Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

THE SOUTHERN WORLD, AUGUST 1, 1882. 8 Pannuta. The New York Commercial Bulletin makes a somewhat elaborate report respecting the peanut crop of the country during late yean. The advices of that journal are that the crop is annually increasing in favor, and that the consumption keeps well up with the Increased cultivation. The follow ing figures are given, showingthe number of bushels raised each year since 1873-74: North Tennessee. Vlrzlnla. Carolina. 1873-74 225,000 60,000 1874-75 350.000 120,000 1875-76 450,000 100,000 1876-77 780.000 125,00(1 1877-78 405,000 85,000 1878-79 875,000 85,000 1879-80 130,000 120,000 Totals 3,215,000 695,000 This furnishes a total crop during the seven years mentioned of 6,435,450 bushels. The total consumption in the United States during the calendar years 1878, 1879 and 1880 is given respectively as follows: 1,066,000 bushels, 1,380,000 and 1,927,000 bushels—in all, 4,37^,000 bushels. The production dur ing the years 1876-77, 1877-78, 1878-79 and 1879-80 respectively amounted to 4,520,000 bushels. This gave a surplus of 197,000 bushels of peanuts grown during the years in which the product had to meet the de mand of the calendar years named. The average price of the peanuts consumed dur ing the calendar years 1878-80 is stated to have been 5c per pound. This rate upon 4,373,000 bushels of peanuts gives a total of $218,650 worth of peanuts, or an average of $72,883 each year, or $6,074 each month, or about $202 per day for peanuts throughout the United States. This price, of course, is at the wholesale rate. Something like five times the sum would more nearly represent the amount paid by consumers, or about $1,000 per day. The Spanish peanut, a line variety, has been cultivated with success in Virginia. The United States export peanuts to Canada, to Bermuda, and to the West Indies. The crop for the season ending Sep- - tember 30,4881, is estimated by heavy deal ers in New York city as follows: Tennessee, 550,000; Virginia, 1,500,000 bushels, and North Carolina, 120,000 bushels. In 1880 owing to the plentiful supply of peanuts, the price fell off from 5c. to 3c. per pound In 1881 the drouth through the peanut coun try reduced the size of the crop about fifty per cent, from that of the preceding year, with the result of a corresponding increase in prices. The outlook for peanuts for the forthcoming season, which begins in Octo ber, is reported by those most interested to be very flattering. A Word on Seeds. short, vigorous climate of the northeast im parts a quick and vigorous growth to the plant; hence our dependence upon the Bast for early peas, beans, cabbage, beets, pota toes, lettuce, corn, turnips, etc. Some seeds can be grown very well in the South—such collard, tomato, okra, pole beans, melons, etc., but very great care is necessary to pre vent mi xture, and to keep up a good standard. The qualify will deteriorate greatly unless watchfulness and much care is exercised in cultivating and harvesting. What man sit ting at his table eating a plate of luscious tomatoes will envy the dealer the insignifi cant nickel paid him for the paper of seed? No one is more in favor of fostering and oth erwise encouraging home enterprise and economy than the writer, yet at the same time it is apparent to any careful observer, that the different sections of the country are in a great degree dependent upon each other and thus it should be. The North must have our cotton, the South must have the early seeds of the North, and so on. But enough for the present. Live and Let Live. Editor Southern World—Your paper goes into every nook and corner of the Southern world now, and it is becoming more and more popular every issue. It is therefore, very important that every thing it publishes is correct and goes out correct, for what has been written is very hard to unwrite, and all “writeists” should write so as to be prepared to say “What I have writ ten I have written.’’ Now, as to your able correspondent’s arti cle—"Saving Seed,” etc., in your May (1st) number. Do you suppose there is a farmer so careless in all the Southern world, as pay such fabulous prices for garden seed, as J. S. N. indicates they cost him, to-wit English peas 60c. per quart, cabbage 50c. per ounce, corn 30c. per quart, seeds in papers to 15c.. onion seed 50c. perounce, turn.pseed $4 00 per pound, beet seed $1.20 per pound, carrot seed $2.00 per pound? While the fact is that such seed are sold by our best South ern seed houses, about ns follows: for the best, well-teste 1 standard seeds, viz., English peas 20 to 30c. per quart, cabbage 20 to 25c. perounce, corn 15 to 20c. per quart, seeds in papers 6c., onion seed 35c. per ounce, turnip seed 50 to 75c. per pound, beet seed 50 to 70c, per pound, carrot seed $1.00 to $1.25 per pound, etc. Now you see there is a most wonderful difference between these price, and the prices given by J. 8. N. His figures might induce many to grow seeds for market only to be disappointed when seeking market for same. Make all you can, get all you can, and save all you get; also live at home and board at the same place, Is all very good advice I admit, but at the same time every man to his trade or calling, is a very good rule also. A farmer is not a seed- grower no more than a physician is a manu facturing druggist, or the shoemaker a tan ner of leather. I presume it is not well un derstood that a great many seeds cannot be grown in the South to advantage. We have a long growing season, consequently plants bcome lazy or late, when grown in our cli mate ; while on the other hand the quick, Extensive Farming In Florida. Floridian. Messrs. Charles C. and John A. Pearce are numbered among the enterprising, success ful planters of Leon county. They own about 1,200 acresof excellent land just west of the corporate limits of Tallahassee, be lieve in thorough cultivation, and use many of the latest improved and best labor-saving implements in their farm operations. This spring they put in 70 acres of oats with combined broadcast sower and harrow, and they estimate the yield at 35 bushels to the acre. Last week two of Emerson, Talcott & Co’s Standard reapers were to be seen in their immense oat fields, cutting down the grain at the rate of 30 or 35 acres per day They have a one-horse sulky rake that fol lows the reapers and binders, and gather up whatever is left scattered over the ground and so thoroughly does it do its work that it gives the stubble the appearance of having been swept. These young men are also raisingsome fine mules and horses, and have a number of blooded cattle—Durham and Alderney mixed, and a thorougbred Devon shire cow, a fine specimen of that excellent breed. Among their milch cows are three that give four gallons of milk per day. They are also turning their attention to fruit cul ture, and now have over 300 LeConte pear trees, and will this fall put out 1,000 more and 400 pecan trees. Mr. John A. Pearce has a 20 acre field of corn that will average 40 bushels to the acre. This corn was plant ed and cultivated with a sulky corn and cot ton planter and cultivator. One-half the field is planted in Hardaway’s weevil-proof corn and the other in Maryland white corn the latter, being an early variety, is some what in adva-ce of the former, and it is rare thing to see a stalk with only one ear while there are many to be found with four and five, and some with eight. The Messrs. Pearce are model young farmers; everything is in good repair on the place, and all over the plantation are evidences of industry, thorough cultivation and good management. An Alabama Endorsement. Pleasant Hill, Ala. Editor Southern World—I have been an attentive reader and quite an admirer of your paper for sometime; its first appear ance struck me very favorably, the only ob jection was that it was not published in my own native State, dear Alabama, great “land of rest.” Georgia deserves well, and we congratulate her for her wonderful success. It is ours to emulate her example. You were exceedingly fortunate in the se lection of a name. The time is past when agriculture or farming, when applied to a journal will only secure its failure. It is not only a pleasant and appropriate, but a com prehensive one. It is not confined to any pecial line, but can run an independent course; its columns are open to North and South, East and West. It has raised its ban ner to be fanned by the breezes of the world, to invite immigration from ail nations to en joy the blessings of our dear sunny land; for it needs only to be seen to be admired and appreciated as possessing advantages over all other lands; long may that "banner wave,” though it be not as of yore, “the land of the free,” if it is the “home of the brave.” I hope its circulation will be broad and extended, reaching every hamlet and home, extending a welcome to the entire world. U. J. Crumpton. How to Con Fruit. As the season for canning fruit is at hand, we present the following: First, prepare the fruit by picking it over, peeling, or whatever else is required. Placq it neatly in the jais in layers. Use none but the best refined white sugar, as the yel low is apt to impart a disagreeable taste and color. It is hardly necessary to add any water, though that may be done if you deem it best, according to the kind of fruit. Place a few straws or small sticks across the bot tom of your boiler, put in water, and set it on the stove to boil. Bring the water to boiling point, and let it continue there as long os may be required for that kind of fruit. Set the jars on a table to cool, and when the fruit is nearly cold apply the tops and screw them down tightly. For cherries, blackberries, strawberries, whortleberries, grapes, plums, currants, gooseberries and raspberries boil ten to twelve minutes, and put a half pound of sugar to the quart of berries. For peaches and quince boil twenty minutes and use the same quantity of sugar as for small fruits. Pears and tomatoes will require a half hour or more to boil, and less sugar is required for them, especially the tomatoes. Examine the jars in a few days, and if any of the fruit shows signs of work ing, set it on the stove and boil again, tak ing care to remove the cover of the jars be fore doing so, or the steam will break them asunder. Oive time to cool before screwing tops down. The jars must be air-tight, the fruit will not keep well.—-Rural Messenger. ing is scant and the exposure great; but it cannot supply the waste of muscle that is involved in daily manual labor, or the loss brain substance that is the result of men tal toil. Pure fat does not contain the char acteristic elements of nerve, muscle, bone and brain, and can have no part in building up those portions of the system. Its use Is therefore confined to supplying or keeping up the heat of the body, and increasing the accumulation of fat. We would not abolish the use of meats. Their moderate use is very wholesome, convenient and gratifying to the palate, and in some coses almost indis pensable. But that too prominent a place is assigned to bacon on our list of foods for the table, we do not hesitate to aflirm, and that the use of butchers' meats in our cities, is far less necessary to health and the proper nourishment of ourselves and children than a good quality of wholesome bread, and an abundance (in season) of fresh vegetables. As is well shown in the article referred to, beef and mutton are costly forms of food, and bacon, at present prices, but little less We invite attention to the article. R. Early Dividends. Capitalists are fond of buying stock that yields dividends, and are quite content now to get bonds that will pay four or five per cent, annually. A neighbor of ours spread barrowful of manure taken from under the floor of ahorse stable, about the middle of April. The manure orearth had received the urine of a horse for some months, and represented the value of that commodity, It was spread on about a square rod of old meadow that had received no manure for a dozen years or more. The grass took a fresh start soon after the application, and clearly defined the dressed plat by its dark green and luxuriant growth. On the twentieth of June the grass is so heavy, that it is partly lodged and is ready for the scythe. The yield of grass is certainly quadrupled by the top dressing. Sixty days from the date of invest ment, he lias a dividend worth at least one- half the value of the manure. He will get a second crop this season, which makes another dividend. The sod below is enriched with a great growth of grass roots, which is an increase of capital, and will continue to give fair dividends for several years to come. He is so well pleased with this spring’s in vestment, that he has enlarged the area of top-dressing on the meadow, and applied fresh manure from the stable, made up of leaves, and horse and cow dung, on the 20th of June. The grass cut on this second plot was very thin, certainly less than a half ton to the acre. He confidently expects a divi dend from this investment in about sixty days, and permanent Increase of capital, Now is it not much better for a cultivator to put his capital upon his own land, under his own supervision, and get good dividends, early and often, than to invest in railroads, steamboats, factories or Wall street? In vesting at home, he knows just what he is about, and with an average expenditure of brain and muscle, he can command early dividends, and keep them coming. The farm is a machine to make money. Let us keep it in good repair and turn out the dol lars.—American Agriculturist. Flesh-Food. Elsewhere in this issue of The World will be found a very readable and instructive ar ticle, taken from the columns of the New England Farmer, that staid old representa tive of the land of steady habits and apple “sass;” and a most excellent journal it is too. We copy the article because it reflects our own views on the subject, and contains so much that is practical. The masses of the people are but little informed on the subject, and some vital errors have long held sway in the minds of the laboring classes. The South is often referred to as the land of “hog and hominy;” not because of the great abundance of bacon and corn produced, but because of the almost universal reliance on these articles for food. It is a very common idea that a man cannot perform arduous manual labor without a full daily ration of bacon, and that fat meat is better, because more strength producing than lean. On the contrary, not only is the first idea altogether untrue, but the second is like unto it. Fat meat is a very convenient form of fuel-food to keep up the animal heat of the body in very cold weather, especially when the cloth- The Farmer a Hecbnnlc. NO 1. We write not os a professional mechanic, but as a farmer. The professional might say that the farmer had better “stick to his last” and send to the skilled carpenter or wheel wright or blacksmith when he has occasion for a job in either of their lines. As a gen eral rule the old aphorism is correct, but its application is to the farmer, or lawyer, or physician wh^is led by caprice or want of stability to leave a business in which his talent and training have fitted him to suc ceed, and venture into a business or profes sion for which lie has no qualifications. A farmer ought to know a little of all the trades and professions. He has a little world to himself and family, not often in call of a neighbor, and at a greater or less distance from the “shop.” He or his son or one of his laborers must know how to keep a tool in order- and properly use it, or he suffers material loss and inconveniences in having work either not done at all, or very unskillfully executed, unless he “sends to the shop” for it, and pay out money that might as well have been saved. A farmer has more leisure time at his command from his ordinary labors of the farm than almost any other man. With his wagons, plows, harness, grain machinery, hoes and forks, fences and gates, dwelling and farm buildings, milking and churning utensils, washing appliances, etc., there is hardly a day that passes in which there is not an occasion which demands the use of the mechanic’s tools, and some measure of the mechanic’s skill in their handling. Yet there are many farmers who have not even so common and indispensable a tool as a hand-saw, or an augur or a drawing knife in their possession. They do find use for these tools, and ever and anon a hand is sent a mile or two to a more provident neighbor to ‘borry” a cross-cut or an incli-nnd-a-half augur, or frow and wedge. Somo farmers will even borrow a maul (bcetle-Yankee reader) and “gluts.” Now every farmer should have at least, a handsaw, square, two or three augurs, gimlets, a chop-axe, draw ing knife and jack-plane, besides the more common, wedges and frow, spade and shovel, <fec. A little shed or “lean-to" with a good lock and key, will servo as a place to keep the tools, and in which to work in wet weather. A bench or screw clamp will be ■found very necessary and can be rigged up at small cost. A larger farmer or landlord will find it desirable to have a good sized cheap building for a work-shop; and a forge or blacksmith tools in one corner, if he or some permanent worker on his estate has skill enough at the start to weld two pieces of iron together. A simple outfit as here indi cated, will absolutely pay for itself in one year and tbe tools will still be on hand. Having the tools it is not only necessary to have a place to keep them, but it is equally important to know how to keep them in order that it will be easy and pleasant to use them. The skill in using them will gen erally be quickly acquired by practice—on the principle that practice makes perfect. Skill in sharpening tools comes not so read ily by practice, but is more dependent on the observance of certain rules that have been found out by experience or deduced from mechanical principles, and tbe use of appliances for holding tools when grinding. We reserve this for the next number. R. Mustard mixed with molasses can be ap plied to the most delicate skin without causing a blister.