s 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



saying to Mr. Garnett, that if he will leave 

 lower Virginia, and pass through the middle 

 and western parts of the State, he will find as 

 good native cattle, as can be found in New 

 York or New England. Here too he will find 

 a number of the finest imported cattle by which 

 the farmers are endeavoring to improve their 

 native stock. In fact it is not necessary for Mr. 

 G. to go so far. If he will take the trouble to 

 visit his neighboring county of King & Queen, 

 he will find some full blooded Durhams, and he 

 will find also many other cattle which share 

 deeply in that celebrated cross. Within a short 

 distance of my residence (I live in lower Virgi- 

 nia) I know of several Durhams, Ayrshires and 

 Devons, all certified to be of the genuine stock, 

 and these are diffusing themselves with great 

 rapidity throughout the country. 



But if our cattle are thus starved and thus 

 suffer, how is it that such multitudes of the very 

 best beeves are annually driven to the Baltimore 

 and Philidelphia markets'? Large droves also 

 are constantly coming to lower Virginia seeking 

 for a market, whose appearance clearly indicates 

 any thing else than that they have been " on the 

 lift." After this, I think Mr. G.'s candor will 

 prompt him to admit, that his statement is a 

 caricature, not a faithful picture. 



Mr. G. also comments with great severity 

 upon the draught horses of Virginia. The idea 

 conveyed is (for I think it needless to quote his 

 words) that the race-horse is such a favorite 

 among Virginians, as to absorb all their care. — 

 Now I am no greater admirer of the race-horse, 

 considered as such, than Mr. G. is. In fact, I 

 do most cordially sympathise with him in all 

 the ridicule which he heaps upon Virginians on 

 account of their propensity to this amusement. 

 Yet I must in candor admit, that the chief im- 

 provement, which this noble animal has received 

 among us, has been through the race-horse. — 

 The best horses I ever saw for the draught or 

 saddle, were got by the race-horse ; and our 

 most sprightly and useful mules are out of our 

 blooded mares. If the race horse then has oc- 

 casioned a degeneracy among men, he has cer- 

 tainly much improved his own species. 



But there is another charge of still graver 

 import, which I find in Mr. G.'s letter. It is in 

 these words — "In the tide water portion of Vir- 

 ginia, the average product of Indian corn per 

 acre, does not, I think, exceed fifteen bushels, 

 although eight or ten times as much has been 

 made on a few farms ; the average crop of 

 wheat, in all that portion of the State of which 

 I have been speaking, can hardly be estimated 

 higher than five bushels per acre, if so high." 



All the people then in this part of Virginia 

 must be in a starving condition. All farmers 

 agree, that when the average of corn falls be- 

 low twenty bushels to the acre — or of wheat, 

 below eight bushels— then these articles do not 



pay the expenses of cultivation. If, therefore, 

 Mr. G. has stated the thing correctly, then all 

 Eastern Virginia is doing a losing business. — 

 This reminds me of an anecdote which I feel 

 strongly tempted to detail. An Irish merchant 

 was urging a customer to buy a certain piece 

 of goods, assuring him that he " constantly sold 

 his wares for less than cost." " Why then are 

 you not. a ruined man?" "The reason is a 

 very plain one," said he — " it is because I do a 

 very large business." The reason then why we 

 are not all bankrupts, in this section of country 

 is, because we do this ruinous business on so 

 large a scale. 



Now I pretend not to know what the precise 

 product of these articles is. But judging from 

 facts, I feel no hesitation in saying that Mr. G.'s 

 estimate is far too low. Corn is considered as 

 one of the chief staples of lower Virginia, and 

 wheat, of upper Virginia. If the product of 

 these articles were as low as Mr. G. has repre- 

 sented, then it is clear to my mind, that instead 

 of being considered as staples, people would cease 

 to cultivate them entirely. But there is another 

 fact, which bears strongly on this subject. We 

 raise in Virginia as much corn and wheat as 

 we need for our own consumption, (and this is 

 a large amount) and besides this, we have an 

 immense surplus, which we send to a foreign 

 market. I wish I knew how many thousands 

 of bushels of corn and wheat, and how many 

 tens of thousands of barrels of flour, are annu- 

 ally shipped from our State. Some estimate 

 may be formed of the magnitude of this busi- 

 ness, when I state that twenty-five thousand 

 bushels of wheat may be ground in a single 

 mill in Richmond, in a day. Mr. G.'s estimate 

 is, therefore, far too low. 



But then the question recurs, why should Mr. 

 G. who is confessedly Virginian, every inch of 

 him, give this statement of the agriculture 

 of his own native State? To this I reply, that 

 he is a facetious old gentleman, an excellent 

 writer, a pleasant speaker, and in addition to 

 this so fond of his joke, that he will indulge it, 

 even at the expense of things dearest to his 

 heart. I would not be at all surprised if in 

 writing this letter, his object was to hoax Bro- 

 ther Jonathan, of New York. Hence his de- 

 tails of grandfather memory, and hence his state- 

 ments of products so low, that they must neces- 

 sarily issue in the ruin of any people. And yet 

 these very people who have no bread, nor butter 

 to put upon it, are every year sending large 

 quantities of corn, wheat and beef to feed Bro- 

 ther Jonathan of the North. 



Vindicator. 



SEEDING GRASS. 

 Mr. William Carter, who is an extensive 

 grass grower on Chickahorniny, and a thorough- 



