disappointed, for the seed had ma- 

 tured more than I had supposed, and another boun- 

 tiful crop w as the result. Next spring and sum- 

 mer, to prevent the dock from spreading, I plough- 

 ed the ground three times, turning under the green 

 dock which killed all etfectually : I spread lightly 

 some timothy hay upon this spot in August, and 

 this month I obtained from this spot which I re- 

 garded as worthless, the heaviest crop of grass I 

 ever saw cut. This suggests this query — would 

 not dock be a powerful assistant in restoring thei 

 exhausted bottoms of Eastern Virginia .' Its long 

 and wide sjireading roots would, I am conscious, 

 bring the strength from below, Avhere our best 

 ploughs reach, and deposite it on the surface : it 

 produces a large quantity of seed, which is easily 

 collected ; and dock is quite easily conquered, if 

 taken in any stage previous to its blossoming, but 

 afterwards it cannot be managed well. 



Lucerne. — Canst thou inform me through thy 

 " Register," or induce some of its correspondents 

 to do it, whether this grass has succeeded in Virgi- 

 nia .'' and if so, the nature of the soil most favora- 

 ble to its production. 



Thy friend, 



F. CALDWELL. 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 TIIK ADVANTAGKS AND DEFECTS OF AGRI- 

 CULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



Several suggestions have lately appeared in the 

 Farmers' Register of the necessity of forming so- 

 cieties to promote the improvement of agriculture, 

 which, added toother more private indications, in- 

 duce me to believe that the establishment of such 

 societies will soon be recommenced in Virginia. 

 No one is more thoroughly satisfied than myself 

 of the great advantages that may be derived from 

 agricultural societies under proper regulations — 

 but as they have usually been managed, they have 

 been of but little use to agricultural improve^ 

 ment, if not of actual detriment. If any means 

 are brought forward with great pretensions and 

 parade to etfect a certain object, and fail manifest- 

 ly, the trial is very apt to retard the end intended 

 to be thereby forwarded. As a sincere and zealous 

 advocate for the improvement of agriculture, and 

 of associations to promote that object, I will frank- 

 ly state some of the reasons why so little good has 

 been yet effected by such means in the state of 

 Virginia. My representations will not be useless, 

 if they have the least tendency to prevent similar 

 errors hereafter. 



From 1819 to 1822 there was a rage for form- 

 ing agricultural societies in Virginia. Nearly all 

 ran the same course, and in a few years ceased to 

 be heard of The faults which led to these results 

 were so uniform, that a general statement may ap- 

 pear lor (what certainly I do not intend,) a de- 

 scription of, or a satire upon, some particular so- 

 ciety. I mean to remark on general, and not on 

 individual or particular cases of action, or of cha- 

 racter. 



