THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
47 
Agriculturrtl iilleetings. 
Burke County Agricultural Society. 
Mr. Editor: Below I send you a list of the 
premiums lor ihe year 1846. This is the se- 
cond year of the Sc ciety’s existence. A fair 
was held in December last, a report of which 
will be made out, and, we hope, in time tor your 
April number. 
LIST OP PREMIUMS FOE 1846. 
For the best 5 acres of 
wheat. . 
For the best 5 do Oats., . 5 
do do do 5 do Rye... 5 
For the best acre Corn.. 2 
2d best 1 
3d best ,50 els 
Best 4 sides of Tanned 
Leather $2 
2d best 1 
3d best 1 
Best ^ acre of potatoes.. 1 
2d best 75 cts 
3d best 50 “ 
Best horse colt, a 6 mos 
Best pair do shoes. . ,75 c ts 
2d best 50 cts 
3d best 25 cts 
Best milch cow and calf. $2 
2d best... k 1 
^4 best 1 
3d bes.1 50 cts. 
Best Mule. S2 
Best samples cotton (bale 
to the hand) S2 
2d best 1 
3d best 50 cts 
Best hog $2 
2d best 1 
Best pair home made 
Boots 1 50 
Best fleece of Wool (qoan- 
titv). 50 CIS 
Best fleece of Wool (quali- 
ly). . .50 CIS 
To ihe Plantation kept in the best repair, yielding 
the most per acre, quality of land and force considered, 
and most independent of foreign supplies Jor support 
— Premium — A Silver Cup, 
DOMESTIC FABRICS. 
Best patch-work bed quilt .6 silver tea-spoons, 
2d best do do a “ butter-knife 
3d oest do do a “ salt-spoon. 
Best laid work 6 silver tea spoons. 
2d best “ ........a •' butter-knife 
3d best “ “ salt-spoons. 
Best Counterpane .silver sugar-tongs. 
2d best “ silver salt-spoons. 
Be-.t cotton Diaper. 15 yards. Handsome Bible., 
Best piece negro cloth, cotton and wool, 30 yards. .S3 
2d best do do do do do -.2 
3d best do do do do do 1 
Best pair blankets, cotton and wool 2 
2d best do do I 
3d best do do .50 cts. 
For all not above mentioned, such as plows, mechanic 
arts, inveniions and improvements, fancy work, as 
watch chains, reticules, pocket books, hearth rugs, 
travelling bags, &c., a premium of $’2 is offered, with 
n graduating scale to 25 cents, having in view the cost 
of material and value of article — these are under the 
supervision of the Discretionary Committee of Pre- 
miums. 
P. S. — By publishing the premiums you will 
much oblige us. Lei it be in full. As you 
doubtless leel interested in this enterprise, allow 
me to say, that we are prospering, and zealous- 
ly advocating economy and reform; and trust, 
by patient investigation and prudent manage- 
ment, to cause Old Burke to flourish anew. 
Many of our members are experimenting this 
season with the B unmer patent. I will give 
you the results at some luture day. 
Yours, respectluliy, 
W. C. Musgrove, Sec’ly pro tern. 
Leon County (Fla.) Agricultural Society. 
At a meeting of the citizens of Leon county 
favorable to the formation of an Agricultural 
Society, held at the Court House in the City of 
Tallahassee, January 3lst, 1846, the Commit- 
tee appointed at a previous meeting, reported 
Che following Constitution, which was unani- 
mously adopted and signed. 
The Society then went into the election of of- 
ficers, and the following were unanimously 
elected: Col. B. P. Whitner, President. 
Col. John Parkhm.l, ) 
Thos. Reynolds, Esq, > V. Presid’s. 
Jno. S. Shepard. Esq., 3 
Col. R. \V. Williams, Cor. Sec’y. 
F. H. Flagg, Rec. Sec’y and Treas’r. 
On motion, the Recording Secretary was in- 
structed to request the several papers in Talla- 
hassee to publish the proceedings ol ihe meeting 
together with the Consiitulion 0 ! the Society. 
The meeting then adjourned to the first Sat- 
urday in March. B. F. Whitner, Pres’t. 
P. H. Flagg, Secretary. 
Cf^NSTITUTION. 
“We. the undersigned, do hereby form our- 
Ives into an association, to be devoted to the 
improvenieiu of agriculiuie and agricultural 
economy, under the name and style ol the Agri- 
cuUural Society of Leon Counly. 
1. Any person shall be eligifile as a member 
on subscribing this Constitmion and paying to 
the Treasurer the sum of S'L 
2. The officers shall consist of a President, 
three Vice-Presidents, a Corresponding Secre- 
tary, and a Recording Secretary, who shall also 
act as Treasurer ; to be annually elected by the 
Society. 
3. The Society shall meet in Tallahassee on 
the first Saturday in every month. 
4. Eight members present at any regular 
meeting ofthe Society shall constitute a quorum 
tor business. 
5. The President shall presideatall meetings 
and appoint the several Committees, and in his 
absence, a Vice-President shall act, or if none 
be present, a Chairman, pro tern. 
6. The Corresponding Secretary, shall keep a 
file ( f all communications received, a copy of 
all letters written by him in carrying on the cor- 
respondence ol' the Society, and shall revise and 
superintend all publications ordered by the So- 
ciety. 
7. The Recording Secretary and Treasurer 
shall record the proceedings of the Society at 
each meeting, in a suitable book, and shall re- 
ceive the funds of the Society, and pay the same 
to the order of the President, keeping a record 
of all receipts and expenditures. 
8. That there shall be a Standing Committee 
on Cotton, whose duty it shall be to collect all 
facts relative to the growing crop, the amount 
produced, the kinds most profitable, with such 
other observations as may be useful to the So- 
ciety ; to be prepared and reported through the 
President at the call ol the Society. 
9. There shall be similar committees on To- 
bacco, Sugar, Rice, 'Corn, small Grain, Root 
crops. Fibrous Plants and Fruits, with similar 
powers and duties. 
10. There shall also be a Cimmittee on 
Stock, whose duly it shall be to report on the 
best varielies, the best methods of rearing, &c., 
at each annual meeting of the Society. 
11. There shall be four Visiting Committees, 
consisting of three persons each, and it shall be 
the duly of some one of these Committees to vi- 
sit the plantation of each member of the Socie- 
ty, at least once in every year, and report to the 
President upon its management and condition, 
and he shall embody these reports and submit 
them at the annual meeting of the Society. 
12. It shall be the duly ol every member ol 
the Society to iry annually some experiment in 
agriculture, manufactures, o- mechanical arts, 
and to communicate the result to the President, 
to be laid before the Society. 
13. Each member of the Society shall exhi- 
bit, at the annual meeting, some improved do- 
mestic animal, some specimen of domestic in- 
dustry, or some improved agricultural produc- 
tion. And all others, not members, are invited 
to exhibit, at the same lime, specimens in the 
line of their business, as mechanics, artisans or 
manufacturers. 
14. The annual meeting of the Society shall 
be held in Tallahassee on the first Thursday in 
December in every year. 
15. A majority of the members present at any 
regular meeting of the Society may propose 
any amendment, and if the same be adopted by 
two-thirds of the members present at the suc- 
ceeding regular meeting, such amendment shall 
become part ot this Constitution. 
B. F. Whitner, President. 
F. H. Flagg, Secretary. 
Agricultural Implements, &c. 
From ihe Floridian. 
We are pleased to noiice that Messrs. Starr & 
Flagg have this lal! brought out an assortment 
ot Agricultural Implements for the use of our 
Planters. They are purchased at the Agricul- 
tural Ware House of Ruggles, Nourse & Ma- 
son, Q,uincy Flail, Boston, an i are sold at Bos- 
ton prices, adding only the cost ot transporta- I 
tion. We hear all the first invoice, consisting 
of Sub-Soif Plows, and Eagle Plows for break- 
ing up land, and smaller sizes for the cultiva- 
tion of Cotton, Corn, Sugar cane and Rice, 
were disposed of in two days after their arrival. 
Orders have been given for a further supply, 
with the addition ol Cultivators, Corn Shellers, 
Corn Mills, Hay Cutters, Harrows, &c., all of 
which will soon be received. 
We are informed that several of our large 
planters have used the Eagle Plow, and are 
highly pleased with it. They can cultivate the 
land much u ore thoroughly, and make better 
crops on a less quantity of land, than by the old 
method of plowdng. We have always been of 
opinion, that the lands in Florida were not pro- 
perly cultivated. There is too little attention 
paid to breakirg up the soil for the crop, more 
perhaps than in the cultivation after the crop is 
planted. Many planters are of opinion that deep 
plowing injures the land more than it benefits 
the crop, inasmuch as it exposes too much of 
the undersoil to the action of the sun, and de- 
stroys Its productiveness. Some we have heard 
contend that deep plowing w'ould ca'.'S“ more 
wash on rolling land. This certainly must he 
a mistake — as the surface of land merely scratch- 
ed up by a small plow, will, on the first heavy 
rain, become so saturated w'ith water, as to go 
off almost in a body — while land v\ell broken 
up will retain the water, and give time for the 
water to soak into the soil below. We have 
frequently recommended deep plowing to our 
planting friends, but have generally been met 
with one or the other reason why it should not 
be practised. We know of others, however, 
who have adopted a more thorough cultivation, 
and have succeeded far better than in any other 
mode they ever pursued. The Sab-Soil Plow 
is a remedy to an exposure of the soil to the in- 
fluence of the sun. It is so constructed, that it 
enters the soil deeply, and merely breaks up 
and mellows the earth, while the topsoil is lelt 
to remain in its old position. It is not turned 
over as with the common mould-board plow. — 
Flow much, however, we would ask, of the 
heavy burthen of grass which always follows a 
crop after being laid by, is lost to the soil by the 
simple scratching of the small one horse plow ? 
If it is turned under at all, it is covered so scan- 
tily that instead of rotting and becoming ma- 
nure for the next crop, the sun dries it to a pow- 
der, or the wind drives it into a fence coiner, 
where all the substance is wasted. Too little 
attention is paid to manuring land. We have 
too much land here logo to this trouble, and 
when one clearing is exhausted, or entirely 
worn out by improper cultivation, another new 
clearing must he made. This generally hap- 
pens before the old stumps are removed, and 
frequently before much of the deadened timber 
is out of the way, Asricul.urists at the North 
do not so cultivate their land. Such a course 
there, would in a short time rroduce starvation. 
We if.ink our planters here should go in for a 
belter cultivation ot their land — they will find it 
much more profitable. They will require less 
land, less servaiLs, less horses and mules, less 
agricultural impiemenls, if they purchase the 
right kind, and will make belter crops, vvith less 
labor, and far more satisfaction to themselves. 
Another great evil we have considered here- 
tofore in our plan of cultivation, which we are 
happy to notice is becoming somewhat improv- 
ed, was that of depending too much upon the 
cultivation ot one single article - that of cotton. 
Our observation has taught us that the most 
successful, thrif y planter, is one who diversi- 
fies his crop — who raises his own corn, his own 
sugar, his own beef and bacon, and vvho manu- 
factures the nece.ssary wearing apparel for his 
servants at home, upon his plantation. Find 
ns such a planter, and we pronounce him a 
thriftv planter. He is making money. His 
cotton is nearly a clear gain to him, at least he 
has but few expenses to be paid out ot the mo- 
ney he receives for it. To him the price of cot- 
ton cannot matter, as it does to one who depends 
upon one or two articles to pitrclase subsistence 
for nim?e!f and his servants. 
