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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



tleman, is in England almost an actual patent 

 of precedence ; and so far do they carry this, 

 that no man in trade can marry into a family of 

 landed descent and possessions, unless he add to 

 wealth an eminent character for talent. 



Farmers' Monthly Visitor. 



There is nothing in a democratic government 

 that deters from the pursuit of agriculture. — 

 There is no portion of the earth more zealously 

 devoted to our democratic institutions than the 

 people of Virginia, yet are they strictly an agri- 

 cultural population. In truth, wherever nature 

 has granted a favorable climate and soil, such 

 are the innumerable advantages of this delight- 

 ful occupation, that it must enlist amongst its 

 votaries the great mass of mankind. Those, 

 whose means induce them to look rather for en- 

 joyment than accumulation, will always seek 

 the noble pleasures of a country life ; and he 

 who wishes to engage in agriculture where it 

 is sanctioned by the example of the aristocracy 

 of wealth and learning, need not go to England 

 to seek it. He will find it throughout the whole 

 southern country. The farmers compose the 

 aristocracy of Virginia, certainly ; they know 

 and feel it ; you can see it in the slow and so- 

 lemn gravity with which they pace our streets, 

 when business brings them to the city ; they 

 look down upon the hurrying cit, as they meet 

 him on the side walk, with ineffable contempt ; 

 they know that he is the patient drudge who 

 labors in their service ; whilst they, the lords of 

 the land, revel in the luxury and ease that their 

 more favorable occupation secures them. We 

 know nothing here of that which is so often 

 complained of to the North, the unjust degrada- 

 tion in which agriculture is held. The name 

 of Planter^ at the South, is almost equal to a 

 patent of nobility, and the occupation, in point 

 of dignity and importance, has nothing to fear, 

 with us, from the sneers of the most haughty. 



POULTRY BETTER THAN PORK OR BEEF. 



In this age of improvement in the production 

 of animal and vegetable food, if there is any 

 good reason why all the science, skill and enter- 

 prise of agriculturists, editors, chemists and phi- 

 losophers, should be applied to the melioration 

 and refinement of one or two classes of animals, 

 to the exclusion of others as good by nature as 

 they are, we should like to know it. The hog 

 and the bullock, dubbed with the English titles 

 of Berkshire, and Durham, seem to walk over 

 the land with a sort of John Bull swagger, that 



has commanded all attention, and left all their 

 brute brethren in their uncultured native defor- 

 mity ; while those foreign titled gentry have, in 

 the eyes of some, become absolute perfectionists. 

 Now, in the language of our declaration of 

 rights, " we hold these truths to be self-evident, 

 that (by their constitution) they are all created 

 equal." 



We are aware that the noble Berkshires, by 

 their elaine and stearine, have kindled up a great 

 light in the West, (which we hope may dispel 

 the black cloud of repudiation that hovers over 

 that region,) and are about to monopolize all 

 the care and labor of the farmers thereabouts ; 

 but we can see no reason why the delicate, fea- 

 thered race should thereby be debarred from 

 sharing in the benefits and perfectionisms of cross 

 breeding, in-and-in breeding, and all other scien- 

 tific advancements in the world. The noble 

 and ancient family of Chanticleer, whose clarion 

 note has been the world's time-piece, ever since 

 Peter denied his Master, and has never failed to 

 sound the approach of every rising sun ; the 

 bird that saved Old Rome from conflagration by 

 her warning voice in the dead of night, — shall 

 these lose their old established rank, and give 

 place in man's affections to "herds of swine" 

 and the sturdy Bulls of Bashan? What are 

 all their uncouth grunts and frightful bellowings 

 about the farmer's cottage, compared with 

 the music of the cheerful chirping, chatting, 

 cackling, crowing, gobbling, quacking, squeak- 

 ing, squalling, with which his poultry-yard re- 

 sounds from day to day? 



But, to come to more sober matter of fact, we 

 think this branch of the farmer's concern is de- 

 serving of more attention than it has generally 

 received. The profit derived from a well ar- 

 ranged, well managed poultry yard, is greater, 

 in proportion to the investment, than that of any 

 other stock, bees excepted. More attention has 

 been devoted to poultry in the vicinity of Phi- 

 ladelphia, than any other part of our country. 

 The Bucks county poultry have acquired a 

 good degree of celebrity, even in the New York 

 market, where they are sometimes found in 

 abundance. They are, however, but moderate 

 layers ; but their eggs are large and well fla- 

 vored. Yet they are not considered equal to 

 our dung-hill fowl in all respects. 



The Dorking fowl stands first in the estima- 

 tion of those who have raised them. They will 

 weigh from five to eight pounds. Their bodies 

 are large, and better proportioned than any 

 others, being long, full, and well-fleshed in the 

 breast. They have short legs, and beautiful 

 plumage, with five, instead of four toes ; are 

 good layers, good sitters, and good nurses. — 

 Their eggs are large, clear white, and of excel- 

 lent quality. When caponed, in the English 

 mode, they weigh from ten to twelve pounds. 

 Mr. L. F. Allen, of Buffalo, to whom we are 



