407 
Wilmington, N. Carolina, tlie proportion is increased to one-tenth,* and 
in the vicinity of the Santee canal in South Carolina, the proportion is 
-still further increased to one-ninth.f 
The culture of thegraminese may be regarded as giving origin to four 
different and distinct kinds of husbandry: 
1. The culture of the grasses proper, for the purpose of supplying 
food for stock. 
2. The culture of the grain bearing grasses, mostly for bread. 
3. The culture of the aquatic grass, rice, (oryza sativa, Linn.,) on 
which a very large proportion of the human family are fed. 
4. The culture of the sugar cane, (Saccliarum officinarum, Linn.,) for 
the sake of its juice. 
It is only with the first two that we have any concern as cultivators in 
this climate; rice and the cane requiring a greater annual temperature 
than is here found. 
Whether the culture of grass and the rearing of stock, or the cul¬ 
ture of grains is the most important and will yield the greatest return 
for the capital and labor employed, at any given locality, is quite an im¬ 
portant inquiry. Usually upon the first settlement of a country, or the 
first emergence of a people from the barbarous state, the culture of grains 
predominate; the cattle being allowed to shift for themselves, and rely 
upon the natural grasses and herbage. The culture of grasses as food 
for stock is therefore an indication of a more advanced state of the agri¬ 
cultural art. 
Usually in this country the two kinds are combined in the same town¬ 
ships or even on the same farms, but there is a decided tendency towards 
the increase of the first at the expense of the second kind of husbandry. 
Doubtless this mixed culture is best for western farmers, but yet there 
must be a certain relative proportion that one should bear to the other; 
and it should be our aim to ascertain what this proportion is, and to con¬ 
form to it as nearly as circumstances will allow. The question resolves 
itself into this: whether the production of grain or of meat is the most 
profitable ? 
* Catalogue of Rev. M. A. Curtis, in the Boston Jour, of N. Hist., vol. i, p. 82. 
t According to the enumeration of Prof. H. W. Ravenal—Pro. Am. Ass., I860, p. 3. 
