^JMftlfiMfj# CiKf$ii$t || 4#? OMMB&W AHHrmwwam* . , " VOLUME VI. CHhR AW. SOUTH-CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30,1842 NUMBER ^MM??By n. XIAC LEAX. Tanua:?Published weekly at three dollar? a year; with an addition, when not paid within three montha, of twenty pnr conl per annum. Two new subscribers inay take the paper at fire dollar# in adrance; and ten at twenty. Four subscribers, not receiving their papera in town, may pay a year'a subscription with teu dollars, In advance. A year** subscription always due i.i advance. Paper* not discontinued to solvent subscribers fin arrears. Advertisements oot exceeding 16lines inserted r site dollar the first time, mid fifty cents each bsequent time. For insertions at intervals ol two weeks 75 cents after the first, and a dollar If the intervals are longer. Payment due in advance for advertisements. When the number of insertions is not marked on the copy, the advertisement will ho inserted, and charged til ordered out. 0*The postage must be paid on letters to the | editor on the business of the office. ?|^7?^TThe following remarks read by the Editor of this paper to the Pee Dee Agricultural Society, at its late anniversary, were hastily thrown together, just r. before the meeting of the Society, under * constant interruptions. The Society having requested their publication, the writer consents, not because he considers them, as an address, fit to be published ; but because he ha* always urged the publication of whatever is written for the Society, and he cannot exempt himself ( from a rule which he applies to others.] ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS * BRAD BEFORE THK FKK DKK AGRICUL'' TUKAL SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 22df 1842. SfcS L ' Land of common quality yields com mon profit. Or to state the principle more distinctly : Land of average fertility, compared with the entire body of lands 1 J.. ?*? ?ml* aaikiI unmno. wnoso prouutu CIIICI !??/ VVJ'MI VUII||>W- i titioo with its own, will, in the long run, with average management, yield an aver, age, or barely remunerating return for all expenses incident to its cultivation.? This proposition is as true as it is, that ac.v. cording to a natural and well understood law of trade, prices will ultimately find v - their proper level. It is, in fact, only a different statement of the same truth. It follows, of course, that lands of less than average fertility cannot, commonly be cultivated without loss; and also, that lands of more than average fertility, prop, erly managed, yield an income over and above an adequate or usual, that is, an average return for the labor of cultiva. lion. Thete is no principle at the foundation of agricultural finance, which it is more important for Carolina planters to understand and bear constantly in mind Js; ' than this, it is the influence of it that has, for the last quarter of a century, been draining our wealth and population p&ji into the valley of the Mississippi* And, - ' as surely as Water seeks its level, it must - . continue to do so?in currents, it may nc, sometimes more sluggish, sometimes mere rapid,?hut the flow must continue, till kthe supply shall he exhausted, except per. haps the feculent dr -gsor till we shall change our system of management, if system it can bccnlled that is no system at all. As well might we expect a balance beam to maintain its level with a nrf?rwinrwwt nl j ntf>r. inaisunci are ine notions ? ??? , in regard to tiie comparative advantages i and disadvantages of cultivating rich and poor soils. They have some vague im? presaion that a rich noil is beat because they have seen heavy crops grow on such aoiU; and they have seen those who cultivate them grow wealthy. But in what degree it is best, or to what extent a culUvalor is remunerated for making hie poos I soils rich, they rarely trouble themselves: I to inquire. I Let us make some estimates bearing on [ | this point. Suppose the quality of a tract 1 of land in cultivation to be such that un-1 { der proper management the gross proceeds J t amount to $150 per hand, and that this 1 sum is just equal to the common wages of r such hands, rent of land, and all other ex- I penses, superintendanco included; it is t plain that the business is remunerating t and may be advantageously continued, i Suppose now the productiveness of the 1 land to be fifty per cent, more, making t the gross proceeds $225. instead of 150. t < :_l Inasmuch as the JADor or cultivating rim | soil is not greater than that of cultivating v poor soil of the same texture, the entire li increase of production is clear profit over f and above a remunerating return for the f capital invested. Or if any expense has r been incurcd in improving the land, then n the 50 per cent, or $75 per hand, is the J return or profit from that expense. And 1 if the improvement has been properly 8 made, and the subsequent mnnagemont of the land is properly conducted, it may 1 be considered more than a biennial profit h upor* the cost of improvement; because * land may be cultivated oftener than every e second year without deterioration. b If we suppose the fertility of the soil to ' be increased 100 per cent instead of 50, 1 making the gross proceeds $300 per hand. ^ then half this amount, or $150 per hand, is the return from the expense of improve- '' ment. It follows that a man who doubles ^ the permanent productiveness of the land c he cultivutes, doubles at the same time, 1 and by Ihe same operation, the value not j a only of the land, but also of the labor of * cultivation subsequently bestowed upon v it. He doubles the value of both his c plantation and his hands. A man who 1 works, at a fair profit, ten hands worth 0 $6001), on a plantation worth $4030, if ? he can double the permanent productive- a ncss of that part of his land in cultivation, v docs what is equivalent to adding $10,. 1 000 to his productive capital; or what is '' equivalent to laying out $10,000 in the j d purchase of lands and negroes;?and in- i P deed a great deal more, because whilst c doubling his grass income, he incurs no n additional expense for the purchase or sup- ? port of horses, the sup.^rt of hands, phy- e sicians, bills, or implements of husband'y {j Whether or not the cost of doubling 1 the productiveness of good land in the * Pee Doe country, sufficient in quantity to * give permanent employment, without de- P terioration, to 10 hands, would equal 1 $10,000, or 1000 for the quantity to be c cultivated by each hand, is a question for a the practicnl agriculturist to determine c by experiment. If the improvement of I the land costs less than the purchase of n both land and laborers, as I have ho doubt f every planter will admi^, then, as plainly 0 as 2 and 8 make 5, is it a better invest- h inent for a Carolina planter to lay out his r money in the improvement of his land s than in the purchase of more, with slaves h tocu tivute it. If this is true when it is J necessary to procure both land and labor- a ers, how much more is it true when a b planter already owns more land than he 1 can cultivate, and it is necessary, under t the common mode of proceeding, to pur- a chase only laborers. a These estimates, it may be said, nre p based on mere abstractions. They nre ti not, however, abstractions in metaphysics p or politics, but in arithmetic which never w lies ; and the infallible test of experimen- h tal demonstration is easily applied by any 4 planter. But let us come to the actual d state of things as they exist in the Pee 1 Dee country, and make that the basis of k some estimates. n The average yield of cotton, our staple, f and almost, our only marketable product, 1 does not exceed four bales to the hand, f with a provision crop. But to give the e advantage in our estimates to the land, 'J let us suppose it to be four and a half h bales. The gross product of these four e and a half bales, at present prices, will h not exceed $115. Deduct the common h wages of average field hands, say $30, Jf and we have left $55. When from this j a sum we deduct the cost of clothing, salt, r iron, blacksmith's work, woodwork, over- n seeing, medical attendance, rent of land, f use of horses, with allowance, for bad sea- t sons and other contingencies, how much c is left for profit? Some amount, and c that not inconsiderable, of the quality to I which the algebraist prefixes his sign mi- s nus?, the English of which is, So much a less than Dothing. The profits come up i worse than did the fanner's hogs, which t only came up missing. It is true a plan- \ ter inay make less than four and a half t bales, or less than four bales to the hand, c he may make less than common wages 11 for his laborers, and yet be adding some- i what to his capital. So ho may, with- I out reducing his capital, work his whole t life time, with all his hands, upon his ( neighbor's plantation, for no other com. i pensation than his and their current ex. < penses. But the proper question is, Does > he add to his copital as mueh as the cap. I ital and his labor of superintendence j ought to bring in to him ? What kind , of economy is it to buy land and spend j your life in making hands cultivate it for | .mere food and clothing, or for these with an addition of 15, 20 or 25 dollars each, per annum, when you may hire them out for more than double this sum, with food aud clothing iu the bargain ? It is wowe :han taking upon yourself all the labor and luzards of trading with your money, at a jrofit of only 3 per cent, when you might, >y putting it out at interest, realize 7 )er cent, without labor or risque. When i planter's land is of such quality, that le cannot clear, by cultivating it, as much is the umount for which he can hire out lis laborers, added to the value of his own ime and labor of superintending them, le is a bad economist if ha cultivates it n that state. It is as clear as that *?? and i make less than 5, that it would be beter to give away the land, and hire out he laborers. If planters, especially those who cultiate poor soils, would take pains to calculate the expenses and profits of their Hif. erent operations, they would be saved rom many blunders which they often, lot to say constantly, corrmit, and from nuch Ions which they sustain, year after car, throughout their lives. To illustrate he effects of this want of calculation 1 hall state an instance. A merchant in one of the upper counies of North Carolina applied to two of lis neighbors accustomed to wagoning, o haul cotton for him to Cheraw. One ngaged to do so, and the other declined, iecausc he had corn of his own raising to laul, foi which he needed and must have he money. The two neighbors came iown together, the one who hauled the oau of cotton bringing with him an order or payment from the owner to his factor, t so happened that the factor bought the orn and paid both wagoners at the same ime. The hauling amounted to $26 nd the com to $24. The raiser and eller of the corn proceeded as he and ery many others do in most operations onnccted with their farms and planta* ? ? ?? _r .u_ i ions, wunoui any calculation ui uic ivaa r gain. He did not seem to discover his rror till he saw the difference in the mounts paid to himself and his neighbor, rhuo glancing alternately at the two lit. Ic parcel* of bills, he remarked, w ith no ttle mortification: " I have lost two oliars if I had stole the corn." Many lantern, who little suspect it, would, upon alculation, find this anecdote, in its fi. anciol aspect, an apt illustration of some f their own operations, if not of their ntire course of management. , But to return to our estimates: A), hough cotton is tho staple product of the *ee Dee country, indian corn is a neces. ary adjunct ; and its cultivation forms n important part of the labor on every lantation. Let us inquire what profit he planter derives from this part of his rop. Ten bushels to the acre is quite s much as the average production of orn in the districts lying on the Pec )ee. It requires four hands and three orses to cultivate 100 acres of corn.? Vom 1000 bushels, the estimated yield f this 100 acres, one fourth, or 250 ushels should be deducted for the use or ent of the land. The horses will con* ume, at a very moderate allowance, 40 ushels each, or the three, 120 bushels, ^he hands will consume 10 bushels each. Mowing them pens and potatoes, or 40 In nil 'I'h.v u/ill ulan rnnmimp IjnilUlO III CUM A MV^ ?? * ? 50 lb.-of bacon e;rr:h, being 600 lb. for he four, or other meat equivalent; which t the moderate price of 7 oents, will mount to $42. If we put down the exense of ploughs, clothing, medical at. endance, &c. at the very low sum of $10 cr hand?<;iot more probably than half hat they would coat?we have 40 dolus for the four hands ; which added to 2 dollars, the cost of meat, makes 82 ollars. To procure this sum will require 64 bu.sheU of corn, supposing the inarct price to be 50 cents, though it is not iow so much. We have, then, to deduct mm the whole product of the 100 acres, 50 bushels for rent, 120 bushels for horse eed, 40 for bread, 184 for meat and other xpenses, making in all 574 bushels. Phis deducted from 1000, leaves 426 tushels as the product remaining at the nd of the year from the labor of four lands and three horses ; being 106 1-2 us'nels to the hand. This quantity, at >0 cents per bushel, is worth 53 dollars ihd 25 cts., from laborers which might tave been hired out at 60 dollars. So, iccording to our estimates, a man who dants corn in land which yields only 10 >ushels to the acre, the full average proluct of the Pee Dec country, loses 6 lollars and 75 cents per hand, besides the n M\ f Oil nt An/1? mm a nir a n T k a korl auui wi on pel i1 IIV IIHW tole his horses; for in our estimates no illowance was made for raising or buyng any. It will be remembered too, h.at, in our estimates, we gave the advantage greatly to the Kind; a thing vhich no wise planter of poor soil will lo, when he intends to make his estimates he basis of future operations. A planter n settling accounts with his poor neigh>ors, ought to let the advantage, when here is any, be on their side. But in accounts current with his poor land, he lecds it himself, and may take it without compunction. It has often been remarked that a re> - 1 ? ??U#? r\l mntf ab m Ant AM AOOUC fill iirUU llici tuaiii inarv^.i nitj ini/ai ouv/ulo?iv* farmer or planter. The chief reason, jouhtless is, that he has acquired the habit of calculating the profits and losses upon his investments. No man with the calculating habits of a merchant would refuse to haul a load for another at 826, only to haul to market, over the same read, a load of his own produce, to be ?olic to yield a remunerating return, then it is a point beyond which all improvement yields inordinate profit**; though the planter's conscience need not restrain him from pushing such profits to the utmost extent. By inordinate profits in this connection, I mean profits exceeding an adequate remuneration for the labor bestowed. Ail that a planter can make his land yield beyond a remunerating return is clear gain to him ; as much so as the merchant's per cent, over a fair profit, or his savings by false measures and false balances, are clear gain to him. But the planter's gain is fairly and honestly obtainnd. In the direct ratio of the excess of nroduct over the expense incident to 1 cultivation, in the planter's clear gain.? This explain* why it is that men who cultivate rich lands get rich .so rapidly, even with bad management. The principle point* to men of efficiency and some capital, who have a taste for agriculture, understand something of the process of fertilizing, are of a calculating turn of mind, and who are willing to wait a few years for the fruits of their labor, a more sure way than any other, of adding rapidly to their capital, with ease of mind and ease of conscience. The speculator or as he ig sometimes called, from the character and hazards of his business, the gambier in cotton, may sometimes, With less solid capital, and less labor, owing to some fortunate change in prices, make more money in shorter time. But the next throw of the dice may sweep it ail away. The regular dealer in merchandize may make profits proportionate to the amount of his purchases and sales; that is, proportionate to his capital and labor. The manufacturer may do the same, but the planter who improves his soil tifi the product is worth double, tripple or quadruple the labor bestowed upon it, thence, forth makes a profit in double, tripple or quadruple proportion to his invested capital and labor. And the lower the state of agricultural improvement in a country, the less labor does it require to raise land beyond an average, or to an inordinate productiveness. Less expense is required in the United States than in England and other highly improved countries, to raise land of given quality to a state of im. provement at which it will yield the culti. vator an income exceeding an adequate return for his labor; because, here the average productiveness is less, or, in other words, there is less competition in this species of productive labor. But here more inventive enterprize is necessary; because it is more difficult to lead than to follow in a course of improvement. It is certainly a good and sufficient reason for persisting in the improvement of soils after they are brought to a state of average or remunerating fertility, that the profits of cultivation are so much enhanced by improvement carried beyond this point. But there is also another reason for it. The same quantity of fertilizing ingredients adds more to a crop grown on rich than to a crop grown on poor soils ; for this plain reason, that most fertilizers operate not only by furnishing food to the plants, but also, as tonics, so to speak, or as stimulants which cause the plants to take up nutriment already in the soil nnd digest or assimilate it. The richer the soil, therefore, before the fertilizer is ap. plied the greater will be the actual increase of product from its application. Or, at least, this is the case till the soil ap proaches the greatest degree of fertility which the crop to be grown on it requires, or will bear. A few words now as to the mode offer, tilizing. This is the most important, if not the only important part of our subject, and would itself afford ample scope for many successive addresses. Bjt time now will allow rne only to throw out one or two hints. The common mode of manuring practiced among us is to haul into our stables and lots leaves and pinestraw from the woods, and m:ld from the swamps. These are, in time, mixed and piled up: and then, after, sometimes more, and sometimes less decomposition, they are hauled out into fields and spread, either broadbast, or in the hills and drills. This mode is copied, with a little modifi. cation, from the piactice of older coun. tries, where land is scarce in proportion to labor, and cannot, on that account, he suffered to lie idle, or without a yearly crop for immediate use. In such coun tries it is necessary and it is alsoeconom. ical; because the price of labor is low and the Drice of land high. Laborious and expensive as it is, it is also found to be profitable here. But it does not seem to mc to bo the one best adapted to our circumstances. It is not the one pointed out by nature who works on a large scale; nor the most economical, wh?re the quantity of land bears so great a proportion as it does here to the number of laborers; and where of course, it can be allowed frequent respite from provision and market crops, for the purpose of producing, on its own surface, mateiials for its improvement. ! could state a number of instances, some coming under my own observation, of manifestly great improvement in land at little cost, by turning in green crops; but as such statements are unsatisfactory unless accompanied by accurate statistics exhibiting with some definiteness the expense, and in some tangible form, also, the degree of impiovernent, I shall confine myself to a single instance, ft is an experiment made a few years since, by a member of this society, and published in the Southern Agriculturist. > Cowpeas were sown broadcast in a field exhausted ; - - J?--* :? :. I?y previous injuoicinus cropping, ucn>re n passed into the hands of tho experimenter, and of a soil adapted to that plant. For tho purpose of testing the value of the operation, part of the field was left entirely fallow, and not plowed. In the fail, wheat was sown in the land, and turned in with the crop of green peas, and where the peas had not been sown, with the na. tural growth. The wheat which grew on the different portions of the field was accurately measured when harvested, and it was found that the land manured by turning in the pea crop, yielded 15 hush, els to the acre ; whilst that on which noth. ing hut the natural growth of weeds and grass had been turned in with the feed, yielded only one bushel. Here was a gain of 14 bushels of wheat to the ? ere, worth probably 18 or 20 dollars, from an outlay of a bushel or a bushel arid, a half of j>cas, in all not worth, on a plantation, more thart from a dollar to a dollar and a half. What merchant, or speculator in stocks, p ^ j on his outlay ? Here was a judicious e/-:.>* i periment, conducted by a man whoun- -J derstood what he was about* Account g was kept of the outlay and income, and? :J||| data were procured to be a gnido in futurtf operations. If the experiment had bectf:;' /^j|| repeated the next year on the same lawdjj] v* the profit would doubtless have been stilly |g greater; because the growth of the pen^ crop, which was the fertilizing substance^s would have been much more luxuriant! ' , upon the richer soil. Let the planter who uses as fertilizorsjj . only compost heaps, accumulated froin^ the woods, his tots and his stables, cafe late at what expense he can, by Ais prdj^,^ilP cess, raise the production of whea( oiKdidF hausted land, from 1 to 15 bustH?? per acre, and then chose between, fnj t.Wo'^ modes. An important ad vaj^jgfl of etable over animal manur^ in additioo to their greater economy-Sp that the fef?0 tility which they impartjjU more durable, . ' (t is chiefly by decayed vegetable matter; ^ that the otherwise hgrren saad and ctay^ " which cothrfirfttte snjafge a proportion o$.. \ the earth's auflacej have been converted ; into productive ami. Whence else is ;? chiefly derived thefcrfhaostles*fertility of^ v the Ked'River aim Mississippi bottoms,/1 ,; and the fertility ? all our river and creel* || I w o.aid not be understood as advising^ ; the plunter to diScard hi* compost heap#'" Par, very far from it. As long as it is found profitable lot it be resorted to. But , tvhnf ( ivniitil diiafll i* that a wall pad. i;-?.*n3r:'4Z nidorod system of greeo crop manuring be \ - :M combined with thews of it. In this jvay J ^ the planter would sqbn be taught by expo- *: ^ rionce, under what cfecurnstance* and to ; what extent, either shcfefd bo prefered to " ' p In green crop manunng natare is made to do the greater part ofroiA work. She collects from the atmosphere, and duly prepares the fertilizing materials, leaving ' them evenly spread to the plantg&'s hand ; and requiring him only to lurnlthfluiajJi . ^ The quantity of vegetable matter:-wr^Kg^^M may thus be acecumuicted, by a pmpegffi^fHgjg adaptation of the plant to the toil, alrnn^t^ exceeds credibility; especially after it tie? Und has been much improved; in whirls^ ^ state manuring pays best. More ih^t IS 200,000 lb. of green corn has been cut? from a single acre in one season. .. There is another source of fertilization | accessible to the planters on and near, the.1l . ^ Pee Dee, which I can now only name, r I mean the limestone and marl which are found in quantities inexhaustible oh tHo~7 * very hanks of the river. The subject fs sM'~, almost new to many of us, and ohe.in ^ which we are deeply interested. If time * allowed I would dwell at some length upon I it. Those who wish information in regard to it are referred to the Farmers* Regiiujc ter, and the valuable treatise on Calcareous Manures by the able editor of that jeg? cellent periodical; a work which ought to ; be in the hands of every member of tkta^ CJ .? m m I .uA.if |J. nl.a An - yvE&& OUCiciV) auu c?wij |nau?vi wu iu? '*'t,j Before closing I shall state in expert^ ment made last season with the Pee Due '% marl, by a Mr. Cunningham of Maridn, f on whose land a bed of it is found. It ^ was spread at the rate of 200 bushels to Jgj the acre* on part of an old-field of sandy ^ soil, which had once heeo exhausted, arid | then suffered to lie out till it became cor. t ered with ? growth of young pines. The | marl was applied the second year.after** the land hud been re-cleared, ahd?the J T I crop planted * was indian corn. Upon J measuring the crop after it was gathered^^| ; the yield was found to be exactly doubltfj that of adjoining land of the same qualify ty, planted at the same time and eultiva^j ted in the same way. This information?*5* ^ I received from a gentleman of intelli- ' ' M gonce and respectability who sawjlth* '4 crop growing and saw the corn roeasuVerfl fS when it was gathered. Not knowing -|? that I should use the information in thi* 4| way,,it did not occur to me to inquire whal&||j was the yield to the acre;'hut my in- - -fg formant stated that'the growth was very^" luxuriant, that the number of stalks to ttver^l hill was two: that the corn succored frewly, and that on some hills he counted a* ::r ! many as seven good earn, some uf tlwia -jSj" " Lime can be.delivered on the bank? ! the river, not far from Marr'a BIwfT, at . one dollar per barrel; and at a less pi,ice- M if the purchasers furnish boxes in which to receive it. Marl can be shoveled frfmt the hank into flats or boats lying in the river; and according to the best info tion which I have been nble to collect,, it may be delivered on the river bank at , M this place, at a price not exceeding 5 cant* $6 per bushel. Now supposing 200 bushel* 'AJg of marl, per acre, to, doublo the planter's Jj crop, wiliiout increasing his labor of cot- 1 ti vat ion, whether, in that case, it would . be a profitable operation for him to purchase it at that price, haul it to his plantation and spread it out, is a matter of calculation, which one may make for fertility imparted to toil by lirae i# more doable than that imparted by jwhapr anv other manure.' ^The effect.- it? application to landsin-Wginia 50 jifid years ago are yet manifwt, by the sonority of the crops produced hv the** ^ lands, compared with those produced by ^ \ adjoining lands. Lime seem * to eft ? t *