THE SOUTHERN PLANTER; 



IBcrbotefc to gLgvizultuw, igortfculturc, an* the ^cttseltoltr Wins. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. 



Xenophon. 



Vol. IV. 



For the Southern Planter. 



BRIEF COMMENTARIES ON THE JANUARY 

 NUMBER OF THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Mr. Editor,— li is only within a few days 

 that I have seen, for the first time, any number 

 of your journal, and a very cursory view of 

 some of them, has served to impress me with a 

 conviction of the loss of the enjoyment and in- 

 formation, which would have been derived from 

 the regular perusal of them as they have been 

 issued. 



I do not know how I can better indicate my 

 sense of their merit and usefulness, than by 

 making such remarks as are suggested by their 

 contents. Weil aware of the demand for every 

 column you have to spare, these commentaries 

 will be as plain and as brief, as may be com- 

 patible with a clear comprehension of what I may 

 ha.ve to offer, and even then, I pray you to reject 

 without hesitation whatever you may consider as 

 less worthy of the space it would occupy, than 

 something else which may be on your files. So 

 much for the first and last line, in the way of 

 preface; for which I have generally, a great 

 aversion, and to which too many agricultural as 

 well as political communications are, in quantity, 

 more like a pitcher to a handle, than a handle to 

 a pitcher. If in what I may scribble for the 

 Planter, the use of the first person may savor of 

 egotism, I beg leave to say, that I adopt that 

 form of writing, because it is more convenient, 

 and surely the writer may claim exemption from 

 the reproach of vanity, who hides himself under 

 the veil of an anonymous signature? 



Poudrette. — The evidence in your last number, 

 as far as it goes, is abundant to prove " the infe- 

 riority, if not the utter worthlessness of the article 

 furnished" to you last Spring by Mr. D. K. Mi- 

 nor — and the view of that evidence leads one to 

 these reflections : 



Poudrette or night soil, there can be no doubt, 

 when unadulterated, must be one of the most effi- 

 cient of all manures. It may be said that ani- 

 mal manures are rich, generally in a direct pro- 

 portion to the richness of the food of the animal. 

 Thus, the manure of hogs highly fed, is more 

 fertilizing than that of animals fed on grass or 

 common vegetables alone. The manure from 

 the stall-fed bullock would doubtless be as much 

 more powerful than that of cattle fed on straw, 

 as corn is more fattening than straw. It is there- 

 Vol. IV.— 7 



Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of the 

 State.— Sully. 



No. 3. 



fore superfluous any longer to discuss or enter- 

 tain the question whether Poudrette, or the con- 

 tents of privies, is or is not among the most ac- 

 tive of all fertilizers. Neither can there be any 

 question, that it would rapidly go into general 

 use, were it not for what has undoubtedly hap- 

 pened in the case in question, its liability to be 

 adulterated. To buy on a very small scale of a 

 bushel or two, would be to throw away one's 

 trouble, and worse than that, one's time ; while 

 few will buy a large quantity, at a venture, of 

 an article so costly. 



Mr. Minor speaks of many who, after trial 

 have largely increased their purchases, but it 

 would have been better if he had designated 

 the persons, and their whereabouts; as it would 

 have enabled inquirers to address themselves to 

 these persons for minute information as to the 

 signs and guarantees of the genuineness of the 

 article — and all the circumstances attending 

 the use of it. Rich and valuable as this mate- 

 rial unquestionably must be, it is to be wondered 

 at, that every farmer does not make provision for 

 its preservation and use — as well of all urinary 

 as of all excrementitious offal — and it is to be 

 desired, if it were possible, that an inspection of 

 the article should be established where there are 

 large reservoirs of it, in the towns — as there are 

 inspections of lime and plaster, where the diffi- 

 culty of substituting a spurious for a genuine 

 article is much greater, and the temptation not 

 so great as in the case of poudrette. 



From what has been said, in description of 

 the appearance and effects of what was sent to 

 you, it is no violent presumption to say, that it 

 was made up chiefly of the common sweepings 

 of the streets, or other offal not more germane 

 to the matter ; nor is it to be expected that pou- 

 drette will become, at its present prices, an article 

 of general use, until the public can have some 

 better guarantee that what is sold for it, is un- 

 mixed with foreign and worthless substances. 

 From not a little observation, I utterly dissent 

 from Mr. Minor's proposition that " Failures are 

 reported often, whilst success is merely enjoyed, 

 or occasionally spoken of by those who wit- 

 nessed the results." The reverse is much nearer 

 the truth. 



Emigration to Virginia. — This subject "at 

 the first blush," leads to reflections that would 

 make an essay worthy, if well prepared, of the 

 ablest political economist. The reason why the 



C. T. BOTTS, Editor. 

 RICHMOND, MARCH, 1844. 



