SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE. 
147 
dence in it, of nearly fourteen years, enables me to 
say so confidently. I moved here with my family, 
almost directly from Scotland, and together with 
my children, have enjoyed an almost uninterrupted 
continuance of good health, up to this time. 
I have heard several gentlemen from the 
northern states, who have visited this part of Vir¬ 
ginia, express fears, that the working farmer and 
mechanic together with their wives and daughters, 
would be considered as holding a lower position in 
society than they had been accustomed in their 
own states, and be so treated by the native Vir¬ 
ginians ; but from my personal observation and ex¬ 
perience, these fears do the ladies and gentlemen of 
the Old Dominion injustice ; for the industrious, 
intelligent, and_ respectable working farmer or me¬ 
chanic, is sure to meet with a cordial and hearty 
welcome from every Virginian whose favorable 
■opinion is worth having. A. Nicol. 
Sandy Point , Charles City , Va., March 7th, 1848. 
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE. 
u Letters from the South ”— No. 12.—1 admit 
that correcting our friend, R. L. A., is, as a general 
rule, showing up one’s self; but as I think I can do 
it once, I beg to have that pleasure. Were he such 
a small writer as we country folks, I should not 
dare, but I lose nothing, and may gain. 
0n page 337 Mr. A. says—“With the best 
plows, a planting machine, cultivators, and harrows, 
one person can easily plant, cultivate, and harvest 15 
or 20 acres of corn with four months’ labor, that will 
produce an average of 40 bushels per acre.” Noth¬ 
ing but frost will prevent a good crop. 
I assure you, sir, I have seen a field that was 
believed to contain 360 acres, cultivated in corn 
by nine hands, one of them with one arm only. 
I saw another place cultivated at the same rate ; 
and it is highly probable neither of the owners 
ever saw one of the above implements. I have 
cultivated on this farm 10 acres of com, and as 
many of cotton, which induces me to believe that 
I can cultivate 30 or 40 acres in corn, just double 
what Mr. A. speaks of. Within three miles of my 
seat, I can find 200 to 300 acres of cleared land in 
one field, that will average 40 bushels, thus giving 
me 1,200 to 1,600 bushels per hand, instead of 600 to 
800. I can produce as good proof as can be re¬ 
quired, that my brother, A. K. Montgomery, did 
make this year an average of 60 bushels from his 
entire crop ; our father, Mr. M., did make an ave¬ 
rage of near that; and that they plantedover 150 acres 
in corn. I have seen in Louisiana 1,000 acres in 
one body, that I sincerely believe would average 
over 60 bushels. I have seen a crop in Concordia 
of full 100 acres, that averaged 80 bushels. And 
yet, with all these lights accessible to any Philadel¬ 
phia doctor, we are forced to believe , by said doc¬ 
tor, that the south is not adapted to corn. We do 
not need the best plows &c., &c., to make these 
large crops—the soil is the thing. The poor lands 
in your latitude, will no more give 50 to 150 
bushels than will the pine lands of Rankin county, 
Miss., or the sand hills of the Richland district, 
in Carolina. And acre for acre of similar lands, 
similar culture, similar manures, we can make as 
much as you can. This is irrelevant to the present 
subject, but I will let a shaft fly at that Philadel¬ 
phia doctor whenever I can. Let him stick to his 
pills, and not write of us whom he never saw. 1 
allude to the compiler of the Farmer’s Encyclopedia, 
published at Philadelphia in 1844. See article 
“ Climate,” page 338. 
Now as to frost injuring corn. We can plant 
corn here in January, February, March, April, May, 
June, and July ; and if it once vegetates, and has two 
blades, the frost will not injure the yield materially. 
I have planted in February, and had the same com 
cut down two or three times by frost; it made as 
good a crop as that planted later. The only fear 
is, we cannot calculate on a fine spell of w r eather 
in January and February, to get corn up, before it 
rots in the earth. Com cut down by frost, does 
not grow so high, does not make the usual quan¬ 
tity of fodder; but it does generally make more 
corn, and this is believed by nine planters out of 
ten, who have followed darkies for 15 years. 
The above article was written thus far in No¬ 
vember last, and overlooked until this night, Janu¬ 
ary 24th. I will now add, that there is no doubt 
but that good tools and labor-saving implements, 
will always enable the planter to do more and bet¬ 
ter than he can as now-practised. And I insist 
that they can work cheaper too. Allow me to 
state one little matter, that bears on this.. In 1839, 
I had some hoes made by a country smith out of the 
worn-out blade of a Philadelphia mill saw ; they 
were rough, it is true, but I cultivated four crops 
with them. I now buy the best hoes I can find, 
and have to buy at least half a set every year, at 
about the same cost. Knowing this, I prevailed 
on R. L. Allen to have steel hoes made, of size and 
weight to please our workies. He says they are 
good stuff. I saw them, and believe they are cheaper 
at $1.50 each, than iron hoes are at nothing. 
Another implement of value, a drawing knife, I 
also urged R. L. Allen to have made, that 
could be recommended to planters. He has done so. 
And my reason for it was, I usually keep four for 
home use. For one of them I was offered $2, and 
dared to take even $4, by a laborer—a white man. 
I asked him why he offered so much J tie said he 
had never seen but one that was equal to it, and 
that one was held by a laborer who refused $5 for 
it. I have not seen half a dozen real prime 
drawing knives in my lifetime^ and though I have 
bought and thrown away a dozen, I have never 
owned but two good ones. I speak of these, to 
show the advantage of good tools. Many of your 
readers will laugh at the idea of a planter expatiating 
on these little things, but they should remember that 
the world is made up of little things. 
M. W. Philips. 
Edwards , Miss., January 2Uh : 1848. 
MR. ALLEN’S REPLY TO DR. PHILIPS. 
I was gratified to notice the candid criticism of 
Dr. Philips, on the article of corn as human food. 
The examples he gives of the great productiveness 
of this grain are important data for determining its 
value in this section of the country as a crop. Plis 
examples, however, do not surprise me, but rather 
confirm the impression entertained on the subject 
at the time I wrote; and in corroboration of those 
given, I will add that of Col. Wade Hampton, on his 
Lake Washington plantations, 200 miles above 
