THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 65 



been frequently met with the argument that ne- 

 groes generally succeed in raising hogs in small 

 pens, and, therefore, the sty system cannot be in 

 itself objectionable ; to which I would reply, 

 that the two systems are very dissimilar, and the 

 results prove the correctness of my views. It 

 will almost invariably be found on examination, 

 that their pens are without litter, and that they 

 are most commonly muddy, (at least some por- 

 tion of the pen,) which furnishes the hog an 

 opportunity of indulging in his natural propen- 

 sity, so necessary to his comfort as well as health. 



I have previously remarked that my hogs 

 were furnished with food varying according to 

 the season, and that they were not more im- 

 proved by any, than clover. In order to save 

 myself the trouble of cutting it for them, or of 

 having some one to attend them in the clover 

 field to prevent their ranging beyond proper 

 limits, I. purpose next summer to construct a 

 portable fence which can be easily moved, and 

 with which I can enclose a space large enough 

 to graze them two or three days at a time. 



The want of water and shade, which are so 

 essential to the well-being of the hog, are ob- 

 jections to the plan, but that can be remedied by 

 only confining them in this enclosure during the 

 cool of morning and evening, and removing 

 them during the heat of the day where they 

 can enjoy those luxuries. 



The above remarks and suggestions have 

 been made more to obtain information than to 

 give it. I am in search of truth. I do not de- 

 sign to call in question the propriety of other 

 men's plans or their success, but 1 wish to profit 

 by their experience. What has been the result 

 of the experience of such of your subscribers 

 as have used the sty? Will they instruct me 

 in the true art of hog-raising on a farm where 

 they cannot range at large ? By the way, 

 what is now thought of the Berkshires 1 With 

 us they have grown into some disrepute; they 

 are thought to be too diminutive. For what 

 can a pair of your best stock (Mr. Turner's, for 

 instance, or of Chesterfield's progeny,) be bought 

 in these times, when pork sells for four dollars 

 per hundred % I am not entirely willing to give 

 them up, and yet, from some experience, my es- 

 timate of them is considerably lowered. 

 Very respectfully, yours, &c. 



W. J. D. 



Petersburg, Dec. 22, 1843. 



For the Southern Planter. 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



Mr. Editor, — My wife Dorothy has never let 

 me rest since your compliments to her. Nothing 

 will do, but I must write for the Planter. You 

 see, by my cramp hand, what a mistake she 

 made in calling me a great scribe. But it's the 

 Vol. IV- 9 



way with all good wives. Each thinks her 

 husband a nonesuch. If I must write, it shall 

 be about some kinds of internal improvement, 

 though not exactly the kind that Congress used 

 to squabble about. I wish to give a hit or so to 

 our overseers of roads, and a hint to house- 

 keepers about fire-places. 



Roads. — I never ride half a day without see- 

 ing a dozen bad places in roads, that might be 

 made good with a hoe and a spade, in less time 

 than it will take me to write this letter. Any 

 man, with half an eye, would be astonished to 

 find how small a ditch would drain off the water 

 from mud holes that are the terror of all drivers, 

 and formidable even to riders. Very often, places 

 which may now be called impassable, would be 

 made dry and firm, by a ditch five or six feet 

 long and two feet deep, running off right or left 

 from the road. The drain ought always to be 

 a little deeper than the bottom of the mud hole. 

 When the draining alone does not answer, it is 

 then easy to bridge over the place, or to fill it 

 with earth, ridged up and beaten firm. Sur- 

 veyors of roads show such disregard of their 

 duty in not mending these places that I do not 

 see how the grand juries get over their duty of 

 enforcing the law made for such cases. I heard 

 our Commonwealth's Attorney, Mr. Greenbag, 

 lately lay down the law, that the surveyor was 

 bound to keep his road smooth and clear of all 

 obstructions, thirty feet wide. 



The farmers themselves, if they looked well 

 to their interests, would now and then volunteer 

 a little mending to the roads along their grounds. 

 The time saved by their teams, and the saving 

 of wear and tear to teams, wagons and carts, 

 would be inducement enough. And what if it 

 should benefit their neighbors too 1 I have read 

 of a Scotch farmer who was seen with his sons 

 and helpers lifting his wagon out of a ravine, 

 where it had fallen by the breaking down of a 

 bridge. He had been driving over it twice a 

 day, and when reminded that he had been 

 warned it would break down soon, he said, 

 "Hoot, mon ! I would na ! trouble mysel' wi' a 

 job that was to benefit, all the folk in the glen." 

 Surely our farmers have not so narrow a spirit 

 as this. They will generalljr find some of their 

 neighbors, at least, ready to do a like service. — 

 And a liberal public spirit in one, begets it in 

 others. 



But I have heard a very eminent lawyer say, 

 that whenever a public road is impassable, a 

 wagoner or other wayfarer has a right, by law, 

 to go upon any of ihe adjoining land — even to 

 pull down fences. If so, farmers must see that 

 the roads by their farms are passable, to prevent 

 their fields from being encroached on. 



Fire-places. — The common way of making 

 fire-places is at war with comfort. The sides 

 run so straight backwards, and the backs are so 

 far back, as to throw out scarcely any heat, 



