Southern planter : devoted to agriculture, horticulture, and the ...

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 41S
there is no man of ordinary natural mind'
who cannot add much that is useful and
ornamental to his acquirements, by reading
during spare hours.
These are among the foremost characteristics,
necessary to constitute a good
overseer, and he that has these, will have
the minor accomplishments growing from
them. It is time, that overseers, as a
class, were aspiring to that elevation of
character to which they are entitled, and
we are glad to know, that in a few years
past, an evident change has taken place
in their aims and position. The time is
past, when the mere bull-dog qualities of
a severe driver or task-master, are only
required. While planters wish to employ
men who are good disciplinnriaQS, and
such as know how to command with de-
cision, and order with discretion, they, in
no instance, wish the services of the tyrant,
whose delight is in punishment and
cruelty. Overseers, as thousands of instances
readily attest, can secure the respect
as well as the fear of the negro, and
govern the plantrition in the absence of
the proprietor with humanity and kindness.
There are no set of men in the
State, who could impart more valuable information
upon the system, if such it may
be called, of Southern agriculture, and
we invite them not only to subscribe to
the Planter & Mechanic, but to adorn its
pages with the lights of their experience.
Our friend Harmon of Utica, has set them
a good example, which it is hoped many
will follow. By reading agricultural papers,
and observing closely the operations
of nature in his pursuits upon the farm,
he has made himself a ready writer and
valuable correspondent to the leading agricultural
papers of the South. He has
promised in future to pay his special respects
to the Planter & Mechanic, and we
know of no correspondent whose communications
deserve more attention either
from the Planter & Mechanic, or its
readers. In conclusion let us urge upon
overseers the propriety of taking our pa-
per, and reading it, and then writing for
the same. The profits will be mutual, for
while they will send us iheir dollar, we
will send them a journal from which they
will reap much valuable information, and
through which they can impart to others
the same. There are other things to be
considered in a future number.
From the Cotton Planter and Soil of the South.
Short Letters to Overseers~No. 1.
Dr. Cloud—Dear Sir.—Few positions
in life are more responsible than that of
an overseer on a Southern plantation, and
it is to be feared that many persons undertake
it without being aware of its respon-
sibilities. You will therefore not think it
amiss, if I preface what I have to say
with a few remarks upon the nature of the
vocation in which you are engaged. An
overseer is the equal of his employer ; he
is his confidential agent. He is entrusted
with the care of his employer's estate,
and upon the fidelity with which he discharges
that trust, in a very large degree
mubt depend the prosperity of that estate.
You are just as responsible as the head
clerk to whom the merchant would entrust
the management of his mercantile afl^airs
or the superintendant to whom the capi-
talist would confide a manufacturing establishment,
or the teacher to whom a pa-
rent would commit the education of his
children. The nature of the trust is pre-
cisely th(^ same in your case that it is in
either of the other instances, though the
duties which you may have to perform are
different. Nor is your trust less complex
than that of either of the other agents to
which 1 have referred. The management
of a Southern plantation involves faithful
attention to a great variety of details.
From the proper treatment of slaves
which are placed under you, down to the
most trifling matter on the plantation, are
a thousand interests demanding your attention,
and if you are unfaithful in any
of these particulars, the interests of your
employer must suffer somewhat. You
have in your hands not only the result of
the crop, and to that extent, the annual
income of your employer, but the health
and lives of the negroes, the care of the
live stock and the farming utensils, are all,
in a great measure, entrusted to your
keeping, and thus you control not only
the annual income, but the active investment
of your employer. With all these
interests in your hands, you perceive that
you are entrusted not only with the estate,
but very largely with the peace of
mind and consequent happiness of those
who employ you. Surely, then, yours is
a responsible ofiice, and it would be well
if you should impress upon your mind a
;