The Port Gibson herald, and correspondent., 1851-07-25
From the southern culit. asor
Over Cropping.

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MR. EDfToR:--Th here are of our calling many
men who regard the cultivation, Of say 20 acres
per hand, as either chimerica, or as saying.
grass will take ALL Much allied to this same
thing, is the don't believe a word of IL" that
one man with his team can draw s bales Of 800
lbs, each or if done, it is killing up team.
Now, Sir, these would-be know-every-thfn
sort of men, Judge Of others by their own man.
agement or the ability of their own team. Sup
pose planter of small force, say Is or 90
hands. has of horses and mules, including what
all should have, two or more brood mares,
fair work horse per hand, and good team Of
oxen--two yoke of well fed, and stabbed too,
will do more work than yoke, as are too ffe-
quently seen--add to this stock in trade good
and full set of implements. What would u
stirring man cultivate! "Too expensive, 'too
much corn" &c. Irepiy the same team makes
/ the corn, and by any kind of fair management,
/ they would make for sale. A visitor to my
domieil, recently informed me. he worked 35
| hands, and had about 80 horses; had sold 2000
| bushels of corn and had 1900 more for sale.
know the thing to be entirely practicable: |
/ say | know, for the best of reasons. have cul
| tivated II acres per hand, and have cultivated
| 90. | have neghbors who work at l2 or I4f
| and they have hard work of it. Let us see
| why. The 18th of April has just past, and
every foot of my land has been turned over
with two horse plows, and all crops planted.
Will not there be less labor in the cultivation
proper, with land so turned up, than if it were
merely scratched over! use all horses for the
plow; if a horse is worth 5000, he ought 10 be
a good one, and therefore a pity to waste his
rood qualities in the stable-use him unit
crops are cast, then he can take pasture and
stable at his ease, satisfied he has helped to
feed himself After a spell of wet weather,
with even few pretty days, and earth in good
condition, the planter with 20 hands can very
probably press, say Is plows, and for some
or 8 davs he can with two furrows run over
, to acres per team; thus at some work he can
run round so acres, at other, vhere less care is
! nee ded 80 acres. But again suppose he Is re.
ally in a push; he can take 10 of his choice ptow
, hands, feed team what they can stand up to,
have them fed and curried and attended to in
every respect by the other hands, and let these
! pIow hands, work ten, from 5 until half past
: ii say six and half hours, then at half past q,
(hands allowed one hour only for rest and
| eatino) take the other 20 for six hours and .
! J half; can these hands in level land, if in good
! tilth, not average 80 acres per day, with two
6 furrows? And yet one step farther. Suppos-
: ing the land to be wei! TILED six inches deep.
and kept stirred, and the planter has set OF
! harrows or cultivators or solid sweeps, or all
: can he not make two furrows sweep out an
y ord nary corn row, and thus clean five acres
: per day per horse? Now, Sir, ask you, is il
not quite practicable toeutivate better 90 acre:
:. per hand thus, and easier to the hand, than a:
= many now do, who have hcrse to two hands
- and even less, and not solitary efficient plo'
8 | ON the place? | crave an answer and your opir
au ion as to the economy--understaud part {
le eruuumy IIust bv u pasture, sufiirieut y
- all horses, May, June, July and August.
:" In 1882, | think it was, stopped about moo
at a planters in Madison County, Mississippi
- - He was working some fifty hands, believe; b
- assured me ne cultivated p acres per hand an
- - counted any p ow boy hand; he sold corn an
-, - was selling it the day was there. He usual
made corn to spare, and his meat. Don't "
- derstand me as advising this policy. ! am
= - favor of team and an abundance OF corn, bu
ia at least one third Of that team should rear
= = mule colt per year, or 2 in 8 years. ! woul
~ much prefer using surplus time in d:tchlnl
20 =. making and spreading manure, to cultyatin
- SO largely. | have cultivated 10 acres OF co
Gu ton and 10 of corn and sold more corn thei
- than ever did or could when working a les
!. crop. But, mark well this fact, to manage sue
@ ie a crop requires the mind and the attention to-
- of the owner; overseers are abundantly Ia
- - ented, but they are not interested.
~ Has any one ever tried or or even busl
mnu m els of peas per acre? We want dense shaC
@ on our land Just as soon as it is prudent to IL
= 'in bv corn. " e know that close protection
ne land improves it, even if nothing is given
I've land by turning under, and this was know
= before GUERNEY taught it, or the last inye
: ton. Who will try 1.-THE clover of the South
as above asked? The object is to coyerthe lai
over, should the pea be kept back by seye
!. drought With respect; yours, &c.
S1r. CHITTA LoosA.
biz