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FARMERS' REGISTER— MANAGEMENT OF NEGROES, &c. 



ly confirms the great value of it in general, by advoca- 

 ting one which is tlie same in general features, though 

 perhaps improved by him in some particulars. Discus- 

 sion is desirable to settle those minor points of differ- 

 ence ; though none of them can be so objectionable as 

 to prevent the entire plan of either, if adopted, proving 

 of incalculable value to the cultivator of hilly lands. 



There is one part of Wardsfork's plan of which we 

 have long experienced the utility, and of which the be- 

 nefit may be gained in connexion with any general plan 

 of tillage : that is, to leave imbroken by the plough the 

 middle of every descending depression, or hollow, on a 

 slope or hill side, over which torrents of rain water must 

 be discharged, and where gullies cither have been, orcer- 

 tainly will be formed, without thisprecaution. Such strips 

 of unbroken land would be pronounced " eye sores" by 

 many farmers, whose sense of propriety is offended b)^ 

 leaving even the most barren spots of a field untilled. 

 But ugly and slovenly as many of such strips may 

 seem, they are less unsightly and less inconvenient than 

 the gullies which they will prevent. A well set growth 

 of grass on these places will resist the strongest tran- 

 sient torrent ] 



QUERIES ADDRESSED TO JASIES RIVER FAR- 

 MERS. 



To the Editor of the Farmers" Renister. 



Essex Couniy, January 15, 1834. 

 I have received your valuable work, the Farmers' 

 Re<i,ister, and am mucli pleased with it. I am a 

 youn<^ farmer, and stand in need of all the informa- 

 tion 1 can procure : I liad determined to go on tlie 

 four field clover and piaster system before I received 

 the Register: but did not so fully understand it, 

 until I saw the communications from the James 

 river formers, wliich have more fully determined 

 me to pursue their systems fully : in consequence 

 of which I should like to have some further infor- 

 mation as to particulars, viz : The best size, num- 

 ber of teeth, and length, and manner of making 

 harrows or rakes, to put in wheat, and if they use the 

 same on their light, as on their stiff soils ; and how 

 they manage their corn on their wheat land, in 

 eleven feet beds: Whether or not, they j)lough 

 flush, or bed for corn : and if the water furrows do 

 not interfere in bedding — that is, will there not be 

 a high bed and a low one. 



VVhat time do they sow jdasfer of Paris, and 

 which answers best, on the first s[)ring after seed- 

 ing the clover on wheat, or the following spring. 



A SUBSCRIBER. 



ERROIVEOUS OPIXIQKS. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 The errors of great men are sometimes mis- 

 chievous. Tennant, a long time ago, discovered 

 that magnesian lime stone was hurtful to lands as 

 an agricultural application. His opinion has been 

 adopted by almost every philosopher in Europe 

 down to the present day. But the Pennsylvani- 

 ans, on analyzing tiie lime whicli has for many 

 years fertilized their lands, have found, that the 

 magnesian lime stoae is tlie most beneficial. The 

 difference in effect may be owing to the difference 

 in the quantity applied. In Great Britain they 

 dress an acre with from two to four hundred bush- 

 els ; in Pennsylvania from 50 to 70 bushels suffice. 



Davy has made tlie nutritive matter of the potafoe 

 quintuple that afforded by the turnip ; and hence 

 it has been inferred, that one bushel of the former 

 is equal to five of the latter for fattening cattle. 

 Here, emphatically, "the proof of the pudding is 

 in the eating." Repeated experiments have de- 

 monstrated, thattiie Swedish turnip will go as far 

 bushel for bushel, in fattening a bullock as pota- 

 toes. — The product of the Swede is double that of 

 the potatoe (excepting ihis year, in the experiment 

 of O. P. Q. of Bloomfield) — and it is cultivated 

 and harvested with half the expense that is bestow- 

 ed upon the latter. The difference in the expense 

 of fattening upon the two roots is at least one half 

 in favor of the turnip. 



For tlie Farmers' Register. 

 ON THE MAIN'AGEMENT OF NEGROES. 



y/ddressed to the Farmers and Overseers of Vir- 

 ginia. 



The management of our slaves is a subject of 

 some little difficulty, but which difficulty may be 

 overcome by a judicious system, (where there are 

 no foreign causes operating to prevent it, which 

 foreign causes I may hereafter speak of.) 



I consider our V irginia negroes as forming a 

 most valuable class. They have some of the best 

 traits of character of any people on the globe. For 

 instance, they are more generally good tempered 

 than other people — they are kind towards each 

 other, and arc almost universally good hearted : 

 they arc generally grateful for favors, have the 

 strongest local attachments, endure fatigue and 

 hardships with great patience, are very content- 

 ed, and cheerful — and in fact, are the hapjiiest peo- 

 ple in the world, unless tampered with by fanatics. 

 With all these good qualities they have as few 

 faults as most people, and it only requires system 

 and some little management to make them valua- 

 ble as a class of laboreis, and contented and hap- 

 py among themselves. In the management of ne- 

 groes there should always be perfect uniformity of 

 conduct towards them ; that is, you should not be 

 too rigid in your discipline at one time and too lax 

 at another. They should understand that real 

 faults will not go unpunished; but at the same 

 time, moderate punishment, with a certainty of its 

 succeeding a fault, is much more efficient in j)ro- 

 ducing good conduct, than severe punishment irre- 

 gularly inflicted — that is, sometimes inflicted for 

 an offence, and at others omitted, when the same 

 or a worse is committed : for the ill disposed will 

 always risk the chances of escaping punishment 

 altogether. It is the certainty of punishment, and 

 not its severity, which deters from misconduct : 

 and in fact, after awhile, on a well regulated plan- 

 tation, that certainty will prevent the necessity of 

 inflicting punishments almost entirely. The best 

 evidence of the good management of slaves, is the 

 keeping up good discipline with little or no pun- 

 ishment. The next thing to uniformity of con- 

 duct towards slaves, is the impartiality of treat- 

 ment to be used towards them all, unless for par- 

 ticular good conduct, and then it should be under- 

 stood as such. Rewards should also be made a 

 part of the system, whenever there is displayed 

 particular good conduct; and praise now and then 

 judiciously used, goes a great way in their manage- 

 ment. I have known a very lazy fellow Avho had 

 been frequently punished for laziness without the 



