SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 
247 
new regions better themselves by ihe change; 
while on the other hand, thousands die, or become 
hopelessly diseased, or prematurely old. 
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 
The consideration you have shown for the wants 
of the south, in your frequent articles upon imple¬ 
ments suited to us, induces me to add my mite of 
information. I sent you a number of the Concor¬ 
dia Intelligencer, containing the reports of com¬ 
mittees at our last agricultural show, and since 
then wrote you at some length on the trials of im¬ 
plements. Let me again urge you to impress 
upon your manufacturers of implements and ma¬ 
chinery, and especially of plows, the great advan¬ 
tage they would derive, and the vast market they 
would open to themselves, by forwarding to our 
shows specimens of the articles they make. It is 
the determination of some few planters of us, here, 
to agitate the subject until we are supplied with 
such as we ought to have, and thus be enabled to 
meet the present low prices of cotton by an econ¬ 
omy of labor. 
Our heaviest item of plantation expense, is that 
for wrought-iron work; particularly to those, who 
like myself, have no blacksmith of their own. 
Until very recently, the most simple kind of work 
in iron cost 25 cents per pound—now it costs a 
general average of 18 cents. Even this I consider 
enormous. I should be glad to find a substitute 
as far as possible, in cast-iron. An excellent 
foundry recently established in Natchez, and which, 
as yet , charges only from 4 to 4-|- cents per pound 
for castings, has enabled me to carry out my plans. 
And here I want information and advice. I infer 
from the fact of a people as sagacious and saving 
as the farmers of New England using cast-iron im¬ 
plements almost exclusively, that they must an¬ 
swer every purpose and be more economical. In 
Scotland, too, they are used to a great extent. But I 
have here such reiterated assurances that they will 
not answer, that I almost at times doubt about my 
own judgment. The objections are, the liability 
to break, extra weight, want of sharpness, and im¬ 
possibility of supplying the want, and so on. Now 
tell us, how is all this ? 
We require, or rather we should have, a variety 
of implements. The great cost of everything but 
the common plow and hand-hoe, has prevented 
aught else being used. In some neighborhoods 
where there may happen to be good and ingenious 
blacksmiths, other implements are occasionally 
employed—such as the bull-tongue, or narrow sin¬ 
gle-shovel plow, for running on each side of the 
corn-row at the first tending; triangular, one- 
horse harrows ; scufflers, or rough cultivators, with 
three to five teeth, somewhat like a common hoe; 
sweeps, skimmers, or spread-eagle or buzzard- 
plows; double-shovels, and double half-shovels, 
&c., &c. The cost and the difficulty of getting a 
good article, sure to run well , which is a great 
difficulty with wrought-iron implements not made 
by a master hand, has prevented even these im¬ 
provements being commonly used. Cast-iron ar¬ 
ticles, with stocks so simple as to be easily made 
on the plantation, will I think meet those objec¬ 
tions. Such a thing as Wilkie’s horse-hoe will 
not suit us at all—too lengthy, complex, and ex¬ 
pensive to put in the hands of a negro. Mr. 
Thorpe’s three-share plow has the same objections, 
with the additional one of too great weight. Our 
teams can not drag along such a load of wood 
and iron as can your stronger animals, in a cooler 
clime —one animal only can be used to do the tend¬ 
ing of the crop, which is done during the hottest 
season of the year, when one of our average-sized 
mules (which form our best and most economical 
teams) drags an implement weighing 50 or CO 
pounds, ten hours in the day, between rows of tall 
cotton, corn, or cane, he has as much as he can 
possibly stand, and more, in many cases. Yet he 
must do it —there can be no cessation of work— 
everything on a cotton plantation, capable of 
working, must work. 
Your northern-made implements cost us too 
much by the time we get them, passing through 
so many hands; and if we order them direct, we 
are buying a “ pig in a poke,” where we have only 
a published account and description to go by. It 
is on this account we are so desirous of seeing your 
northern implements well represented at our trial 
in the fall. You require a heavy as well as a 
strong plow, with great length of share and land- 
side to make it run steady in stony land. We re~ 
qnire nothing of the kind. A plow, to suit us, 
must have size, and yet be light for man and 
beast—easy to handle among stumps and roots, on 
steep and short hill-sides, and among the young, 
delicate, and easily-injured cotton plants. When 
you send us a light plow, they are so small and 
slight as to be almost worthless—nothing but the 
merest poney will suit to hitch to them. We have 
no stones to trouble us, rarely any sod to cut— 
nothing but weeds and trash on light mellow 
earth—unless where almost ruined by being trod¬ 
den by stock. Hence we require a plow that 
throws dirt well, not easily choked, and which 
turns a furrow 10 inches wide, and 5 to 6 inches 
deep, with two average-sized mules. 
The best plow I have met with, for all work , 
is “Hall’s Improved Peacock,” No. 2, made in 
Pittsburg. It is a good sized breaking-plow, for 
two common-sized mules ; covers up trash well, 
and of course, ridges well; cost I think, $6,50 or 
$7 ; is strong, yet light and handy. For a regular 
breaking-plow, on land not too hilly, and with a 
moderately strong team, and particularly where 
there is a stiff sod, or the ground has been trodden 
by stock, I have seen nothing to equal the Eagle 
Plow of Ruggles, Nourse, & Mason, with coulter 
and wheel—both of which are indispensable— 
which was tried at our last show. I afterward 
purchased it at $13, (too high a price,) and find it 
does excellent work. I sincerely hope that this 
and other firms will see fit to forward for trial here 
in October, specimens of their different sized plows 
and other implements; the more as you will ob¬ 
serve that the Messrs. Holmes (of Natchez and 
Boston) will convey them, for that purpose, from 
Boston free of cost. This would open up a new 
and extensive market to them. Corn and cob- 
crackers, fanning-mills, grist-mills, thrashing-ma¬ 
chines, straw and stalk-cutters, corn-shellers, grain- 
