526 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



address their brethren who have not the good fortune to 

 be with us upon this occasion, to congratulate them upon 

 the fact that the course of improvement in the cultiva- 

 tion of the earth is still onward. And why should it not 

 be so? We possess a country of rich soil, and a climate 

 reaching from the line of tropical plants to that of a 

 region so cold that man must resort to other means for 

 support beside cultivating the earth. 



But, with all our advantages of soil and climate, there 

 appears to be conceded opinion among all the cultivators 

 of the earth that they do not enjoy the advantages and 

 comforts enjoyed by other classes of society, who never 

 knew what it was to earn their bread by the sweat of 

 the brow. The cotton planter of Mississippi tells us 

 that he cannot support his laborers upon the product of 

 his plantation, because the price of cotton is too low. But 

 would not a more careful management and a more di- 

 versified culture obviate his difficulty? He is not required 

 to raise cotton alone — his soil and climate is equally 

 adapted to raising wool — tobacco, also of the finest qual- 

 ity, will grow where cotton will, and no part of the 

 country can excel this section of the Union for raising 

 fruit. The remedy for over-production and low prices 

 of cotton must be a more diversified culture and greater 

 amount of home productions of all the things for which 

 the cotton region is now tributary to the north. We 

 are gratified to learn that the cultivators of sugar do 

 not complain of their present prospects in all the cane- 

 growing region. We do not hear of any extended oper- 

 ation in the manufacture of sugar from cornstalks. 



We regret to learn that throughout several of the 

 Southern corn-growing States there is a great failure 

 in the crop, owing to excessive drought, which has pre- 



into five sections: the Farmers' Club, the Henry Electrical Soci- 

 ety, the Horticultural Division, the Photographic Division, and the 

 Polytechnic Division. In 1845, the annual meeting began on Octo- 

 ber 6 at Niblo's Garden, New York City, and continued through 

 October 17. Cultivator, n. s. 2:290, 312. 



