178 



THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 



THE TOBACCO CROP OP VIRGINIA 



Must be a short one. " In Albemarle and adjoining 

 counties," to adopt the words of a correspondent — an oral 

 one, if we may be allowed the phrase — of the Richmond 

 Enquirer, "the frost destroyed the first crop of plants, the 

 fly the second, and the third sowing will come too late to 

 allow a hope of planting in time to make more than a par- 

 tial crop." 



And another correspondent of the same paper says, that 

 in Dinwiddie, Nottoway, Brunswick and Lunenburg, (of 

 course in Mecklenburg and Halifax, which are in the same 

 range and have been subject to the same casualties, and 

 we know from report on the spot, that it is nearly or quite 

 as bad in Amelia and Powhatan,) he has seen numbers of 

 beds without one plant in them. From the best informa- 

 tion he could get, he is satisfied that the crop must be a 

 short one, and also inferior. In many places, he saw to- 

 bacco land ploughed up for corn, and in one instance, hills 

 ready to be planted were being ploughed down for corn. 



THE WHEAT CROP. 



The promise of a good wheat crop this year is, on the 

 whole, more favorable, to judge from the reports we hear, 

 than it was last year — though the joint worm is at work, 

 and in some places doing more damage, in others less, 

 than it did last year. We have, on the whole, good reason 

 to expect a fine crop, taking the average of the State. 



In the counties above spoken of on the South side, the 

 probabilities are that, with the high prices and the extra 

 quantity of wheat, the deficiency of the tobacco crop will 

 be more than atoned for. 



PRICE OP WHEAT IN ENGLAND. 



In the May number of Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, 

 there is a tabular statement prepared by John Gra;me, Jr., 

 Esq., of this City, of the price of wheat in England, for 

 two hundred and fifty years, ranging from 1202 to 1764 

 inclusive, from which it appears that the average price per 

 bushel, during that period, was eighty-six cents. The 

 highest price obtained was in 1270, when it went up 

 to an amount equal to $8 of money of the present day. 

 The lowest price was in 1551, when it was sold for about 5 

 cents per bushel. For 36 years, at different periods, the 

 price ranged from 80 to 90 cents per bushel ; for 28 years, 

 90 cents to $1 ; for 16 years, $1 to $1.10 ; and for 32 years, 

 from $1.10 to $1.20; showing that for 112 years out of 250, 

 the price of wheat ranged from 80 cts. to $1.20 per bushel. 



the hands, each one of whom is limited to a cocoa-nut full 

 at a time, always without ice — (they drink nothing else). 

 He says that the Yankees fought on this mixture at Bun- 

 ker's Hill, and he agrees if it kills a man to be indicted 

 for murder. 



For our part we see no harm in ice. We have used it 

 regularly for thirteen years without any bad result, but on 

 the contrary, we think, with benefit. 



Well cooked black-eye peas, fried onions and rice, the 

 latter cooked in puddings, or as many forms as you please, 

 are the best vegetables. 



Salted meats and fish, never fresh, and a plenty of red 

 pepper, in every thing that it suits, boiled in the pod. 



For physic, the pills recommended two years ago by our 

 friend Charles B. Williams, as follows : 



Pulverized Opium, 18 grains \ 



" Red Pepper,. 18 " \ made into 24 pills. 



Gum Camphor, 12 " j 



To be taken when the first symptoms of cramp or diarrhoea 

 appear — one then, and an additional one afterwards if 

 necessary, according to the exigency of the case. 



HARVEST DRINK, DIET AND MEDICINE. 



Mr. Blair Burwell, of Powhatan, called at our office this 

 morning, and gave us the following recipe for a harvest 

 drink : 



Water, 33 gallons 



Sharp Vinegar, 1 " 



Molasses, 1? " 



Ground Ginger, i lb. 



This will last thirty hands until dinner time, when as 

 much more may be mixed up to serve until night. It is 

 carried to the field daily in a cart and moved about after 



ANALYSIS OP THE RED LANDS OF THE SOUTH- 

 WEST MOUNTAINS; BY MA J. WM. GILHAM, 

 OF THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE. 



Below will be found a very interesting analysis 

 by the above named gentleman, of the samples of 

 peculiar soil of the South-West Mountains. For 

 the information of those interested in such lands, 

 we would say, that the specimens selected were of 

 the good red land free of rock, or very nearly so. 

 The soil of No. 1 was a made earth in a valley, 

 composed from the washing of the hill above. No. 

 2 was the soil of the washed hill. No. 1 is of the 

 richest quality of such land, growing very heavy 

 crops of clover and grass, producing, in a fair sea- 

 son, about 15 barrels of corn per acre, and very 

 luxuriant crops of wheat, which are almost certain 

 to lodge from the heavy growth of straw. No. 2, 

 on the hill, was land supposed to be as good origi- 

 nally, but abraded and worn, though still land of 

 good capacity. Both are hard to plough, being 

 very adhesive — the exposure of each is S. S. E., 

 but No. 1 being at the foot of the hill, and in a 

 cove, is more completely sheltered from chilling 

 winds. 



The soils of this whole region, (the red lands of 

 the South-West Mountains,) are generally highly 

 productive in their natural state, and respond rap- 

 idly to the usual means of improvement, clover 

 and plaster. But many of them have lost, most 

 probably from injudicious cropping, their former 

 productiveness in wheat, which was, at one time, 

 very remarkable, though their general fertility is 

 nearly equal to what it ever was, and undiminish- 

 ed as to corn. 



The very small, for fertile lands, remarkably 

 small, proportion of lime and magnesia, would 

 seem to indicate the necessity of applying those 



