50 
mr. robinson's tour. — no. 14. 
with hoes ; but notwithstanding the cost of re- 
claiming and the trouble of tilling, the first crop 
was such as to promise remuneration, and in- 
duced Governor Hammond at once to undertake 
another swamp of 300 acres, of the same char- 
acter as the first. The growth of timber was 
sweet gum, tupelo gum, red bay, poplar, short- 
leaved pine, and some others; the soil entirely- 
vegetable muck, lying upon sand. The third 
swamp was the cypress pond before-mentioned, 
and exceeds any piece of land I ever saw for 
quantity of stumps. This also required an out- 
let ditch upwards of a mile in length, part of 
which is 20 ft. deep. How this is to be kept 
from caving and filling up, is more than I know. 
To drain the three swamps, in all 600 acres, has 
required near forty miles of ditching, counting 
nothing less than three and a half feet deep, and 
has cost five dollars an acre, the clearing 
$25, and marling $10. This last operation, 
Governor Hammond has gone into most exten- 
sively, upon nearly all of his land in cultivation, 
having used 400,000 bushels, at the rate of 200 
bushels per acre. It is boated thirteen miles 
up the Savannah River, from Shell Bluff, and 
then hauled from one to three miles out upon 
the land. The marl is composed of ancient sea 
shells, among which are now to be seen perfect 
oyster shells, of a mammoth size. The effects 
of marling the upland were very stimulating at 
first, but not permanent, for the very reason that 
so many others fail in the use of calcareous ma- 
nure ; and that is, neglecting to give vegetable 
matter for the lime to act upon. Upon the 
swamp land, it will be very different, for there 
the soil is a complete mass of roots and decayed 
leaves, from 2 to 12 ft. deep; and upon the part 
longest in cultivation, the benefit of the marl is 
still very great. And what was at first a quag- 
mire, is becoming so Solid that I rode over it 
without difficulty. 
Last year, a fair crop from one acre was 
weighed, and gave 1,788 lbs. of seed cotton, 
notwithstanding much of it was blown out and 
wasted by a storm. Much of the ground, too, 
was occupied by roots and stumps. 
It is found necessary to keep one hand all the 
time in each field, going through all the ditches, 
to clear out obstructions ; as the banks, until 
they acquire a sufficient slope, Avill continue to 
slide in and stop the water from flowing free. 
The manner of estimating the cost of the im- 
provement, has been by keeping an accurate 
account of all the labor, and then calculating 
by the rule of former years, how much cotton 
could have been made by the same labor, and 
the value of it, and this being charged against 
the ditching and clearing, gives the amount 
stated as the cost per acre. Governor Ham- 
mond counts now $15,000 outlay for ditching 
and clearing, and $5,000 for marling, for which 
he has not yet received any returns. But. so 
sanguine is he of success, that he has lately pur- 
chased 900 acres more of swamp, which he 
intends next to commence upon. He owns some 
10,000 acres of land, 3,000 of which is under cul- 
tivation. A great portion of the balance is piney- 
woods sand, and of very little value for tillage. 
His crop of last season was 1,100 acres of corn, 
which averages 10 to 15 bushels per acre, and 
650 acres of cotton, 570 of which was swamp, 
and cultivated entirely with hoes. The balance 
of the land is " resting ;" a term peculiar to the 
south, and does not mean that it is covered with 
a luxuriant crop of clover or grass, by which 
the soil of northern farms is renovated, when it 
needs rest from long-continued tillage crops. 
" Resting" is the only renovating process known to 
most of the planters. Gov. H. thinks that a crop of 
weeds is highly beneficial to the land. I think 
if it were shaded with a coat of straw, it would 
be better. 
Governor H. plants cotton in drills, 4 to 5 feet 
apart, and stalks 15 inches apart in the drills. 
This, at an average of 30 bolls to a stalk, will 
give 1,800 lbs. to an acre. He says that he has 
seen 700 bolls and forms upon one stalk ; and 
that it made 4 lbs. of cotton. It grew upon a 
dung heap. This is pretty conclusive proof that 
it would be profitable to grow the whole crop 
upon a dung hill. 
Corn is planted 3 by 4 ft. apart, one stalk in 
a square only, being allowed to stand. The 
average crop in the district does not exceed ten 
bushels per acre, and probably not over eight. 
Upon upland, ten bushels is considered a good 
crop. The average crop of cotton is about 400 
lbs. per acre. A common hand tends ten acres 
of corn and ten acres of cotton, upon the light 
lands of this part of the state. 
It was in consequence of having worked this 
kind of land until it would no longer produce 
remunerating crops, that induced Governor H. 
to try what he could make out of the swamp 
lands. In speaking of renovating light land 
with peas, he says that he has found more 
benefit from letting the vines decay upon the 
surface, than he has in turning under green 
vines. He has one field that has been cultivated 
upwards of 100 years. This is upon the bank 
of the river. The " old, brick house," memento 
of the Revolutionary War, stands in this field, 
and which has been preserved with so much care, 
is now about to yield to old age and crumble 
into a shapeless mass of brick and mortar. 
There is one thing about the work upon this 
plantation, that might be imitated to advantage 
upon some others ; and that is, a personal super- 
intendence of the owner, and the use of good 
tools. The No. 15 plow is the one most prefer- 
red. He has some very good Ayreshire cattle, 
which show to excellent advantage along side 
of the natives of that region. He also raises 
some good colts; but don't find raising hogs and 
making pork to be profitable, principally because 
he cannot rear pigs, which is owing to a most 
unconquerable love that the negroes have for 
fresh pork. 
His plan of clothing his negroes struck me as 
sonfething new. He buys the cloth, and hires 
the " piney- woods people " to make it up. Not 
because his own people might not just as well 
do it, but because the poor, white women around 
are willing to work, and need the pay. He has 
upon the place, 220 negroes. I give the amount 
of* his annual expenses for several years, by 
