376 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



is the best for corn but not so good for wheat — 

 is a fouler system than the other, and he feels 

 inclined to return to the former. His prepar- 

 ation fur Avheat is deep and tliorough ploughing 

 with four-horse ploughs, the horses hitched two 

 abreast, and tAA-o hands to each plough ; the 

 driver, in addition to his other duties, removing 

 all obstructions out of the way of the plough. 

 If the season is dry, he rolls with a heavy iron 

 roller and harrov*'S effectually, putting in the 

 wheat either with the drill or broadcast — pre- 

 fers drilling. On corn land he uses pretty 

 much the same method of preparation — break- 

 ing up the land with either three or four-horse 

 ploughs. His land requires bedding, and deep 

 ploughing with a large plough is essential to 

 the proper construction of the beds. His land 

 is stilf, and he ploughs from seven to • nine 

 inches deep. Finds five ploughs and twenty 

 horses cheaper and better than seven ploughs 

 and twenty-one horses. 



His experience is, that wheat on clover-fallow' 

 is better if the land had been grazed previous 

 to ploughing. He had averaged thirty bushels 

 per acre on his fallow land, and his friend, Mr. 

 Selden, had made much larger crops; in one 

 case, furty bushels per acre. Had derived no 

 benefit from the use of guano. In reply to 

 some remarks in regard to the exponsivenoss of 

 his method of cultivation, Mr. C. stated that he 

 knew a firmer, R. M. Taylor, of Bremo, Hen- 

 rico county, who, upon a plantation of some 

 two hundred acres, cultivated upon this appa- 

 rently costly system of four-horse plough teams, 

 together with much manual labour, had, until 

 the recent great advance in the price of land 

 and negroes, realized a profit of fifteen per ct. ; 

 and since the rise, had marie ten per ct. And 

 another gentleman, who had been unsuccessful 

 in the cultivation of a forest farm upon the 

 cheap system of two-horse ploughs and shallow 

 cultivation, adopted the other plan of four-horse 

 ploughs ftud deep cultivation, and has found it 

 to succeed .admirably. j 



This gentleman had found it profitable to 

 cnrt marl some three or four miles. 



Mr. J. Selden, of Charles City county. Has 

 for years averaged sf)mo thirty bushels wheat 

 on fallow and corn land ; pursues the same 

 general syr.tom as Mr. Carter. In reference to 

 the use of guau"^, he one spring, on the 15th of 

 April, spread one ton of guano on the poorest 

 ^pots of a field of wheat; its beneficial effects 

 were evident in f mr or five days after the sow- 

 ing, au'l these sn:)ts proved to be the best wheat 

 in tl:e field. The guano was Eipplled at the 

 rate of 114/6.?. to the acre. Next year used it 

 at the rate of 150/6.S. to the acre, applied at 

 seeding time ; the product was about twels e 

 bushels per .acre more than the adjoining un- 

 gaanocd land. 



John Ma shall, Esq., of Charlotte. Until 

 within the last f )ur or five years, did not at- 

 tempt to raise wlieat except upun tobacco lots 

 that had been highly manured. In reference, 



'to the preparation of the land and sowing — 

 the best crop he ever made was on land well 

 ploughed with tvs^o-horse ploughs and subsoiled; 

 part of it was corn land, the remainder tobacco 

 land. He knew a man once to sow his wheat 

 on the top of the land and then plough it in 

 with a four-horse plough. The wheat came up 

 well and made a good crop. 



Willoughby Newton, Esq., Westmoreland. 

 Had, by the use of guano, averaged twenty 

 bushels to one sown, on land that at the time 

 could be purchased for four dollars per acre. 

 The preparation of the land for seeding con- 

 sisted in ploughing with a two-horse plough, 

 and then putting the wheat in with a cultivator, 

 and afterwards harroAving. Used about 200/6.s\ 

 guano to the acre. Has since averaged as high 

 as seventeen bushels to the acre on same 

 land, but has not succeeded in equalling the 

 first crop of tAA'enty bushels, although the land 

 is evidently greatly improved, producing good 

 crops of grass and corn. Thinks this may be 

 explained by the greater number of insects that 

 prey upon the crop and the increased foulness 

 of the land, owing to its greater fertility. Last 

 year his AA^heat crop Avas a very indifferent one, 

 aA^eraging about six bushels to one sown ; ow- 

 ing in a great degree, he thought, to the ex- 

 tremely dry season. 



lie thought the cheaper system of cultivation 

 pursued upon the poor lands of the Northern 

 Neck paid a higher per centum of profit than 

 the more costly and thorough course pursued 

 upon the rich lands of the loAver James river. 

 As in the Northern Neck, the entire fee simple 

 value of the land was often realized in a single 

 year from the crops sold. 



To shoAv the great enhancement in the value 

 of lands in his section of the State, by the use 

 of concentrated manures and a better system of 

 farming, Mr. N. stated that the lands of West- 

 moreland Avere, by the last assessment, of 1S50, 

 valued at $800,000, but by the assessment of the 

 present year, the lands of that county Avere 

 A^alued at $1,600,000. lie AA-^ould recommend 

 a cheap system in the cultivation of the soil 

 and a liberal expenditure in fertilizers. 



Perhaps there Avas no part of the world in 

 Avhich g ano had produced such AA^onderful re- 

 sults as upon the thin lands in the Northern 

 Neck. Where he had made the twenty busliels 

 of wheat to the acre, refered to before, others, 

 by a more liberal use of guano, had groAvn 

 tAA^enty-eight, thirty, and even thirty-six bushels 

 to the acre. This striking effect of guano had 

 been ascribed by some to the dampness of the 

 climate, it being a narrow strip of country lying 

 betAveon tAvo largo rivers. Guan't, liOAvever, had 

 a greater effect on the f )rest than on the river 

 lands. S'nee the use of guano rust had been 

 much less frequent than f'ormerl}^' The Soil so 

 much benefitted })y the use of guano, has in it 

 much sand ; it might, perhaps, be described as 

 a Avhite sandy loam ; a good ploughing turning 

 up clay enough to give it sufficient cohesion. 



