28 6 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Sept. 
acre and harrowed; first lengthwise the furrow, and 
then diagonally. The grass seed is then sown and co¬ 
vered with a brush harrow. The new seeding will be 
fit for the scythe the next season, although a little la¬ 
ter than the old fields. 
Among the advantages advocated for this practice 
are the following :— 
1st. In those localities where hay commands a high 
price, the land may be kept highly productive in grass 
with less manure, than by the system of plowing and 
planting one or two years, and then seeding with a 
grain crop. 
2nd. It is generally considered that the enriching or 
vegetable matter in an acre of green sward that will 
cut three-fourths of a ton of hay, is equal to a dressing 
of at least fifteen loads of manure. This is turned un¬ 
der, where it is free from the dissipating influence of 
the sun and wind, and there remains to enrich the 
land. 
3rd. It is well known to the farmer that, by the old 
practice of planting one or two years and seeding with 
grain, before he can get round to renovate all the lots, 
as fast as needed, much of his land in grass will not 
yield a full crop. By this method, requiring as it does 
less manure, he can visit his different fields oftener with 
the plow and manure cart, and thus keep his entire til¬ 
lage ground in a more productive state. 
4th. Almost every farm has some fields in grass too 
low or wet to be plowed and planted in the spring. 
These lands can generally be plowed in August, and 
thus as often as they become bound or overrun with 
wild grasses, can be turned smoothly over, manured 
and re-seeded, and a good quality of hay continually 
obtained. Of course, land to be managed in this way, 
must be so free from rocks and stumps, that the plow 
can turn it well. 
I have thus given the practice and its recommenda 
tions, and although they will not apply in full extent, 
except in the localities named, still this practice in 
part, wmuld be useful on most farms, in this region at 
least. F. Holbrook. 
The Olive in North Carolina. —Being on a 
visit to Wilmington lately, I fell in with a nurseryman 
from Parig, with fruit trees, shrubs, and flowers— 
among others the olive and tea-plant. I am trying an 
experiment with the former, as I do not think our cli¬ 
mate too cold for it. It matures in Europe in more 
northern latitudes, and I only wonder it has hot been 
long ago introduced and propagated. It affords sub¬ 
sistence to an immense population in the old countries, 
and in heathenish days was looked upon as almost sa¬ 
cred. I have not the means of gratifying my desire 
to make improvements of the kind on a large scale, 
but I do wish that some gentleman blessed with greater 
advantages than myself, would turn his attention to' 
acclimating both the tea-plant and olive among us. 
Some have asserted that fruit trees, with the exception 
of the peach, never do well in our climate, but I think 
the fault lies with ourselves, and will be found in want 
of skill and attention. Did we bestow upon them the 
same labor and same care, and study their nature, as 
they do at the north, I think we would succeed. But 
the fact is, we have so many avocations, so much bu¬ 
siness here and there, that we have not got the hang 
of the thing; our minds are too diluted, too undisci¬ 
plined. 
Stock.—I am pleased in saying our people are be¬ 
ginning to take great pride in the improvement of 
stock, which had been much neglected. There is 
anxious inquiry made after Durham and Devon cattle. 
The Berkshire and Chinese hogs are found on many 
plantations. Horses of the best blood are sought out, 
in which we were shamefully deficient. I was much 
pleased with your description of the Morgan horse, and 
would be glad to see the breed introduced among us. 
I think it the most perfect form of the horse. Our 
blood horses of Virginia stock, although some of them 
are excellent road horses, are too delicate for planta¬ 
tion drudgery. The Morgan horse seems to combine 
strength and speed. I do not yet despair of seeing 
them introduced, as the spirit of improvement is abroad, 
and who shall stay its course ? It is indeed a pleasing 
contrast with the retrospect of past years. The mass 
of our population in earlier periods being employed in 
making turpentine and tar, farming was a secondary 
employment. I well recollect when the horses, after 
plowing by day, were turned out to graze in the woods 
by night, and it was sometimes noon next day before 
they could be found. The horses being weak, the 
ground was only miserably scratched, hence shallow 
plowing has been handed down to us; and as it comes 
time-honored with the rust and sanction of antiquity, 
many are still irrevocably attached to it. Our horses, 
indeed, were of the sorriest description, and in general, 
our cattle and hogs no better. J. D. J. Topsail , 
New Hanover Co ., N. C. 
Wages of Labor.— The Report of the Commis¬ 
sioner of Patents contains an extended tabular state¬ 
ment of the prices paid to farm laborers and to me¬ 
chanics, in the various counties of the different states 
of the union. The following gives the substance in a 
condensed form:— 
Farm Laborers. —Maine—northern parts—$12 to 
$15 per month. 
New Hampshire and Vermont—$12 per month. 
Massachusetts—eastern—$12 to $14 per month, 
do. western—$11 per month. 
New-York—mostly $10 per month, often $12 per 
mo., a very few $8 per mo. 
New Jersey—$15 per month, and not boarded. 
Pennsylvania—mostly $10 to $12 per month. 
Maryland—$8 to $10 per month, 37 to 50 cents 
per day. 
Virginia—southern—$5 per month—northwestern, 
$10 per month. 
North Carolina—northern and central, $7 to $8 per 
month—western, 50 to 75 cts. per day. 
South Carolina—western, $5 per month—north¬ 
western, $6 to 10 per month—northeastern, 28 cents 
per day—central, $8 to $10 per month—white labo¬ 
rers, $15 per month. 
Georgia—northwestern, $15 per month, or 75 cents 
per day. 
Alabama—southern, 30 cents per day—northern, 25 
cents a day—central, 50 cents a day. 
Mississippi—colored, 50 cents a day; white, $12 to 
$15 per month, and found. 
Louisiana—the older settled portions, $12 to $15 
per month, and found—newer parts, 50 cts. per day. 
Tennessee—western, $10 to $12 per month—east¬ 
ern, $10 to $15 per month. 
Kentucky—eastern, $7 to $10 per month—western, 
$8 to $12 per month. 
Ohio—mostly $10 per month—rather higher in the 
southern parts. 
Indiana—$9 to $10 per month. 
Illinois—central and southern,.. $8 to $10 per mo.— 
northern, $15 to $20 per mo. 
Michigan—very variable, average about $11 per mo. 
Iowa—about $12.50 per month. 
As a general average, wages are higher in more 
newly settled regions, especially where emigration is 
rapid and enterprise considerable; in older country 
places, the wages are lower, except near large cities, 
where they are high. In the slave-holding states, 
wages are generally considerably lower than else- 
