m 
SOUTHEKN CULTIVATOR\ 
distant, wei'e about to be let oii for the purpose of repair- I 
ing the race-way ; of this the proprietor ga%^e us notice, { 
The fish, after the main body of water iiad run off, were 
congregated in shallow holes and were taken by hundreds 
in scoop nets. They were composed of Cat Fish, Eels, 
ihe Mud Sucker and a variety of smaller species that go 
under the name of Chubs, Shiners, Mud-Fish, &c. A 
long wagon, containing tour barrels placed upright with the 
upper end open and nearly filled witii water, was liie 
vehicle of transportation. Tiie fish v/ere placed in these 
barrels as soon as taken from the pond. In the course of 
a day, several trips of the wagon carried a much greater 
Ajuantity offish than was necessary to stock half a dozen { 
ponds. We had now an abundance of fish, as a few only 
of the smaller ones had perished — it being a cool day. 
Sut, unfortunately, they were not the fish we prized, or 
■whose habits we particularly desired to study. We long- 
ed for lai'ger game and better fish. Our next resort was 
'to the Hudson River. By offeung a man who was in the 
habit of setting what is called a dyke net, his market price, 
•which v/as a mere tritle, we induced him to preserve all 
ihe fish he cauglit and keep them in a large floating car to 
await our seiiding for them. Through, this means, we pro- 
cured large numbers of the fish we wanted, such as the 
Teliov/ Perch, oo.r greatest favorite ; the AVhiie Perch ; the 
Pond Perch or Sun-Fish; the large River Sucker and 
several smaller species that are classed among tiie Chub, 
d>ace, Roach, &c. These hardy fish we found no farther 
trouble in conveying over a stumpy road than that of re- 
snoving a few bucketsfui of water at the various brooks 
that crossed the road and replenishing the barrels with 
ffesh water. From two brooks that ran through the 
woods not a mile distant, we obtained a number of Brook 
Trout, about 30 of which were placed (alive) in tlie pond. 
Later in the season we made two attempts at obtaining 
the Shad and one with the Herring. These proved fail- 
I'jres. Notwithstanding all our efforts in taking them 
from the seine, and placing them carefully in the hogshead 
filled with water, they all died in a few minutes. It we 
had then known what we discovered by accident a few 
■weeks afterwards, we might have tried a more successful 
•experiment with the eggs. They, however, were probab- 
ly not yet sufficiently matured, nor do we now believe 
'ibat either the Herring or the Shad will ever become na- 
laraiized to, or breed in, fresh water ponds. 
[ Concluded in our Jo.nnary number. ] 
THE COST OF RAISING COTTON. 
Messrs. Editor : — Knowing, from the regular perusal 
©fyour paper, )hat you do not desire to circulate errone- 
.ous iaformation, I take the liberty of correcting a very 
Incorrect statement which appeared in your tri-weekly 
issue of the 28th ultimo, in a communication headed “The 
Gulf States of our Union and the Valley of the Mississip- 
pi.” The misstatement, doubtless an unintentional one, 
©ceurs in the following paragraph : 
“^The cost of raising cotton is four cents a pound ; one 
bale of five hundred pounds to the acre is considered a 
iair crop. A twenty acre field yielding twenty bales, or 
•ien thousand pounds, at eight cents a pound, only yields 
a profit ol four liundred dollars.” 
The true state of the case can best be reached by taking 
case of an improved plantation of the most available 
sise and with a proper number of slaves upon it, and 
3Bakmg the estimates from that basis. This is a most 
fevorable way of making the estimate to exhibit the largest 
profit; for it is well known to every experienced planter 
— aad how dearly some have purchased their experience I 
“ibat the expenses incident to the opening and improv- 
of a plantation for several years after the undertaking 
is begun, eat up all the profits and often leave a load of 
debt behind, sometimes forcing a sale of the whole proper- 
ty, which thus leaves the hands of the original proprietor 
! to fall into those of some wiser man who has eschewed 
the toil and hazard of opening a new place. 
A plantation of sixteen hundred acres, one thousand of 
which is cleared land, and has the necessary cabins and 
other buildings necessary for carrying on a place of that 
size, is worth from forty to sixty dollars per acre, accord- 
ing to locality. Estiuiating its value at the lowest rate, 
say SIO per acre, and it makes S'G4,000, To work this 
place to advantage — that is, to cultivate seven hundred 
and fifty acres in cotton and two hundred and fifty in corn, 
peas, potatoes, &c — will require a force of 75 effective 
I hands, which, with the young and old, who do not go to 
the field or work, who would ordinarily be united to the 
75 hands, would constitute about 130 or 140 slaves on the 
place, who, at an average S'GOO a piece, would be worth 
about S75,000; 50 mules worth Si 30 each, would make 
SO, 400 more; 100 head of cattle may be estimated at 
Si, 200 ; 300 hogs may be estimated at S700 ; 12 yoke of 
oxen at S600 ; wagons, farming utensils, furniture, black- 
smith and carpenter's tools, and all the other necassaries, 
including gin-stands, mill, &c., may be estimated (and it 
is an under estimate) atS2;000; so that any one, by 
simply adding these difi’erent amounts, will see that the 
entire value of such a place as I have supposed will be 
about S 150,000 ; and tliis upon the supposition that the 
place is worked without a steam engine to gin the cotton 
with. 
Such a place, with favorable seaeons, will make ten 
bales to the hand, or about one bale to the acre, and some- 
times when everything is prosperous, an early spring and 
a late dry fall, as many as twelve bales to the hand, and 
in some very extraordinary instances even as high as 
fifteen bales have been gathered. But on an overage of 
ten seasons every experienced planter will agree that 
eight bales to the hand is an outside estimate, making a 
crop of about six hundred bales ; and taking 8 cents as the 
average price per pound, which for swamp cotton is again 
a full estimate, and the gross income for a single bale of 
400 pounds, which is the well-known uniform weight, 
will be S32, and the whole crop $19,200, exclusive of the 
cost of shipping, and soiling the crop, which amounts to 
at least $'2 50 per bale in every case, and where the place 
is distant from market nearer twice that; leaving say a 
nett income of about $18,000. From this must now be 
deducted the cost of cultivating the place, overseer's 
wages, feeding, clothing, and doctoring the negroes, sup- 
plying wear and tear of tools, and losses of mules and 
stock, altogether, on a place of the size I have named, not 
falling short of $6,000, many planters estimating their ex- 
penses at $100 to the hand, which would make $7,500, 
Taking it at the former sum and we have the nett profits 
of such a place as I have described amount to $12,000, 
being just aimutan interest of 8 per cent, on the value of 
the capital invested. 
This, Messrs. Editors, I believe a fair statement of the 
profits of the cotton planter ; and you can now see how it 
comports with the fancy sketch of your correspondent. If 
I have exaggerated at all it has been in giving too favor- 
able an aspect to the side of A Planter. 
{National Intelligencer. 
Vklcsbiirg, July, 1855. 
Sulphur. — Sulphur is a good aperient for sheep, in 
doses of one or two ounces. It is more valuable, however, 
as keeping the bowels in a relaxed state when they have 
been opened by other medicines. It is the basis of every 
ointment for the cure of mange, and is useful in the com- 
mon scate. It enters also into the composition of the 
best alterative powders. — RoMdall. 
