Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1844-06-19

ed. lie IS (or rather ,oas for there Is a mani
lesr change going on) esteemed but seconl
rate man among hisdeows, who will sconde
scend to take orders from his employer, ant
manage according to the, system Of anolhe
person. And until this. Ideals ieholly eradicat
led, and the real Intelligence ofthe country, ant
the true owners of.;ts wealth, can centIol 1T
agriculture inthe mnutest details, the advance
Of Improvement must be seriously clogged
What could be done in war! if 1.-THE orders: %
The General in Chief were not scrupulously
cbeyed, from the second in command, through
every grade, 10 the soldjcrsin the ranks a So il
is in planting. The planter must tsnnderstand
his business, and he must have agents tocarry
out his Views, from The pitching oi:his crop, tc
ihe@eaning This pig: I therefore setitdown
as The first requisite OF good orerseer, 10 oBET
orders: Notresistingy, sullenIy, and with o
protest; bat cheertuly, promptly, and wlth3q
full comprehension Ot their spirit, and desire
for their success. And an overseer who does
lhis much, is worth having, though he may
posses more, than an average share Of the faults
of his class: Let him, ifhe wishes, give his
opinion freely, and his reasons for it, but The
matter once decided, let him abide firmly, and
/ ingood faith, by the old;adage, "obey orders,
if ynu break owners.n':z
The;nextrequisite of an overseer, is capacity
tounderstand and execute orders inthe proper
manner Without this, OF course his best in.
.tentions will not avail you. I. 81
q The duties Of an oyerseer acting under the
orders of, his employer are, first, to attend to
he.proper management OF the negroes Ito see
that the tasks allotted tiemare such as thoy can
perform withreasonable industry; and to take
care that they do perform them, ,and doit prop
erly. The Employer; should regulate the tasks
himselG in the main, and examine the work Il;
but there are great many. details TO which he
cannotlook, and in, which the ovcrseer himself
will require assistants among the laborers.-
The overseer should attend punctually to the
sick. giving medicine iE strict conformity to
diree,ionsj and, ,in the absence of the employ
Grand physician, should bescapable of, nsing
jndicionsly simp pleremed dies himself. He should
cheer and encourage tbe sick. He should es.
pecially. take care of the old, the young, and
the complaining, for the treatment Of whom his
employer has Of coursea system suited TO lis
general plantation operations. And lastly, in
reference to the management Of negroes, it is
the duty ofthe overseerSto enforce discipline
and subordnalion, and with as little and as
mild a punishmentas possible. Tie overseer
whose constant aud only resort is to the lashi
and who expects TO remedy by that all The NAL
practices which he should by his foresight and
attehlionhave prevented, is bruter and de-.
serves the penitentiary. -
= The second leadipg duty ofan overseeris.
to carry the keys ofthe plantation. and 10 feel
himself wholly responsible for everything upon
it Few negroes, however, we'll disposed,
have firEness to resist temptation. II should
be placed as little as possible in their way; and
-1lley should notbe allowed, ii:t cun be avoided,
10 turn o key. Ifthey are honest, keep them
So Ifthe overseer cannot see every mule fed
las he should do if possib!e,-lle should s.at
slecs: give out allthe feed himself, and take
measures TO be assured that It isapped as d.
:rected This is his especial duty, and one
,ihatfew employers can ever assist him III; (; anG
an oyersecr who will rigidly perform it., may
always save his wages for his employer. Num-
bers waste many times the amount of them, by
sheer neg lect in this particular,
The third essential duty Off oyerseer, is 10
take care Of the stock and tools Of the plana-
lion. And herethe empoyer.has 10 rely mainly
on him. " helher the workanimals and tools
in use are in good condition, the employer can
readily perceive, but when they-set ont of or
der, he can only give general directions for the
most part, which it is the business of the over
seer to carry ont in detail. So with the cattle
aud hogs the overseer is charged with having
them fed, and counting them, and accounting
for the missing.
If the negroes are well managed, the keys
safely bundled, and the stock and tools properly
taken care Of by an overseer, all in accordance
with The views and orders of his employer.
pronounce him good overseer, and should
ike to employ him, though kis crop Should fail
,utterlp-tliat is, if he obeyed orders, in mana-
gins it. Crops wiilfail, from bad seasons, bad
mara gemeut; and poor land. /. For none OF
these things is an overseer, acting in hi9proper
sphere, al all responsible. God gives the sea.
sons; the employer pitches his crop, plants it,
and directs the manner Of working it; fur
nishes the hands, mules, and utensils; and has
bought poor land, or williully allows it TO re-
main So The overseer is not to blame, Il he
has oJeued orders The planter who does not
,himself select the land for planting, and resu-
late the extent Of 1t properly. according to his
| force and who does moi adapt his ploughs and
hoes, and systetnzc his working according TO
his soil, is moi it for his business, and should
give il up. had almos; said, the planter who
does not rest or manure his land, so as to i'm
prove il, and carry on scheme Of experiments
in planting, should do the same. But it has
mot come 10 that yet; though it soon will.
Indong his part, however, let the employer
consult the overseer, and treat his opinions res.
.pectiulIy, ifhe does not adopt them. He vii!
learn much. from him; and much also will be
learned sometimes, by consulting his, most In
iiit.iig / te..iigent negroes They are often good plan.
tiers, but he must decide, and do II fully,,a:
king clearly on himself the responsibility, and
exaciins thorough obedience.
In general oyerseers are violently opposed
to everything that is new in agriculture. The
reason is, they afe for the most part wholly un.
Informed in the science Of agriculture, and
.deficien. ofcorrectireasoning on the principle.
ilofvege.alion, the character of soils and ma
!! nuyes, and the influence flair, heat, and mois
enc. Their bintsare often valuable: their mr.
.a amno, IT'S rarely; for where the conclusions o
On ;T,,ora,::t planter arejust, IN three cases on
of of four his reasoning has been false, Andlhow