THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



719 



God of the plantation, before which every 

 thing else is thrown down and trodden 

 underfoot: hence everything else getting 

 only the leavings of this insatiable con- 

 sumer of labor, manure and time, is starved 

 literally, and the fatal consequences are 

 every where discoverable through the 

 land — as will be further seen in the sequel. 



Having disposed of the plant-patches 

 for a time, except the unceasing watch 

 against the fly, and to promote early 

 growth by watering and manure, an inter- 

 val is presented for clearing new ground 

 for the next crop, and when the weather 

 is unfavorable for out-door work, for car- 

 rying on the stripping process of the last 

 year's crop. Here we are brought into 

 full collision with both crops on hand at 

 the same time — the new crop in the plant- 

 patch and the old crop in the houses. 

 But to proceed in order, we must account 

 for the presence of this old crop now in 

 the houses ; this, of course, the product of 

 last year's plants, after the elaborate culti- 

 vation by which it has been raised, (the 

 details of which shall be given when we 

 go back to the plant-patches now on hand) 

 has been cut when fully ripe, a state 

 which requires* a shrewd judge to decide, 

 partially cured on scaffolds, and finished 

 by firing in the houses. It is then struck 

 down from the tiers on which it is hung in 

 the houses on sticks rived for the pur- 

 pose, during some damp and warm day in 

 autumn or early winter, in proper order 

 for handling, or technically in "case" — 

 taken from the sticks, packed down care- 

 fully and straight, in close bulk, and 

 covered thickly with wheat-straw, to ex- 

 clude the air, and keep it "in case." 



For the Planter. 



Mr. Winston's Wheat Crop. 



Westwood, Oct. 22d, 1858. 



Ed. Southern Planter : 



Dear Sir. — I herewith send you a state- 

 ment of my crop of wheat for the present 

 year. From it, interesting information 



* It is often threatened, and sometimes lost by 

 early frost, which, from the earliest history of its 

 culture, has been known to lead to the cutting of 

 the crop on the Sabbath when deemed necessa- 

 ry to save it from a threatened frost before Mon- 

 day morning. 



may be derived respecting the utility of 

 guano as a manure for wheat. The land 

 on which the wheat was grown, was sur- 

 veyed with great care by an accomplished 

 surveyor. 



Number of acres in wheat, . . llf 



Wheat used for seed 21 bus. 



Quantity of guano (Peruvian) used, 3000 lbs. 



" per acre, 255 " 



Product of wheat per llf acres, 226 bus. 

 " " per one acre, 19^ " 



Cost of Production. 



Preparation of land, sowing and reap- 

 ing, @ $5 per acre, . . . $58 75 

 Threshing and hauling 226 bushels, 12 00 

 Cost of seed wheat @ $1 40 per bu., 29 40 

 Cost of guano @ $60 per ton, 90 00 



Total cost, $190 15 



Proceeds of 226 bus. @ $1 40 per bu., 316 40 



Net proceeds, $125 25 



It is estimated that the same land, with- 

 out guano, would have produced 10 bush- 

 els per acre, or 114 bushels for the whole 

 field. 



Cost of production same as before, ex- 

 cept as to threshing, hauling, and the gu- 

 ano. Thus : 



Cost of production, . . . . $ 94 15 

 Proceeds of 114 bus. @ $1 40 per bu., 159 60 



Net proceeds, $65 45 



Now $125 25— $65 45=59 70,— the 

 amount of profit due to the $90 outlay 

 for the guano. This is an enormous profit, 

 being about 65 per cent. 



Mode of Cultivation. 



Corn land deeply plowed with a two- 

 horse plow ; the wheat and guano being 

 sown broadcast by hand, and put in with 

 a two-horse cultivator. 



I have taken more than usual pains to 

 test, during a series of years, the value 

 of guano as a manure for wheat. I have 

 used about two hundred pounds to the 

 acre. I am satisfied, that on land that 

 will bring 15 bushels of wheat to the acre, 

 it does not ordinarily pay a profit ; especi- 

 ally at its present price. The question is 

 often asked, "Is guano an improver of 

 the soil ?" To that question, two answers 

 may be given. Under the clover-fallow 

 system of farming, it is undoubtedly a 



