§50 



FARMERS' REGISTER— PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 



Upon the subject of enclosures, T have no fears : 

 the people of Virginia, like those they sprang from, 

 are singularly tenacious of " usages sanctified by 

 lime;'' but it should be known that the common 

 law, that rule brouglit over by our fithers from 

 England, that proud "perfection of reason," laid 

 the "mantle of the law as well upon /a?i(/ason cows, 

 horses or clothes. In Maryland they never gave 

 it up ; and an acre of land there, is as completely 

 under the protection of the law, as a race horse, 

 or a negro, in Virginia. And why not.' Isit pro- 

 perty.'' Surely the people believe it. Why then 

 legislate us into one great common, and yet boast 

 that we are a people governed by law ? If this fact 

 goes out to the world, they will hardly believe us 

 willing to be civilized. Although my interest in 

 human atfairs is drawing to a close, I can never 

 lay down my pen until I see every description of 

 property under the protection of the law, without 

 degradingdiscriminations. # * * 



MEADES' DURIIA3I CATTLE. 



Nottoway, Sept. 23. 

 As there is now a laudable spirit in Virginia for 

 the improvement of stock, I should like to inquire 

 through your paper what is the genealogy of that 

 race of cattle owned by the late R. K. Meade of 

 Frederick county. It is said that he obtained them 

 of Col. Powell of Philadelphia. Since Mr. Meade's 

 death, there has been a sale of his stock, at which 

 Mr. Warwick of Richmond obtained some — Mr. 

 Tate of Augusta now advertises some of the pro- 

 ceeds of that stock. The Rev. J. Kirkpatrick of 

 Cumberland has some of that race, and I am my- 

 self breeding from one of the direct descendants of 

 Mr. Meade's Durham stock. I therefore feel per- 

 sonally, and suppose the public may also feel some 

 interest in knowing, Avhat portion of genuine Dur- 

 ham blood this stock may contain. You will there- 

 fore be good enough to insert a short inquiry in 

 your next, with the request that some gentleman 

 wlio is in possession of the information will give it. 

 The Rev. Meade, brother to the late and la- 

 mented R. K. Meade, can probably, and if so, 

 will, I hope, give the information sought. As I"am 

 also in possession of some of Mr. Meade's Frede- 

 rick sheep, and Bedford hogs, I shall be thankful if 

 gome of your readers would tell us something about 

 the history of those respecti\ e races of animals. 



DISTANT TRANSPORTATION OF MARL AND 

 LIME. 



Richmond, Oct. 15th, 1833. 



* * * It would be a gratification to me indi- 

 vidually, as well as a public benefit, if you would 

 give your views of the utility or practicability of 

 using marl or lime in such parts of our middle 

 country as will admit of its transportation from be- 

 low. No person can be more thoroughly persuaded 

 than I am of the benefits to be derived from them. 

 I have no doubt that the improvements they will 

 effect in the husbandry of the lower country will 

 be great and permanent. The active part you 

 have taken in pointing out their advantages and the 

 mode of applying them, I am persuaded, have 

 mainly contributed to their use, which seems in a 

 fair way of becoming general. I trust you will 

 continue your efforts in your Register, the plan 

 and conduct of which I highly approve. 



It is hardly necessary to add any particular que- 

 ries — they will naturally suggest themselves to 



you. I have hardly a hope that any body of lime- 

 stone or of marl sufficiently rich for beneficial use, 

 ie likely to be found soon in our middle country; 

 and apprehend we must look for such supplies on- 

 ly as can be afforded to more favored districts from 

 the lower country, or from the narrow vein of 

 limestone that runs through the state below the 

 mountains. # # # * 



[The inquiries which have been at different times 

 addressed to us respecting the cost of marl ob- 

 tained by water carriage, together with the recent 

 (spirited but badly conducted) adventures of this 

 kind made by several farmers on James and Appo- 

 mattox rivers, have already induced us to collect 

 materials for an estimate of expense, which will 

 be presented in the Farmers' Register, as soon as 

 some additional and necessary facts are ascertain- 

 ed. As this estimate will be applied more particu- 

 larly to marl, we will be glad to be aided by others 

 whose experience can enable them to state the 

 whole expense of purchasing, landing, burning, 

 and spreading shells, as practised on the lands of 

 lower James river — and the cost of applying the 

 stone lime of our upper country.] 



NEW KIND OF COTTON. 



Sussex, I5th Oct. 1833. 

 Enclosed you will receive six cotton seed. Last 

 May I })lanled two of the kind in a garden spot, 

 which produced two fine flourishing stalks of 

 cotton. I have gathered a part of the cotton off of 

 them, and find the result to be, that the cotton 

 weighs exactly half the seed, that is, two for one. 

 You need not be surprised at the looks of the seed, 

 all of them are as while and apparently trifling. 



Prince Edward. 

 * » # I am delighted at the growing popu- 

 larity of the Register. The increase in the quan- 

 tity of original matter, will, I think, add much to 

 its interest with the public. It enables one to stay 

 at home, and yet get acquainted both with the cha- 

 racters and the farms of some of the first men in 

 the state. I was sorry to see a complaiut of its 

 form by a correspondent of Essex. As long as it 

 is so interesting as to lead me to read it through the 

 first night after its reception, I shall neither wish 

 to see it in weekly numbers nor in coarser print. 

 The pamphlet form adds much to the facility of 

 referring to articles in back numbers, and it sure- 

 ly will better guard the permanency of the work, 

 as it makes it so easy to preserve the numbers for 

 binding. If the Essex writer be the venerable 

 gentleman I suspect, I know he will be willing 

 " to wipe" his spectacles " and try again." 



QUERIES ON RAIL ROADS. 



What would have been the saving to the Pe- 

 tersburg Cotton Manufactory, if the rail road, now 

 extending to the Roanoke, had reached the Pee 

 Dee .' Would not it have saved 1 cent a lb. or $3 a 

 bale on cotton 1 



May not the same besaid of every Company in 

 the Middle and Eastern States.' 



