1884.] . QUESTIONS. 119 



such a book was the best manual you ever saw on the subject 

 of tobacco growing. That manual, sir, was written by one of 

 the agricultural editors whom you have just been denouncing 

 as men who write on what they do not know anything about." 

 The result was, the gentleman came to me, took me by the 

 hand, took me away from the hotel where I was stopping, and 

 took me home with him. He thought that was a good retort 

 on me for what I had said with reference to him. I will 

 only say, in conclusion, that I think the lecture was an 

 exceedingly able one ; it was full of points that can be dis- 

 cussed here. I have alluded to two subjects, and would like 

 to allude to others if I had not already occupied so much time. 

 I hope that if a man has not had any experience, his mouth 

 will not be necessarily shut ; because, if a man can relate 

 only his own experience, we shall get tired of personal experi- 

 ence pretty soon. 



Mr. Webb. I will not go far out of my way to go through 

 a mud hole, but I have traveled in one journey eight thou- 

 sand miles without going across a bridge, and of course have 

 crossed some mud holes. The thought never suggested itself 

 to my mind to crawl through a sewer, but I have had some 

 experience in raising tobacco for several years. I do not con- 

 demn the raising of tobacco if the farmer finds it profitable. 

 I think that the only way for a farmer to raise it and to raise 

 it profitably is to make it a specialty, and not own too much 

 land. The suggestion I would make to my friend is, if he 

 wants to know how it is himself, to buy 200 acres and raise 

 this curse, tobacco, and it will not take but a few years for 

 him to find out all about it. After I had been raising tobacco 

 for several years, there came a high wind and blew my 

 tobacco-house down, and I have had thanksgiving ever since, 

 for the reason that the tobacco crop, unless the farmer will 

 draw manure from other sources except from the farm, will 

 invariably exhaust the other products of the farm. If he has 

 a large farm, it will take him too long to get around in rota- 

 tion to keep it up in a proper condition. A man who has but 

 three or four acres can make a specialty of it, and can make 



