THE SOUTHERN 



PLANTER. 



105 



ginning of my seeding. Now, however, we had 

 several fine ones, and, to my astonishment and de- 

 light, every bunch of wheat which I thought ef- 

 fectually killed, shot forth new branches abun- 

 dantly, and grew most rapidly — so rapidly that, 

 fearing the frost, I had to put my cattle, horses and 

 sheep upon it. They soon nipped its pruriency, 

 and were removed, with the exception of the sheep ; 

 they remained until the 26th of February. The 

 Aviieat at present looks remarkably strong, covering 

 the ground with numberless branches. What the 

 ultimate result may be is not for me to say, but I 

 think any one viewing my field would choose the 

 very early seeding in preference to the later ; in- 

 deed, I see nothing to fear at present except a se- 

 vere late frost; and as the land is wet and stiff, 

 lying in a cold situation on the Potomac, it will not 

 be so liable to that calamit}^ as if on lighter land 

 and in a warmer latitude. I will inform you of 

 the final result, and if at harvest the yield should* 

 correspond with present promising prospects, it 

 will produce a new era in wheat raising, and add 

 another trophy to the miraculous power of guano. 

 Respectfully your friend, 



Wat H. Tyler. 

 Wilton, Westmoreland, March 1, 1854. 



We shall be glad to hear from our correspondent 

 on the subject of his harvest, or on any other that 

 he may favor us with. — Ed. So. Planter. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 SMUT IN WHEAT. 



Mr. Editor,— In looking over the columns of the 

 Southern Planter, I read with pleasure the very in- 

 teresting letter of Mr. Thomas Meaux on the sub- 

 ject of smut; and as he requested that farmers 

 should compare notes on this subject, in order to 

 benefit their brother-farmers, in coming to some 

 effective means lo eradicate this prevailing evil, I 

 have concluded to give you the result of my expe- 

 riments on wheat in the fall of 1852. In September 

 I selected four bushels of wheat, and cleaned it 

 thoroughly for the purpose of making the following 

 experiments: 



Lot No. 1. One bushel of wheat sowed without 

 either brining or liming, with one hundred and fifty 

 pounds of Peruvian guano to the acre. The yield, 

 thirteen bushels, had the smut very bad. 



Lot No. 2. One bushel, brined and limed, and 

 sowed with one hundred and fifty pounds of Peru- 

 vian guano. Yield, fifteen bushels per acre. This 

 lot had some little smut, but nothing like as bad as 

 No. 1, which I think lost two bushels in smut. 



Lot No. 3. One bushel brined, but not limed, and 

 sowed with one hundred and fifty pounds of Peru- 

 vian guano. Yield, ten bushels. About one-third 

 of this lot was smut. 



Lot No. 4. One bushel washed in clear spring; 

 water, and then limed, sowed with one hundred and 

 fifty pounds of guano. Yield, eighteen bushels. — 

 This lot did not have the smut at all. 



On all these lots the wheat was the same: the 

 growth equally as vigorous on them all. 



The result of my experiments is, as will be seen, 

 ^n favor of the lime. The spring water was only 

 used to wet the grains in order to make the lime 

 adhere to them. I think that if farmers would take 

 more pains in getting out their seed wheat, viz. 

 thresh it out with a slow pressure, clean it well, and 

 spread it over their barn floor thinly, and then sow 



lime over the floor, stir it up together and let it re- 

 main there until seeding time: then wash in clear 

 spring water, lime it, and sow when the ground is 

 in good order, they will be able to get clear of the 

 smut. 



With my best wishes for your success in improv- 

 ing Virginia agriculture, 



George H. Northam. 

 Woodbine, Westmoreland, Nov. 8, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 THE MAINE LlGlUOR LAW. 



Mr. Editor,— I am induced after a personal inter- 

 view with you yesterday, to say that as you have 

 admitted into your columns a long article on this 

 subject, written by Mr. Jesse Hargrave of Sussex co., 

 Va., in which he most wantonly assails and abuses 

 the advocates of the Temperance reformation — ma- 

 ny of whom are among the most respectable citizens 

 of Virginia — and as you now find it necessary to 

 close your columns against any reply — the writer 

 desires to say to Mr. Hargrave, as he has made the 

 attack where we are not allowed to go, and as he 

 boldly says "This subject must be met at its thresh- 

 hold"— he is hereby challenged to select as his me- 

 dium of discussion any paper published in Virginia, 

 and we do hope as an honorable gentleman he will 

 accept the challenge and give us notice at an early 

 day, and he is hereby promised a full reply to his 

 article in the Planter* and a full and fair discussion 

 of the subject to any reasonable extent: and if we 

 cannot maintain our cause before an enlightened 

 and intelligent community when submitted to their 

 judgment, then we must submit to* Mr. Hargrave's 

 anathemas and all the woes his "good creature" 

 brandy can bring upon us. All we ask is to submit 

 it to the people and not to be ruled by "Jive [Brandy} 

 counties^ W. Timeerlake. 



Carter's Bridge P. O. Albemarle, Dec. 9lk, 1853. 



REPORT ON SUNNYSIDE FARM. 



The following account of Mr. Sayre's farming is 

 very instructive and well worth attention. He is 

 the only one of those who took an honorary testi- 

 monial who complied at the time w T ith the require- 

 ments of the Schedule of Premiums. None have 

 done so since. When they do, none, we venture to 

 say, will equal the results of Mr. Sayre, and no 

 county will come up to his in the profits of " truck- 

 ing," as it is called. # 



Sunnyside Farm, belonging to, and residence of 

 William Sayre, situated on the south side and at 

 the mouth of the western branch of the Elizabeth 

 river, four miles from Portsmouth by land, and 

 the same distance from Norfolk by water, contains 

 149 acres— 107 arable— 42, wood and waste. 



The soil varies from light sandy, to moderately 

 stiff. It was formerly very poor, but at this time 

 about one-half of the arable land is very produc- 

 tive, and was made so by repeated and heavy ma- 

 nuring for the last ten years, at an annual expense 

 of about one thousand dollars. The subsoil varies 

 very much, from sand to red and blue clay— and is 

 from nine to eighteen inches below the surface. 

 The red clay is found in the field next to the river, 

 but is not in a regular stratum underlying the 



