THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



157 



CORN. 



The following is an extract from a letter re- 

 ceived from a friend in North Carolina : 



Mr. Woodson is correct in his ideas of plant- 

 ing corn very early. It is our practice on the 

 Roanoke, His rows are much too narrow for our 

 purposes. We prefer 5 by 3, leaving generally 

 two stalks in a hill. Listing just before plant- 

 ing is an admirable plan in light, low grounds. 

 It will not do so well in aluminous soils, high 

 or low. He works too much, as a general rule. 

 The number of ploughings should be regulated 

 entirely by circumstances, of which each farmer 

 must judge for himself The character of the 

 season — the quantity of grass — the nature of 

 the soil, and the general appearance of the crop 

 must determine it, and a judicious manager will 

 accommodate his labor to these things. There 

 is no formula for making the corn crop. General 

 principles must be consulted in this as in every 

 thing else. Nor will the same description of 

 plough always be the one to use under all cir- 

 cumstances. The winged coulter answers a 

 very fine purpose at first, and in every stage of 

 the crop when the grass is very small and young. 

 We regard the turn plough invaluable in low , 

 grounds. Barring the corn, lapping the grass 

 in the centre of the row, splitting it again and 

 destroying the corn, are its varied uses, I sup-' 

 pose every farmer on James River understands 

 the use of this plough. In Roanoke we plough , 

 every other roio through the crop from the begin- 

 ning, and every other row is, of course, worked 

 differently. Let me urge you to impress upon| 

 the community the advantages of this system' 

 of cultivation. They will force themselves upon 

 the reflecting manager at the bare suggeslion, I 

 Corn never fires when thus worked, A third i 

 more can be cultivated — grass never seems to' 

 injure, as one row is always in order, and on 

 high lands the washing from heavy rains is not 

 half so great. These are important facts, and 

 I speak from experience. 



"The Dutton corn I find will yield twenty 

 per cent, more than an}"- other I have ever tried. 

 The fact has been well tested. 



" Why do you not give us a price current at 

 the end of each number of the Planter? Such 

 information is very valuable, and as a matter of 

 reference hereafter, may be still more so, as the 

 work is generally preserved * 



" Our wheat is much troubled with the chinch 



* We abandoned our price current, because, we 

 thought we could till its place more to the satisfaction 

 of our readers, the most of whom take daily or weekly 

 j)apers affording them the same information. Bat 

 finding that our head of "Markets" was more es- 

 teemed than we had supposed it to be, we have made 

 arrangements for resuming it under the auspices of 

 Messrs. Ludlam, Preston & Co. who have kindly 

 undertaken the charge of this department.— Ed. 



bug, and there is much reason to fear the crop 

 will be a short one, Th(^ fly has well nigh de- 

 stroyed ever}'' tobacco plant in this section, and 

 many planters are planting their lots in corn 

 and cotton. 



Respectfully, 



Thomas Goode Tucker." 



HANOVER AGRICULTURAL FAIR. 

 We have received from the Secretary a re- 

 port of the meeting of the Agricultural Society 

 of Hanover, held at the Court House on the — 

 day of IVlay last. The gallant Secretary rejoices 

 much in the presence of the ladies who attended, 

 and mourns grievously over the absence of all 

 those who did not make their appearance. Our 

 gallantry was a little dampened by the rainy 

 day, or we would have been there to rejoice, 

 and sympathize, with our friend, and also to 

 listen to the address of Dr. Braxton, the Presi- 

 dent, which we hear spoken of as a splendid 

 thing. 



We are requested to publish the awards of 

 the premiums, which comprises a long list; 

 with this request, as with every other from the 

 same source, we would gladly comply, but the 

 fact that to Mrs. such a one was awarded $2 50 

 for the best butter, is of such a local character, 

 and of so little interest to ninety-nine hundredths 

 of our subscribers, that, as will be seen, we have 

 omitted all such details in our report even of 

 our metropolitan meeting. We are at all times 

 happy to receive and publish general notices of 

 such meetings, as well as any particular occur- 

 rence of c^eneral interest. 



For the Southern Planter. 



COMMENTS ON THE MAY NUMBER OF 

 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Pasturage versus Tillage. — The information 

 gained from old, experienced, and prosperous 

 men, is always valuable ; and it is to be re- 

 gretted that such men are not more communi- 

 cative with the goose quill. But I know from 

 experience, that age begets a dislike for mental 

 labor; yet by writing only a few sentences at a 

 time, the mind is so far from being fatigued, that 

 it is only properly and profitably exercised. The 

 remark of the experienced farmer here quoted, 

 that "money coming in a lump, as it does to a 

 tobacco planter, is generally spent improvident- 

 ly," is a truth and misfortune which I have often 

 felt, seen, and regretted. Perhaps the Eastern 

 portion of Virginia, can never equal the West- 

 ern, in the production of spear grasses ; for the 



