62 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
LAND SKINNERS. 
Tills term applies to a class of men — farmers, shall we 
say 1 — who want to get the increase of land without mak- 
ing any compensation for its use. 
They may be found in almost every SfCtion of the 
country. If they crop their land, the product is all sold 
and carried off the farm. Not the grain simply which 
they raise; but the straw, if the crop be barley, wheat or 
oats, and the stalks, if it be corn. Only cattle sufficient 
to meet the necessities of the family, are kept on the farm 
These consist of two or three half fed cows, as many lean 
pigs, a span or two of horses; or, in their stead, the 
frames of one yoke or more. of oxen What manure they 
make is all required for the garden, or for one or two acres 
of corn ground. 
With this management, the land very soon fails to yield 
its increase of grain,'\and then grass is tried. For a year 
or two a tolerable crop is produced ; but this, too, is sold 
and carried off the farm, and, as might be expected, very 
soon the hay crop is too inconsiderable to meet the ex- 
penses of the farmer’s family; and grain growing is once 
more tried, but with no better success than formerly. 
Under such management, it is no wonder that the man 
concludes that his land is too poor to pay for cultivation, 
and lie sells at a sacrifice, and “moves out West.” 
Such a man is a “land skinner;” and whether among 
the rocks of New England, or the deep, loamy soils of the 
west, he is the pirate who, without compensation, appro- 
priates to himself the products of mother earth. — Rural 
American. 
Negroes— High Prices ! — A goodly number of negroes 
were sold, among whom were able-bodied field hands, 
which brought the following prices: — SI ,630; SI >405; 
Sl,425; SI, 505; Sl,405; Sl,190; SI, 350; a boy weigh- 
ing 99 lbs. sold for Si ,105 ; one who had his shoulder dis- 
located, and his little finger on his left hand injured in 
some way, sold for SI, 200, A likely young girl, about 
18 years of age, good field hand, brought SI, 300, A ne- 
gro woman, rather elderly, with three children, the eldest 
about ten and the youngest about three, brought S2,400. — 
Winnsboro' {S. C.) Register. 
The demand for slaves exceeds anything we ever before 
witnessed in this country. At several large sales in the 
country, during the last ten days, besides the professional 
traders present, every other man seemed anxious to pur- 
chase one or two for his own use. The prices given are 
enormous. From SI, 200 to $1,500 for men, and from 
$1,000 to $1,300 for women, are the limits in which we 
have known negroes sold in the last few days — Charlotts- 
ville ( Va.) Advocate. 
Tomatoes and Melons. — Use tomatoes largely, both 
at breakfast and dinner; take hot or cold, cooked or raw, 
with or without vinegar, fried in sugar and butter, or 
stewed, with salt and pepper. Their healthful properties 
consists in their being nutritious, easily digested, and 
promotive of that daily regular action of the system, with- 
out which, health is impossible. Their anti- constipating 
quality is in the seeds— on the same principle that grapes, 
raisins, and white mustard seed have stood high in this 
respect, the attrition of the seed on the mucous surface of 
the alimentary canal, exciting its peristaltic motion, thus 
causing regular daily action. 
As to the water melons, they are the only things we 
know which can be eaten with impunity until we cannot 
swallow any more. The best time for taking them is 
about eleven o’clock in the morning, and about four in the 
afternoon. They are not safe for very young children — 
the seeds are especially injurious to them. — Hall's Jour- 
nal of Health. 
WHEN AND WHERE DEEP PEOWINXJ IS 
Beneficial. 
An English paper discusses this subject at some length, 
and the points brought out will interest and instruct 
American readers. We condense them in the paragraphs 
below : 
“ Deep plowing is most effeciual in autumn, exposing 
the soil to the infiuence of frost, rain and air, during the 
winter, which act upon the mineral ingredients of the soil,, 
re idering them available for succeeding crops; also, pul- 
verizing the soil, and thus facilitating the passage of the 
roots into tiie subsoil. As regards the period of the ro- 
tation, it should precede root crops, (or, in this country, 
Indian corn,) or may be the first plowing for fallowing 
preparatory to the wheat crop. 
“ Deep plowing is most beneficial to stiff clays, and as 
a rule, we may plow deep when the subsoil is of the same 
character as the surface, if both are tenacious, or when the 
subsoil is composed of good clay, only requiring atmos- 
pheric inflnences to sweeten it. Deep cultivation should 
be avoided in nearly all very light soils, and in plowing 
for crops after large applications of manure, thus oury- 
ing it too deeply; or in turning under clover or other 
green crops. Deep plowing in autumn, on most clays, is 
equal to half dressing of manure. Clay from which the 
air is excluded exhibits a blueish color. After draining, it 
is not advisable to bring to the surface more than 2 inches 
of clay subsoil at a time, otherwise more is brought up 
than the frost, &c.. can fit for growing good crops. 
BE GOOD FOR S03IETHING. 
Every human being was sent into the world to perform 
some good use or other. It may be in an humble sphere, 
but nevertheless a good use, or it may be in a higher 
sphere, but perhaps not more necessary than that of the 
humble station, and, therefore, not more honorable in it- 
self considered. It is a duty imperative upon every indi- 
vidual to fit himself so as to be good for something 
Any man or woman who may think themselves exempt- 
ed from doing this, on account ofbeing born wealthy, or 
from any other accidental circumstance of rank or posi- 
tion, either mistakes the object of their creation or per- 
verts the facts which point out their duty in this respect. 
We have been amused with the arguments used by a very 
sensible Chinaman made before a band of Melbourne 
miners in Australia, They show what value other people 
whom we consider barbarians, place upon skill, though it 
may be in humble occupations and stations, and it gives 
a lesson which ought to impress us with the idea that the 
humble man, who is good for something, is of vastly 
more consequence to the community than an ignorat 
loafer, though he may boast of high blood and great 
riches. 
The Melbourne miners proposed to drive the Chinamen 
out of the country, and they petitioned the Legislature to 
do it. One of their tribe, named Quang Chew, thus plead 
against the proposed injustice. 
“Among our numbers we have men well skilled in gar- 
dening and ti*e culture of all sorts of fruits and flowers ; 
likewise carpenters, and workers in fine wood and in 
ivory, which we hear abounds in your forests ; also cun- 
ning agriculturists, who know how to manage the worst 
as well as the best soils, particularly Leu Lee, and his first 
nephew ; also men accustomed to make ornamental 
bridges, and a skillful man named Yaw, who can make 
the best kites, having wings and great glass eyes not to 
be surpassed ; likewise Yeu, who understands the breed- 
ing of fish, and birds, and dogs, and cats; also many ex- 
cellent cooks who would allow nothing to be wasted ; 
and moreover we have lock makers, and many umbrella 
makers, conjurers, &c. Why should all these things be 
sent back with disgrace 
