504 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[August 



are usually, and almost of necessity, very 

 much neglected about that time, because the 

 overseer is just moving then, and has not 

 arranged his hands, &c. There are so many 

 palpable advantages to all parties concerned, 

 that to me it is really surprising that this 

 change has not been made long ago ; and 

 as this is the season of the year for employ- 

 ing overseers, I hope as many persons as can 

 will adopt the suggestion above, and set the 

 ball in motion at once. I also think it is 

 just as much the interest of those persons 

 who have hands to hire out, to let the 

 year commence the first of December^ as 

 it can be to the interest of hirers; and 

 this they can do very easily, by hir- 

 ing them out next Christmas for eleven 

 months. In all probability they can make 

 a month's hire by the operation. I think 

 their hands will bring almost as much money 

 for eleven months as they would for .twelve. 

 But if they lost three months by it, they 

 could well afibrd to do it, rather than have 

 their servants turned loose during Christ- 

 mas, as they must of necessity be, when 

 they have to change homes, and go to hir- 

 ings, &c., and are exposed to the extreme 

 winter weather, and the many temptations 

 of the holidays. There is no knowing the 

 amount of disease contracted by servants 

 that run at large, as most hired servants do, 

 about Christmas. In addition, the women 

 and little children have to change homes, 

 regardless of weather. 



I am sure if any other set of business 

 men could benejSt themselves as much by so 

 simple a change as the farmers can by this, 

 it would be done at once ; there would be 

 some united action immediately ; some gen- 

 tleman would make some figures about the 

 matter, and call public attention to it, and 

 the change would be made. But, alas ! 

 alas ! for our profession ! the great majority 

 of us are unmoved by figures. We neither 

 believe in book farming nor figure farming. 

 But I do think it is high time we had sha- 

 ken off our lethargy, and had taken the po- 

 sition in the world that our occupation would 

 feem to indicate, and that very many assume 

 sor it. Will some gentleman, who has been 

 using the wheat drill for several years, tell 

 .me on what size crop it will pay; or rather, 

 on what is the smallest size crop that one 

 could afford to purchase one for ; how much 

 seed per acre is saved by them ; how much 

 :guano is saved by them; how much labor is 

 saved by them ; and what per cent, is the 



probable increase of the crop by the use of 

 them ? Are they liable to get out of fix ? 

 Can they be adapted with success to tlie or- 

 dinar}^ wheat lands of Virginia ? Do stumps 

 and hillside-ditches interfere much with 

 them ; and any other matter pertinent, that 

 would be of benefit to a young 



Farmer. 



IlccJdenlmrg, July 10, 1850. 



GrRUMBLERS. — If you find a man disposed 

 to complain of the coldness of the world, 

 be sure you will find that he has .never 

 brought anything into the world to warm it, 

 but he is a personal lump of ice set in it. 

 If you find a man who complains that the 

 world is all base and hollow, tap him, and 

 he will probably sound base and hollow. 

 And so, in the other way, a kind man will 

 probably find kindness all about him. The 

 merciful man, as a general thing, will'-'obtain 

 mercy. He who has always had a kind 

 excuse for others, who has looked at the 

 brightest side of the case ; he who has ren- 

 dered his pardon and his help whenever he 

 could, who has never brought his fellow 

 man into any strait by reason of his not 

 helping him — will find that mercy which 

 he has bestowed flows back upon him in a 

 full and spontaneous spring. He will make 

 a merciful world by the mercy he himself 

 shows. 



Worth Knowing. — The great difficulty 

 of getting horses from a stable where sur- 

 rounding buildings are in a state of confla- 

 gration, is well known, and that in conse- 

 quence of such difficulty, arising from the 

 animal's dread of stirring from the scene of 

 destruction, many animal's have perished in 

 the flames. A gentleman whose horses were 

 in great peril from such a cause, having in 

 vain tried to save them, hit upon the exper- 

 iment of having them harnessed, as though 

 they were going to their usual work, when, 

 to his astonishment, there were led from the 

 stable without difficulty. — Spirit of the 

 Times. 



A Gentleman on a western steamboat', 

 asked the man who came to collect the pas-; 

 sage money if there was any danger of 

 being blown up, as the steam made such a 

 horrid noise. "Not the least," said the 

 sharp conductor, " unless you refuse to pay 

 your fare," 



