I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



569 



year, lie can afford it by acting on the hint 

 above. 



We must contrive to raise larger crops to the 

 acre than we have been in the habit of doing, 

 or we shall not be able to compete for labour 

 ers with the Southern States, and must lose 

 the greater part of our negroes. We cannot 

 afford to raise ten or fifteen bushels of wheat, 

 or four barrels of corn to an acre of land, while 

 a good negro man will hire for from $100 to 

 $150 per annum. When wheat was consid- 

 ered high at $1 per bushel, we could hire a 

 labourer for a year al from $40 to $50. Labour 

 is so much more remunerative in the cotton 

 and sugar growing States at present, than it is in 

 our own section of- the Union, that at the pres- 

 ent ratio of exportation of negroes from our 

 midst to a more Southern clime, it will take 

 but a short period to deprive us of our present 

 stock, and to raise the price of labour to a rate 

 ruinous to farmers. 



The only way we can get out of the diffi- 

 culty, is to raise a much larger crop on the sur- 

 face which we at present cultivate, thereby 

 reducing our expenses, and increasing the 

 profits to each hand. This can only be accom- 

 plished by a judicious and economical use of 

 manures, and by giving proper attention to the 

 ploughing, draining, and cropping of the fields. 

 We hope to present views on this subject which 

 will prove of service to our readers — theories 

 which they are at liberty to pass by unheeded, 

 if they do not stand inspection in the light of 

 common sense. 



Supposing, then, that a farmer has reduced 

 his farm to that size, which will put it in the I 

 power of his "force 1 * to work it thoroughly, we 

 would suggest as the first step towards improv- 

 ing it, that he should plough the land deeply, 

 breaking up the subsoil below the bottom of the 

 old furrows, and disintegrating the " hard pan,'' 

 as it is usually called. This pan is formed by 

 the deposition of the fine, partially dissolved 

 earth, which is carried to the bottom of the fur- 

 row by rain water. When it dries up, it forms 

 a close, compact layer, \vhich is almost air and 

 water proof, and injurious to the crops growing 

 over it in two ways, viz: by arresting effectu- 

 ally any rising from the subsoil of moisture, 

 and inorganic plant food — and preventing the 

 surface water from sinking below its depth, of 

 course tending to greater washing of the land, 

 and a more speedy evaporation of its moisture 

 after rains. We have all seen the effects of 



shallow cultivation in corn fields, especially 

 during a dry summer, and how much greener 

 and fresher the crop appears in the hottest, 

 dryest weather when planted on soil broken up 

 by the four-horse plough. This beneficial effect 

 may readily be accounted for, and results not 

 only from the fact that the corn roots have a 

 deep furrow of soft mellow earth to expand in 

 without difficulty — but, also, that there is a 

 gradual sinking of the rain water, with atmos- 

 pheric air accompanying it. 



The next step to be taken for a course of 

 improvement, is to make upon the farm as 

 much putrescent manure as possible ; to hus- 

 band and apply it well. Also, to use as a con- 

 venient and ready adjunct, such of those con- 

 centrated fertilizers which the present commer- 

 cial market supplies, as have proved trustworthy 

 and effective, in such a manner as to lessen the 

 risk of pecuniary loss, if the crop to which they are 

 applied should fail. One of the greatest benefits 

 which the use of guano can confer on the far- 

 mer, is the increased facility which it affords 

 him of adding to his stock of putrescent ma- 

 nure by giving him a large bulk of straw which 

 may, with great benefit to the land, be used as 

 cattle food, stable litter, or as a top-dressing to 

 his grass lots, or to the field turned out to rest. 

 We have ourselves effected a very considerable 

 improvement of our own land by ploughing in 

 as much wheat straw as we could whirl under 

 with a large 'plow, on stiff clay intended for 

 corn, and using lime along with it. The straw 

 rotted sufficiently (before the corn was planted) 

 to become very short, and to act mechanically 

 on the soil by rendering it friable and loose- 

 promoting aeration, besides returning to the 

 soil, the chemical salts in its composition. 



Tobacco planters are, we believe, almost the 

 only cultivators in Virginia, in any considerable 

 number, who have used their straw to lighten 

 and loosen the ground before planting. Expe- 

 rience has, with them, proved its efficacy. 

 Why should it not be used for other crops, for 

 similar purposes'? 



To avoid making our article too long for the 

 present number, we must reserve for our next 

 the continuation of the subject. 



Let it not be forgotten that the United Fair 

 of the State and Central Societies occurs on the 

 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25-th, 26th, and 27th of Oc- 

 tober. 



