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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ment, more intimately concerns the perpetuity and 

 ultimate well being of the Society, than any other 

 connected with it. It may be that, for the present, 

 the Society can only make provision for the pay- 

 ment of necessary expenses incurred by those offi- 

 cers who attend the meetings of the Executive 

 Committee. Yet it should ever keep before it the 

 necessity of providing, at some future time, for the 

 just compensation of those who labor in its patri- 

 otic cause. This is the sine qua non condition, 

 which is to insure the Society against an epheme- 

 ral and fitful existence, and guarantee the fulfil- 

 ment of its great destiny, and cause generations to 

 come to pronounce its founders emphatically the 

 greatest benefactors of the Old Dominion. 



A Member of the Society. 



FARMS IMPROVED BY KEEPING SHEEP. 



Citizens of Wool growing districts, as parts of 

 Washington and Fayette counties, are familiar 

 with the rapid improvement of " Sheep farms," 

 by sheep grazing alone. It is the belief of many 

 whose opinions have been formed by observation 

 and experience, that, by placing as large a flock of 

 sheep on a poor farm as the land will sustain, and 

 in five years, without any other means, it will be 

 comparatively rich. Were this fact more generally 

 known, it might change the husbandry of consid- 

 erable portions of this State, the lands of which 

 are better adapted to wool growing, than grain 

 growing, to say nothing of remoteness from pro- 

 duce markets. The following quotations from the 

 Transactions of the Norfolk Agricultural Society, 

 which we find in the Wool Grower, are worthy of 

 consideration : 



"A man having a small farm, formerly kept for- 

 ty sheep, four cows and one horse, and had food 

 enough for them the year round. The price of 

 wool falling, he sold his sheep, and for a number 

 of years has kept other stock altogether. He now 

 keeps but three cows and one horse the year round, 

 and pastures two cows extra through the summer, 

 sells very little hay — not half enough to keep ano- 

 ther cow; he has the same amount of pasture and 

 mowing land as when he kept the forty sheep in 

 addition to his other stock, and yet his farm does 

 not look near as well as then. He used to raise 

 turnips among the corn for his sheep to eat in win- 

 ter, and gave them besides, a few bushels of grain. 

 The lambs, however, more than paid for his extra 

 feed. 



" Another farmer, for a great number of years, 

 kept about sixty sheep, eight or nine cows, (or 

 other stock equal.) one pair of oxen and one horse. 

 After keeping the sheep for a number of years, he 

 found he could then keep as large a stock on his 

 farm with the sixty sheep, as he could keep with- 

 out them before ; showing that they had improved 

 the farm to furnish their own support. To stock a 

 farm entirely with sheep would not be so profitable 

 as to keep a limited number — yet it would pay as 

 well as other stock. The object is to keep enough 

 to consume that part of the vegetation peculiarly 

 fitted to sheep; and which other stock will not eat, 

 adding, at the same time, enriching elements to the 

 pastures and yards by their manure. It is the 

 opinion of many farmers, that pastures for other 

 stock may be improved by keeping a small flock 

 of sheep upon them a portion of the time, and the 

 opinion seems fairly supported both by reason and 

 experiment. " — Pennsylvania Farm Journal. 



From Chambers' Journal. 



STEAM AMONG THE FARMERS. 



Those who visit Christmas cattle shows, sim- 

 ply in a gazing frame of mind, do justice nei- 

 ther to themselves nor to the show. There is 

 something more to do than to admire fat pigs 

 which cannot see out of their eyes, and fat sheep 

 which look more silly even than lean sheep, and 

 fat bullocks which measure an unlimited number 

 of yards round the body. Unless a man roams 

 also among the agricultural implements, he can- 

 not rightly judge a matter which is well worthy 

 of attention — the wonderful energy and activity 

 of the farmers since the repeal of the corn-laws. 

 It is no part of our business to dilate upon po- 

 litical combats, but it is unquestionably a part 

 of every Englishman's business to know that 

 the agriculturists are bravely "putting their 

 shoulders to the wheel," and applying all mo- 

 dern improvements in furtherance of their la- 

 bors. The gradual spread in the use of steam- 

 power is not among the least remarkable of 

 these appliances. A year or two ago, we hap- 

 pened to meet with a " Song of Steam" in an 

 American newspaper; the name of the writer 

 does not appear; but we feel inclined to reprint 

 here three of the stanzas, partly because there 

 is really a dash of sparkle and spirit about 

 them, and partly because we must beg that 

 farming operations should in future be included 

 in some measure among the labors of steam. 



"In the darksome depths of the fathomless mine 



My tireless arm doth play, 

 Where the rocks ne'er saw the sun decline, 



Or the dawn of the glorious day. 

 I bring earth's glittering jewels up 



From the hidden cave below, 

 And I make the fountain's granite cup 



With a crystal gush overflow. 



"I blow the bellows, I forge the steel 



In all the shops of trade ; 

 I hammer the ore and turn the wheel 



Where my arms of strength are made. 

 I manage the furnace, the mill, the mint; 



I carry, I spin, I weave ; 

 And all my doings I put into print 



On every Saturday eve. 



"I've no muscle to weary, no breast to decay, 



No bones to be ' laid on the shelf;' 

 And soon I intend you may all go and play 



While I manage the world by myself. 

 But harness me down with your iron bands, 



Be sure of your curb and rein ; 

 For I scorn the strength of your puny hands, 



As the tempest scorns a chain." 



Without going so far as to expect that we may 

 all "go and play," while steam manages the 

 world by itself, w r e may undoubtedly expect 

 that many hard and laborious kinds of field 

 labor will, more and more every year, be ef- 



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