THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



293 



The " dignity of labor"* demands a pedes- 

 tal, through which it may be dignified, and 

 more than any other profession should that of 

 the farmer act with the motto, 



Magnum fac animum .habeas spem bonam. 



The gradual or guttatim elevation of agricul- 

 ture can obviously never reach the gigantic 

 advances of her sister sciences, even because 

 this only observe, analyze, and prove what agri- 

 culture assumes as experimental facts, and 

 common honesty and the open avowal of their 

 approval demand that the votary of that science 

 should be fully acquainted with the nature of 

 the principles assumed. The farmer should be 

 versed in the character of those elevators which 

 lead to his position, and we much rather antici- 

 pate a good farmer in one well educated with a 

 view to this science, than in one with the 

 knowledge of ploughing, draining &c, and 

 without a scientific preparatory course. And 

 this is natural. While the former has the ca- 

 pacity of reading his soil and of applying p. e. 

 the laws of chemistry to raising its productive 

 qualities, has the latter the more qualification 

 of appreciating and following matter of fact im- 

 provements (if suited to his locality) and of 

 knotting in what others have had the occasion 

 to instruct him. 



With these views we are still advocating his 

 collegiate course (of at least two years) as pre- 

 paratory to an admission to the agricultural 

 school. Our plan of such an institution has 

 been demonstrated in an essay delivered at the 

 District Fair, held at Jackson, Tennessee, and 

 published in the Agricultural Report of the 

 year 1855, (Tennessee.) Since the number of 

 copies printed was necessarily limited, we will 

 with great pleasure (at your demand) either 

 send our copy or transcribe the essay ; should 

 you, however, be yourself in possession of the 

 document, you may as you deem fit make prop- 

 er use of it. 



The details of the plan advised by the author 

 of the article in the Southern Planter, are upon 

 the same principles with our own,- and we feel 

 it as an additional reward for the labor be- 

 stowed upon our essay, that a man so highly 

 endorsed by you entertains thus far like senti- 

 ments with ourselves.. B. R., M. D. 



* Vide: Address ofEx-Gov. Jones, Tennessee, before 

 the Agricultural Society at their Fair, &c. Report. 

 Agricultural Bureau of Tennessee for the year 1855. 



For Whip. — One pint of cream, J pint of 

 new milk, a wine glass and a half of white 

 wine. Take a lemon and squeeze in part of the 

 juice, and then slice it, and put it into the 

 cream . Sweeten to your taste. Beat it well 

 till the froth is stiff and serve in glasses. 



A Good Cake. — One tea cup of sugar, 3 

 eggs, G ounces of butter, 1 pint of milk, 2 cups of 

 raisins, 1 cup of yeast, 3 pints flour, cinnamon 

 and nutmeg. Yery nice for lunch or tea. 



Wheat Drill. Enquiry about. Lands in 

 Nansemond. Wyandotte Corn. 



Messrs. Editors, — Having it in contem- 

 plation to purchase a wheat drill for the 

 purpose of seeding my next crop; but first 

 being desirous of ascertaining whether 'tis 

 politic to use a drill for that purpose, can 

 you induce some of the large wheat raisers 

 of this and the adjoining State of North 

 Carolina, to give us their experience in 

 the use of that implement, and if advisa- 

 ble to use, which is the best for distribu- 

 ting guano at the time of drilling the wheat. 

 At our last State Fair, I examined all the 

 implements on exhibition designed for that 

 purpose, and then thought a drill exhibi- 

 ted by a gentleman named Suddith, pre- 

 ferable to all others ; but as I failed to pro- 

 cure Mr. S.'s address and he has not deem- 

 ed his drill worthy of being advertised in 

 the " Planter," or any other agricultural 

 publication which I have seen, I hereby 

 call on him to let us know where he man- 

 ufactures his drills and the actual perform- 

 ance of the same (in the form of an ad- 

 vertisement,) or let us have the experi- 

 ence of those who have used Suddith's 

 implement. 



Permit me here to ask (en passant) if 

 'tis not an unwise policy for manufactur- 

 ers, &c, &c, to pursue, in not advertising 

 their implements, &c, for sale, frequently 

 being the case, that the net profits in one 

 article alone, which they would not other- 

 wise sell, more often than otherwise would 

 pay for all advertisements for many, many 

 years. 



The wheat crop is very promising in 

 this county ; an experience of twelve 

 years confirms my opinion, that this is a 

 very desirable section of the State for 

 wheat raising ; here the crop is subject to 

 fewer disasters, matures early and there- 

 fore generally escapes rust. The lands 

 are light, with a substratum of clay, easily 

 improved, materials for which are accessi- 

 ble and abundant, such as marl, decompo- 

 sed oyster-shells or Indian shell banks, 

 swamp mud and woods mould ; which 'tis 

 only necessary to make a judicious use of, 

 to render the lands very productive. But 

 there are some draw backs to our advance- 

 ment as an agricultural community ; oys- 

 ters abound in our rivers, rail -wood and 

 lumber in our forests ; various public works 

 arein progress, all of which draw off ihe 

 more valuable and efficient labourers ; leav- 



