342 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



&c, fed to it at regular periods. The latter 

 may contain intrinsically less nourishing mat- 

 ter than the corn, but the change produces 

 some unknown effect on the stomach and sys- 

 tem, that adds to the capability of depositing 

 fat. The best feeders change the food very 

 frequently, and find that they make a decided 

 profit by so doing. Salt should be given with 

 every meal to cattle — say an ounce a day. It 

 preserves the appetite and prevents torpor of 

 the liver to which all fattening animals are 

 subject. This torpor, or disease, is to a certain 

 extent conducive to fat; but carried too far 

 the animal sinks under it. 



5. In cattle the skin should be particularly 

 attended to. A fat animal is in an unnatural 

 state, and consequently easily subject to disease. 

 Taking no excercise, it has not its usual power 

 of throwing off poisons out of the system ; and 

 if the skin is foul, the whole labor is thrown 

 on the kidneys. It is found by experience 

 that oxen, regularly curried and cleaned daily, 

 fatten better and faster than when left to 

 themselves ; and if the legs are pasted with 

 dung, as is too often the case, it seriously in- 

 jures the animal. 



6. Too much rich food is injurious. The 

 stomach can only assimilate a certain quantity 

 at once. Thus an ox will prosper better on 

 30 lbs. of corn and 30 lbs. of cob ground to- 

 gether daily, than on 40 pounds of ground corn. 

 These mixtures are also valuable and saving of 

 cost for hogs when first put in the pen. If an 

 animal loses its appetite, the food should at 

 once be changed, and if possible roots, pump- 

 kins, or steamed hay may be given. 



7. Oxen will fatten better if the hay or 

 stalks are cut for them, but care must be taken 

 not to cut too short. An inch in length is 

 about the right size for oxen, half or three- 

 quarters of an inch for horses. — Farmer 's Com, 

 and Horticultural Gazette. 



From the Richmond Whig. 



THE DROUGHT, CROPS, PRICES, &c. 



Linden, Westmoreland County, Va., ) 

 September 20, 1854. ] 



To the Editors of the New York Herald. 



I have read with much satisfaction your cir- 

 cular letter, asking for information in regard to 

 the drought, crops, &c. Although not specially 

 addressed, I consider myself included in your 

 general invitation, and shall proceed to give 

 you such information as I possess on a subject, 

 at this time, of vast importance to the whole 

 country, and about which it is desirable the 

 whole truth should be known. I have been 

 largely engaged in grain growing for more than 



thirty years ; have been a close observer of 

 every circumstance affecting crops and prices 

 during that period, and have read attentively 

 nearly all that has been published on these sub- 

 jects in our own and foreign journals. My in- 

 terest as a farmer is of course promoted by 

 high prices. This, candor requires me to state, 

 yet I trust I am incapable of desiring to ad- 

 vance my own interest at the expense of the 

 general prosperity of the country. 



I spent a short time this summer at one of 

 the Virginia watering places, and returned to 

 the lower country during the first week of this 

 month. During my absence from here, I con- 

 versed with a great many intelligent gentlemen 

 from various parts of the country, and had an 

 opportunity to observe, critically, the condition 

 of the crops in a large portion of Maryland 

 and Virginia. The result of my observations 

 and inquiries is, that the estimate of the crops 

 of Virginia, contained in the letter of Col. 

 G. W. Munford, is in the main correct. From 

 the falls of the rivers to the seaboard, there is 

 much corn that is good, some that is very heavy, 

 and a vast deal that will be scarcely worth 

 gathering. The crops in the fine valleys of 

 the Rappahannock and Potomac until within 

 30 miles of the Chesapeake Bay, may be said 

 to be a failure, and from that quarter, which 

 usually exports largely, there will be little or 

 none to spare. Above the falls of the rivers 

 the drought was still more fatal. From the 

 county of Albemarle to the Potomac, and from 

 the head of tide to the Alleghany mountains, 

 the crop is entirely insufficient to supply the 

 domestic consumption. In the valley of Vir- 

 ginia, one of the finest agricultural regions in 

 the world, where lands sell from thirty to sixty 

 dollars an acre, the most experienced farmers 

 assured me that the average product of corn 

 would not exceed a barrel (five bushels) to the 

 acre, whilst many fields would produce abso- 

 lutely nothing. My own observation on the 

 spot confirmed the correctness of their opin- 

 ions. The same state of things exists as far 

 as I could observe, in the neighboring counties 

 of Washington and Frederick Maryland. Be- 

 yond the Alleghany mountains, I have no ac- 

 curate information, but that portion of the 

 State is chiefly engaged in grazing, and very 

 little grain is there grown for market. 



Of the crops in the States west and north 

 of Virginia, I heard much from gentlemen who 

 had seen them, and I am satisfied that the 

 press of the country is misleading the public, 

 in the effort, now so general, to produce the 

 impression that the crops of the great corn 

 growing States approximate an average. 

 I A great error prevails in the country as re- 



