THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



163 



at least two-thirds or three-fourths of the labor 

 usually thus expended, might be saved. I know 

 no error in Virginia Agriculture more prevalent, or 

 a source of greater loss to her general farming 

 profits, than this of using hand labor instead of 

 horse-power, whilst the present extremely high 

 price of labor makes the loss yet more onerous. 

 The secret which should be impressed on every 

 farmer is, to be supplied with good teams, and then 

 to select proper implements, rakes, cultivators, sho- 

 vel-ploughs, and the like, which, if rightly used, 

 will enable the farmer to devote at least two-thirds 

 or three-fourths of his hoe force to the improve- 

 ment of his barren fields. 



Having now considered what I have regarded as 

 of first importance, and too generally overlooked, 

 to wit : 1st, the general test for any judicious pro- 

 cess of improvement, and next those peculiar 

 modes of farming operation which tend either di- 

 rectly to improve land, or indirectly, by saving la- 

 bor and time to devote to this purpose, I will now 

 proceed to consider the last branch of my subject, 

 the immediate means for enriching land. 



MANURES. 



These are either mineral, or putrescent. The 

 former embraces lime, marl, ashes, and the like; 

 the latter everything that goes to decay, whether 

 the leaves of the forest, the grass of the field, the 

 peat of the marsh, the offal of crops, or the refuse 

 of animal consumption. Here, indeed, is nature's 

 great storehouse for regenerating her worn-out lands 

 and barren fields. The skill with which these re- 

 sources are used, together with the proper observ- 

 ance of other means already alluded to, constitute 

 the great secret of successfully and profitably im- 

 proving and enriching poor land. 



The poor lands in our State may be divided into 

 two general classes — one accessible for the profita- 

 ble use of lime or marl, or both, and the other in- 

 accessible for the profitable use of either. The 

 former, besides the limestone region of the State, 

 embraces, for the most part, the exhausted alluvial 

 soils formed in the slopes and valleys of the navi- 

 gable rivers and their tributaries, generally origi- 

 nally rich, convenient for their application, and 

 rapidly improved by the use of lime or marl. 



The other class of poor soil, which is too remote 

 from navigable water to justify the expense of 

 hauling lime, and without marl or limestone to aid 

 its improvement, generally forms the ridge land 

 between our rivers, and for the most part is stiff 

 and originally poor. For the improvement of this 

 land, then, some other resource than lime must be 

 sought to supply its absence. I would recommend 

 the utmost diligence, therefore, in saving all that 

 refuse on the farm which abounds in mineral ma- 

 nures. In order to effect this most successfully, I 

 would use an unoccupied out-house for storing all 

 the unleached ashes made on the farm, in order to 

 preserve them in their strongest form for applica- 

 tion to the most acid portion of the land — pens, 

 well supplied with mould and rotten leaves, should 

 be near by the kitchen and each cabin, in which 

 pens, it should be the peremptory duty of the ser- 

 vants to throw their soap suds, slops, sweepings 

 and refuse ashes. As we are now seeking for eve- 

 ry resource to make up, as far as possible, for the 

 absence of lime and marl, I advise the particular 

 preservation of that strong and highly useful ma- 

 nure, so generally thrown away, night soil. To 

 preserve this manure successfully, I would advise 

 the use of an excavation in a stiff clay soil, at a 

 i D 



proper point about the premises, which should be 

 kept well supplied with mould, rotten trash, and 

 the like, with which the night soil should be occa- 

 sionally stirred, and supplied with regular sprink- 

 lings of ground plaster, which will prevent any of- 

 fensive odors, and improve the compost. Suppos- 

 ing the five-field rotation adopted, I would apply 

 all these manures thus saved, to the ploughed sur- 

 face of the field for corn, in order thus, as far as 

 possible, to produce the effect of lime, besides 

 adding other valuable ingredients to the soil. 



The animal manures, next, should be carefully 

 preserved; in order successfully to do which, I 

 would advise the free use of mould, rotten leaves, 

 straw, &c, in the stable and stable lot, in the cow 

 and sheep pens, as may be necessary for the per- 

 fect retention and absorption of all the manure. I 

 would here remark that, as many cattle should be 

 kept, and no more, as will be kept in good condi- 

 tion on the pasturage furnished under the five-field 

 rotation. Up to this limit I think the raising of 

 cattle may safely go with profit and advantage to 

 the farm. With this digression, I will go on to re- 

 mark, that ground plaster should be kept, and oc- 

 casionally sprinkled over these composts to arrest 

 their offensive odors and improve them by fixing, 

 and thus retaining the ammonia. 



The litter to supply these different pens should 

 be raked up in the woods as early after the fall of 

 leaves as possible, containing, as they do then, 

 more substance, and being left to rot, may be haul- 

 ed out when most convenient. I would apply the 

 stable and stable lot manure, also, to the corn field 

 land, and the remainder, if not all covered over from 

 the sources before mentioned, should be treated to 

 as rich litter as the adjacent wood land will fur- 

 nish. Over this portion of the field covered with 

 trash, I would sow about a hundred pounds of Pe- 

 ruvian guano, before throwing dirt to corn, and 

 then sow the whole field in peas. The guano, in a 

 seasonable year, will pay a fine per cent, in the 

 corn, and leave a good pea fallow. The process, 

 then, is so to manage as every year, if possible, to 

 cover the corn field with something, taking care, 

 however, to shift the mineral application each time 

 to points, where increased acidity of soil may most 

 require its use. 



The cow pen manure made in winter, chiefly 

 from the coarse offal of crops, should be applied 

 as early in spring as possible, by top-dressing the 

 poorer parts of the clover field, whilst that made 

 in the summer cow pens I would prefer applying 

 to the wheat crop. The surplus wheat straw I 

 would return, as soon as possible, to the stubble 

 field, and if circumstances justified it, I would 

 make return loads with carts, whilst threshing 

 wheat. 



When this corn field is broken up for wheat, it 

 should be treated to one hundred and seventy-five 

 pounds of Peruvian guano, or one hundred pounds 

 with a like quantity of leached ashes mixed, which 

 the experience of some farmers who have tried it, 

 approves, as being equal to the application of the 

 same amount of pure guano. It appears very 

 reasonable, as potash is a most essential ingredient 

 in soil, and is thus furnished in company with one 

 of the strongest fertilizers. This preparation of 

 the corn land will insure from 15 to 20 bushels of 

 wheat, and give you afterwards (for clover seed 

 should be sown through this field) a fine field of 

 clover for fallow. 



This treated again, when it comes in wheat, to 

 100 pounds of Peruvian guano, will give a like or 



