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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



210 



PREMIUMS BY INDIVIDUAL DONORS. 

 The following letter of Dr. R. T. Baldwin, of 

 Winchester, offering premiums on three subjects of 

 very important, practical and scientific interest, ex- 

 plains itself. 



We are authorized also to state in regard to that 

 class of premiums, that the premium of $100 for 

 the best essay on the connection of moral and 

 agricultural improvement, and their reciprocal 

 operation and effects, is again offered as before, 

 with the exception of a slight change in the com- 

 mittee, which will be announced in the proper 

 place : 



Winchester, June 13, 1855. 

 Dear Sir : — In accordance with the rules and 

 regulations of the Virginia Agricultural Society 

 in relation to premiums offered by individual 

 donors, I offer the following premiums ; 



1. A premium of one hundred dollars for any 

 fact or facts derived from experiment, which prove 

 conclusively that "woody fibre in a state of decay 

 is the substance called humus." 



2. A premium of one hundred dollars for any 

 fact or facts, derived from experiment or observa- 

 tion, which prove satisfactorily that any substance 

 whatever possesses the fertilizing qualities of 

 manure, except the residue of putrefaction. 



8. A premium of one hundred dollars for any 

 fact or facts, derived from experiment, which prove 

 that the surface of the earth itself is incapable of 

 experiencing the putrefactive process. 



The awards to be made at the November meeting 

 of the Society, 1856. . Yours, &c, 



R. T. Baldwin. 



HOW TO MOVE A SULLEN OX. 

 " Did you never observe," said a plain man, a 

 friend of ours, a few days since, as we were dri- 

 ving a dog out of the cow-pen, to prevent his ta- 

 king refuge behind us — as the cows took it by 

 turns to chase him over the lot — " did you never 

 observe that a cow never will make friends with a 

 dog'?" " Often." "Well, the best way you ever 

 tried to make steers rise when they get sullen, and 

 lie down, is just to bring a dog and drop him down 

 on them. It will make them jump up when noth- 

 ing else in the world will." We seized the hint at 

 once for the benefit of our friends who own such 

 pests as obstinate oxen, and give it to them now. — 

 We believe there is no antipathy so universal and 

 inveterate as that of cattle against dogs, and it 

 strikes us that when all other means fail, that will 

 answer. 



NEW PAPER ENTERPRISE. 

 It will be, seen in our advertising columns that 

 Mr. Graeme, of this city, long connected with the 

 newspaper press of this city, proposes to publish 

 a newspaper mainly devoted to commercial and 

 statistical subjects. 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



Mr. E. G. Eggeling proposes to visit the upper 

 country this summer, and on his tour will be glad, 

 to give his assistance to those wishing to improve 

 their homesteads. To all such we recommend 

 him with pleasure as just the man they want, and 

 very moderate in his charges. 



CULTIVATION OF FRUIT. 

 To the Editor of the .Planter : 



Sir — As you are aware, I have been for several 

 years past, a devoted cultivator of fruits and fruit 

 trees. It is with pleasure that I witness the inter- 

 est taken in this branch of husbandry, and the 

 columns of the Planter occasionally graced by the 

 communications of friends to the cause, able and 

 willing to impart instruction. I hope those corres- 

 pondents will not look back, now they have put 

 forth their hands to the plough. There are many 

 points in fruit culture not yet settled even by 

 scientific cultivators, and theories and practice are 

 variant. Let us compare notes, let us commune 

 freely, let us give our several modes of cultiva- 

 tion, and by all means, endeavor to ascertain what 

 varieties are best adapted to our soil and climate, 

 and rid our orchards of the worthless sorts with 

 which many are now filled. There are several 

 large nursery establishments eminently deserving 

 patronage, in addition to those enumerated in the 

 February number of the Planter, by my friend, 

 Captain Henry B. Jones, of Rockbridge ; of which 

 I shall merely mention that of Mr. Oliver Taylor, 

 of Loudon county. There is no difficulty now in 

 getting home raised trees of the best quality and of 

 •varieties corresponding with the present improved 

 state of fruit culture. A few years ago this part 

 of the State was overrun by tree pedlars and 

 grafters. Those who patronized them ^are now 

 reaping the harvest of their impositions. Their 

 trees were generally the refuse of Northern nurse- 

 ries, and if of suitable varieties for cultivation 

 here, were stunted, badly treated, hauled in open 

 waggons with the roots exposed to all the vicissi- 

 tudes of the weather during a long journey. One 

 person bought two hundred peach trees, under 

 assurance that they contained all the finer varie- 

 ties from the earliest to the latest. After planting 

 and nursing them for several years they came into 

 bearing, and it was then found that all were of one 

 sort, ripening at the same time. Other impostors 

 have traversed the country, professing to have 

 grafts of the most celebrated apples, which by 

 putting on old trees would soon come into bearing, 

 and strange to say, many farmers patronized them, 

 and their orchards were ruined. It is now appa- 

 rent that they carried grafts from one farm to 

 another, and often grafted a tree with its own sort. 

 These are Yankee tricks, and as long as our people 

 think 



"the pleasure is as great 



Of being cheated, as to cheat," 



we shall not have an end of such impositions. 

 Nurserymen, in general, have too much work at 

 home to allow them to travel and dispose of their 

 trees. They generally advertise, and furnish 

 catalogues and information to their customers, and 

 this is as much as can be expected. There are 

 establishments at the North that may be character - 

 ized as tree 'manufactories. They are root grafted— 



