( 116 ) 



" The result will not fulfill his expectation. But even if it could, 

 the manuring thus given directly by the labor of the planter is 

 more costly than if he would allow time and opportunity for nature 

 to help to manure for him ; whether alone, or still better if aided 

 by preparing for and sowing the native pea, to the production of 

 which your climate is so eminently favorable. All the accumula- 

 tions of leaves raked from the poor pine forest, with the slight ad- 

 ditional value which may be derived from the otherwise profitless 

 maintenance of poor cattle, will supply less of food to plants, and 

 at greater cost, than would be furnished by an unmixed growth of 

 peas, all left to serve as manure." 



"The native or Southern pea, (as it ought to be called), of such 

 general and extensive culture in this and other Southern States, is 

 the most valuable for manuring crops, and also offers peculiar and 

 great advantages as a rotation crop. The seeds (in common with 

 other peas and beans), are more nutritious, as food for man and 

 beast, than any of the cereal grains. The other parts of the plant 

 furnish the best and most palatable provender for beasts. They 

 may be so well made in your climate, as a secondary growth under 

 oorn, that it is never allowed to be a primary crop, or to have en- 

 tire possession of the land. It will grow well broadcast, and either 

 in that way, or still better if tilled ; and is of an admirable and 

 cleansing growth. It is even better than clover as a preparing and 

 manuring crop for wheat. In one or other of the various mode* 

 in which the pea crop may be produced, it may be made to suit 

 well in a rotation with any other crops. Though for a long time 

 I had believed in some of the great advantages of the pea- crop, 

 and had even commenced its cultivation as a manuring crop, and 

 on a large scale, it was not until I afterwards saw the culture, 

 growth, and uses in South Carolina, that I learned to estimate its 

 value properly, and perhaps more fully than is done by any who, 

 in this State, avail themselves so largely of some- of its benefits. 

 Since, I have made this crop a most important member of my 

 rotation, its culture, as a manuring crop has now become general in 

 my neighborhood, and is rapidly extending to more distant plaoes. 

 If all the advantages offered by this crop were fully appreciated 

 and availed of, the possession of this plant in your climate would 

 be one of the greatest agricultural blessings of this and the more 

 Southern States. For my individual share of this benefit, stinted 



