Mi 
SOUTHEEN CULTIVATOE. 
^aeral and too long continued, not to have an abiding 
jince in the human soul. 
It is the crowning beauty of a farm or plantation, to 
4>:spress, in its every feature, both tranquility and happi- 
ness. Disquietude and pain will sometimes come to the 
'i»est of men; but their continuance should be as short as 
ptf>ssible. It is monstrous to suppose that our nerves are 
.taade sensitive that they may feel more suffering than 
j^easure during our existence. Pain and distortion are 
exceptions; enjoyment and beauty are the true, the na- 
liBral status of ail sentient beings. When healthy, and 
jtroperly fed, the young of all animals are beautiful and 
jaappy. Such is the law of nature, andhencegoodhusband- 
.■m-n improve their flocks and herds in symmetry of form, 
elegance and elasticity of movement, by simply having 
iifcem always in the enjoyment of suitable food and shelter. 
Tiiese expel deformity in a few generations, and develop 
issture’s highest beauties. The same principle applies to 
feeding and care of agricultural plants. Starve and 
■»the? them by ill usage, and your seed will soon degen- 
your crops fail, and your success in planting be no 
ih&Jter than your practice. Nature's beauties, whether in 
ytanls or animals, are fed liberally; and in this regal'd 
ffie teaches the cultivator to feed generously his soil, his 
rs-ops and his stock. By so doing, his land and all its 
pj'od nets will be the best of their kind, assuming good 
T3£®raon sense in the primary selection. Fences, build- | 
jjDg-s, and farm implements should be made of the most ' 
•ferable materials, that everything may indicate the set- ! 
purpose of the owner to have such an estate as will 
,5;a>pport a famil)Mn affluence in all time to come. Per- : 
xmnency of occupation, and durability of improvements, | 
3SSZ' material elements of agricultural beauty. A witty ■ 
Eji.glishman has remarked, that in travelling through the i 
ffnited States, most of the houses appear to have been put 
Saturday evening, with the expectation that they were 
jo betaken down Monday morning! Much of our farm 
itiprovements are of the same frail and ephemeral character. 
Wir must learn to do our work better, or we shall greatly 
damage the State in which we live, by increasing its old 
aelds, and perhaps provoke the curses of our own posteri- 
ty. To injure the soil over millions of acres is a wrong! 
'sifsarfui magnitude. Would to God that we could see some 
sridence that the evil will be any less during the life-time 
me writer. The error is too old and deep-rooted for 
-k'.t. For a little immediate gain in cotton or grain, our 
let'ural and valuable forests, the soil, and the best interests 
>/ society are all sacrifi"ed : as if to desolate the earth were 
'tscin’s highest profit and greatest good ! Who will try to 
a-medy this obvious social disease and foster the study 
zi die Beautiful in Agriculture^ L. 
ZEE EXTENT OF TIIS COTTON CHOP OF THIS 
TEAS, AND PEGS ABLE EUN OF PRICES, 
Editors Southern Cultivator-— It is likely that no | 
crop has more enemies or seeming difficulties to en- i 
t»5!>ntEnhat threaten to shorten or destroy than the cotton ! 
yjop. Net, strange as it is, there is no crop more regular 
m yielding the same aggregate amount. j 
The shortest crop made during the last 30 years, com- 
to preceding and after crops, was the crop of 1846, 
iisfl this is the only crop that has fldlen behind 4 succes- 
vrra preceeding crops, and that crop did not fa'l short ofj 
■ii<£ largest previous crop as much as 30 percent; but 
sacly about 26 per cent, short of the hugest crop made two 
fevrs previous. The crop of i84'J fell short of the previ- 
crop about 24 per cent. The crop of 1838 and 1840, 
M-.€h fell about 22 per cent behind the previous crop. 
The above exhibits the greatest fluctuations of the Cot- 
;e)Si crop for 30 years. Now deduct 150,000 for the old I 
held in the country in 1854 for want of navigation, 
ijsiid we have 3,377,815 bales, as t|ie Lirgest previous crop, | 
Now deduct from that 26 percent., which leaves about 
2,500,000 bales for the present crop, provided it is as short 
comparitively as any previous crop ; which, I think, is 
the lowest estimate any close observer can make, to be 
the least reasonable. 
The spring of 1846 was even later than last spring, and 
the immense destruction of the top crop by the catterpillar 
in September of that year, was more than a balance against 
the early part of this year; and there were also great 
complaints of bad seasons that year, as well as this. 
Many writers estimated that crop 1,250,000 and 1,500,000 
ofbale.‘5. It turned out 1,778,651. Some estimate the 
present at 2,000,000 and a little ov^r. But my opinion is 
it is 10 or 12 pec cent, better than the crop of 1846, which 
makes my estimate 2,750,000 to 2.800,000. Even this es- 
timate, will make it short of any of the last 5 previous 
crops ; which has not happened for 30 years. 
The prospect for prices is good and I think will yet im- 
prove 1 to 2 cents, and then during the latter part of the 
season fall 2 to 3 cents. The price now being nearly high 
enough to check consumption seriously. But this anti- 
cipation of a fall in prices in the face of the shortest crop 
of 6 years, will seem strange to some, perhaps nearly all ; 
but so it has been for 20 years; that whenever the price 
of cotton has been raised by a short crop, the price has al- 
ways fallen the latter part of the season. 
M. T. McGehee. 
ArlM7isas, Nov., 1856. 
YOST’S FLOW AND SCRAPER. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — Since the publication 
of my communication in your journal relative to Yost's 
Plow and Scraper, I have had many inquiries (some from 
your State and others from Alabama and Mississippi) as 
to where they may be obtained, from whom, &c. I have 
concluded, therefore, for the benefit of such of your sub- 
scribers as wish to be informed on this subject, to give 
you another article, giving the origin of these plows, the 
place where they may be obtained, the price, &c. 
This valuable Plow and Scraper was invented in Clai- 
borne county, Miss., by an overseer by the name of Yost, 
■iimd patented last year or the year before. Messrs. Wat- 
son and Cook, both wealthy planters, near Edwards De- 
pot, Miss., purchased the right from Yost, and they have 
made an arrangement w'ith a manufactering compa'^y in 
Pittsburg to have a large lot of them made for the ensuing 
season. , They may be obtained from their Agents in 
Vicksburg, Grand Gulfand New Orleans. The “Plow and 
Scraper” is numbered 1 , 2, 3 and 4. 
No. 1 is used in 3 and 3 1-2 feet rows, Price $10 CO 
No. 2 “ 4 and 4 1-2 “ 10 50 
No, 3 “ 5 and 5.1-2 “ 11 00 
No. 4 “ 6 and 7 “11 50or 
[m2. 
Any good plowboy or woman can use them with ease, 
after they once “get the hang of it.” 
Up to this time, the Plow and Scraper has only been 
used in a few of the River counties of this State and some 
Parishes in Louisiana But they are destined to find their 
way to every cotton Plantation in the South. As to their 
being the best cotton Plow ever invented, there is no 
doubt in the minds of those who have used them. I 
have used single scraper.s that did the work finely, 
but Yosts’ Plow and Scraper not only does the work as 
well in every respect in scraping cotton as the best singlo 
scraper I ever saw, but they clean and pulverize the row 
at a single round — thus one hand and mule do the 
work of two hands and mules,. Yours, &c., 
G D. HiRMeN, 
Utica, Miss., IB5G. 
