94 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ters have been exposed to the air for two or three 

 days they are indelible. If you wish to efface 

 the writing, you must rub the label with the pu- 

 mice stone, and if the labels become covered with 

 earth or oxide, rub your finger, slightly wetted, 

 over them, and they will re-appear. Old zinc is 

 preferable to new for this purpose." 



THE PLANTER. 



We must apologise both for the quality and 

 quantity of engravings in the present number ; 

 but we are so situated, at present, as to be un- 

 able to help ourselves. We hope soon to place 

 this department of our paper upon a different 

 footing, when we will endeavor to make up for 

 all delinquences. 



We had as well out with it at once ; there is 

 no use in being mealy mouthed about it ; we 

 entertain the ambitious project of making the 

 "Planter" the first agricultural paper in the 

 Union ; and, without arrogance, we believe Vir- 

 ginia can afford us the means of accomplishing 

 this end. To effect this, we want the " sinews 

 of war," and first and foremost, we must have 

 five thousand additional subscribers; yes, and 

 we mean to get them too — how ? you will ask ; 

 by making a tour of Virginia during the coming 

 summer; by visiting in person every part of the 

 State, and by pressing into the service every 

 true friend of Virginia agriculture. We flatter 

 ourselves that there is no part of the old Domi- 

 nion, in which we will not find a welcome: 

 there is no part of it where we will not meet 

 with friends ready and willing to afford us their 

 aid in obtaining such a list of subscribers, as 

 will enable us to make the only agricultural 

 paper within our limits, the pride and ornament 

 of the State. The invitations that pour in upon 

 us from every quarter, together with the flatter- 

 ing and treasured proofs of approbation bestowed 

 upon us, have determined us upon this course. 

 Our friends must, therefore, not be surprised, if 

 one day we pounce down upon them, and re- 

 quire their assistance in beating up the neigh- 

 borhood. Who will volunteer to aid us in such 

 a cause 1 



For the Southern Planter. 



McCORMICK'S REAPING MACHINE. 



Mr. Editor, — An ingenious gunsmith of this 

 county, Mr. Johnson, has invented a plan for 

 carrying off the straw from McCormick's Reap- 

 ing Machine, which seems to me to obviate the 

 difficulties in all the plans for the same object 



which have been heretofore reduced to practice. 

 The additional power required to move the bearer 

 is scarcely worth estimating, and its simplicity 

 so great as to make it a matter of wonder that 

 it had not been suggested before by hundreds. 

 All the required addition to McCormick's ma- 

 chine will be a light horizontal shaft, connected 

 at one end with the motive power by a system 

 of cogs, the other end being supported by a 

 gudgeon. Upon this shaft, which is in a line 

 with the apron, there are erected three small 

 band wheels, and on the opposite side of the 

 apron a roller sufficiently long to receive a band 

 coming across the apron from all the band wheels. 

 These, bands, either of leather, (or chain, which 

 would be preferable,) with pins at corresponding 

 intervals, to catch the straw and bear it along 

 as the bands revolve, complete the invention. 

 There is but one difficulty which presents itself 

 to my mind, and that the inventor seems so per- 

 fectly confident he can remove by a slight change 

 in the construction, that I will not trouble the 

 public with it. 



The inventor is a very worthy citizen, and I 

 should be exceedingly gratified if he could suc- 

 ceed in perfecting his invention so as to make 

 it practically useful and a source of profit to 

 himself. I know you have considerable taste 

 for mechanics, and I hope if you can make any 

 suggestions which are likely to be of service to 

 Mr. Johnson, that you will do so. 



In great haste, yours truly, 



W. M. Peyton. 



Big Lick, Roanoke, Feb. 20, 1844. 



As we have hinted heretofore, one of the 

 greatest of our objections to McCormick's ma- 

 chine is the labor it devolves upon the raker. — 

 We should consider such an improvement as 

 Mr. Johnson's is described to be, calculated 

 greatly to enhance the value of the implement. 



For the Southern Planter. 



HOGS— STYE FEEDING, &c. 



Mr. Editor, — To meet the wishes of your in- 

 telligent correspondent, W. J. D., in your March 

 number — not " to call in question the propriety 

 of other men's plans or their success" — I will 

 state the result of my own experience in raising 

 hogs. It does not surprise me that yom corre- 

 spondent has failed in his attempts at stye feed- 

 ing, because I have long been satisfied that no 

 farmer has found, and that no farmer will find 

 it profitable in Virginia. It may answer, like 

 other hobbies, to amuse one whose leisure and 

 pecuniary means will enable him to experiment 

 in this way; but pushed to practical results, it 

 will prove a losing business. Even if the hog 

 escapes disease and remains perfectly healthy 



