Farmers' gazette, and Cheraw advertiser. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1839-1843, August 11, 1841, Image 1
' " -*' -"Ifi
i jr % . #
mm mrnrnnw iLmwimwwm?*
! ..- . .... ,i , mm n I I ill i it?
VOLUME VI * CHER AW, SOUTH-CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1S4L NUMBER 39.
By M. MAC LEAX. d
? ii
TtUMi:?Published weekly at three dollars a c
year; with an addition, when not paid within ^
three months, of twenty per cent per annum. 1
Two new subscribers may take the paper at s
fire dollars in advance; and ten at twenty. p
Four subscribers, not receiving their papers jin
town, may pay a year's subscription with ten
dollars, in advance.
A year's subscription always due in advance. a
Paper? not discontinued to solvent subscribers a
in arrears. a
Advertisements not exceeding 1 f? lines inserted p
r one dollar the first time, and fifty cents each (
nbsequent time. For insertions at intervals of
two weeks 75 cents after the first, and a dollar n
if the intervals are longer. Payment duo in v
advance for advertisements. When the number q
of insertions is not' marked on the copy, the ^
advertisement will be inserted, and charged til
?rdered out. 0
O" The postage most bo paid on letters to the !<:
editor on the business of the office. Jj
From the Western Farmer & Gardener. P
BOROUR HONEY?MANAGEMENT OF T1EES. }'
For many years hv past, Borgue has e
been famed for producing fine honey? ii
perhaps the finest in Scotland. It is of a t<
transparent sea.green hue, and possesses j,
an exquisite richness of flavor which is Sj
"keenly relished by connoisseurs. What
gives it the beautiful color, has hitherto ^
battled the investigations of naturalists;
^ . .. HI
% but it is certain that it is clear until the
heginningof July. Many of the pasture Si
fields in Borgue abound with white clover, 01
nnd in fine dry weather in July, thous- ^
ands of the industrious insects may be C1
heard buzzing, and seen gathering sweets ti
from the lime that the dew rises until late U
in the afternoon. Extreme dry and d
warm weather is unfavorable for pro- o
thicing good honey, for the flowers either ||
never arrive at perfection, or the scorch- (j
ing ravs of the sun burn them up. Ex- jj
tremelv wet weather is also unfavorable
? for however numerous the flowers of
different kinds are, the plashing rains P.
wash out what the bees so ingeniously 1
mix in their laboratory, while they are reluctantly
confined in their cells. In (t
good seasons, as much as one hundred
iind fifty pints* of sixteen imperial gills a
each, have been produced in Boruue, o:
though for some years past, the quantity B
has been considerably less; and bee hus- b;
bandry is bv no means so generally cul- nj
tivated as in former times, when the Z(
seasons were more propitious. The f}|
eentso* of 1839, was highly unfavor- p|
able, and the produce in the parish of
Borgue was hut little more than forty .pints;
while that of 1S40, which was ^
something better, yielded somewhat more {
than eighty. The summer of 1826, was s
the wannest that any living person re- w
tuemhered, and the most unfavorable for 1,1
" - ^ ?i? r.t.. ft
jiroflucing noney. noi oniv in quamuy, *
bat in quality; for in that season it was w
as dark in the color as what conies from pi
the Moors, and wholly devoid of the rich pi
flavor that it commonly has. In the win- fr
ter of 1833, and also that of many S(
hives died of starvation, though at killing fl
time each season, numbers of weak ones
^ were taken with the view of preserving jr
the lives of the stronger one* in the eh- ^
filing spring; and hence (lie small nntnber ^
of hives that are to he found in the parish
of Borgue. fn former times, almost ev- a
ery married laborer, as well as each join- **
er, mason, cooper, blacksmith, <&c. had a *
winter-sfool; and in the month of the fol- Ci
lowing October, the gains of each wouid w
amount to from ? 1. 5. to ? 2f besides a o<
small quantity for family use, and an old pi
hive to breed, and throw off swarms next c<
8ummet, Some of the more extensive s{
cultivators of bee husbandry, used to have {j
? .1 l*t
from six to ten winter-s!oois, nnu ineir n
gains were iri' proportion. For some
years past, few persons in Borgue have 15
had more than four hives that survived
the winter; and in tolerably good seasons
they throw otFon an average, two swarms
each. There are sometimes one, or even
tiro more ; but they are commonly weak,
and the produce would have been greater r(
and finer in quality had they remained i?
in the parent stock. In very good sea- V
80H9, the top or first swarm throws off c
one hive, and the produce of it is called a
virgin honey, which is of a truly beautiful j,
hue, and always commands the highest j,
price in the market. A virgin hive sel- ^
dom produces more than two, though in jj
particularly good seasons, three, or even
four pints. In fine summers, the honey *
is always much superior in quality, to
what it is in unfavorable ones. In sener- a
al, there are but few young swarms before
Whitsunday; and the greater number are
thrown off from the 1st to the 21st of j F
June. Sometimes there are a few as late
as the last week in July; but unless the
season is highly propitious, they do not a
gather as much as will preserve them e
through the winter, and are smoked in i
September. In good seasons the average p
quantity from each swarm is probably p
three pints, though the top one occasional- n
Iv yields from six to seven. If the top
swarm is very strong, it is customary to ^
put one, two, or even three ekea\ to hinder
it from casting; and in extraordinary fine
seasons, from six to eight pints have been
produced. In bad seasons, the drones*are
-? 1 I Ml 1 I C* iL. y. ^ ,al L'tl'O PfYl N 1
soinenmcs kiiipii neiort? mc mai o?? .? j
thrown oft*, which materially injures the j s
parent stock; but in good seasons, the j t
* The Scotch pint is rqnal to our half-gal- i
Ion. <f
From Sft to ?10,
\ Additions. 1
rones are not destroyed until the hiving
i past. Owing to the darkness of the
olor and the difference in the flavor,
loor honey rates from two to three
hillings per pint lower than the finest
reduced in the low countries?at least
n Borgue. Honey gathered orT heather,
nd also ofF the leaves of oak, fir and svcmore
trees, is always of a dark color,
nd consequently less marketable. It is
flowed on all hands, that white clover is |
eculiarly rich with materials for proucing
fine honey; but it is a mistaken
otion that bees also gather from red cloer.
The wild, or bumble bee very freuently
extracts food from red clover;
ut the tame one, owing to the shortness
f its proboscis, cannot penetrate. The
itter, however, are very fond of gooseerry
and current trees, cherry, apple and
ear tree blossoms, wild and garden musird,
rape, kale, &c. They are also very
art m I tn tho flr.iv?r? ttf OTprman tTfCenS.
xx.xx.xx, xv xxxv ... e- ,
ellow clover, and many other wild flowrs,
which callous persons pass by with
ldiflerence. In some apairies the wri;r
of these remarks has seen the, ground
l their immediate vicinity delved in the
iring, and sown with rape or mustard
?ed. In Borgue, old swarms or winter
oo!s, are not removed to the moors, hut
re kept in their summer stations. In
immer, bees are often found ataconsidrable
distance from anny dwelling house
mugh how far they fly in search of food
innot be accurately calculated. A long
me ago, some hives were kept from ten
> fifteen years ; but of late they are selom
allowed to stand for more than two
r three years. A hive that weighs 30
>s. including the sleep, will keep during
to winter, and if it is heavier, will most
kelv throw ofi' swarms earlier in the
nsuing summer; but forseveral seasons
ast, some weighing 20 lbs., have with a
D
Itlo spring feeding with honey, or mel;d
sug;ir, hoen preserved, though the prouce
is commonly scanty. I bad seasons
ie killing of hives usually commences
O v
bout the 1st oi September; and in good
nes, about two weeks afterwards. In
lorgue, the way of getting the honey is
y digging a round hole in the garden or
4iarv, putting two pieces of wood hori>ntally
over the mouth; placing two
'imstone candles in the bottom; then
acing the skep right over them, and
>vering it over with a sheet. In a short
me the bees are suffocated ; and lest on
ie following day the rays of the sun
muld revive them, they are covered over
ith earth ; and thus are they not only
nscrupulouslv robbed of their store, hut
rue IIy put to death. Fine honey usually
eighs from 7 to 7 1-2 lbs. per imperial {
int; and in proportion to the quantity
reduced, or to. the demand, it brings
omsix to twelve shillings. In ordinary
-asons, it brings about nine shillings,?
lough in very very bad ones, it has been
s high as fifteen shillings per pint. The
it tor price is very rare indeed. In the
eginnirg of October, persons desirous of
avingan v stock, repair to the moors,
nd purcnasc keeping hives at from fif;en
to twentv-one shillings each.? \
'hough all the moor honey is of a dark i
3for, it is principally consumed during.
inter and spring ; and the new honey is:
ammonly of .as tine a quality as if the
irent stock had been bred in the low
imntry. Old hives are sometimes dcroyed
hy the white moth, or miller,
inugh its ravages ,.i proportion to the j
umber of hives kept, are by no meansso J
rent as they appear to be in some parts
f America.
SAM'L. HOUSTON,
orgue, near Kirkcudbright, >
April 1st, 1841. \
(The preceding communication was
jceived from a correspondent in Scotland !
i answer to our enquiries on the subject.
lTe were anxious to know if Burgee hony
was still as beautiful in appearance,
s delicious in flavor, and as highly
rized as when we were wont to ramble
n our boyish days oiccr the muir am'ing
\e heather. We wished to learn, too,
' the secret of its peculiar excellence had
et been discovered.
We are much indebted to Mr. Houston
nd will be pleased to hear from him
gain, on such jike topics.)
'rom the Western Farmer and Gardener.
MEDIUM SIZZP, VERSUS LARGE HOGS.
Mr. Editor;?You are aware that I
m now, and have heen ever since 1820,
xtensively engaged in pork-packing in
his city; and I feel that I may without
resumption, lay claim to .iot a little exerience
in the business. It is fully as
nuch to my interest, and that of every
me else engaged in curing pork for rnar;et,
as to the interest of the farmer, that
he very best breeds of hogs should be
catt'Ted over the country.
When I first entered into it, the pork
irought to us, was produced from the |
ame miserable race yet to be found
hrough much the greater of the West,
t yielded us little lard, and the sides were
mfit for mess or clear pork?too thin and
?nly fit for bacon. The first improvement
we had was the little chunky China
jog?a perfect mass of lard?hams light
I and too fat?though the vraste of offal
! was trifling. The next we had was the
large Warren county hog, requiring years
to mature, and then coming to us of an
enormous weight?great waste of offal?
the hams too large and badly shaped, as
was also the shoulder?and the sides, nevertheless
of their great size, were thin
in proportion. They were still a great
improvement. The crosses of these and
the Russian and Ryficld, in the hands of
some of the more judicious breeders, pro.
duced a very excellent hog?-and we who
were the purchasers, were anxious for any
improvement on the unprofitable woods
hogs usually raised.
Though as I nave remarked, so long
engaged in the business of packing, I had
paid but little attention to the breeding
of hogs, though always keeping a fuw of
the best I could find on my farm, and
improving them to the best of ability.
It wag not until some of the part.bred
Berkshires were brought to us from Butler
and Warren counties, that I was struck
with the great improvement they were on
any I had yet seen. The perfect manner
in which they were fattened?their
extraordinary length of body, and the
thickness of the side met?their small
yet thick, fleshy shoulder?the great
weight and handsome form of their hams
the great yield of lard, and little waste of
offal, either of inside waste, or head and
hone, proved'to me that they were a
something entirely different and altogether
superior to any other breed within my
knowledge. On making further enquiry
respecting them, I found them equally
advantageous to the farmer and drover,
as to the pork packer. Prolific and easily
kept; maturing early and fattening
kindly to as great weights as were desirable
; stamping their own character
strongly on any other breed with which
they might be crossed ; and travelling
well to any reasonably distant market.
I had before this been breeding hogs
for sale, and seeing at a glance, the great
advantage it was going to be to me in
my packing business, to have such a hog
as the Berkshire in general use, I at once
engaged in it largely. u
True it is that I cannot give tip mv
farm, and my attention and capital, to
the breeding of fine stock, without a
prospect of meney-making by it; but
that was the secondary object I had in
view?my pork-packing business was of
the first importance to me. I saw and
dreaded the efforts that were made to
introduce an extrcmelv large hog into
n o
Kentucky, for I had about this time transferred
my pork business to that state, and
had gone tovery*great expense in erecting
an extensive establishment back of
Covington, and intended making my entire
purchases in the state. We can
make no use in this market, of animals
weighing from 400 to 600 lbs., even
though they may be well fattened. A
hog of the proper form and quali y of
meat, that matures at ten or twelve
months old, so as to fatten properly, and
then weighs from 200 to 300 lbs., is the
sort for which we will give the highest
price, because it yields us the greatest
profit. And most assuredly it will also
pay the farmer best. We have no population
to supply, thai will consume large,
coarse, indifferently cured meat. Our
principal demand is for city and family
use, both here and in the cities of the
south and cast. The ham is with us the
most valuable part of the hog, and the
celebrity of those cured in Cincinnati is
now great. This part must be heavy
without being large?round, thick and
plump; the flesh, though principally lean
yet marbled with fat. Next to the ham
the lard and side meat vield the greatest
* O
return?the former must he abundant in
quantity, and line grained ; which never
is the case with any hog until he has
somewhat matnred?the latter raust carry
its thickness throughout, having no thin
flanky parts ; and must be fat?and last
we rank the shoulder and the jowl!
Many of the Boston arid Richmond
dealers, and those from the other cities
in the East and South, come here annuallt?
frt Koi'n rrtoof r\nn1'A/l .fKotr 111 n f*P T
|> IU IKIIG IllV^Cll pav^(\^ll ** * |',w,v'
such a hcg as I have described, and will
huv no other if they can help it. How
the drovers, who arc represented as driving
to Richmond and Charleston, and as
preferring the largest sized hogs, can
possibly dispose of such animals there, I
cannot understand. Nor how meat of a
size that I kn*w from experience, cannot
he cured, even with the aid of cool cellars
here, can be kept there. surprises me.
Think of a pair of hams, Mr. Editor,
weighing 14$ lbs. in the climate of
Charleston or Richmond or Baltimore !
They would indeed require to he cut in
two; and then what a sightly object!
Still some regions of country may require
a larger hog than others; and to
1 . .1 I * I 1 .1 .1 T"l
! supply inose wno may inink so, ?jr. a. i?.
Alleu, now on his way to England, will
import for me some of a size sufficient to
suit any taste For my own part, and
for my use for packing, I want neither an
extravagantly large hog, no. yet a very
small one. A hog that has to be fed two
I
winters, never will pay first cost; if he i
can be had of sufficient size without wintering
fit all, so much the more profit?a 1
spring pig hilled in the fall at '200 lbs.
nott, Will evidently pay better than if the
I same hog had been kept over winter, and
reached the second fall 500 lbs. nett.
I have been speaking now as a porkpacker,
not as a breeder; and what I
have said, I say in all sincerity. I have
no desire to injure the business of any
other breeder of improved hogs, nor to
prevent their continuing their improve,
ments to as high a point as they please.
But I do regret to see gentlemen of science
and experience going back to a large
i r?r?nrsp hncr. Miirh no th*? YVnhiirn. Tritth I
ev ?? ? "
grazier, or Lieoesier, when they can procure
a hreed so infinitely superior; the
improved Berkshire*
JOHS MA HARD, Jr.
Cincinnati, July 5, 1841.
From the Southern Planter.
corn cobs. .
Mr. Editor,?'1 am happy to see you
and correspondents pressing the value of
the corn cob upon our wasteful and extravagant
community. If farmers would
only attend a little more to this and some
other points of rural economy, they
. might easily save enough to justify a sys.
I tern of improvement which they admit
tp he desirable, but from which they are
frequently deterred by the want of funds.
I am fully satisfied that there are but few
farmers in our community who do not*
waste more than enough to supply them
with the means of effecting improvements,
that in their turn would double
their means of making others equally as
j profitable.
| Go upon a large farm m Virginia, ob|
serve the niggardliness in providing fences,
houses, and fixtures, and the correspondent
waste in food, li\bor, and destruction
of implements. Compare the management
with that of a manufacturing or
mercantile establishment, and you see at'
once, why agriculture is not profitable, j
j Such system, or rather such a want of it, j
j would break ddwn any other business in i
the world.
But I have been dr wn off from the j
main object of this communication, which J
was simply to confirm the value of corn j
cobs, by relating to you a circumstance !
that came within my own kr?o\vlc!grt. In J
the winter of 1810 corn was very high, |
and Peter Bedlock, of Dinwiddie, who is !
now an independent farmer, was a very I
poor man, but an excelb nt manage r.? j
Afraid that his corn would not last, he !
determined to try, and did, winter his!
horses upon corn cobs alone, pounded in |
a common hominv mortar with his own i
J
hands. They received no other suste.
nance except long forage, as hay and
fodder. Upon this they did their win.
tcr's work, and no man ever saw Peter1
Bedlock drive a poor horse.
To this fact I am ready to testify and
you are welcome to give my name to any j
persou w o may feel sufficiently interea- |
ted in it to ask for it. j
Yours, J. II. '
|
From the Southern Planter.
BERKSEIIRES.
Mr. Robinson, who is not less remarka- j
ble for his practical common sense thnn 1
for the forcible q iaintness of his style, j
g.ves the following excellent advice to the
breeders of Berkshires:
"Experience is an excellent teacner? j
as I have been taught a little I will impart
it to others engaged in breeding pigs.
Great care is necessary with this breed
to guard against the temptation to use
them too young. They are so large and ,
fine at eight or ten months, that many !
j suppose they are plenty big enough to |
j breej. It is a great mistake. The hoar |
j should scarcely he used until twelve
months old, and then but sparingly until I
eighteen. A sow should never lie allowed :
...
to have pigs until a year old, and then :
only in warm weather?and it wouid he j
better that they were sixteen months old j
?nature cannot be forced with impuni-1
ty. The period of gestation in a sow is j
exactly sixteen weeks. Now of mycxpe- j
rience?I had two sows last fall on the j
passage from Albany, got with pig at j
j about four months old. On the first day I
| of January, one of the coldest season, one
drapped seven and the other two, and as !
the sows had little or no milk, and were !
I
too young to mind rheir pigs, all died in j
spite ofall that human care could do.
"Yesterday, another sow, just one year j
old, dropped eight pigs. Sao is one of i
the kindest most careful, and sensible !
hogs I ever saw; and as the weather is I
warm, are all as live>y as could be wished.
It is characteristic ot Berkshire*,
that they are great breeders, and fine
milkers but do not he tempted to use them j
too young. But above all tilings, do not
be tempted to do without them.
SOLON ROBINSON.
i Lake C. H., la., April "2."
SUCCESSFUL FEEDING OF SILK WORMS. j <
We are gratified to learn that Mr. R
Sinclair, sr. of Ciairmont Nursery, neari
this city, has been most successful in his
attempt at feeding Silk Worms the present
season. He fed half a million of worms,
nearly all of which have completed their
interesting labor of winding their cocoons.
No mortality whatever occured during the
whole season, and but very few of them
died. Nor are we less gratified to learn,
that he has realized to the full, the ealcu.
lations of profit contained in Roberts' Silk
Manual, because we are aware that the
statements made by the author of that
work, were so made under a co/iscientiojs
belief in their truth.
In announcing the pleasing result of
the labors of our old friend Sinclair, we
seize the occasion to congratulate our ago
n
ricultural readers upon the prospect thue
afforded of adding another dnd a most lucrative
branch of husbandry to the co.untrv??a
branch whose h'essings and.bene,
fits we sincerely hope and believe, will, |
in a few years, be not only felt but acknowledged
throughout our wide-spread
land, notwithstanding the drawback it
y n ^
received by the speculating mania in the
trees.-*? Amer. Farmer.
From the Southern Agriculturist.
OX THE USE OF LIME AS M VXURE.
Mr. Editor:?It is unfortunately a
trait in the character of the Southern
Planter that he regards all novelties with
suspicion. Any departure from the practice
of his fathers, or his neighborhood,
he considers dangerous, and the generality
will deride as vain theory, the efforts of
the man who will have the courage to
make an innovation upon established precedents,
or to violate a rule dictated by
one of the partriarrhs of a neighborhood.
This causious spirit if united to a liberal
enterprise, is highly commendable ; he
who possesses it will incur no rash risks,
while he willavail himself of all the lights
of modern research ; but unfortunately
we too generally find the caution without
the enterprise.?They sneer of the practical
man withers the energy of the enthusiastic
speculator, and the old routine
of practice continues to he popular because
nothing short of absolute demonstration
will convince the man of practice
that the theorist is not madman.
In your editorial career you have suffered
from this prevailing spirit. The practical
man will not write because, he has
nothing new to communicate. His practico
is the 9ame now as it was yesterday,
and as he thinks it will he to-morrow,
and is known to all engaged in the same
pursuit. The speculator dare not write,
b -cause he knows that the first question
...\\t~U ..fill Ko irhnn lua (iaanv shall
WHIHI |T III UTy a.^n\yll IV HVII * Ml v?w.? v
have boon rea?l, will bo?What sort of a
planter is be ? How "does his practice
square with his theory ! If the answer
to this question be not satisfactory, he
will bo condemned as one who presumptuously
protends to teach, while he ought
vet to be sitting at the feet of Gamaliel.
n
" He writes better than he plants." If a
more damnatory specimen of faint praise
wore over uttered, I have not had the
misfortune to hear it. My imagination
can conceive of nothing more killing.
I am surprised that the Planters of lower
Caroline have as yet derived no benefit
from the publication of one of the most
valuable and practical essays of tho age.
(I moan Mr. Ruffin's essay on Calcareous
Manures.) Several years have elapsed
~ ^ L ?n/1 n/\f iL'lf lief nn*
since 11iinsi puimcmnnif nuu uui v* nuoiuu
ding the knowledge that it has revolutioniseil
agriculture in lower Virginia, I believe
that hifhero not one planter in
South Carolina has used lime but as a
pretty and useless experiment.
The book came out too, at a period
when South-Carolina was suffering sev.
erely from the emigration of her citizens.
Exhausted fields, lying over large beds of
lime were deserted, in some instances
they were literally abandoned, and at best
they were sold as lands hopelessly worn
out and their proprietors went to the great
Western Valley to seek richer lands, a
main feature in the constitution of which
was the presence of lime. Notwithstanding
the known character of Mr. Ruffin,
for intelligence and probity ; notwithstanding
the labored details of experiments
which teach the readar that he has got among
stubborn facts, and not idle theories
; notwithstanding that it is a history of
what has been affected in lower Virginia, j
a territory differing but little in character
and climate from our own, yet the books |
which unfolds irs beneficial agency is with j
us almost unknown ; the lime remains in
its natural bed undisturbed; its very existence
is by many questioned, and the
fields lying but a few feet above it, and
which with its application can be put in a
state of progressive improvement, are un- J
dergomg yearly, a progressive deterioration.
The extent of the lime-stone region in
South-Carolina is as yet unknown. There
is every reason to helieve that it commences
immediately below the falls of the
great rivers, and continues to the sea.
The stratum varies considerably in thickness.
I apprehend that its maximum
thickness is at o>* near its termination in
the uplands, and that its minimum is at or
near the sea coast. It is certainly much
thicker at the Eutaw than in the known
localities twenty miles below.
The position of the limo is various.
At the Eutaw Springs and in its vicinity, j
in the neighborhood of McCord's Ferry I
and near Monk's Corner, on Cooper river, j
it frequently rises to the surface and a!
little above it. On the elevated lands <
bordering on the various swamps and
creeks which form the head of the latter
river, it has been found as low as from ten
to twenty feet below the surface?On the
margins of creeks, and near the point of
junction of upland and swamp land, its
depth below the surface is but a few inche9,
and generally except the land rises abruptly
to a considerab'e elevation, It may
always be found at the depth of from four
to eight fejt.
If I might presume to propose a general
rule from my limited observation, I would
suggest the following as the indication of
a bed of lime, vkj :?whenever the Upland
adjacent to a stream of water produces &
growth of hickory, red oak, dogwood, locust
or walnut, lime may be dug for with
n pprfainfu nf whon nn mn.
Irary, the uplaryls produce only long leaf
pines and scrub.oak, the search for lima
will bo unavailing. The streams of the
former class abound in muscle shells and
craw.fish, and the uplands in snails; none
of them, certainly net t ie muscle, will be
found in the pine land streams.
The appearance of the lime varies in
different localities, but the fragments
which have been subjected to analysis,*
) exhibits generally ahr-ut twenty per cent
j of alkaline earth.?how large a portion of
this is magnesia, is a question not yet set.
tied by the chemis's. In some places
near Santee river, below the Eutaw, and
at Godfrey's ferrv on the Peedee, the lime
is founcf in n bed of loose shells partially
pulverised, and may he carried immediate,
ly from the pit to the field, without further
preparation?It is generally a hard
rock full of fossilshells; frequently the
rock is so hard that wheg smartly
struck with a hamrnar scintillation will
follow. This of course will require either
fire or the hammer to render it fit for the
field. If a quantity of this hard stone is
thrown up in the fall, and ex x>sed through*
out the winter months, it U idergoes disintegration.
.
I have no correct data for ascertaining
the amount of labor neceswirry for oh.
taining lime. Mr. Ruffin, who has been
in the habit of spreading from three ftun.
dred to two hunJred and thirty bushels of
calcareous earth to the acre, [equal to
from one hundred two hundred
and thirty bushels of Carolina
limn, (states that a single man,
employed throughout the year, will dig
enough to manure sixty acres of land.
Two years ago. six men in three weeks
dug for me eighteen hundred bushels?this
was equivalent to the lrb.?r of one man tor
nine weeks or nny-io i lays. mm una
nmount of lime I man. r,*d < ighteen acres
of land. I believe that my hurtdred bush,
els of lime are fully equally in value to
Mr. Rutfin's three hundred bushelsof calcareous
earth. Now as. it required the
labor of three days to manure one acre, if
we take an.average number of two bundred
and seventy days as the number of
working days in the year, then the labor
of one man would at that rite ofmanur.
ing furnish enough lime to cover ninety
! acres of land. IPthe relative values of the
! Caroline and Virginia manures have been ,
(justly stated, we mi y presume^that the
lvalue of the products of lalw>r will be v
' greater in Carolina than in Virginia,''be|
cuuse it is to be supposed that when the
j liming is pursued as a systematic part of
I the operations of fiidM'arm, the means em.
I ployed in procuringit must he more convenient
than any I could command, when
only engaged in n crude experiment,
i Following the practice universally ad.
! opted in Carolina, viz to devote our
attention to the market crops almost exclusively,
considering every other as a
secondary object, my experiments with
lime have been made only on cotton. I
have made Jwo experiments; the first in
1 iii- r - j ,^4
1839, a year remaraaoie ior iirvncss auu
great productiveness; the second in 1840,
a year as remarkable for humidity and
! comparative failure. In each year the
| result was most gratifying^ the moat dej
cidedly marked success was in the (try
vear. After one year's cultivation the
, land was suffered to rest. The field limed
in 1839 produced a less abundant
crop of poverty grass than the circumjacent
lands not limed?and a more luxuriant
growth of crab and joint grass a de|
sirable object. That is a gross that is
said to delight in a calcareous soil, it might
! cmr.-arl morn m nidi v on such, thnnon lands
I T* - ~r ? v
free from calcareous earth. Everv one
who owns an old plantation, is aware that
joint grass is no stranger, even to the
poorest lands. If lime then be really a
I fertilizing agent, let us ?.ot object to it be!
cause it does not prove a panacea for ail
the evils with which our ignorance, or our
careslessness, or the behests of a wise
Providence have strewn our path.
Mr. Ruffin observes, that they who wish
to use calcareous manures must make the
i digging of it a branch of the regular farm*
ing operations. Any system of manuring*
we know must, to be efficient, become a
part ot the habitual operations of the plantatioa.
Trusting to the chance of oh?
tainlng lime during the season oetween
hreingand harvesting. I made no othff
provision for it last year, but classed ^
with the rest of that miscellaneous jobbing
operation called fall work. But mthe
fall the water had taken possession of my
pits, and I had land to clear, md other
causes prevented me from obtaining a.
bushel of lime. The opening of a small
body of land, together with the rains ?f
August aDd Septemper, bavQ stopped f<^>