214 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



mers will find themselves mistaken. I can assert 

 upon the authority of Dr. Gaines, of Powhite, 

 Hanover, that last year he sowed two kinds of 

 wheat, the Red May, and Mediterranean, and 

 from his experiment, he decides in favor of the 

 superior quality and greater productiveness of 

 the former, and the latter he will not sow again. 

 He offers it for seed, not upon his own, but upon 

 the recommendation of others. On this subject 

 I expect to collect further information, which 

 shall be communicated through your pages in 

 good time. 



Very respectfully, &c. 



R. R. Haxall. 



This fly-proof wheat is an old acquaintance ; 

 two years ago, we obtained and sold in this 

 market a large quantity of the seed at a very 

 extravagant price, and we are now authorised 

 to sell a crop at a much lower rate. But inde- 

 pendent of Mr. Haxall's opinion, which would 

 be potential with us and with all who know 

 him, we had begun to consider it pretty much 

 an exploded humbug. At any rate, those who 

 purchased it in 1841 seemed to esteem it very 

 little in 1842. It has obtained a good deal of 

 notoriety this year from a crop made by Mr. 

 John Poe, in this vicinity. Mr. Poe informed 

 us, that, sowed side by side with the common 

 varieties, it proved itself to be extremely hardy 

 and vigorous throughout its growth, being free 

 from fly and rust, and nearly twice as productive 

 as any other kind he had ever cultivated. This, 

 however, is by far the most favorable account 

 we have had of it. 



When Mr. Haxall handed us the above, con- 

 sidering that his interest was identical with that 

 of the farmer, and that his great experience in 

 the milling business must have made him fami- 

 liar with the different varieties, we asked him 

 what kind of wheat he would recommend to 

 the farmers of Virginia. He gave the preference 

 decidedly to the Red JMay. This is, as its name 

 imports, an early variety, and is a great favorite 

 with Mr. John Watkins, of Ampthill, whose name 

 it sometimes bears. It comes to maturity two 

 weeks earlier than other kinds, and thereby, of 

 late years, has generally, in a measure, escaped 

 both fly and rust. It is a tender wheat, and 

 somewhat liable to be winter killed; it should, 

 therefore, be sowed always on strong land, and 

 seeded thick, probably not less than two bushels 

 to the acre. Mr. Haxall states, that it is the 

 heaviest, and thereby the most productive, wheat 

 that has ever passed through his mill ; it is not 

 unusual to find it weighing from sixty-six to 



sixty-eight, and he is yet to see the first bushel 

 that weighs less than sixty. The quality of 

 the grain is very superior. We have no doubt, 

 seed of this valuable variety can be obtained 

 from Mr. Watkins, probably at the mill price. — 

 The Mediterranean, or fly- proof, we are au- 

 thorised to sell at $1 25 a bushel. 



SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 



More will be done for the cause of agricul- 

 ture in the next twenty years than has been ac- 

 complished in the thousands that have preceded 

 them. There are many evidences of the fact, 

 that the public mind is awakening, not only to 

 the importance of this fundamental art, but to 

 the field of discovery it opens to the speculator 

 and the philosopher. At this time of day, the 

 press is the best index to the current of the 

 public mind, and this is teeming with w~ork upon 

 work on the practice and science of agriculture. 

 That art, which was formerly considered almost 

 beneath the dignity of a "book," is now in 

 danger of being overwhelmed beneath the pile 

 of learning that the press is showering on it. — 

 W T e have just received from the publisher, Mr. 

 D. K. Minor, a neat volume of 280 pages, con- 

 taining a re-publication of five lectures delivered 

 by Mr. J. F. W. Johnston, "On the Improve- 

 ment of the Soil by Mechanical and Chemical 

 Means." This is a part of a series on " The 

 Applications of Chemistry and Geology to Agri- 

 culture," which has won for its author a most 

 enviable reputation amongst the farmers of Eng- 

 land. We have not had time to examine the 

 contents of this volume, but we see that it meets 

 with the unqualified approbation of the press 

 both in this country and in Europe: the 16th 

 lecture, particularly, on " The Use of Lime as 

 a Manure," has been pronounced to be the best 

 treatise on the subject extant. The publisher 

 has proposed to send us a few copies for sale, 

 which at the extremely low price at which they 

 are offered, 31^ cents a copy, cannot fail to find 

 a ready market. 



We have at our office a number of the Pic- 

 torial Times, London, containing an illustrated 

 description of the meeting and dinner of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society at Derby : it is well 

 calculated to impart an idea of the magnificent 

 scale upon which these things are conducted in 

 Great Britain, and we think the ideas of some 



