290 



THE SOUTHEEN PLANTER. 



manure thus made. The effects in this one excep- 

 tional case were not deemed by the neighbors as 

 encouraging. In the otherwise universal opinion, 

 the penning of cattle is deemed more injurious to 

 their health and condition than all the value of the 

 benefit to be derived from their being thus better 

 sheltered, or in all other advantages incidental to 

 penning. AVith fattening animals, in sununer, pen- 

 ning would be so injurious that they could scarcely 

 be fattened profitabh% even on the best pasturage. 

 The Short-Horn (Durham) breed greatly preferred, 

 and most of the cattle raised by both Messrs. Cloyd 

 and Kent are partly and nearly of that blood, and 

 some of the pure blood. Yet they find these, as 

 well as other cattle, to thrive and do well, and best, 

 left unconfined in the pastures at ail times, and 

 even without shelter, except such as aftbrded by 

 bits of wood-land, or thickets left for the purpose. 

 The feeding, both of fattening and store cattle, is 

 done on the poorer parts of the pastures, and 

 changed continually, so as not to manure too hea- 

 vily any where. This mode of application, of both 

 the excrements and the offal remains of food, must 

 be very irregular. Still, it is deemed (even without 

 reference to the better condition of the cattle,) as 

 more profitable, and economical of labor, than the 

 practice of the middle and low country, of confin- 

 ing cattle either partly or wholly in pens, and put- 

 ting there all their food and the litter for manure. 

 In this, which the mountain graziers call the " pen- 

 ning and carting system," the labor of carting out 

 ■and spreading the manure, would be counted as 

 more than an equivalent for the greater quantity 

 saved, or more perfect distribution over the fields. 



Former Prairie Lands. 



24, In Montgomery and Pulaski counties, near 

 the main Alleghany ridge, there are many thou- 

 sands of acres in different bodies, of rich lime-stone 

 land called " glades," which, not more than fifty 

 years ago, were ia the prairie state — covered with 

 grass, and without trees or shrubbery, except very 

 rarely a single large oak. Since being protected 

 from the former annual fires, these glade lands 

 have grown up in oak and other forest trees, which 

 stand very thickly, are small, (very few being yet 

 6 inches through,) and tall for their size, and with- 

 out any under-growth. They now present to the 

 view a beautiful cle?vn forest growth, of very pecu- 

 liar appearance, from the generally uniform size and 

 the slender bodies of the trees. 



In Rockbridge, and other parts of tlie Valley, 

 but at a more remote time, there were tracts of 

 land in the prairie condition, which became forest 

 after the settlement of the countr}^ The formation 

 of all these prairies by the fires of the Indians was 

 doubtless owing to the calcareous quality of the 

 soil, as I have formerlj^ aimed to prove. (See Es- 

 say on Causes of Formation of Prairies, Vol. III. 

 Farmers' Register.) 



JJnrotted Vegetable Matters {and Manure') as Top- 

 Dressing on Wheat. 



25. Mr. William Old, Sr., Dr. John B. Harvie, of 

 Powhatan, and Lewis E. Harvie, of Amelia, all con- 

 cur in believing, from sufficient experience, that 

 straw top-dressing (in winter) on wheat, is generally 

 injurious to the crop; and, as supposed, by afford- 

 ing shelter to chinch-bug and other insects, v^^hich 

 prey on the wheat. On a part of Dr. Harvie's field, 

 this evil effect is now seen, (May 13,) and chinch- 

 bugs were found, though they are not usual else- 

 "B^here in that neighborhood this year. He covers 



with straw the washed and poores spots only of 

 his wheat land, every winter, for the benefit of get- 

 ting thereon a much better stand of clover — which 

 benefit is always obtained. But in 3 years out of 

 4, the wheat is more or less injured, as above stated. 



26. I had in my own experience, a striking proof 

 of this operation. In February, 1853, wlien the 

 wheat land was so hard frozen for some hours as 

 to permit carts to pass over without breaking the 

 crust, I had pine leaves, (recently raked up,) hauled 

 from tlie wood-land, and spread over several acres 

 of land of middling fertility. A benefit was ex- 

 pected from the covering acting mechanically to 

 protect the wheat from cold, and also something of 

 early manuring effect on the wheat. But the growth 

 and product were evidently damaged. The wheat, 

 so top-dressed, throughout, had the ra.gged ap- 

 pearance caused by very bad depredations of Hes- 

 sian fly, or other insects — though there Avas no 

 search madef for the particular cause of injury. 



27. Mr. Old also uses the briers removed by pre- 

 vious mowing from his fields, for top-dressing 

 washed and galled spots in wheat. This covering 

 is never found injurious like straw, in producing 

 insects, and is peculiarly beneficial in helping to 

 cure the galls. 



28. Mr. Old, formerly, to some extent, and Mr. 

 L. E. Harvie for four or five years and v/ith nearly 

 all his manure, applied it as top-dressing to the 

 land in wheat, after the plants had com.e up, and 

 at suitable times through winter. The effects, in- 

 variably produced, were better stands of clover, 

 but injury to the wheat, and as supposed by in- 

 sects. They both abandoned the practice after 

 sufficient experience had established that such in- 

 jury was usual. 



29. Mr. F. O. Ruffin stated that Col. T. J. Ran- 

 dolph, of Albemarle, in the winter of 1353, covered 

 a portion of his wheat with straw. It was before 

 of as good appearance and promise as any of the 

 crop, according to the land, which was part of the 

 less fertile portions. The after-growth and product 

 were manifestly damaged, and more of both joint- 

 worm and Hessian fly were seen there than any 

 where else in the crop. 



Guano on Irish Potatoes, (^-c. 



30. Mr. William H. Harrison and Wm. L. Booker, 

 of Amelia, severally have used guano as manure 

 for Irish potatoes, and each found the following 

 results: Tlie growth of the plants above ground 

 was remarkably and unusually luxuriant, promis- 

 ing a very great product. But the tubers were not 

 less remarkably small and few, and the crop almost 

 worthless. Mr. Harrison had found similar results 

 in regard to sweet potatoes ; and the running garden 

 beans (commonly called sugar or butter beans,) 

 thus manured, made a wonderfully great growth 

 of vine and leaf, and a very small product of pods 

 and beans. This effect of guano in increasing espe- 

 cially (or exclusively) the stalk and leaf portion of 

 succulent plants, he has profited by greatly in 

 growing cabbages. Three hundred pounds of guano 

 to the acre served to produce, and see'med enough 

 to produce as heavy a growth of cabbages as the 

 heaviest of other ordinary putrescent manuring. 

 His experience of tobacco is the same. Mr. Booker 

 admits the great and profitable increase of the 

 growth of tobacco, but thinks that the quality of 

 the crop is in some degree impaired. 



On Tobacco Plant Beds. 



31. Mr. William H. Harrison, of Amelia, has now 



