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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



tical bar (d) being prolonged upward, and hav- 

 ing its top and bottom ends formed into pivots, 

 on which the carriage, carrying all the working 

 machinery, is made to swing. The saw (e), of 

 twenty-four inches diameter, is fixed on the lower 

 end of a vertical spindle, and immediately above 

 it a bevelled pinion (/), which is driven by the 

 wheel (g)] the winch handle, by which the 

 power is applied, is fitted upon the same spindle. 

 The saw pinion and the wheel (g) are in the 

 proportion of one to five, so that, when the han- 

 dle is turned with the ordinary velocity of forty 

 revolutions a minute, the saw will make 200 

 revolutions in the same time. In order to keep 

 the edge of the saw in contact with the saw- 

 draft, a vertical spindle (h), carrying the pulley 

 (i), of one foot in diameter, is placed at the out- 

 ward extremity of the carriage ; the pulley (i) 

 is put in motion by the band (J) passing over a 

 smaller pulley on the winch axle. On the spin- 

 dle (h) there is also fitted a small drum (&), ca- 

 pable of being disengaged at pleasure from the 

 motion of the spindle by means of a clutch. — 

 The cord (/), which passes round the pulley (m), 

 in the ground frame, has one end attached to 

 the carriage; while the other end, being at- 

 tached to the drum, is coiled upon it when re- 

 volving along with the spindle, thereby carrying 

 forward the saw with a slow and uniform mo- 

 tion. When the operation is completed, the 

 small drum is disengaged, and the cord is al- 

 lowed to uncoil, while the carriage is moved 

 backward to prepare for the next cut. For the 

 support and guidance of the carriage, an iron 

 segment (n) is fixed upon the lower part, which 

 slides through eyes in the ground frame ; and 

 the machine is kept steady while at work, by 

 two iron dogs (grappling irons), the hooks of 

 which are driven into the roots of the tree. — 

 The certificates accompanying the model of this 

 machine bear ample testimony to its successful 

 application on the large scale ; and show that 

 it can be worked, and carried from tree to tree, 

 by two men. The machine here described is 

 calculated for felling trees from eight to twelve 

 inces in diameter." 



TOBACCO. 

 To the Editors of the Southern Planter: 



Gentlemen, — I take my pen to thank you for 

 the favor which you propose to confer on me, in 

 the presentation of some tobacco seed of the 

 Spanish and Trinidad varieties. I shall take 

 great pleasure in testing fairly their respective 

 value, and will apprise you of the results of 

 my experiments. I will endeavor to get some 

 friend to do me the kindness to apply to you for 

 them. 



While I am writing I will merely enumerate 

 some of the varieties of tobacco with which I 

 am acquainted, and the conclusions to which I 



have arrived, as it regards their comparative 

 value. 



The Oronoko, (to which family the " Daniel 

 Jones" and " White Stem," I think properly be- 

 long,) is, I consider, the best tobacco we have, 

 for new grounds, or light grey high lands, which 

 are not very rich. It matures easily and well 

 on lands too poor to perfect some of the other 

 kinds. It requires, too, less skill in the curing. 

 It cures by the sun alone better than any other 

 tobacco, and commands the highest prices when 

 cured in this way, for manufacturing purposes. 

 As it requires less house room and less labor in 

 curing, we are enabled to cultivate a greater 

 number of hills of it to the hand, than of any 

 other kind. Where fuel is scarce it recommends 

 itself peculiarly. But on the other hand, it is 

 the most brittle and tender of all tobaccos, and 

 is consequently the most liable to injury from 

 winds, which either break off the leaves (some- 

 times in great quantities) or bruise them so as 

 to induce the ripe fire or spot, which causes 

 great waste. 



There are two varieties of the Frederick with 

 which I am acquainted — the Little and Big 

 or Green. The first has nothing to recommend 

 it, being small and inferior ; the last is a fine 

 tobacco ; one of the richest I know of, and the 

 great length of leaf makes it present a most 

 beautiful sample. The great objection to it is, 

 that the leaves lie down too much on the ground, 

 and are apt to get very dirty. 



The popularity of the Marine tobacco which 

 was very great a few years ago, is now, and I 

 think, justly too, on the wane. It has large 

 stems and coarse fibres and offers no claim to 

 our regard. 



The Pryor family stands deservedly high. — 

 The Yellow and Blue are the kinds with which 

 I am acquainted. The last is well spoken of 

 by many of our best planters. But the first is 

 my favorite of all the tobaccos which I have as 

 yet tried, and the one which we principally cul- 

 tivate. It is a leafy, rich, silky tobacco, and 

 grows best on rich low ground lots, though it 

 does well on high land lots if the soil is made 

 very rich. It requires, I think, richer land to 

 bring it to full perfection than any other kind, 

 and consequently, it is useless to plant it on or- 

 dinary new grounds, for it will never ripen. It 

 sustains less injury from high winds, when 

 growing — is less liable to waste with the ripe 

 fire, and produces fewer lugs than any other 

 variety .* The two principal objections which 



* As an instance of the perfect leaf and small 

 quantity of lugs which the Yellow Pryor affords, I 

 will only mention, that in our crop sold in the spring 

 of 1840, consisting of twenty-three hogsheads of this 

 tobacco— averaging 1,648 lbs. per hogshead, we had 

 only a hogshead and a piece of lugs, all the rest was 

 passed by the inspectors and averaged us upwards of 

 nine dollars per hundred lbs. 



