124 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
ON THE COMPARAriVE ADVAATAGESop HERDS- 
GRASS AND CLOVER AS GENERAL IMPROV- 
ERS OF THE SOIL. 
Gkntli.men — I should ni.t have ventured to 
deviate from the rules of tlie Club, in submii- 
tin? my views in wriling on the subject of the 
comparative merits of Herdsgrass and Cluvei', 
as ^'■eneral improvers ot the soil, but for the in- 
vitation to do so, which was given to me at the 
last meeting. With thisapology, I shall proceed 
at once to the subject in hand. 
That no extended system ol improvement 
can be rapidly asJ successfully carried on, with- 
out the aid of the artificial grasses, as a gene- 
ral rule, will, I presume, be conceded by all 
pre.sent. 
Manure, which is essential to the improve- 
ment of all soils, should! be abundant on every 
fari.i, anu every agent which aids in increasing 
the quantity or quality, without detracting from 
the fertility of the soil whence it is taken, is de- 
sirable, in proportion as it effects this object. — 
No agents of this kind, so susceptible ot extend- 
ed application, have yet been employed, as the 
artificial grasses. As food for stock, they con- 
stitute the cheapest, as well as the most nutri- 
tious; as covering for the soil, io shield it from 
the imno'/erishing effects of the frost and winds 
of winter, and the parching sun of summer, 
they cor .^titute the most complete; as litter or 
soiling i<ji stock, they are the cheapest, richest 
and most abundant; and as agents to prevent 
the graaual wa.shing away of the soil by heavy 
raim, none have been lound so effectual. So, 
that, wh 'iher we use them as food for stock, 
top-dressing for lands laid out to rest, or litter 
for our .stables, farm-pens, &c. their value must 
be admitted. That they, or some of them, are 
in general e.ssential to extensive improvement, 
will also be readily admitted; but the question 
of the comparative advantages of herdsgrass 
and cl iver, is one that admits of more doubt. — 
W iien land, and especially tobacco land, is to 
be culti vated on the three shift system, clover is 
cei’ainiy preferable to herd.sgrass, for the reason, 
that it torms a more speedy and a more complete 
covertng lor the land, '.vhen laid to rest; the clo- 
ver requiring one year unly to arrive at maturi- 
ty, while the herdsgrass requires several, to pro- 
duce such a turf as is adequate to any great im- 
pr vema .t. But when the four or five shift 
sysie a is pursued, I have no hesitation in giv- 
ing the .lerdsgrass the preference; and so far as 
the cobc.cco crop is concerned, 1 have never 
kno'vn it to fail on herdsgrass turf, well cultiva- 
ted, whil ■ clover lots fiequently fail entirely, 
from want of its necessary concomitant, plaster, 
or froiu tile ravages ot vermin or some other 
unknown cause. As a fallow for wheat, I con- 
sider the heru.sgiTss totally unsuitable, on ac- 
count o: ih ‘ difficulty of eradicating it, particu- 
larly 1 moist land — while the clover is easily 
destroyed by summer fallow. Asa forerunner 
of corn, I consider the herdsgra.ss objectionable, 
on account of the diificulty of preventing its 
growl . among the youns: corn, and the addi- 
tional labor wdiich it requires to reduce the 
strong turf which it forms; all which may be 
partially overcome by early working. But it is 
chiefly as a hay crop, and as a grazing grass, 
that I give this the preference to all other meli- 
orating crops relied on in this country. Among 
the many errors maintained and exploded in the 
agricultural community, there is not a greater, 
than that a small stock in proportion to the size 
of the farm, or in other words, that the '■‘■non- 
grazing system” is essential to improvement. — 
Under the mode pursued by many in this coun- 
try, of keeping a large .stock, without the aid ol 
the artificial grasses, this might .seem plausible 
enough, but many enterprising farmers and 
planters have discovered, that just in proportion 
to the quantity of the artificial grasses cultiva- 
ted, is the means of grazing and keeping stock, 
and just in proportion to these, is the improve- 
ment in the stock, the facility of making ma- 
nure, and the consequent improvement of the 
land. My own observation has satisfied me, 
that the dung dropped by cattle running on land 
cultivated on the three and four shift systems, 
without the aid of the grasses, bears no propor- 
tion either in quality or quantity, to that from 
land laid down in herdsgrass or clover. As hay, 
hfardsgrass has nosuperior, whether you regard 
the quantity or the nutritive qualities ot the 
food, for every variety ol' farm stock, or the lit- 
ter which it affords for the stables and farm- 
pens. ere the herdsgrass has the most deci- 
ded advantage ovei clover, not only in the quan- 
tity and quality of the hay, but in facility of cu- 
ring and preserving it Iroia the effects of moist 
or rainy weather, or from heat and mould in the 
shock or slack. Another advantage is, that 
those w'ho cultivate herdsgrass, can always ob- 
tain tneir seed at a trifling expense of time and 
labor, while, as every tobacco planter knows 
who has tried it, the clover seed must either be 
saved at a great expense of both time and labor, 
at a very busy season, or be purchased, and 
thus become annually a heavy tax. Another 
advantage of herdsgrass over clover is, that 
land once well turfed wdll remain so tor years, 
whi'e clover begins to decline after the second 
year. And again, clover is not only not valua- 
ble for grazing after the month cl June, but ac- 
tually deleterious to stock, and particularly to 
horses, mules and sheep, while the herdsgrass 
affords fine grazing lor every variety of farm 
•stock throughout the whole year, with the excep- 
tion ol those portions of winter when every spe- 
cies of vegetation is locked up with snow or 
Irost. Farther, the herd^grass when once suffi- 
ciently thick to form a strong turf, even on land 
really poor, will, in a course of years, restore it 
to tolerable productiveness; while on the same 
land clover will not grow sufficiently without 
the aid of manure, to produce any obvious im- 
provement of the soil. More than twenty years 
experience has produced but little change in my 
views in regard to these grasses, except that I 
am now persuaded that a judicious system of 
grazing ought to go with them, hand in hand. — 
The long practice of seeding pcor, thin and pipe 
clay flats, in herdsgrass, has satisfied me that 
there is scarcely any such lands that may not 
thus be brought, even to tobacco heart, and es- 
pecially where they are occasionally inundated. 
And 1 have long known, and probably you all 
know, that thee is no land which produces finer 
tobacco than the old herdsgra.ss meadow. But 
1 have yet to learn that any such land, or any 
other poor land, has been restored to tobacco 
heart by the use of clover alone. 
I have but recently turned my attention ex- 
tensively to the cultivation of herdsgrass on 
Bluestone, having from one or two failures to 
get a good stand, erroneously supposed that the 
fault was in the .soil. I have ascertained, how- 
ever, from the experience of the two last years, 
that it only requires, on oat land, to be seeded 
thick, immediately after the land is ploughed 
and before a rain ensues, to ensurea good stand. 
And that the soft, sandy hills, on the west side 
of the creek, present at this time as good a 
stand as any close, moist soil not more thickly 
sown. 
While I would most urgently impress upon 
our Club, the importance of sowing grass ex- 
clusively, and especially herdsgrass, I am far 
from wishing to disparage, or enter the lists a- 
gainst clover. Pori am myself pursuing the 
three shift rotation, of tobacco, wheat, and clo- 
ver; and so far, have much cause to be gratified 
at the result. There is much too, depending on 
the peculiar situation of the farm, character of 
the land, and other circumstances, to determine 
the planter as to the expedienc}' of cultivating 
the one or the other. I would earnestly recom- 
mend both, but with my present views, founded 
on the experience of others, as well as my own, 
I am constrained to give my most decided opin- 
ion in favor of herdsgrass as a general impro 
ver; and in coming to this conclusion I have not 
lost sight of the benefits to be derived from eith- 
er. For the value of any material or crop used 
on the farm for improvement to be fairly estima- 
ted must be considered in all the various uses to 
which it is applied; and in all these I consider 
the herdsgrass as adding to the resources of im- 
provement, not even excepting the raising hay 
for market; for I doubt not that alter abstracting 
the hay crop, the meliorating effects of the re- 
maining turf,, will richly compensate tne owner 
for alt the trouble and expense of preparation, 
seeding, &c. 
In tffis part of the country, we have no avail- 
able resources for manure but those derived from 
the farm and its appurtenances. We have no 
right to expect that marl, lime, plaster, poudrette 
or any other substance of foreign growth or 
manufacture can ever be obtained here suffi- 
ciently cheap, to justify their general and exten- 
sive use. It becomes us, therefore, to cast about 
for some other material to supply their place; 
and to do this, we must (and the sooner the bet- 
ter) look at home, and here we may, in some 
measure, help to check that constant drain 
which empties our purses for the foreign capi- 
talits and brings no corresponding benefits to 
ourselves. 
Vegetable matter mixed wdth animal and 
other substances, must ever constitute our chief’ 
resource; and there is no vegetable matter more 
valuable, and none can be raised in greater 
abundance for the purpose, than herdsgrass. — 
Our branch flats, creek bottoms, and lands sub- 
ject to inundation, might be profitably eraployed 
in its production. If it escapes the w^ater, it 
will furnish the stock with iood, if inundated, it 
will furnish them with litter. My own. most 
valuable resource this year has been the yield of 
an inundated meadow, mowed and regularly 
cured and stacked in season — furnishing a quan- 
tity of good seed, as well as an abundant supply 
of litter. I prefer the herdsgrass, however, for 
food, and the quantity and quality of the ma- 
nure raised from the stock to which it is fed. 
Let me now, gentlemen, urge some consider- 
ations in favor of the artificial grasses which 
ought to come home to the feelings and the 
taste, as well as the pride ol our club. Is there 
not something humiliating in having our eyes, 
whenever we ride or walk into our fields, greet- 
ed with the yawning gall, or the more hideous 
gullyl or meeting by the wayside, the kine of 
Pharaoh, who, having devoured all the misera- 
ble trash and weeds, which mar the beauty of 
our fields, are themselves just about to be de- 
voured by the buzzards'? How do these scenes 
contrast with the verdant grass springing up in. 
all its vigor and luxuriance, and clothing our 
fields in its beautiful habiliments; with the cat- 
tle of a thousand hills grazing bountifull)' thro’ 
the day, and returning home at eve laden with 
deposites richer than those of the mammoth hank, 
and laying their grateful tribute at the master’s 
feet, and causing his table to groan under the 
teeming abundance of milk, butter cheese and 
beef? 
This, gentlemen, is no ideal picture — it is in 
reach of every man who will adopt the cultiva- 
tion of the artificial grasses, and avail himself 
of all the benefits which Avill result from their 
judicious and economical use. 
Should doubts still remain after the interest- 
ing discussion of this subject had at our last 
meeting and what has come before us at this, 
they can only be solved by judicious experi- 
ments of our own, or observation of the exper- 
iments of others. Permit we to state, however, 
in conclusion, that there is one fact Avhich ought 
to weigh with no little force on the minds of our 
Club, and that is, that we know no instance of 
a skilful and enlerprizing farmer or planter who, 
after having gone fully into the cultivation of 
the artificial grasses, “has returned, like a sow 
that is washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” 
And that we know no instance of a country in 
a high state of agricultural improvement, where 
the artificial grasses are not regarded as the 
main stay and the one thing needful. 
■With these views, gentlemen, I must close 
this subject, not, however, without expressing 
my regret that I have not had time to prepare 
something more worthy of my enlightened au- 
ditory and the interesting and important cause 
which has brought us together, and which it is 
