THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 

 # 



For the Southern Planter. 

 COMMENTS. 



Mr. Editor t — Since you deemed my comments 

 on the January number worthy a place in your 

 paper, I will continue them, with the understand- 

 ing that you do with them as you please. I 

 will endeavor at all times to be as cautious as 

 circumstances will admit. In the first place, I 

 would urge on your correspondents the great 

 importance of condensing all communications 

 intended for the Planter, and if they should not 

 take the hint, why yon should do it for them. 

 It seems, Mr. Editor, that the present age is rife 

 with new inventions, and it is truly gratifying 

 to know that agriculture comes in for her share. 

 Since science begins to dawn on our path, may 

 we not cherish the hope that ere long it is des- 

 tined to take its stand, where it justly belongs, 

 in the front rank of all professions % Chemistry, 

 the handmaid of agriculture, has done a great 

 deal, and will do much more, toward advancing 

 our great and glorious cause ; and to you, Mr. 

 Editor, I would say, be of good cheer and con- 

 tinue to prosecute your noble undertaking, and 

 believe me, the day is not far distant when you 

 will reap the rich reward for your well-spent 

 time and talents. If you need farther encou- 

 ragement, I would but remind you of the de- 

 voted and illustrious friend of agriculture, the 

 late Judge Buel, whose motto was, " to improve 

 the mind and the soil." Posterity will continue 

 to love and cherish the memory of Judge Buel. 



The Bommer Manure and Poudrette seem to 

 be all the rage at present ; and it is to be hoped 

 they will both meet with all the encouragement 

 they may merit. 



You give us the cut of a very simple looking 

 Hay Press, and very truly remark, that Rich- 

 mond ought to be an exporter instead of being 

 an importer of hay. It is admitted that land 

 suitable for hay will produce nothing that re- 

 quires so little labor in proportion to its yield ; 

 and that there is an abundance of meadow land 

 contiguous to Richmond to more than supply 

 the market, if used for hay, no one can doubt. 



Com— Thick Planting. — Mr. J. M. Botts' ex- 

 periment is but another proof that our good land 

 will produce much more than is generally real- 

 ized from it. I have satisfied myself fully, that 

 thick planting will make much more than thin, 

 eight years out of ten. I have adopted the 

 plan of planting a part of my crop thick and 

 a part thin, for fear of a drought. It is impos- 

 sible to make a great yield without a great 

 number of ears, and to obtain them we must 

 have a great many stalks. Two small ears will 

 yield more than one large one, besides the extra 

 fodder. 



Farmers' Clubs. — They not only do much 

 good in aiding agricultural improvement, but 

 also in cherishing social intercourse, I 



Mr. R. G. Morris' Experiment in Curing To- 

 bacco. — Will not this astonish every planter in 

 our land ? From my own experience 1 know 

 it to be a fact, though I had not supposed the 

 loss so great. Twenty per cent, in loss of weight 

 of tobacco, and then a Joss in quantify, for no 

 one can cure as nice tobacco in the sun, as with 

 fire; 20 per cent.! why, who would suppose so 

 many good farmers were actually shaving them- 

 selves at the rate of 20 per cent, these hard 

 times — it is ruinous. Still, I believe more than 

 half the tobacco made in Virginia is cured by 

 the sun ; here is a loss then of 20 per cent, 

 on half of the great staple of our land — prodi- 

 gious ! I do hope that planters will look to this 

 matter, or rather to their own interest. I see 

 Mr. Morris also applied lime to see if it would 

 prevent rust ; and found no effect. Query, will 

 not the lime have a much greater effect on the 

 succeeding crop, when the lime becomes better 

 incorporated with the soil ; does not lime act 

 slower than any other manure, and is not the 

 effect more lasting when it does act ; ought lime 

 to be applied to the soil when it is void of any 

 vegetable matter for it to act on ; or will it have 

 any effect upon a perfectly barren soil % 



Commentator. 



Franklin, March 10, 1844. 



CONTENTS OF NO. IV. 



Comments — On February number, p. 73. 



Lime — Quantity per acre, p. 73. 



Soil — Should be porous and permeable, to save ma- 

 nure, p. 74. 



Distemper — Remedy for, p. 75. 



Yeast — A new kind, p. 75. 



Stumps — A machine for eradicating, p. 76. 



Feeding — The value of wetting food for stock, p. 77. 



Meat — To preserve from putrefaction, p. 78. 



Food — Necessity of perfect mastication, p. 79. 



Wood — Fire wood should be seasoned, p. 80. 



Improvement — To make the poorest land productive, 

 p. 81. 



Experiments— Reported from the Hole and Corner 



Club of Albemarle, p. 81. 

 Tobacco — Prospects of the tobacco interest in Virgi- 

 I nia, p. 83. 

 Churn — Another plan, with a cut, p. 84. 

 Herdsgrass — Time and mode of seeding, p. 84. 

 Bommer — Again, p. 85. 

 Hogs — To ascertain the weight, p. 87. 

 Ayrshire Bull — A visit to Mr. Stevenson's, p. 88. 

 Peach Tree — Account of the nailing corrected, p. 88. 

 Virginia Woollen Factory — Account of Mr. Bonsack's, 



p. 88. 



Corns — To cure, p. 89. 



Dr. Wright — Work on vegetable physiology, p. 89. 



Report— Of the U. H. & C. Club of Mecklenburg, p. 90. 



Industry — Anecdote, p. 91. 



Wheel — Necessary to a plough, p. 92. 



Charcoal — Experiment with, p. 92. 



Manure — New method of preparing, p. 92. 



Seeds— From the Patent Office, p. 93. 



Labels— For garden use, p. 93. 



Reaping Machine — Improvement on McCormick's, p. 

 94. 



Subscribers — Wanted, p. 94. 

 Hogs — Stye feeding, p. 94. 

 Rails — To render durable, p. 95. 

 Comments — By Commentator, p. 96. 



