In consequence one or more slaves occasionally took to the woods; the whole force was frequently in bad health; and his women, though remarkably fecund, lost most of their children in infancy.

In some degree Philips justified the prevalent scorn of planters for "book farming."[23] [Footnote 23: M.W.Phillips, "Diary," F.L.Riley, ed., in the Mississippi Historical Society _Publications_, X, 305-481; letters of Philips in the _American Agriculturist, DeBow's Review_, etc., and in J.A.Turner, ed., _The Cotton Planter's Manual_, pp.

98-123.] The newspapers and farm journals everywhere printed arguments in the 'forties in behalf of crop diversification, and _DeBow's Review_, founded in 1846, joined in the campaign; but the force of habit, the dearth of marketable substitutes and the charms of speculation conspired to make all efforts of but temporary avail.

The belt was as much absorbed in cotton in the 'fifties as it had ever been before.
Meanwhile considerable improvement had been achieved in cotton methods.
Mules, mainly bred in Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, largely replaced the less effective horses and oxen; the introduction of horizontal plowing with occasional balks and hillside ditches, checked the washing of the Piedmont soils; the use of fertilizers became fairly common; and cotton seed was better selected.

These last items of manures and seed were the subject of special campaigns.