Newspaper Page Text
NEWS & PLANTERS’ GAZETTE
D. U. COTTINW) Editor.
No. 27.—NEW SERIES.]
HEWS & GAZETTE.
terms:
Published weekly at Three Dollars per annum,
if paid at the time of subscribing; or ‘Three
Dollars and Fifty Cents, if not paid till the expi
ration of six months.
No paper to be discontinued, unless at (he
option of the Editor, without the settlement of all
arrearages.
11 *T Letters, on business, must be post paid, to
insure attention. Xu commuuientiun shall, he
published, unless u-e arc made acqu/iinted with the
name, of the author,
TO ADVERTISERS.
Advertisements, not exceeding one square, first,
insertion, Seventy-Jive Cents; and for each sub
sequent insertion, Fifty Cents. A reduction will
be made of twenty-five per cent, to those who
ndvertiee by the year. Advertisements noi
lifted when handed in, will be inserted till for
bid, and charged accordingly.
Sales of Land and Negroes by Executors, Ad
ministrators, and Guardian;, arc required by law,
to be advertised, in a public Gazette, sixty day;
previous to the day of sale.
The sales of Personal Property must be adver
tised in like manner , forty days.
Notice to Debtors and Creditors of an Estate
must be published frrty days.
Notice that application will be made to the
Court oi Ordinary, for leave to sell Land or Ne
groes, must be published weekly for four months;
notice that application will be made for I.otters cf
Administration, must be published thirty days;
and Letters of Dismission, sir months.
A Q NT g_ -
TIIF. FOI. 1.0.1 iSC GENTLEMEN WILL FORWARD ‘HIE
NAMES OF ANY WHO MAY WISH TO SUBSCRIBE :
J. T. 4” G. 11. Wooten,\ A. D. Statham, Dauburg,
Mallorvsvilie, j IS. F. Talma, Lincoln-
TelLv O. Edwards, Pe-j ton,
tersburg, Elbert, i O. A. huchett, Crawford-
Gen, Grier, Raytown,! villc,
Taliaferro, I IP. Davenport, Lexing-
James Bell, Powelton,| ton,
Hancock, I S. ./. flush, Irwington,
W in. B Xelms, Elber-I Wilkinson,
ton, ! Dr. Cain, Cambridge,
John A. Simmons, Go-j Abbeville District,
shen, Lincoln, I South Carolina.
ilrrMigcmints,
post' OFFICE, )
Washington, Ga., January, 1841. (
AUGUSTA MAIL.
ARRIVES.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 5, A. M.
CLOSES.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at 12, M.
MILLEDGEVILLE \IAIL.
ARRIVES.
Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 8, A. M.
CLOSES.
.Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 11, A. M.
CAROLINA MAIL.
ARRIVES.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 11, A. M.
CLOSES.
Sunday', Wednesday, and Friday, at 8, A. M.
ATHENS MAIL
ARRIVES.
Sunday and Wednesday, at 9, A. M.
CLOSES.
Sunday and Wednesday', at 9, A. M.
EI,BURTON MAIL.
ARRIVES. CLOSES.
’Thursday, at 8, P. M. j Thursday, at 8, I’. M.
LINCOLNTON MAIL.
ARRIVES. CLOSES.
Friday, at 12, M. | Friday, at 12, M.
TTST 3T w&mmw*
DENTIST,
AT Mr. Alexander’s Hotel, in consequence of
the hardness of the times, will work at re
duced prices.
February 25. ts 2(1
SHOE STORE
PERSONS having Georgia Rail Road money
on hand can use it to advantage in the pur
chase ot SHOES, &c. at my usual low rates.—
Also, for Factory Thread and Cloth. A fresh
supply of which, will be received in a few days.
A. L. LEWIS.
February 25. 26
v NOTICE.
TIMIE Subscriber intending to leave the Coan
* ty sometime in March next, offers for sale
his STOCK of
Hooks, Stationary , <$V.
At a VERY REDUCED PRICE. KT Per
sons wishing to purchase, will do well to call—
as his determination i3 to sell out by that time.
[O’PERSONS indebted to him by Note or
Account, are REQUESTED to call and settle,
as he wishes his business closed by that time.
(LT Ail those having BOOKS belonging to the
Subscriber, are requested to send them in as
early as possible,
L. M. I.ENNARD.
January 21, 1841. ts 21
Ltook Here !
• ALL our debtors must pay up. Every
person indebted to us cither by NOTE or
ACCOUNT, are earnestly requested to call
and settle immediately. Those who have
suffered their Notes and Accounts to stand
over ever since we commenced business
without making any payment on them, can
not longer indulgence ; and will
lind mem in the hands of an Attorney, un
less paid very shortly.
BURTON it PE LOT.
January, 7th, 19 ts
’ wmmwm-m*
EXECUTED AT THIS
©f F'o © £.
! ANNIVERSARY oration
OF THE
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF S. CARO
LINA :
By Gen. George McDuffie :
Read before the Society, on the 26th No
vember. 1840, at their annual meet
ing, in the Hall of the House of
Representatives.
Gcntlcm.ni of the slate Agricultural socie
ty of South Carolina :—I enter upon the
performance of the task you have been
pleased to assign me, with a due sense of
its importance, and a corresponding regret
that I shall not be able to fulfil either my
own wishes or reasonable expectations.—l
may confidently trust, however, that this
unpretending contribution to the cause of
agricultural improvement, will be received
in the spirit in which it is offered ; and that
the partiality to which I am indebted for
the honor of now addressing you, on the
greatest and most neglected of all the sour
ces of public prosperity, will insure, for un
avoidable imperfections of such a perform
ance, yourliberal and indulgent considera
tion.
The art of cultivating the earth, and of
increasing and perpetuating its productive
powers, while it lias been the first to indi
cate the dawn of civilization among men, is
probably destined to be the last to mark,
its own advancement, the final stages of
human improvement. For of all the arts
that contribute either to supply the physi
cal wants or promote the intellectual de
velopment and moral refinenn lit of the hu
man family, none are more deeply and es
sentially founded in the principles of induc
tive philosophy, or are capable of extending
their achievements over a wider field of’
usefulness and true beneficence. It is
scarcely possible, indeed, to assign any
limits, either to the aggregate amount, or
to the number or variety of useful produc
tions, with which the fostering bosom of
mother earth is ever ready to reward the
researches and the labors of her children.
And yet, so strange a paradox is man, that
philosophy has stood gazing at the wonders
of the heavens, entangled in the mazes of
vain conjecture. Entcrprize lias traversed
and vexed the earth and the seas, in the
vain pursuit of golden -.Dions—and even
avarice, has wasted its efforts in wild and
gambling peculations, contributing noth
ing to the common stock of national wealth
and human comfort, while millions of our
race have been literally perishing for the
want of nourishment, and the whole sur
face of the earth has presented one bound
less and inexhaustible mine of wealth and
abundance, which haughty science has
scarcely deigned to explore, leaving sober
industry to group its toilsome way amidst
darkness and discouragement.
As cultivators of the soil, and as mem
bers of a community whose prosperity de
pends almost exclusively, and I may add,
unalterably, upon its productions, it is high
time that we should free ourselves from our
share of this common reproach, and make
one united and vigorous effort to redeem
our agriculture from the shackles which
with ignorance, prejudice, evil habits, and
the blind and fatal thirst for the sudden ac
cumulation of large fortunes, have but
too firmly fixed upon it.
To aid in the accomplishment of this
great reform, an achievement, in all res
pects, worthy of the highest aspirations of
patriotic ambition, I shall proceed to point :
out some of the prominent and practical er
rors most prevalent in our agricultural sys
tem—if system it may be called—and to
lay down sonic of the fundamental princi
ples and cardinal rules, which must form
the basis of substantial improvements in our
agricultural economy.
The greatest, most prevailing, and most
pernicious of all the practices which dis
tinguish and deform the agriculture of this
and the other planting States, is the almost
exclusive direction of the whole available
labor of the plantation, to the production of
our greatest market staple, and the conse
quent neglect of all the other commodities
which the soil is capable of producing or
sustaining, and which arc essential to sup
ply the wants of the establishment. No
scheme of reform or improvement can pro
duce any great and salutary results, which
does not lay the axe to the root of this radi
cal vice in our husbandry.
It should be, therefore, an inviolable rule
in the economy of every plantation, to pro
duce an abundant supply of every species
of grain, and of every species of live stock,
required for its own consumption. I am
aware, that in peculiar localities, when the
price of cotton has been high, examples
may bo found of successful planting where
this rule has been disregarded.
WASHINGTON, (WILKES COUNTY, GA.,) MAKCII 4, 1841.
Rut this serves only to prove, that even
a had system prosecuted with great energy,
and under favorable circumstances, may
he crowned with a considerable share of
the success which would more certainly
have rewarded a good one.—Such exam
ples, if they constitute an exception to Un
rule I have laid down, by no means impair ‘
its force or disprove its general expediency.
The economy of a plantation should be foun- 1
ded, not upon the temporary and mutable
expedients, but upon general and perma
nent rules, adapted to all the probable vi
cissitudes of trade and of the seasons, and
all the probable fluctuations of prices and
of the currency. We have surely seen
enough of these fluctuations, and sufficient
ly witnessed, if not experienced, their dis
astrous influence, to warn us against the
fatal policy of yielding up the lessons of
experience to the temptations of high pri
c. sand prosperous seasons. It is, indeed,
one of the greatest evils which these fluc
tuations habitually produce amongst us, that
we arc but too successfully tempted, by the
temporary allurement of high prices,to aban
don all the maxims of wisdom & all the rules
of sound economy, which have been im
posed upon us by painful experience, in
periods of depression and adversity. Let
: us, then, each one for the sake of his own
interest, and all for the common welfare of
; South Carolina, dcimily and deliberately
’ resolve, that we will never again, under
any temptation incur the jus: reproach
which must attach to our character as
planters, if we should be induced to rely
; upon distant communities for those essen
| tial supplies, which ourown plantations arc
iso capable of producing. And to the end,
! that this high resolve may be more firmly
adopted and persevcringly maintained, I
shall endeavor to shew that it is the dictate,
not lessof an enlightened self-interest, than
] of an enlarged public spirit,
j We arc, then, to conclude and decide
j upon the comparative cheapness and eeon
; oniv of producing ourselves on the one
! hand, and of purchasing from abroad on
! the other, the hogs, horses, mules an other
j live stock required for the use and con
! sumption of our planters, during an aver
! age series of years. A stranger to our
| wretched habits of economy, would ho star
tled at the mere propounding of such an
inquiry.—He could not comprehend the
economy of importing from Kentucky what
our own soil and climate are so eminently
adapted to produce. However plausible,
it is most assuredly a false economy, found
]ed upon false reasoning. A man who will
: assume that our hogs and horses must be
I raised exclusively upon corn, and will
I gravely sit down to calculate the cost of so
many bushels at seventy-five or even fifty
cents a bushel, will certainly come to an
erroneous conclusion. But those of us who
systematically pursue the business of rais
ing live stock, can testify that the quantity
of corn necessary to raise hogs, horses or
mules, is extremely inconsiderable. Oats,
whether harvested for the work horses and
mules, is an invaluable crop for a cotton
planter. That which is used as pasturage,
while it will cost only the labor of prepar
ing the ground and seeding it, will keep all
the stock in fine order, from the middle of
summer until the opening of the pea fields, j
and these, which cost scarcely any labor. ;
will keep them in like order, with very 1
little aid from the corn crib, until Decern- |
her. From this time regular feeding will j
be required for about four months, and af- j
ter that, very little will suffice till the oat
pastures are again ready. In this view of
the subject, I have omitted many useful
auxiliaries, such as potatoes, pinders,
peaches and apples, the two latter of which
arc often permitted to rot on the ground
though excellent food for hogs, and per
haps the least expensive of nil. Nor have
I embraced in it the artificial grasses,
though I am quite sanguine from an exper
iment I now have in progress, tiiat in most
of the strong soils of the tipper country, blue
grass and herds grass will succeed very
nearly as well as they do in Kentucky.—
Upon the whole, then, it is my deliberate
opinion, founded upon my own experience
and observation, as a planter, that in South
Carolina, and particularrly the upper
country districts, it would be true economy
for the planters to raise their own stock,
even if they could always buy Kentucky
pork at three dollars a hundred, and Ken
tucky niulcs at fifty dollars a head. But
let it be remembered that to accomplish
this, they must devote themselves to itas an
essential branch of their business. A reg
ular system must be adopted, and a compe
tent person be charged with its execution ;
and overseers must be made to know, that
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY MORNING.
it is as much their duty to superintend it, ns
the cultivation of the cotton crop ; for hogs j
and horses cun no more thrive without pro- I
per attention, than corn and cotton can grow
without attention. And it is worthy of re- 1
mark, that when hogs are fat or in a good
growing order, it requires not half so much
food to keep them in that condition, as it
would require to sustain poor hogs and pre
: vent them from growing poorer. It is,
therefore, a most obvious rule of economy, ;
| never to permit stock hogs to sink below .
i what we denominate a growing condition. 1
The corn that will he required to keep them
; in that condition during four or five months
in the year, will he less than that which
would be required in extra feeding to pre
: pare poor hogs for the slaughter pen ; and |
| at the same age their weight will be fifty j
per cent, greater, and their flesh will he j
much more firm, than those of hogs brought
up in poverty and suddenly fattened. I
| am now speaking the actual result of my
| own experience, and I have been astonish- j
ed to perceive how little corn is required j
to prevent fat hogs from getting poorer.
As an important part of the branch of
economy we arc now considering, every
planter should keep as large astock of neat
cattle, and of sheep, as his pasturage and
I the offal of the plantation will support. —
[To this extent, there is no description of
stock so valuable in proportion to the ex
pense of maintaining them. Their flesh is
much cheaper than that of hogs, and be
sides supplying the tableof the planter with
an abundance of good bo< f, butter and mut
ton, the former will advantageously sup
ply one half oi’ the plantation ration of
meat during the autumnal months ; and
the latter, all the wool required for cloth
thc negroes in winter. In addition to all
tiiis, it is the opinion of the most experi
enced planters, in which I fully concur,
| that where cattle are penned every night
on grounds properly covered with litter,
the manure they will make in the course
i of the year, will very nearly defray the ex
i ponse of maintaining them.
I have thus attempted to show that it is
■ the true interest of every planter to raise
. all the live stock required for his own use,
• and for the use and consumption of his
. own plantation, though no one else should
i pursue the same policy.
- I now propose to consider the subject in
: a still more interesting point of view. I
propose to enquire what would be the ef
fect of this system upon the general pros
perity of the cotton planting States, as
suming that it should be universally adopt
j ed. It is not extravagant to estimate the
j annual expense which a planter would in
cur in purchasing his supplies of stock, at
j one tenth of the nett proceeds of his cotton
; crop, as exhibited on the books of bis factor,
j Assuming, then, that the labor diverted
; from the production of cotton, in order to
1 raise these supplies, would diminish the
j cotton crop in the same proportion, it would
follow that each individual planter would
| derive as large a nett income from his di
minished cotton crop, as ho would have de
rived from one a tenth larger, if he pur
chased his stock, even supposing that the
| diminished cotton crop brought no higher
J price than could have been obtained for the
i larger one. But here we realize thegrand
j & ~
result of the proposed reform in our agri
| cultural economy.
It is a well established principle of po
j litical economy, confirmed by the uniform
j experience of the cotton planting States,
that when the supply of a commodity ex
ceeds the effective demand, the price is di
minished, not only in proportion. If, then,
wo assume that the proposed reform would
reduce the annual cotton crop from two
millions of bales, to one million eight hun
dred thousand, and that the effective de
mand of the world would not exceed the
latter number, it would clearly follow from
the above stated principle, that the smaller
crop of one million eight hundred thousand
bales, would yield a greater aggregate in
come than the largest crop of two millions
of bales. In the habitual state of our cot
ton trade, with a constant tendency in the
production to exceed the demand, such
would always he the result of diminished
production, where r.o extraordinary cases 1
existed to check consumption. It results 1
from this reasoning, that the planting ‘
States would realize from the universal <
adoption of the proposed reform, a clear <
aggregate saving of the sum now annually 1
expended in purchasing live stock ; and I
that each individual planter, besides great- c
Iy increasing the comforts of his establish- <
ment, would add ten per cent, to his clear | [
annual income. Entirely satisfied, as I am, j ‘
of the soundness of this reasoning, and the 11
j justness of the conclusion to which it leads, j
! I am aware that it is exposed to nil apparent
! objection. It may be very naturally asked,
j how it happens that the planters, a class
j of men sufficiently intelligent to understand
| their own interests, should, generally, pur
| sue a course so little calculated to promote
| it. A sufficient answer will be found to
| this question, in the force of established
j habits, the, mistaken ambition which makes
; the point of honorable distinction consist in
i the number of cotton bales, and above all, |
t the unfortunate habit so generally preva
! lent among planters, of neglecting their
i own business, and confiding it to the exclu
sive management of overseers. It is a
duty which every planter owes, not only to
j himself, but to his country as a matter of
j example, to give his personal superinten
j dance to his business, and make himself
! master of all its details. He can scarcely
j deserve to own an estate, who from false
! pride or indolent self-indulgence, remains
j in voluntary ignorance of the various oper
} ations upon which its productiveness de
j pends, and relies exclusively upon agents
j who are practically irresponsible, and in
I general grossly incompetent. Certain is
’ it, that no general reform or improv, ment,
j and who are generally actuated by tliemo
. | tives of a tenant at will, which prompt
• them to aim at a large cotton crop the pres
ent year, without any regard to the future,
; or to the subsidiary branches of .i sound
j system of economy. Every planter who
i j has attempted such reforms or improve
| ments as I have suggested, can testify how
j utterly impossible it is to make overseers,
■ j generally, realize their importance or be
[ j stow upon them sufficient attention to in-
I sure their successful execution. Let it,
j then, be regarded as the point of honor
| with every planter, to attend personally to
! his own plantation, and make himself mas
| ter of every branch of operations and econ
omy. This is an indispensable prelimina
. ry step to all useful improvements in our
. agriculture, and is equally demanded by
every consideration of private interest and
i public duty.
i I Another mischievous error in our plant
, ing economy, proceeding partly from the
s mistaken ambition of making a large count
1 of cotton bales, and perfectly from the un
calculating habits acquired during high
l prices, is exhibited in the general careless-
I ness with which cotton is picked out of the
fields and prepared for market. It has
- been fully demonstrated by experience that
- those planters who have their cotton prop
- erly handled, and sent to market free fr&m
> the contamination of trash and stain, can
j habitually obtain in our own markets, one
cent a pound more than can be obtained for
cotton prepared in the usual way ; and I
can personally testify, as the result of my
own experience that the difference made in
foreign markets is much greater. Now 1
invite your serious attention to a few plain
and obvious reflections on this subject.—A
diminution in price of one cent a pound, at
the present market rates of cotton is equal
to ten per cent, discount on the gross
amount of the annual income oft! plan
ter, and a still larger per ccntage upon the
amount of his net income. It follows, that
by the careless operations of four months
in gathering the crop, one-tenth of its value .
is destroyed, and one-tenth part of the labor
of the whole year is absolutely nullified. |
The labor of one hundred hands is reduced
in value to that of ninety, and five hundred
bales of cotton are reduced to four hundred i
and fifty. Now I confidently put it to ;;ve- J
ry practical planter, as a plain question of
economy what possible advantage there
can he in carelessly picking out a cotton j
crop, that will compensate the planter for
this sacrifice of fifty bales of cotton, the
product of the whole annual labor of ten
hands ? Let it be admitted, and it is ex
treme supposition, that hands will pick out
one tenth more in the one mode than they
will do in the other. Even on this hypothe
sis, one-tenth of the labor for four months,
and to this sacrifice we must add that of the
additional expense of the horse power re
quired to make the additional fifty bales of
cotton. Does not the conclusion, then irre
sistibly follow from these premises, that ev
ery cotton planter should lay it down as a
candid rule, in pitching his crop, to plant i
no more than he can pick out with proper
care, giving due attention to the other inter- f
csts of his plantation. This rule, like that ’
relating to live stock, comes recommended i
by the two-fold consideration, that it not ]
only promotes the individual interest of !
each planter, but still more extensively, the
general interest of the entire class. If it
will cause a diminished quantity of cotton
to bo produced, it will increase the price of I <
H. J. k \ I’i’llL. Pr?
! that diminished quantity still further
very circumstance of its diminished quan
tity.
It is not to be doubted, therefore, that the
general adoption of the two plain and prac
tical rules so perfectly in the power of eve
ry planter, of raising bis own supplies in
stead of buying them, and picking out and
preparing his cotton with proper care and
attention, would do more to. promote the
prosperity of the cotton planting States,
i than all the Moras Multic.aul/s speculations
and political paper nostrums that ever de
luded a people with visionary hopes, wiiiiet
they afflicted them with real diseases.
And here, gentlemen, it may not be un
profitable to indulge in a few cautionary
reflections on that wild and extravagant
spirit of speculative adventure, with which
almost all classes of our countrymen have
been smitten and infatuated for several
years past, and which has exerted a most
pernicious influence, oven upon our agri
cultural economy. It has unfortunately
inspired our planters, in too many instances,
with a sort of contempt for the dull pursuits
of sober industry, and taught them to look
upon every sort of ephemeral humbug as an
El Dorado of sudden and unbounded,
wealth. Now, ifany one anticipates, from
the deliberations of this society the discov
ery of some new process by which wealth
is to bo accomplished without labor, the
sooner he dispelssuch a delusion the better.
There is no royal highway to wealth, any
more than to learning. s\s labor is the
only true and ultimate measure of value,
wealth is neither more nor less than the ac
cumulated results of labor, it folio'"* as 8
necessary consequence, that by some spec
ulative juggle, lie has managed to and
transfer the labors of other people. Though
individuals, therefore, may become rich by
unproductive processes, it is impossible, iu
the very nature of things, that communi-
I ties ever can. Let us, then, realizing
’ j these great principles of industry and sound
economy, and discarding all visionary
I schemes, steadily pursued the beaten track
of honest industry, consoled by the patriot
ic reflection, that every dollar, we thus add
5 to our own fortunes, is so much aided to the
t State, and the losses of others constitute
- j no one of the elements of our prosperity.
i As intimately connected with tiiis view
-of the subject, I may venture to offer a few
3 suggestions calculated to show that a plant
s ing community, habitual indebtedness is the
t j almost certain cause of pecuniary embar
■ j rassment, and i§ palpably opposed to every
i j maxim of genuine economy. Os all class
| es of the community, the planters can best
j plead the excuse of necessity for going in
i debt, and fatal experience has but ioo clear
ly demonstrated the disastrous results of
such a policy. As this is the besetting
frailty of the times, which so many les
sons of experience have entirely failed to
■ cure, I consider it worthy of the grave and
solemn consideration of this association.—
For if there be any question in the circle
of our general economy, in relation to which
a sound public opinion should be brought,
to bear upon individual imprudence, this,
in my opinion, is that very question.
If we consult the experience of the State
we shall find that all the advantages of
I .
j fertile soils and genial climate have been
I blasted by the mistaken policy of which I
! am speaking ; and that whole communities,
with industry and prudence would have
caused to flourish almost beyond example,
j exhibits one general scene of pecuniary
I embarrasment, bankruptcy and ruin. The
experience and observation of every plan
; ter will sustain me in the assertion, that we
j pay for credit, ill the mode in which it is
usually obtained in the purchase ofproper
ty, from 10 to 50 per cent, interest. Every
one who is accustomed to attend administra
tor's and other public sales, must have
been struck by the extravagant prices men
are tempted to give by a year s credit ; and
not less by the fact that such men are per
petually involved in pecuniary embarras
ments, and that the very efforts they thus
imprudently make to get forward in the
world faster than their neighbors, keeps
them always in the rear. In fact, it may
be truly affirmed as a general truth, that
planters who are large in debt, are, to that
extent, the mere stewards of their creditors.
Life is with them an anxious and slavish
struggle in pursuit of an object which al
ways eludes their grasp. But there is
another form of credit, fortunately not so
prevalent in South Carolina as in the other
States, of which planters are but too ready
to avail themselves, which is equally at
war with sound economy and sound cur
rency. I allude, of course, to hank dis
counts. It has been so Fashionable of late
[VOLUME