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'nimstrial Copies. 
THE SOUTH. 
fcbonid Northerner* Emiirrate to the South! 
With the late election, the excitement 
which always attends a great political con¬ 
test lias subsided. More practical subjects 
are now engaging the attention oi the masses 
of fhe people. Not interest merely, but stern 
necessity, calk upon our population to con¬ 
sider earnestly and promptly how we can 
best develop tire material resources of the 
South. Here Nuture has bestowed her gifts 
with a lavish baud, but there is need of 
something mort— aye, mare of that “ some¬ 
thing'' than the resident people of the South 
are able to give. We want more muscular 
arms, industrious baud.?, enterprising spirits, 
and usefUl and effective means. The great 
question is, “ Whence can these be obtained?” 
Efforts looking to the securing of foreign 
immigrants are malting in some quarters, 
but it cannot be denied that we are chiefly 
in need of men who have capital. Can¬ 
didly, we look to the North as the only part 
of the world that promises to mset our need 
to much extent. 
It is known that umuy at the North are 
interested in this matter, and will be glad to 
receive reliable information on various points 
involved in he subject of Southern emigra¬ 
tion, This information I propose to give as 
fur as I am able. I shall not undertake 
to write scientific treatises, but practical 
sketches for practical men. 1 shall try to 
write truthfully, and respectfully request 
interested parties to address any inquiries 
they may choose through the Rural, and I 
will answer them with promptness and can¬ 
dor. Of course I cannot write definitely 
and in detail about many sections of this 
vast Southern land; but I can do so in 
regard to much of my own State, and am 
quite sure that very much of what is true 
here will apply to several, if not all, of the 
other Suites, in the main. 
I know that about the first query that 
arista in the nind of one who desires to 
emigrate South is, “ Would it be safe and 
pleasant for a Northerner to settle there?" 
On tliis point so much bus been said and 
published that it is necessary to answer at 
some length. All that has been said to the 
contrary has been provoked, in great part, 
by the perpetual presence of the military, 
suggesting annoying thoughts of subjuga¬ 
tion and humiliation, and the acts and 
speeches of a class of politicians ii’om the 
North, whose policy k*d them to offend one 
portion of the pop frtion in order to secure 
the suffrages of the other. While these 
bitter things have been proclaimed, there 
has oil along been an anxiety on the part of 
many of the beat citizens to see considerate, 
useful and thrifty men comiug to settle 
among us. The quietus given to the poli¬ 
tics of the country by the expiration of the 
lute campaign, reveals the truth that that 
anxiety embraces all the thinking class of 
our people. I do not hear a word from any 
eae in opposition, but invariably in favor of 
Northern immigration. 
A few days since, in the city of Salisbury, 
N. C., I witnessed the arrival of a company 
of gentlemen from Mainland, New Jersey 
and Pennsylvania, who were on a prospect¬ 
ing tour with a view of purchasing lands. 
There was evidently a general feeling of 
gratification at their coming. Not a soli¬ 
tary individual uttered an ungenerous senti¬ 
ment — but all the contrary. Their deport¬ 
ment and conversation wero discreet and 
proper. To such men the strongest South¬ 
erners are ever ready to extend not only 
courtesy but respect and kindness. To those 
who come with due respect and good will 
for all, I earnestly believe that due considera¬ 
tion and amicable reception will be extended. 
To those who come with fixed and blatant 
opinions against the white population be¬ 
cause of past and dead issues, I could not 
promise much. They might be sale, but 
they would not find their new homes very 
pleasant. People would not like to have 
them as neighbors and would not extend 
those amenities of social life on which one’s 
eqjoyment so much depends. They would 
either have to bring society along with them, 
or dwell in solitude, so far as regards sociul 
intercourse. In short, each emigrant or set¬ 
tler would answer the above question for 
himself by his character and conduct. These 
would decide how our people would be dis¬ 
posed towards him. He should come re¬ 
membering that our condition, in every 
respect, is new and peculiar, and therefore 
throwing away, or suspending old opinions 
and prejudices until he shall have become 
cognizant of what we now fire. It is likely 
that Democrats would be received more cor¬ 
dially than Republicans; but as to security, 
I verily believe that either would find as 
little cause for uneasiness on that ground as 
anywhere in the North. 
In corroboration of what I have stated I 
append the following concurrent opinions: 
— The old North State, edited by Lewis 
Hanes, Esq., a staunch Union man through 
the war, speaking of the prospecting party 
referred to above, says:—“ We feel confident 
they will meet with a most cordial reception 
wherever they go. We hope to announce 
the coming of many more such parties soon. ’ 
The Wilmington Star, which has been one 
of the warmest Southern papers J kuow, in j 
a recent issue declared:—“ Immigration is J 
now the great question, whether immigrant 
be the German, the Swiss or the Yankee. 
What we want is men of muscle, of capital, 
and of energy.” 
Governor Holden, in his late inaugural, 
eaye“ The laws are over all alike, and are 
faithfully and honestly administered. Society 
is peaceable and tranquil. ImnngmuL, there¬ 
fore, will not only be welcomed by our peo¬ 
ple, but will be protected and respected, and 
a fair field will be opened to them, in com¬ 
mon with those who are here, to improve 
their condition." Again he asserts that “ the 
people of the State are anxious that indus¬ 
trious and worthy immigrants should come 
hither and settle among us." 
As experimental evidence I give the sub¬ 
joined extract from n letter written from Co¬ 
lumbus, Ga., to a Baltimore paper. Tire 
writer had passed on his prospecting tour 
through North and South Carolina. Speak¬ 
ing of his visit to Raleigh, N. C., he snys: 
“ I found a strong desire among merchants 
and planters for immigration, and nil who 
gathered around me in the market-place in 
the morning seemed hardly to credit the fact 
that such miserable tales oi ill treatment, as¬ 
sassination, Ac,, could be believed. When 
1 told them that I was going in a small way 
to do something in developing North Caro¬ 
lina farms and mines, anil that my success 
would induce others to follow, there were 
scores who most heartily and from their 
hearts wished me all the success that I could 
probably in my wildcat dreams of imagina¬ 
tion conceive of, and all at once had farms 
to sell.” He further states:—‘‘I have for 
the past two weeks ate, slept, and traveled 
through bog and brake, through lone woods 
and by-roads, on foot, horseback, ami buggy, 
in night freight trains with all classes of so¬ 
ciety, and up to this day have not met. one 
single party who has been anything else but 
kindly disposed; have heard very few oaths, 
have seen no drunken men either white or 
black; and,after saying this much in simple 
truth, I cannot ::ee why immigration should 
not turn its way southward.” 
In subsequent letters I purpose giving min¬ 
ute informal ion about the health of the peo¬ 
ple; the character of the climate, the char¬ 
acter, state, price of the lands; the crops 
raised in different localities; the needs of 
those who come to settle, Ac., Ac. 
I sincerely sojLeit any interrogatories bear¬ 
ing on the subject which any one who is at 
all contemplating removal, may desire to 
have answered, Such inquiries may prevent 
serious disappointment or trouble to some 
who might come among us. a. vy. 3L 
Flat Elver, N. C., Dec., 1808. 
-- —— 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
We notice that this Society is again offer¬ 
ing its annual fair to the highest bidder. 
Many complaints have been made against 
this early representative of agricultural pro¬ 
gress, especially of late years, that it exacts of 
towns where its exhibitions are held, the 
whole expvo.se of erecting all the buildings 
and fixtures necessary for its annual display, 
besides $1,200 for the expense of clerks and a 
police force. This is very burdensome upon 
the city, and results in defective arrangements, 
so that seldom satisfaction is giving either 
to the exhibitor or the public. These faults 
arise not so much from bad management of 
the Society as from the inherent difficulties of 
the case. The funds of the Society will not 
permit the expending large sums in fitting 
up the grounds preparatory to exhibition, 
and it is compelled to assess the town for 
these expenses. 
Many towns are ambitious to have the Fair 
and often over-tax their resources to accom¬ 
plish this object. Very seldom an adequate 
return is mads to the enterprising citizens 
for their extraordinary liberality, and this 
being well understood the people of the 
town often take occasion to retaliate upon 
the public by charging exorbitant prices for 
very poor accommodations. 
These temporary preparations for an exhi¬ 
bition are chargeable with most of these dif¬ 
ficulties. It is quite too expensive to fit up 
grounds in an adequate manner for a single 
Fair. 
In discussing this matter with our friend 
(J. A. M., he suggested as a cure for these 
evils that the State appropriate a portion of 
the funds necessary to erect permanent 
fixtures at such points as will accommodate 
all the formers of the State. The plan is for 
the State to appropriate one-half and require 
the county where the buildings are located to 
raise a like sum to fit. up the grounds, in a 
permanent maimer, to be kept In readiness 
for the accommodation of the State Fair. 
Let there be a number of places so prepared 
—say, Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Watertown, 
Rochester, Elmira and Buffalo. Let the 
State make an appropriation of §15,000 
or $20,000 this year to be given to the 
county which shall first raise $20,000 more, 
to be expended in fitting up permanent 
grounds for the accommodation of the State 
Fair next fall — and thus $20,000 each year 
for a like purpose until these seven places are 
thus prepared — the Fair being hefd in ro¬ 
tation at each place. This would stimulate 
each of these towns to outdo the others; and 
the result would be more commodious build¬ 
ings and grounds than the Society has yet 
had, and the location would, each year, be 
changed so that the population of every 
part of the State would ultimately be accom¬ 
modated. 
As it has always been the policy of the 
State to foster and encourage this Society 
as the means of developing the most 
Important of its resources; and as the 
moat important office of the Society is 
accomplished in ita annual Fair, where a 
large number of enterprising farmers are 
brought together in competition, this should 
be considered the most important feature to 
be encouraged and requiring the wisest man¬ 
agement. Yet it is left to drift bap-hazard 
to whatever place will spasmodically raise 
the funds to hold it. And the hurry incident 
to fitting up a new place on the eve of the 
Fair causes many of the most important 
matters to be neglected. If necessary to do 
so, it would not be difficult to save from the 
sums expended every year by the State to 
print the reports of this Society enough to 
permanently fit up grounds for its Fairs. 
These reports are valuable, and would do 
much good if properly distributed and intel¬ 
ligently read. But as it is, thousands of these 
volumes are sold for waste paper. If the 
doings of the Soclbty are to be understood 
nud appreciated, their Fairs must be held 
under the most fuvorable auspices. Here is 
where reformation should first begin, and the 
plan proposed appears to be the most feasi¬ 
ble for its accomplishment. 
The grounds fitted up at these different 
places would also be just wbut is needed for 
the County Agricultural Societies; and this 
would induce these counties to be more lib¬ 
eral in raising funds for this purpose. The 
State Agricultural Society should turn its 
attention at once to inducing the Legislat ure 
to make such au appropriation. This is ab¬ 
solutely necessary to the advancement, of the 
Society and the best interests of agriculture. 
It is not creditable to the great State of New 
York that its Agricultural Society should be 
put up at auction, utmaidly, and soi l to a set 
of sharpers, who expect to indemnify them¬ 
selves by extortion, and swindling all the 
people who attend the Fairs, e. w. b. 
;i«Ib (l,rops. 
WHEAT. 
Its Present and Futarn Production. 
BT T. C. PETERS. 
Assuming the premises kid down in pre¬ 
vious articles to be as correct, at least, as the 
ten per cent, guesses of the Commissioner of 
Agriculture, we have an area of 105,000,000 
acres of improved land inclosed and in farms; 
we have also 8,000,000 of farmers upon that 
area, whose individual occupancy is equal to 
fifty-five acres, or the size of the farms will 
average fifty-five acres of inclosed laud. 
Not over one-half of that urea ie annually 
under tillage and in crops. Of the area thus 
occupied, only one-fourth of the breadth is 
under wheat annually, or about seven acres 
on each farm, and the acreable annual pro¬ 
duct is only eight bushels of sixty pounds to 
the bushel. We have annually iu wheat 
crop, 21,000,000 of acres, producing a nomi¬ 
nal crop of 168,000,000 of bushels. 
To spare a surplus for export, which is In 
no wise desirable under our present system 
of fanning, we must cither increase the 
breadth annually sown, or the acreable pro¬ 
duce of the land iu crop. The breadth will 
not be materially increased; ami if it, was, 
the increase of population would absorb it.. 
Our surplus, then, must come from an in¬ 
creased product of the land annually soeded. 
Can this lx: done? Most, undoubtedly; for 
“what, man baa done, man may do.” 
Over all this broad land, from California 
to Maine, where wheat has been attempted 
to be grown, there are in every locality ex¬ 
ceptional instances where as high as twenty, 
twenty-five and thirty, to even sixty bushels 
per acre have been made at a single crop. 
Ill Georgia the writer saw a field which had 
borne six consecutive crops of wheat, and had 
commenced with less than an annual crop of 
six bushels to the acre, and the sixth had 
just threshed out, eighteen bushels to the 
acre; and the fertility of the land W'us being 
annually augmented by a system of cultiva¬ 
tion both cheap and profitable, mainly by 
green manuring, making, w ith a little help 
from artificial manures, the land to furnish 
the material for its perpetual fertility. This 
was an exceptional case, it is true; but the 
soil was only a fair sample of the prevailing 
soil of the South. It was not, perhaps, the 
poorest, nor was it the best, of Southern 
wheat soils. 
I have seen on the sandy soils of New Jer¬ 
sey, large fields which have given this year 
as high as thirty-two bushels to the acre, 
over a considerable area of territory, and by : 
a procees of manuring whiob was also profit¬ 
able in itself. 
Notwithstanding our slovenly mode of 
cultivation, and the want of adequate capital 
among farmers to prosecute a system of high 
farming, it is possible to increase the annual 
product, of wheat to an extent that will meet 
a largely increasing home demand, and all 
the probable demand for export. 
It will be found that our normal crop is 
not much, if auv, iu excess of 168,000,000 of 
bushels. If, therefore, we are called upon 
for an export supply, wo must fail to yield 
it, or, perchance, coming when wc have had 
an unusual crop, it may be supplied from the 
accumulated surplus of years of plenty when 
the normal annual crop has been in excess. 
It is possible, by a little care in tillage, to 
add four bushels per acre to the now annual 
yield. This would give ub a surplus of about 
80,000,000 of bushels that could be sold at 
prices which would command the markets. 
For there being a surplus which must be 
consumed or lost, the price would not be bo 
important as the fact that it had passed into 
consumption, and therefore did not check or 
hinder the annual production. 
If, therefore, each farmer who raises a crop 
of wheat should resolve that he will increase 
his crop by only four bushels per acre, there 
will be no deficiency in the supply, and our 
people may still enjoy the pleasures of the 
“ wheaten loaf” and the pains of the national 
disease—dyspepsia. But there is no fern- of 
famine, or starvation of the poor, as long ns 
Indiun corn in produced in its present “ pro¬ 
fuse abundance.” 
It woald seem of little use to prescribe 
rules for the successful cultivation of this 
plant hi so diversified a country, in soil and 
climate. Every fanner ought to know, and 
does know, whether he has prepared his 
land in the best maimer to give him a full 
crop. He ought to know what kind of seed 
is best for his land, and when it should be 
committed to the soil. All this he ought to 
know, or else he ought not to sow. If, 
therefore, he find when his crop is threshed, 
that he is below the average yield, he must 
ask himself, “Have I done my duty? or is 
the fault in the season ? If the fault is with 
him lie can amend it next time. 
There are certain rules which must be ob¬ 
served iu every climate and every soil. The 
natural soil for wheat is calcareous, or where 
the spring water is hard. Wheat, of all the 
other cereals, is the most exacting on lime. 
There must always be a full supply in the 
reach of the plant or it tails to perfect, itself, 
either in straw or grain, or both. One of the 
readiest means by which to distinguish be¬ 
tween a natural wheat and a grass soil, is iu 
the nature of the water of the springs. If it 
be “ hard,” or does not readily make lather 
with soap, it is a natural wheat and fruit soil. 
If, on the contrary, it be soft like rain water, 
it is a grass soil, and potatoes, flax and to¬ 
bacco will’grow best in it. Any plan of ma¬ 
nuring, therefore, which does not contem¬ 
plate adding to the soil a sufficiency of lime, 
where that mineral is deficient, will be pro¬ 
ductive of feeble results. 
Where the cultivation is attempted in al¬ 
kaline, or soft-water soil, and the lime can¬ 
not be added, the crop should only be put iu 
at long intervals aud upon a heavy coating 
of vegetable mat ter plowed under. 
By practising upon these rules modified 
by the peculiarities of the locality, the wheat 
Crop may be largely increased, and a surplus 
always on hand to meet the varying de¬ 
mands for export. 
-- 
VARIETIES OF POTATOES. 
Light-colored potatoes are the most pop¬ 
ular, though their quality be inferior. It is 
not. essential that they Ik- purely white, as a 
mixed color, like that of the Peach Blow or 
Mercer, will sell as well. In form it, is bet¬ 
ter they incline to length than roundness. 
The eyes should be lew and shallow to avoid 
waste in paring, and to give them a smooth 
appearance when baked. Originators and 
growers of new sorts should,bear in mind 
these requisites. They are important. A 
round, deep-eyed, dark-skinned potato will 
never become popular in t he markets, how¬ 
ever good it may be iu other respects. 
Where the business is carried on largely it 
is definable to grow several varieties, em¬ 
bracing early and late kinds, not, only to 
meet the demand of the market , but to pro¬ 
long the season of planting and harvesting, 
so that the work will not come “ all in a 
heap,” and compel largo outlays for labor. 
There is safety, too, in having several varie¬ 
ties, for in some years one or two kinds will 
rot while, others remain sound; some will 
fail in yield and others give full measure, 
and prices for varieties also vary. Judgment 
should likewise be used in regard to the 
adaptation of the soil to the variety. 
•-■*-♦-♦- 
Tltc Surface of Craws Lands. — A recent writer 
very sensibly urges the importance of leaving 
the surface of grass mat grain fields, upon which 
mowers und reapers are to be used, smooth, as a 
matter of economy. 
mt Mpittnan. 
BEE EXPERIENCES. 
l/cgsouft Imamed from the Boo*. 
Please permit, us apiarians to have a chat 
among ourselves, through your columns, 
about our bees; and in order to do this, let 
me urge all bee owners who foci an interest 
in the production of honey, to unite iu the 
best mode of obtaining it. If you have any 
superior mode of management, let it. be 
known, amt by reading each others’ experi¬ 
ence and practice, wc may be benefited and 
Improve in our mode of operations. If we 
see some experience that looks rather simple, 
let ub pass it. over, and not throw stones at 
the writer for his ignorance in the art, for no 
good cornea from it. 
I have told a part of my mode of manage¬ 
ment, and if some others have a better way, 
I would like to improve by it. One thing is 
positive, that the moveable comb hive will 
not eomo into general use here until apiari¬ 
ans have a better knowledge of it. TLosa 
who have from two to ten hives will mostly 
use the box hive, with drawers or caps 
on top. 
I wish to say a little more about bees 
swarming, It seems n3 if a certain number 
were chosen to go and others to stay; for, 
go to the hive and see the swarm coming 
out; the mother goes, and a part of the bees 
with her, while the other part are laboring as 
usual, bringing in their 3tore9 as if nothing 
hud occurred—no moaning for the lev’s of the 
mother, as they would have done at other 
times. Why do they not, like a flock of 
sheep, follow their leader and all go? Be¬ 
cause He who created them decreed that a 
part should shay and a part go. Now look 
at the new swarm; here wc see all ages— 
some with their wings worn with labor, 
others of middle age, others quite young. 
This shows wisdom; for the older ones man¬ 
age till they pass off and the younger ones 
fill their places; and, in turn, they die and 
the new brood fill their places; for seven 
months is said to be the life of a bee. 
Mareellut?, N. Y. A. Wilson. 
-- 
ILL FLAVORED HONEY. 
H. Fall, Council Bluffs, Iowa, writes the 
Bee Journal as follows:— My bees did noth¬ 
ing all the season, till late in the fall when 
the sunflowers were in full bloom. Then 
they commenced storing honey in great 
quantities. They gathered from fifty to 
eighty pounds per stand in two weeks. Some 
of them filled all their surplus honey boxes, 
and when I took some of the honey for eat¬ 
ing, I found it tasted as the sunflowers 
smell. It is scarcely fit for table use. There 
are hundreds of acres of these flowers grow¬ 
ing here. 
Now, what I want, to get at is for some 
bee-keeper to let me know through the Bee 
Journal whether bees will work in a pros¬ 
perous season on flowers yielding distasteful 
honey? 
In response the editor cf the Bee Journal 
gays •— tVe presume that the sunflower here 
referred to 5b one of the numerous varieties 
of wild aster—probably the A. sericcus or 
the A. saffitiifolius ; though we do not know 
that either of these blooms so late In the sea¬ 
son. We have no knowledge of the honey- 
producing qualities of these, nor of any ex¬ 
cept the New England aster; but suppoe* 
that bees will gather from the blossoms of 
the variety complained of every full, if honey 
is secreted by them. 
Commenting upon the above in the Rural 
World, “W. M.” writes:— Here is another 
sample of the utter inutility of common 
name* in the description of plants, Insects, 
Ac. Wc have found in the several States the 
Chinjsopsis—Silphium — Jirlunuhus — Coreop¬ 
sis — Biden* and JMetium: all called sun¬ 
flowers. Which of these is meant, wc can¬ 
not say. Bees work well on Uelianthus An¬ 
imus aud produce fair honey. In some parts 
of our State they neglect buckwheat for the 
Bidms or Spanish needle. In both the ffdi- 
antim* and HilpMvm the honey has more or 
less of resinous taste. It is well known that 
“ bees will work in a prosperous Season on 
flowers yielding distasteful honey” (to us), 
and they even work upon tltc blooms that 
produce stupefying or poisonous honey. 
As the bee makes its honey to suit itself 
there is little cause of wonder and no cause 
for complaint if the flavor does not always 
sait our palate. We know that bees feed on 
much that ice do not relish. 
•-- 
A writer in the American Bee Journal 
claims that queens, to be prolific and long- 
lived, must be started as queens from the 
egg, or at least from the very commencement 
of their existence as lame:—“ A queen that 
is started from the larva or grub varies in 
length of life according to the number of 
days it was fed on worker food. For ex¬ 
ample, an eight days queen hatched in May 
or June, has invariably failed the first season. 
They are but little if any longer-lived than a 
common worker. A ten days queen fails 
the second season ” 
