332 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



such cases, it is by no means my object to oppose 

 the judicious and cautious use of guano. — B. R.] 



86. Dr. Wm. F. Gaines of Hanover, has used 

 guano for five or six years, and in all about 25 or 

 30 tons, on his farm, Powhite, bordering on Chicka- 

 hominy. The soil light. The average product in 

 corn (without and before guano,) 15 to 25 bushels 

 to the acre, and from 6 to 8 of wheat, after corn. 

 In some cases, good effects were obtained. But in 

 the greater number of cases, so slight have been 

 the benefits derived, that he is sure that, on the 

 whole business, he has not been more than repaid 

 for the outlay. No abiding improvement of the 

 land has been seen, even where best early effect 

 was noted. The guanoed land has not been 

 thereby made capable of securing better stands of 

 clover. 



87. Mr. Francis K. Nelson of New Kent, on the 

 White House farm, has used guano to the extent of 

 70 tons, in several different years. He estimated 

 the returns as being about enough fully to reim- 

 burse the costs — but yielding no clear profit to en- 

 courage the continuation of the use. He has used 

 this manure on soils of various qualities, including 

 some very poor lands, as well as much of good. In 

 the autumn, 1852, among the last of his trials, he 

 used 3 tons for wheat on very poor land — some 

 ploughed under, some harrowed in with the seed, 

 and some as top-dressing. He is confident that 

 the benefits did not more than repay the expense, 

 if so much. 



88. Mr. John Taylor of Caroline, applied 10 tons 

 of guano to his wheat, on Hazlewood farm, on the 

 Rappahannock, in 1852. Soil, generally sandy, 

 hazel loam, originally fertile, and now in good con- 

 dition, [the farm and the subject of " Arator."] 

 But there were smaller portions of different kinds 

 of soil included, some very stiff. The guano was 

 applied about 110 lbs. to the acre, with an equal 

 quantity of gypsum previously mixed. A small 

 space had double this quantity for comparison. 

 Some of the dressing was ploughed under, and 

 part harrowed in, at the time of seeding wheat. 

 No benefit worth consideration was produced on 

 any part of the field, or by any mode of application. 



89. In 1853, he again sowed, for wheat, 4 tons of 

 guano, without gypsum, and, as before, with very 

 little effect, and certainly without anything like an 

 approach to reimbursement of the costs. 



90. He has heard generally, and in many cases 

 particularly, of the applications of guano made 

 last autumn, (1853) on almost every farm along the 

 southern side of the Rappahannock, for about 40 

 miles in Caroline and Essex counties ; [soil mostly 

 sandy and rich] — and he does not believe that in 

 any one case has the expenses been paid by the in- 

 crease made in the crop of wheat. He has heard 

 of much better results this year on sundry farms 

 on the northern side of the river, in King George 

 and Westmoreland counties. 



[To be continued.] 



To Save One's Bacon. — May I venture to sug- 

 gest that this phrase has reference to the custom at 

 Dunmow, in Essex, of giving a flitch of bacon to 

 any married couple residing in the parish, who live 

 in harmony for a year and a day. A man and his 

 wife who stopped short when on the verge of a 

 quarrel might be said to have "just saved their 

 bacon;" and in course of time the phrase would 

 be applied to any one who barely escaped any loss 

 or danger. — Notes and Queries. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 ESSAY ON THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO. 



Mr. Editor, — In compliance with your request, 

 I will attempt an essay on the culture of tobacco, 

 though I confess in justice to myself I should have 

 left the task for abler hands than mine. I scarcely 

 know where to begin or where to stop, as too much 

 detail will necessarily cause the repetition of mat- 

 ter familiar to many, while to a beginner the minu- 

 tia is quite essential. At the risk therefore of 

 being tedious, I shall begin with raising plants, 

 and treat briefly of the other operations until the 

 crop is ready for market, requesting you to curtail 

 such portions as you may think proper. 



Every tobacco planter knows that his success is 

 greatly dependent upon his having an abundance 

 of plants, of good size, and in good time. Like 

 all other valuable objects, the attainment of them 

 requires perseverance and trouble. It is first ne- 

 cessary to select suitable locations for plant beds, 

 and it is better to have several small beds than one 

 or two large ones, since if any disaster should hap- 

 pen the chance of success with several in different 

 localities will be much better. For a crop of 

 100,000 hills four beds of about 300 square yards 

 each I should recommend. As to soil, the texture 

 differs so widely in different sections of the coun- 

 try, it is best to leave it to the planter's judgment, 

 simply stating that a rich, moist, virgin soil in the 

 woods with a southern exposure, and in a clay soil 

 a little admixture of sand, is such as we generally 

 find preferred. As early in the winter as possible, 

 a sufficient quantity of wood should be cut at the 

 places intended to be burned, the bed cleaned off 

 by cutting off trees, shrubs, and raking off leaves, 

 &c. I should prefer always to burn most or all 

 before Christmas if possible, as the land is gener- 

 ally in much better condition than after the winter 

 rains, and it requires much less wood. Having the 

 wood cut, skids are laid across the centre of the 

 proposed bed, and wood laid across them covering 

 some four or five feet. After burning about an 

 hour, the hands with wooden hooks draw the fire 

 from the centre towards each end on the skids, 

 wood is put on, and so continue to draw the fire, 

 and add wood until the bed is completed. I prefer 

 beginning in the centre if the wood is at hand, 

 being more expeditious, but otherwise commence 

 at either end and burn as above. The fires should 

 be good ones and kept burning a sufficient time to 

 insure the burning of the land thoroughly. An 

 hour (when the land is in good condition) from the 

 time the fire has been well started, will be long 

 enough for each pile of wood before it is moved. 

 When sufficiently cool it is cleaned off and well 

 coultered, the roots, &c, taken off, then a heavy 

 dressing of fine stable manure (prepared during 

 the summer for the purpose) chopped in with the 

 hoes, the whole well raked, sowed and trod. I 

 think it highly important to manure the plant bed 

 at this time, as the plants derive an early support 

 from it which they never lose, and I would recom- 

 mend the preparation of enough manure for that 

 purpose during the summer. About two table- 

 spoonfuls of seed for every 100 squafe yards will 

 be sufficient and not too much. The seed are 

 mixed with old ashes, and to sow them regularly it 

 is best to sow one-half over the bed, and the other 

 half across the first sowing. It is then trodden 

 and thickly covered with brush. About the first 

 of March the beds should be sowed over, lest some 



