314 



THE SOUTH 



BEN PLANTER. 



Our friend Tompkins, avIio is at the head of 

 the present tow-boat line, is a very fine fellow, 

 as all his acquaintances know, and a very public 

 spirited and business man. We have no wish to 

 to see competition against him ; but if he does 

 not undertake this enterprise himself, he may 

 rely upon it that it will be clone by gentlemen 

 who generally make things go if they take hold 

 of them. And it can be now done in time for 

 a portion of the next crop of wheat. 



Louisiana m, Virginia. 



Our friend, Mr. Pryor of " The South," late- 

 ly turned over to our hands a paper printed in 

 New Orleans which had indulged in some very 

 disparaging remarks about Virginia. At ano- 

 ther time we may attempt to show that no State 

 in the Union is as much underrated as Virginia 

 is, compared with any other in the confederacy. 

 We have no time to do it now ; and will merely 

 say that if it were otherwise, it certainly does 

 not lie in the mouth of Louisiana to cast a 

 sleer upon us. She is the only State, North or 

 South, whose main staple comes into serious 

 competition with a similar foreign product — 

 sugar. And she is utterly unable to compete 

 without a high duty on that article, as she con- 

 stantly proves by loud and incessant clamour 

 for protection. Were our staples as well pro- 

 tected as hers, Virginia could in a few years buy 

 out the whole of Louisiana. 



Cleveland Bay Stallion. 



We are happy to learn that our friend Dr. 

 Jno. R. Woods of Albemarle is daily expecting 

 a fine three year old Cleveland bay Stallion 

 from England. *This is the third of that valu- 

 able class of English horses that Virginia will 

 get the benefit of, Mr. Rives' Emperor, and Mr. 

 Dulaney's Premium stallion Scrivington being 

 the other two. We heartily wish Dr. Woods 

 as much success with his colt, should he come 

 up to the description we have of him, as his 

 public spirit deserves. He is already pretty 

 well known as a breeder of good stock. His 

 hogs are very fine, his sheep very good, and his 

 cattle very respectable, except the Khaisis. 

 Considering that stock as possessing all the 

 qualities that the best breeders have been try- 

 ing for years to breed out of their cattle, we 

 can but regret that Dr. Woods is wasting time 

 on them. Barring this whim of his, he de- 

 serves all wchave said of him, and this in ad-' 



dition : that he is a liberal man with his stock, 

 and gives away almost as many as he sells. 



Haw's Woodpecker Saw Mill. 



In addition to what a friend has already said 

 to us about the above machine, Dr. Wm. H. 

 Macon of New Kent, who has one in success- 

 ful operation, instructs us to say that, in pre- 

 paring fencing plank as a substitute for rails, 

 and in sawing for all plantation purposes, it is 

 indispensible to him, and will be to all others 

 who use it. Dr. C. W. Wormley of King William, 

 also says the same. As to John Haw of Han- 

 over — the maker of it — we have known him all 

 our lives, and can truly say he is an honest 

 man and a mechanical genius. 



Peas for Fallow. 



As there is an active enquiry for peas, we 

 refer those in want to the advertisement of 

 Thos. Branch & Sons, Petersburg : who have a 

 limited supply for sale. They are very scarce 

 and high, and those who want them had better 

 apply early. To the tide-water farmer, who 

 has no clover, and does not drill wheat, it is 

 hardly necessary to say that they are indispen- 

 sable. But they will not answer where wheat is 

 drilled, at least until a new drill that we know 

 of is made and brought into successful opera- 

 tion. Farmers from the upper country ought 

 to try peas very cautiously as an experiment. 

 We, when in Albemarle, Mr. Noland of Albe- 

 marle, Mr. F. Lewis Marshall of Fauquier, Mr. 

 Old of Powhatan, and one or two others of that 

 region have failed with them. 



Corn Planter. 



We are both pleased and sorry to hear from 

 two agricultural implement-makers, that in 

 consequence of our article last month on corn 

 planters, they have been unable to supply the 

 demand for them. We beg that those who 

 have obtained them will notify us of their 

 mode of action, as we have taken some respon- 

 sibility in advising their purchase. We repeat 

 to those who may see this in time, that they 

 need not fear to use them in moderately cloddy 

 land, as we first saw them at work in a field of 

 Mr. Harvie's in Amelia, which was rougher 

 than the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad. 



Tobacco Plants. 



Nearly all the early sown tobacco plants were 

 killed by the hard spell which followed the 



