THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



87 



most impossible, without destroying the fence 

 by shaking it to pieces. And then, in the event 

 of any of the rails failing, or a wish to remove 

 or repair the fence, how are these clinchings to 

 be raised up, without breaking them off, and in- 

 juring the fence ? Now, for this trouble and 

 difficulty, I have substituted the very simple 

 plan, of punching a key-hole within half an 

 inch of the end of each rod ; and when the top 

 ra il — which should be stout and half round — is 

 placed, I shall procure a piece of iron hoop, say 

 six inches in length, punch a hole in the middle 

 of it for the reception of one end of the rod ; in- 

 sert it, and drive a key through the hole and 

 clinch it; and then bend the ends of the hoop 

 to fit exactly, and embrace the end of the top 

 rail. Thus, I have a fence erected in a much 

 shorter time than would be required for the fix- 

 ing a post-and-rail fence, that can be removed 

 in a quarter part of the time ; and the first cost 

 cannot be one half as much ; while the inser- 

 tion of the rods into the stones will constitute it 

 one of the strongest that can be devised ; as the 

 angles, acting on the principle of the arch, pre- 

 sent a resistance that cannot be overcome by 

 any common occurrence. 



" Unless the stones are of considerable thick- 

 ness, I would advise a block to be put under the 

 first rail ; and before placing the top rail, a block 

 of sufficient thickness to raise it to the required 

 height for pinning or keying down light upon 

 the iron hoop, must be supplied ; this will re- 

 quire care and a little practice, but neither art 

 or much labor. When the fence is finished, the 

 top rail ought to range so as to form a perfectly 

 level line; and this is to be obtained by seeing 

 that the tops of all the rods are of the same 

 height, before placing the first rail. It is need- 

 less to advise, that these blocks of wood be of 

 the most lasting and enduring nature, and not 

 liable to split. And I would take the present 

 opportunity to urge upon } 7 our readers, the great 

 importance of cutting all wood designed for 

 fences, and indeed for every other purpose, in 

 May ; strip off the bark and split it to the size 

 required, and expose it to the sun's rays, by set- 

 ting it on end. I have long satisfied myself, 

 that such timber will last — how many times longer 

 I can't say — but I went some time ago to see a 

 post which had been cut in full leaf, and placed 

 in its position in the revolutionary war, and 

 there it remains, firm and sound at the present 

 day ; and at the same time I brought away 

 portions of a part of a fence, which had already 

 stood out two other sets of rails cut in the au- 

 tumn and winter — that having been cut in May 

 or June, and placed immediately in fence." 



The cost of the iron rod is either misprinted 

 or under estimated. Half inch round iron weighs 

 about ten ounces to the foot, and is worth about 



five cents a pound. The rod will consequently 

 cost about fourteen, instead of seven, cents, to 

 the panel. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 THE PREPARATION OF THE LAND AND 

 THE CULTIVATION OF THE TOBACCO 

 CROP. 



NO. II. 



Messrs. Editors, — In accordance with the 

 plan proposed in my last communication, I shall 

 follow Mr. Minor in "the Preparation of the 

 Land and the Cultivation of the Tobacco Crop." 

 The preparation which he recommends for new 

 grounds, is much better, and more ihorough, 

 than that which is usually practiced; and I 

 should be glad to see it universally adopted. — 

 But our writer when he comes to speak of lot 

 lands, remarks that " In general it is considered 

 bad economy to manure land for tobacco, both be- 

 cause the quantity required for that crop is 

 greater than for any other, and because the qua- 

 lity of the product, as well as that made on low 

 grounds, is coarser in fibre and less marketable." 

 This is the erroneous opinion to which I alluded 

 in the close of my last number. And I feel fully 

 assured that if we have made no other improve- 

 ments in the last twenty years in the growth of 

 tobacco, we certainly have in this particular. — 

 And I think it would not be difficult to show, 

 that the practice founded upon this opinion, has 

 done more to injure the planting section of Vir- 

 ginia, to lay waste its lands and timber and im- 

 poverish its people, than any one whatsoever. 

 You see at once, that on this principle, the axe 

 must of necessity be appealed to every year for 

 a crop, and ("as it is considered bad economy 

 to manure,") the lands thus cleared are after a 

 few years worn out and exhausted. And thus 

 the unhappy planter, as if haunted by the ge- 

 nius of poverty and pressed hard upon by gul- 

 lies and hens-nest grass and pines, betakes him- 

 self year after year wiih fancied security to the 

 forest. He puts forward his veteran knights of 

 the grub-hoe to wage a war of extermination 

 upon the dogwood and chinkapin bushes— and 

 while " up by the roots" is their watch word — 

 they of the axe follow in quick succession, and 

 attack the sturdy Spanish oak, fore and aft, front 

 and rear. With ihe like zeal and intrepidity, 

 \hey are followed by the heavy armed knights 

 of the maul and wedge, who march slowly and 

 steadily to the conflict — seeing the forms of their 

 stately victims lie prostrate before ihem, their 

 limbs mangled and severed from the body, with 

 savage ferocity ihey attack the limbics? trunk — 

 "drive home," they shout, and sever every liga- 

 ment. This wasting warfare is thus prosecuted 

 with a zeal worthy of a beiler cause, until the 

 poor planter is routed by a hoarde of creditors ; 

 his knights, seized with their arms upon them, 



