The ''Southern Cultivator'' is a defunct agrarian publication that was published in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

History

The journal was started by J. W. Jones and W. S. Jones in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

in 1843.Duke University Libraries: Southern Cultivator
/ref>Michael T. Bernath, ''Confederate Minds: The Struggle for Intellectual Independence in the Civil War South: The Struggle for Intellectual Independence in the Civil War South'', Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Univ of North Carolina Press, 2010, p. 8

/ref> Its publication started prior to ''

De Bow's Review ''De Bow's Review'' was a widely-circulated magazine "DEBOW'S REVIEW" (publication titles/dates/locations/notes), APS II, Reels 382 & 383, webpage of "agricultural, commercial, and industrial progress and resource" in the American South during ...

'', which was established three years later, in 1846. Indeed, the ''Southern Cultivator'' has been said to be "the Confederacy's oldest, strongest, and intellectually most impressive agricultural journal." Its editors were Dennis Redmond and Charles Wallace Howard. Its publisher was J. P. Harrison.David B. Parker, ''Alias Bill Arp: Charles Henry Smith and the South's Goodly Heritage'', Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2009, pp. 94-9

/ref> ''Southern Cultivator'' was published twice a month. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

of 1861–1865, its offices moved to

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

. It was then moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. It later absorbed other similar publications, including the ''Dixie Farmer''. The title shifted over time to reflect these absorptions; it was known as The Southern Cultivator and Dixie Farmer from the 1880s until 1926, and as Southern Cultivator and Farming in 1926 and 1927, and once again as Southern Cultivator from 1928 to 1935. It was renamed Southern Farmer in 1935.

Content

The primary readership of the journal was Southern planters. As a result, much of the content focused on agricultural matters. However, it also published articles about politics, education and literature. Indeed, the

byline The byline (or by-line in British English) on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name of the writer of the article. Bylines are commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably '' Reader's ...

read, "Devoted to Southern Agriculture, Designed to improve the Mind, and Elevate the Characters of the Tillers of the Soil, and to Introduce a More Enlightened System of Culture.". A large number of poems written by Confederate poets were published in its pages. They also described books published in the North as "evil." Moreover, author

Bill Arp Charles Henry Smith (June 15, 1826 – August 24, 1903) was an American writer and politician from the state of Georgia. He used the pen name Bill Arp for nearly 40 years. He had a national reputation as a homespun humorist during his lifetime ...

(1823-1906) had a monthly column in the journal. As the journal publisher, J. P. Harrison, also served as the publisher of Arp's books, the ''Southern Cultivator also ran advertisements for those books. Among its pages, some readers also discussed the recipe of mustang wine, a wine made from mustang grapes in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Digitalization

It has been digitized by

Duke University Libraries Duke University Libraries is the library system of Duke University, serving the university's students and faculty. The Libraries collectively hold some 6 million volumes. The collection contains 17.7 million manuscripts, 1.2 million public docum ...

. Original copies are kept at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, Duke University, and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

.HathiTrust
/ref>

References

{{Reflist 1843 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Biweekly magazines published in the United States Defunct agricultural magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1843 Magazines disestablished in 1872 Magazines published in Georgia (U.S. state) Magazines published in Atlanta Mass media in Augusta, Georgia