AUGUSTA, GA., APRIL, 1846. 
No. 4. 
orj.iTiOX, 
JEtM'.vered before the Burke Ccninly Central Agricultural 
■ ■ So:iety^J.inu uy ii. 1S46. 
BY M. C. M. HAilMOMD.— [CONCLUDED] 
FfOiii a- faithful proseuu'ion of the general 
. plan I hage sketched, would soon flow innu- 
inerahle advantages of me highest 'value ; 
amoae the most important oi which, would te 
the promotion of health, the choicest blessing ot 
lilCj and the consequent increased happiness 
and value ol our slaves. The necessity of Ab- 
sentesism, toe chief obstacle to our progress, 
if it could thus be reutoved, would lead to every 
solid and lasting irnprovemeat. Livingperma- 
neati v on, our 'places, we wmuld feel deeper in- 
terest in our pursuit, andreiy more on ourselves 
and less on our agents. The war h and con- 
tentment of our pen: le, who perfirm cheerfully 
• under the eves of their dpyners more than they, 
can be made to do tor others, would be enhanc- 
ed; and, instead ol devoting all our eneigies to 
the worship of M.irnmon, we would raise all 
necessaries within gurselves, and having less 
' need of mcney, would turn more fully lo the 
cultivation of the fntellecfual faculties and so- 
cial afleciions, and the humane chariiies ol lile. 
Our hole system would be changed. After 
restoring ourlands and learning, as would soon, 
be done, tnar, p.jl in ..II, our conJiiion could not 
be be'ier 'd l.y removal to Texas, or Oregon, or 
Cal fornia, we would build moreduiable dwell- 
ings and plantatl'in hous.^s— extend onr orchards 
— ornament our gardens and yards— and having 
estabMshed a s.^crhd home for ourselves, our 
children and tiieir posterity, vvould be permit- 
ted to enjoy in their realiiy, the tranquil plea- 
sures anu rural Messinss, which poets and phi- 
Irsophers of all ages, have assigned to country 
lile. 
It may he asked, how is the planter to find 
time to consummate such a system ol improve- 
ment as, I Suggest ? Who can carry out the ex- 
tensive schem' of mailing, manutactnring ipa 
■ Durc, s ibsoiling and draining? I answer at 
once, that time and labor mu.st both beloundfor 
these things, whatever else may be omitted; 
and that hands must, withoiu hesitation, be ta- 
ken dor these pu' po.-es, frotnUiecrop. If a plant- 
er works l>iit four hands let him give up one, 
wholly and s dely to them'. It he works one 
hundred hands, let him apnrnpriate twenty-five. 
If he -‘an m ike as much with three-tourihs of 
his force as all enn gather m season, of which 
I have not a shadow of doubt, since it is esti-. 
mated, .that in time, one half would do it, he 
will be doing an infinitely belter business than 
he does nqw. Let him then devote one-fourth 
of his labor to the improvement of his soil. 
His "rop mavbe diminished for the first year; 
indeed, the effect may be.to decrease it for seve- 
ral years, umil his system gets daird*}' into ope- 
rafioD. But in the end, he wiff he directly paid 
for .ihe.se losses in greatly increased crop's, and 
doubly and trebly paid, in the permanently en- 
hanced: vhlue ot hi.s lands.' 
But this view is imme tiartelv connected with 
the otlier great question .which I propose to con- 
sider. Hm are onr crops to be diversified? 
If to make manure wa pen our hogs and cattle, 
they most be fed, and to feed them properly ve 
must 'make far greater, prnvi.sion than we do 
now. ^ In ihe.s3'stera ot. ehclosrngppastures and 
artificial grasses' -mmst of coprse be.teft out of 
consideration. Aithough the foreign grasses, like 
almost all foreign productions, ha'ye been, and 
may again be, grown successfully in our genial 
climate, yet we can better employ our land in 
the cultivation ol substitutes; and first among 
ihem, our great product ol Indian Corn. Won- 
derful as cu.lon is to the external man, and the 
world, in all its relations of clothing and com- 
it, is infinitely less so than is this plant to 
Uome. ecDncmy, the subsistence of man. In 
the beautiful system of ancient Mythology, the 
Olive wa.s held sacred to the Goddess of Wis- 
dom, and other fruits to certainother divinities; 
witn more propriety might the Bed man have 
consecrated his incomparable maize to the 
Great Spirit whom he nvurshippedl Indige- 
nous to this continent,, unparalleled in vjilue, 
and of universal use, reaching nearly five hun 
dred millions of ba.shejs annually in the United 
Stales, it should he p.oj- excellence, the 
Natlonal Plant. ■ It is applicable' to a greater 
variety of nutritive purposes than any piant 
that grow.s. Its grain supersedes as food the 
use of all the small grains, including rice, and 
if man will drink spirituous liquors, which I 
presume he will do more or less for all time to 
come, it lurnishes the most wholesome of al- 
coholic stimulants. Given separately, it is the 
most strengtheni-ng food for work animals ; and 
ground in an improved mill with the c .b, or 
cob and shuck, it is the cheapest, and, as abun- 
dant experience can tes ity, the healthiest and 
most nutritious provender that can be us-.-d. 
Its leaves make our fodder, the .great substimte 
for hay. Tne stalk contains, at a certain pe- 
riod'of its growth, a large quantity of saccha- 
rine juice, arid when properry managed, yields 
a high perceiuage ot sugar, superior in grann- 
iation to that dei ived iroin the maple tree, and 
nearly equal in all respects. to that from the 
cane. After some experience^' it has been cal-, 
ciliated in Indiana that an acre ot land which 
•.vill uroduce 50 bushels of "corn will make from 
() u 800 lbs.. of syrup, of whicn two-thirds or 
5,<'0 lbs. would be sugar and one-third.mQlasse.?. 
I I Delaware in 1313, a single;acre of corn yield- 
ed 500 poLindsiof su^ar, 50 gallon's of molasses, 
and more than 6.000 lbs. ot fodder, all of 'wh eh 
sold tor -SSG. Here is an opening for our enter- 
prise. Sugar .will not soon be a drug in ihemar- 
ket. The advance of civilization increases its 
consumption, it is becoming a iiecessary all over 
the world, and wealth and luxury mould it into, 
a thousand forms fofuse. '^Vhatelse can we 
plant that will return us S'SG g.ross per acre? 
Cotton does not ordinarily realize us more than 
a tenth of this amount, nor will anything that l. 
am acquainted with make, in the long 'run, so 
profitable a refuni as sugar. The method of 
maki'ng it is by no means expensive nordidictih 
to learn. Ten dollars will suffice fo construct a 
mill for grirulirig, which will answer all purpo- 
ses lor a number of seasons,, and donble that 
amount will provide a boiler that will la.st in- 
definitely, E.xperience will sqon teach the best 
way to. manage the stalk and the pr-pper time for 
.culling, ariul. likewise remove all obst'.icies to 
success la clarifying the juice, and in grannla 
tion. 
The extensive roots ot corn is riot the leasf 
of its remarkable properties. A single stalk, 
ffiresenled last ye.ar by Mr. Skinner to' the Na- 
tional Gallery in Washington, mea.sured p;i es- 
timate, about 8,000 feet of foots, when it had 
beej\ grpwingonly two months. This of coursi^ 
was extraurditiarv, but cum nonly they are 
greater than those of any other annual plant, 
and bejmnd competition in enriebingthe ground 
with carbonaceous matter. Hence we perceive 
the infinite advantage ot deep or subsoil plow- 
in.g, to give facility to the rods to descend and 
diverge; and like'vise how important we might 
render corn, in the renovation ot our lands. 
Sown broadcast after deep breaking, and turn- 
ed under when in tassel, it would be an ample 
coat of manure for a fair growth of cotton, 
wheat or any other crop. 
This product may, however, be applied as 
food for animals, in a mode not in use among 
us at all, which is destined to contribute largely 
towards subsisting cur slock, at least ; and witn 
the cob and corn meal, to supersede almost en- 
tirely all oiher provender. When sown -or 
drilled and cut bef ire in.jhe silk, and cured with 
stalk, leaves and shoots, ii lurnishes a loo'iier, 
fattening and grateful nvt only to cattle, but fo 
horses, mnles, sheep and hogs. It will answer 
the purpose of corn avd lodiier both, andii fir.st 
■submitmd to the cutting knife, would be all 
consurned. A piece of land in South Carolina 
BOWD last year with three bushels of seed to ilie 
acre, returned at the rate per acre of 27,000 lbs, 
of well cure [ forage, if we will manure hea- 
■ vily, anP drill the seed to enable us to work it 
•once or twice, we can e.xceed even this amount. 
Thus a very few acres would supply all our 
stock the year round. 
T. itb such ab'undance of provender at so' 
small an oufla}' cf manure and labor as this 
source, with others to be mentioned hereafter, 
Xv'outd supply, we coul.l profitably consume 
c un on our plantations far more extensively 
than we do now. We could rear all the im- 
proved stick fonh'd valuable- to us — manufac- 
ture any quanaity ot manure, and supply our- 
selves amply with meat, so sure an indicaiion 
of prosperity w'hf>re abundantly raised. Al- 
' hough we miglit not find a market for any large 
quamityoi com iiself, yet I i-.e general and en- 
!a ged culture of it would confer upon ouro'.m, 
as'vvell as it is wii-h other People, the signal 
blessingof reducing to the lowest price the “siafi 
of IHe;” while by feeding it a way-bountitully, 
we could sell it indirectly at a fair value in beef, 
poik, bacon and butter. For these articles, we 
should fiiid fora long lime ready sale at borne, 
and at first even for out corn; for corn is ship- 
red to .South Carolina and Georgia in large 
quantitie.s, from other State.s. Our butter is 
chiefl'/ imponed from the North, and all our 
cheese. Gur bacon comes from Cincinnati by 
way ot New Orleans, and our pork is driven 
over the mou'niaius. But ample as it might be 
f u' cur day, we would not be restricted to the 
home market. By reference to our National 
statistics will be seen the immense export of 
all these ar ides,. and the reasonable price they 
•ev'ery wherecrimrnand. The whole world would 
be open to our comretitiori, arid while consu- 
mers are multiplying over the globe, and we 
possessed the advantage of cheap transporta- 
tion to the seaports, we could at least fare as 
well as others engaged in this trade. 
Consulering- ihe inestimable value of Indian 
Corn, I am inclined to think itour true policy — 
andone which will ere longbe forced on us, whe- 
ther we will or not — lo make it at once our main 
crop, and to hold all others, especially cotton, 
subordinate to it. For this reason, we should 
' now direcLonr attention seriou.sly to stud^'ing 
