THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



89 



dering, and I verily believe, if we could have 

 cultivated our crop last year in this way, as un- 

 favorable as the season was, we should have 

 escaped the disaster. But ihe summer was so 

 unusually wet, we were unable to cultivate out- 

 crop in our usual way, and it is the first time 

 f ve have suffered with the disease. I would 

 not be understood to say that it can always be 

 prevented, but I do believe that it can be gener- 

 ally done, and in the way I have above indicated. 

 I will only add that I very much question the 

 propriety of ever ploughing; the crop after the 

 plants have got large enough to take the rot, 

 on account of the loose earth that is thrown up. 



Another enemy of the tobacco crop is the cut 

 worm. This is not, as stated by Mr. Minor, the 

 larvae of the black bug, but of a fly resembling 

 the candle fly. This fact was first established 

 by a friend and relative of mine, Mr. Thomas 

 F. Venable, of Prince Edward, who is an accu- 

 rate observer; he imprisoned the worm in a 

 close vessel, and fed him until he passed from ! 

 the chrysalis to the fly state. But as it regards 

 the mode of preventing or destroying ihem, I 

 must request you, gentlemen, or some of your 

 correspondents, to give us some practical infor- 

 mation on t he subject. This catching them one 

 by one on the hill, and destroying them, is too 

 slow and tedious and ineffectual, if we could do 

 better. We have tried several experiments on 

 this subject, but have not succeeded. We are 

 now in the midst of another. We broke up 

 our tobacco lots last summer according to cus- 

 tom, which were thick set in grass, we are now 

 re ploughing them, to see if exposure to the 

 frosts will not interfere with the hatching out of 

 the worm. If we succeed, I may drop you a 

 line; till then believe me 

 Yours respectfully, 



N. A. Venable, 



Lunenburg County. 



find killing an innocent bird, or trouncing a poor 

 frog, I will have no mercy on him. 



Wickedness excepted, there is a time for all 

 things, except one— and I would ask the lazy 

 lubber, what is that ? 



Argus. 



Amherst, March, 1843. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 SHORT HINTS. 



Stop there! that's a live tree, therefore, it. 

 should not be injured or disfigured by sticking 

 your axe into it. And that fire too ! nobody of 

 thought would build a fire against a tree. 



If you wish your son to be a successful far- 

 mer, you must cause him to understand that 

 farming is an honorable business. 



Sow your seeds in time, and take time to sow 

 your seeds. 



Boy, don't count your licks ; but make each 

 lick count for itself. 



The most graceful sight in the world, is a 

 buzzard sailing at. a great elevation, but when 

 he comes down, I grow melancholy, and begin 

 to charge myself with some fault. 



O yez ; take notice ! that the first bad boy I 

 Vol. Ill— 12 



PEDDER'S FRANK. 

 From our respected friend, Mr. Jas. Pedder, 

 of Philadelphia, we received a few days since a 

 bundle containing, amongst other things, a copy 

 of Frank, or "Dialogues between a Father 

 and Son on the subject of Agriculture." This 

 little work, w T hich is dedicated particularly to 

 the juvenile class of the agricultural communi- 

 ty, is replete with the soundest truths of morally 

 and agriculture. To cherish the gentler feel- 

 ings of our nature, to elevate the farmer into 

 the kind neighbor and generous friend, whilst 

 he is instructed in the principles of his profes- 

 sion, is exactly the task for which Mr. Pedder's 

 disposition and information most eminently qua- 

 lify him, and in this little work, these objects 

 have been attempted in a style and manner that 

 do equal credit to the head and heart of the au- 

 thor. We should be very happy, if we could, 

 by extending the sale of his valuable book, re- 

 pay, in part, the many favors and polite atten- 

 tion, for which we stand indebted to Mr. Pedder. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 TIMBER. 



Messrs. Molts $ Burfoot, — Although I am 

 no theorist, I fear nevertheless, that any informa- 

 tion at my command, derived from experience, 

 or observation, will fail to shed much light upon 

 the inquiries submitted by Mr. Tunstall in your 

 last number. Still I am unwilling to withhold 

 any facts in my possession, bearing upon the 

 matter, to which he refers. The aim of the 

 planter being the communication of practical 

 knowledge, rather than the utterance of specu- 

 lative opinions, I wdl very briefly detail some of 

 the results of rny limited experience. 



About nine years since, I made an aqueduct 

 of chesnut logs about six hundred yards in 

 length. The logs, being about a foot in diame- 

 ter and the bore about two inches, were laid 

 down in a green state with the bark on, and 

 from two to three feet below the surface of the 

 ground. At this day they are in a sound slate, 

 being only a little decayed on the outside, ex- 

 cept one of them, so far as I am aware, which 

 was partially decayed, when put down, and 

 which will have to be renewed. There are 



