THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



.mount of nourishment in 64 drachms as 

 follows : 



White tankard, 76 grains. 



Common white loaf, 80 grains. 



Norfolk white, 73 grains. 



Store or garden, 85 grains. 



Ruta baga, 110 grains. 



The following table gives the nutritive 

 properties of several varieties — the green- 

 top yellows being taken as a standard : 



Species and Should weigh by Actual 

 varieties. size and standard, weight. 



lbs. oz. lbs. oz. 

 Green-top yellow, 16.00 15.00 

 Swedish or ruta baga, 11.2 13.12 

 Red-top yellow, " 12.00 12.10 

 Dalis hybrid, 13.12 12.00 



White globe, 20.8 15.8 



Red-top white, 16.8 13.00 



Green-top white, 8.7 8.8 



White tankard, 16. 14. 



Purple do. 12.10 11.8 



This table shows the superiority of the 

 ruta baga, over all the other varieties. It 

 yields about six or seven per cent, of its 

 whole weight of nutritive matter, while 

 the white varieties afford four per cent., 

 and in the largest roots only three and a 

 half per cent, of their whole weight; 

 hence one acre of the Swedish variety, 

 is equal to one and a half acres of the 

 white. " No person," says Lord Kaimes, 

 " ever deserved better of his country, than 

 he w T ho first cultivated turnips in a field. 

 No plant contributes more to fertility." 



It appears from the investigations thus 

 far made, that roots are by far the most 

 profitable crops cultivated by the farmer ; 

 and that their more general introduction 

 would both increase the value of the soil, 

 and the quantity of productions from the 

 farm, from the dairy, and from farm stock. 

 Gray's Scientific and Practical Agriculture. 



For the Southern Planter. 



SHEEP RAISING IN AMHERST. 



I am exceedingly glad to see that Mr. 

 Drummond and a gentleman from Lynch- 

 burg are about to try the rearing of sheep 

 upon the mountains of Amherst. If pro- 



per attention is paid, I have no doubt that 

 they will succeed well. I brought with 

 me from Clarke county, upwards of thirty 

 of the most approved kind of sheep. If 

 Mr. Drummond or any one in the county 

 wishes to cross from my sheep, I shall be 

 happy to accommodate them. I have 

 been informed, by good authority, that a 

 Mr. Patterson and one or two other Penn- 

 sylvanians are about to settle in this 

 county with the view of raising fine wool 

 sheep. He at this time resides in the 

 western part of Pennsylvania ; he states 

 that his wool commands seventy-five cents 

 per pound in the Northern market; I 

 have generally obtained from twenty-five 

 to thirty cents per pound, in the dirt, while 

 the common wool of this part of the 

 country will only bring from eighteen to 

 twenty-five cents. This only shows that 

 we do not pay that attention to stock in 

 Virginia that we should do. If half the 

 labor and attention was paid in Virginia 

 to grass and stock that is now bestowed 

 upon that noxious weed, tobacco, would 

 not Old Virginia rival any other State in 

 the Union ? 



Very respectfully, yours, &c. 



Isaac Irvine Hite. 

 Glen Ambler, near Amherst C. H., Va. 



FRUIT TREES. 



From an article in the Tennessee Agricul- 

 turist upon the diseases of fruit trees we make 

 the following extract: 



The Canker. — This is sometimes called 

 the bitter rot. It is ascribed to various 

 causes. By some it is considered as aris- 

 ing from neglected culture — poorness or 

 wetness of soil, or exposed situation. But 

 the most probable, or the immediate cause, 

 appears to be injudicious pruning and 

 bruises. Decay generally commences at 

 the wounds thus caused, and extends till 

 the tree dies. To prevent it, never prune 

 in spring while the sap is in active mo- 

 tion, and protect all wounds of much size 

 from air and moisture by a coat of paint, 

 or of tar and brick dust. The only w T ay 

 to cure trees already diseased, is to cut 



