The Press. — London, England, 1857-09-12 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 12,1857. 20 cents (101) a bushel to carry wheat by canal from the towns in the centre of Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, a distance of two hundred miles. The country is level along the Atlantic coast, but it is very poor and sandy. I met a Pennsylvania farmer who resided within twenty miles of Philadelphia. His land was worth 100 dols., or 201. sterling, an acre, and it would rent at 400 dols. a year. He raised ten acres of wheat and ten acres of Indian corn ; the average produce of the former is about twenty.five bushels an acre, and of the latter sixty bushels. After Indian corn oats are generally sown, then wheat, to which all the manure produced in the farm is applied. The rest of the farm is in grass and meadow, for when the land is sown down after the wheat crop it is allowed to lie for six or eight years. The timothy grass is sown in autumn and the clover in spring. The pastures are ploughed in autumn or in spring, and maize is planted in four•feet squares, which permits of the crop being thoroughly cultivated during summer, and little hand hoeing is required. Twenty cows were kept, and their prattle° is made into butter, and sold in Philadelphia. A cow, when the produce is disposed of in this way, will yield 35 dols. a year, and 55 when the milk is sold in towns, lut an ox will only yield about 25 dols. when fed throughout the year. A ton of hay with straw will winter a cow, and Indian•corn meal is allowed in spring when she is giving milk. Besides himself, he employed one man servant, and kept three horses. lie paid from 35 to 40 dols. in taxes every year. We subjoin, also, the following table of prices, premising, for the sake of such readers as have been a long time from school, that there are eight bushels to the quarter : Wheat. India n Oats. Potatoes. Corn. a. d. a. d. a. d. a. d. Now England States .. A 9 .. 1 4 .. 010 New York 1 t u r t t i li L em n I 34 • . 2 . 191 ... : ( 1 ) 10 Pennsyl. I East. Dist. 4 6 .. 2 0 .. 1 4 .. 1 0 vanis J Western.. 3 7 .. 1 8 .. 1 0 .. 010 Ohio 2 3 .. 0 10 .. 0 8 6 6 Indiana and Illinois 2 0 .. 0 7 .. 0 7 .. 0 7 Michigan 2 3 .. 1 0 .. 110 .. 0 7 Wisconsin 2 0 .. 010 .. 0 7 0 7 Delaware & Maryland 4 2 .. 2 3 .. 1 4 .. 1 0 Virginia t T a e s s t. te D rn ist 1 " ( I ) 4 1 .. 100 Kentucky & Tennesse 21.. 0 7 e .. 7:.. • 1 0 South Carolina, Deur- 2 .. 1 0 .. 1 2 .. 1 0 gis, and Alabama Lonisiana&Mississippi 4 8 .. 1 4 .. 1 0 .. 1 3 Missouri 1 8 .. 0 7q .. 071 .. 010 - Passing on to that portion of Mr. Russell's work which treats of the Slave States, the whole of the eighth chapter will be found, we think, peculiarly interesting. The following remarks are very striking, and point to a view of slave labour which is unfamiliar to the people of this country : - - - - Even a rich district cultivated by slaves may compare very favourably with one cultivated by free men, with regard to the amount of produce that they severally raise ; yet the outward signs of prosperity in the two would be very opposite. The income of the large planter is com• monly spent in a way that does not give rise to local trade and commerce. The slave population is, in a great measure, a non•consuming class, and does not promote that traffic which raises up villages and towns. These effects of slavery are always most strongly marked in those districts which have the richest soils. An exactly opposite state of things prevails in the fertile districts of the Free States, where, the labour of the cultivators being well rewarded, the means for purchasing the comforts and luxuries of life are diffused among all classes. " The aspect of the country," then, a theme so much dwelt on by a certain class of tra vellers, is not, it would seem, an unerring index to its actual condition. In all those kinds of labour which require that a large number of hands should be suddenly concen• trated upon some one operation, slave labour will, in Mr. Russell's opinion, always be able to compete with free : Though a slave may, under very favourable circum stances, cultivate twenty acres of wheat and twenty of Indian corn, he cannot manage more than two acres of tobacco. The culture of tobacco, therefore, admits of the concentration of labour, and thus the superintendence and management of a tobacco plantation will be more perfect and less expensive than of a corn one. And while slavery can always command labour, it likewise possesses the great advantage of organising labour. Tobacco cannot be cultivated in the Free States by hiring and employing labourers; it is only cultivated there by small farmers. These circumstances give slave labour a great advantage over free in the culture of this crop. But besides these advantages, slavery admits of having an economical division of labour in the raising and pre. paring of tobacco for market. Mr. Babbage points out the existence of an important principle in the division of labour when employed in manufactures, that is, " the master manufacturer, by dividing the work to be executed into different processes, each requiring different degrees of skill and force, can purchase exactly that precise quantity of both which is necessary for each process; whereas, if the work were executed by one workman, that Person must possess sufficient skill to perform the most difficult, and sufficient strength to execute the most laborious, of the operations into which the art is divided."—Economy of Manufactures', p. 138. The same principle applied to the organisation of slave labour for tobacco culture, though in a different way, inasmuch as both young and old slaves can find suitable employment in the culture and preparation of the crop for market. Worms require to be picked off the plants during their growth, and the leaves are gathered at 1853 the crops of wheat averaged 40 bushels to the acre; in 1854 only 25 bushels. As indicating the natural capa bilities of the land, we were shown a field on whi2ll a heavy crop of Indian corn had grown in 1852 ; it was sown next spring with barley, which produced 50 bushels to the acre, then sown with wheat in autumn, and this year it had yielded 40 bushels per acre. On this farm a field of clover was in course of being plo'ighed up and sown with wheat ; it had been in wheat this year, but the farmer was complaining that the plant of clover was had, while in our opinion it was a most excellent one. Mr. Harris remarked that this was surely a mere excuse for getting a little more sown with wheat, while the prices were good; 100 sheep are kept on this farm, besides 10 or 15 cattle, which are reared and sold when two years old. On another farm of 208 acres there were 40 in woods, 12 permanent pasture, 7 Indian corn, 12 oats, 10 peas, (15 wheat, the rest in clover. About 1,000 bushels of wheat were thrashed this year, 500 last, and 2,0(10 the year before. The seasons appear to influence the yield of wheat far more than they do in Britain. The flock of sheep yielded 41)0 dollars last year. Leicester sheep do not seem to thrive well where so much of the land is cleared, for frequently the whole flock are seen during the heat of the day standing crowded together with their heads all down. It is almost the universal practice to sow clover among the wheat in the spring, and at the same time to give the field a dressing of 100 lbs. of gypsum, which has a wonder ful effect on some crops. The clover is benefited more than any other plant, though peas, potatoes, and Indian corn have often new life imparted to them by a light dressing of this substance, which is almost the only artificial manure used in the Western States. The manure of the farm is applied to Indian corn, which is, perhaps, more gratetul than any other crop for liberal treatment. •• • • • The meadows yield particularly fine pasture—a hundred acres will graze seventyfive head of four•year•old cattle from the 15th of May to the Ist of December. In one of Mr. Wadsworth's fields I saw a large herd of Durham cattle, the greater number of which were bred in Kentucky. Some of them had travelled 800 miles by railway, at a cost of twenty-nine shillings (seven dollars each). They can be driven that distance at half the expense and in as good order, but .the railway has the advantage of savir.g time. Mr. Wadsworth's manager brought some salt with him in his gig, and we were soon surrounded by the whole herd, which licked it up with great avidity when it was thrown down upon the grass. Throughout the Western States and Canada cattle and sheep are very fond of salt, and though they often run almost will in the woods they return at intervals for a supply. The week previous to the time of my visit 120 cattle had been sold out of these pas tures at 171. a head. Among the natural grasses in the pasture cocksfoot and timothy were conspicuous, and seem to be the most valuable grasses that have been imported from Europe. The best meadows yield three tons of hay per acre. For this land seven dollars per acre are charged when the crop is to be cut, and five when pastured. The value of these meadows is 120 dols. per acre, so the rental which they yield is but a small return for interest, in a country where six per cent. for money can be got on a good security. Cattle are not housed here during winter, except those that are fattening. They run about the meadows and find shelter among the woods. Store cattle have hay, straw, and the stalks of Indian corn supplied to them; while those that are fattening have Indian•corn meal in addition. Six pounds of meal a day are et first allowed to each beast, and the quantity is gradually increased until eighteen pounds are given. Such high feeding, though not often practised, does not, it is said. pay. tattle are considered to remunerate the grazier if he has two guineas (ten dollars) a head for pasturing them in the upland during the summer. These extracts are, of course, only intended as a specimen of Mr. Russell's method of de scription. Even to epitomise his information would be impossible within our limits ; but, if we are not mistaken, we may glean this one general conclusion from his observations on the northern districts, i.e., that farming there is not so profitable a business as it is at home, but that its advantage lies in its requiring so much less capital. Before quitting this portion of his work, some other particulars may, per haps, be acceptable to our readers: — I met a farmer, anative of Devonshire, on the railway, who resided in the township of Georgina. He spoke highly of the country and its capabilities, and said that some of the hest pasture land south of Lake Simcoe rents at eight shillings an acre. A great rise in the value of cattle and sheep had taken place in a few years, in conse quence of the opening up of the market by the railways. A sheep weighing 00 lbs. the four quarters was worth li. 2s. sterling, and an ox of NIX) lbs. 111. 15s. These high prices have already given a great stimulus to the improvement of the breed of stock. His farm was 200 acres in extent, of which 00 were in wheat (one-half autumn and oue•half spring sown), 5 turnips, 1 potatoes, i Indian corn, 10 peas, and 25 oats. Georgina is in Upper Canada, in the district of Toronto : The farms are small in Pennsylvania, and the soil is b•, no means so productive as that of Ohio. It contains upwards of twenty nine millions of acres, hut little more than eight and a half millions have been reclaimed. This State. however, produces as much wheat as any other in the Union. The surface is much broken in the central parts by the Alleghany range. Where the soil rests upon the limestone rocks it is productive both for grass and grain. It has upwards of eleven hundred miles of canals for transporting coal and agricultural produce. It costa 897 they become ripe, at different periods of the season. These operations can be done as well, and consequently as cheaply, by women or children, as by full-grown men. But often a small proprietor in the Free States can command no other labour than his own, which would be greatly mis applied in most of the manual operations connected with tobacco culture ; because his team of horses might some times be standing in the stable while he was picking worms off the plants, which would render this very costly work. Thus, through the organisation and the division of employ ment which slave labour admits of, it is virtually cheaper than free. It now only remains for us to offer a series of extracts exemplifying the culture of the different southern crops, i.e., rice, cotton, sugar, and tobacco : Engagements preventing the gentleman to whom the estate belonged accompanying me, I was directed to ask for his " driver" named "Jupiter," whoml found a most intel ligent person. He was of pure African blood, and possessed a powerful frame, with a great deal of energy and activity in his character. The management of the plantation was almost entirely confided to him. There were twenty-one negroes, old and young, on the estate ; but there were fourteen working hands ; and forty acres had been in cotton this year, but last year on'y thirty acres. This seems scarcely three acres to the hand, though each he assured me managed five acres. The cotton is planted in ridges four and a half feet in width, and a foot and a half between each plant in the row. But if the soil is rich, as muoh sometimes as three feet. The cotton seed is planted from the 20th of March to the 20th of April ; and as the plants rise the soil is thrown up to their roots by the plough and the hoe. The seeds of the cotton plant, l►ke those of peas and beans, are ripened soonest on the branches next the ground; indeed while the lower branches of the cotton plant have ripe seeds the upper are bearing flowers. As the seeds ripen, the husks expand, and the cotton fibre appears attached to the seed, in the form of a round ball as large as an orange. As soon as the earliest husks are open, which is usually about the last of July, picking com mences. This operation is long continued, for a succession of pods ripen until the end of November. As the cotton is gathered, it is dried and stored up till win►er, when the separation of the fibre from the seed is effected. • • • • • - - Considerable diversity prevails in the mode of cultivat ing the rice plant. Some planters plough all the grounds every year. Those who follow this system give a light furrow in the beginning of January, and afterwards make shallow furrows or drills fifteen inches apart to receive the seed which is sown broadcast, in the month of April, at the rate of from two or three bushels per acre. A small quantity of water is then admitted for a day or two until the grain sprouts. The plough used on these rather strong soils is exceed ingly light, and drawn by a mule. I have seen a negro woman carrying one on her shoulder from one field to another. On a plantation of 500 acres under rice, I have found that twenty-two mules performed the whole plough. ing, besides cultivating from seventy to eighty acres of Indian corn on the light sandy soil of the pine country. No one can say that there is any waste of animal power in this case. Rice culture involves a large amount of manual labour—for about one hundred negroes, men and women, are required to tend and reap the crop on this extent of land, and take the grain to market. This number of field hands was only got out of 250 negroes, young and old. The common calculation is, that the working hands are about one-half of the total number of negroes on a plantation. The most approved and general mode of cultivating the rice fields, when free from weeds, is to sow the seed with out ploughing. The stubble of the previous crop is burned in spring, which operation is easily effected, owing to the quantity that is left at harvest. A negro then goes into the fields, and makes a rut with a hoe between the rice rows of the former Drop. Sometimes a small drill plough is used. Either of these serves as a receptacle for the seed, which is either covered with a rake or the water is admitted at once, and covers it by washing down the soil. The water, in all cases, is admitted to the field as soon as the seed is sown ; and when the young shoot appears above ground it is again drawn off. In the course of a week the crop usually receives another watering, which lasts from ten to thirty days, according to the progress which vegetation makes. This watering is chiefly useful for killing the land weeds that make their appearance as soon as the ground becomes dry. On the other hand, when the field is under water, alnatic weeds in their turn grow up rapidly, and to check their growth the field is once more laid dry, and the crop is then twice hand hoed. By the Ist of July the rice is well advanced, and water is again admitted and allowed to remain on the field until the crop is ripe. This usually takes place from the Ist to the 10th of September. The water is drawn off the day previous to the commencement of reaping. The rice is cut by the sickle, and the stubble is left from a foot to a foot and a half in length, according to the rankness of the crop. The day after it is cut it is bound into sheaves, and carried by the negroes to the bank of the main canal, whence it is carried in flat•bottomed boats to the threshing machine. The rice in the husks is then sent to Savannah in boats. In connection with the sugar plantations, per haps the most interesting facts will be the following The season for crushing sugar-canes in Cuba lasts for six months at least. Now, from all I heard and saw, lam fully persuaded that the negroes are much overtasked at this time on almost all the sugar plantations. Until I visited the sugar fields and factories, I had no conception that such severe and long•continned exertion could pos sibly be endured by any race of men. The common prat,•