MO 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 9 



motion of this dignified characler — a tew of the 

 reasons why she slumbers — and some oC the mea- 

 sures which may contribute to her revival. 



These are iiie ijrave and vA'eighly subjects! of 

 consideration, which hang upon the minds of all 

 her advocates — of all who are worthy of estima- 

 tion in the community. Who is not her friend, is 

 her Ibe; and tier foe is the foe of mankind. Will 

 this sentiment be controverted by the plea, "1 am a 

 lawyer — a physician — a divine?" Are these not 

 concerned, deeply concerned, in the promotion of 

 agriculture? Shall these honorable members of 

 society say. "We have no crops — no stocks — no 

 articles fbrexhibuion. or premium, and our moneys 

 shall not be wasied in this idle pageant?" 1 hope 

 the day may not arrive, when experience too late 

 may teach the error of this evasion — when too 

 late, they may revoke theirjudgment, and expiate 

 their delinquency, by the adverse destinies of their 

 country, themselves, and their posterity. 



[n taking a view of the agricultural interests of 

 Dorchester — indeed of the Eastern Shore of Ma- 

 ryland, and perhaps of the state at large — the first 

 alarming tact, presented to the mind anxious for 

 the welfare of its native home, is the rapid emi- 

 gration of its citizens, to oth.er growing and rival 

 sections — and the menacing prospects of depopu- 

 lation and impoverishment. 



The question naturally occurs, whence comes 

 this fatal course of events ? Why should Mary- 

 land, whose geographical position and geological 

 resources are equal to any in the union, loiter in 

 the rear of other sections of our promising territo- 

 ry, and when they are swimming in the flowing 

 tide of successful experiment, is slie sinking in the 

 stagnant pool of adversity? W^iih every natural 

 advantage, which providence could reasonably be- 

 stow upon her, she is on the brink of perdition — 

 yes, merited perdition — spontaneous and suicidal. 

 Whence comes then, this imminently impending 

 fate, at once so wanton and so unnauiral? 



This is a grave question, full of consequences, 

 and one which it becomes our duty to our coun- 

 try, to ourselves, and to our children, to investigate, 

 and remetly, by all the moral force we can com- 

 mand; by all the intelligence and information we 

 can acquire — by all the physical abilities we can 

 bring into action. WithouUhe concurrent influence 

 of these powers, our native and beloved state will 

 be abandoned, forlorn and desolate — our children 

 impoverished, and our memories handed down to 

 posterity as just and fit subjects of desecration 

 and contempt. 



Whence comes then, I repeat these physical 

 and moral evils? 



With due respect to the honorable body of our 

 legislature, I maintain thatth(!ir apathy and their 

 injustice have contributed largely to these misfor- 

 tunes. 



i am conscious of the obnoxioiisness of this 

 sentiment — but I wish to be understood as apply- 

 ing my remarks to the princi|)le — 'adrem^ and not 

 *ad personam,'' — not to the agent, but to the action. 

 That honorable body have refused a fostering 

 hand, when supplicated for assistance, and under 

 circumstances of the most imminent peril, when re- 

 demption and preservation were within their com- 

 mand. When other interests were regarded and 

 sustained — rail roads and canals indefinitely coun- 

 tenanced — rocks and mountains excavated — em- 

 bankments ereeted upon valleys, at the cost of 



millions — all these bounteous acts of beneficence 

 have been conferred upon other interests, when 

 the needy and suppliant farmer has been rejected, 

 and retiised a dollar from the munificent chamber 

 and its oveYflowing coflers; with a sad and omin- 

 ous veto upon his fast hope — yes, upon his right- 

 ful claim and demand — he is told to retire. ''We 

 have other bantlings to nourish, more deserving of 

 our favor, more congenial to our fancy; you are a 

 passive subordmate creation, others tiiere are more 

 bold, more prominent — when they are satisfied, 

 you shall have the fragmentSj if any there be, 

 remaining of the least." 



When this key-stone of the ark of safety, 

 wealth and independence, is already loosened, and 

 the great fabric is tottering before the eyes of that 

 honorable body, when in this perilous condition, 

 this devoted class, the tillers of the soil, are driv- 

 en from their native attachments, b}' successive 

 and continuous losses and misfortunes in their pro- 

 fessional occupations, to a land of strangers, to 

 the west and south, where the youthful vigor of 

 nature has not yet lieen impaired, or to the north 

 and east, where, under the auspices of a more lib- 

 eral and propitious policy, the menacing approach 

 of decay is arrested, and the consequent impend- 

 ing evils averted by legislative wisdom, by boun- 

 ties, and premiums (or the growth and manufac- 

 ture of new species of crops, which an altered cli- 

 mate and other circumstances had demanded, in 

 place of the old and accustomed routine; when 

 these things were known to the most uninformed, 

 this depressed class is rejected, unassisted, un- 

 heeded, and unregarded. 



While I have the faculty of speech, to utter the 

 sentiments of my heart, and to express the con- 

 victions of my mind, I will denounce, because I 

 abhor, this action of our legislature, as a violation 

 of the principles of political justice, and true po- 

 litical economj^, and leading to the ruin of the 

 best interests of our country. It inclines me to ex- 

 claim with the astonished poet, ^proh superi; 

 quantum vwrtalia pcdora, cceccb noctis habent.'' 



In concurrence with otlier causes of a physical 

 character, this policy, this false judgment, of that 

 honorable body, has nearly extirpated the last 

 hope of agriculture in Maryland. And without a 

 speedy relief; this radical interest, from which all 

 others spring, and upon which they subsist, with 

 its numerous reiinue of dependants, will Ian 

 guish, and irrevocably be lost. 



In regard to the physical causes of the mena- 

 cing condition of our a<rricultural interests, the 

 most general and prominent may be found in the 

 fluctuations of climate and the present unfitness of 

 'station' for the wheat crop — a term used by geolo- 

 gists, to denote that locality of animal and vege- 

 table existence, where a combination of physical 

 circumstances, fiivorable to the development of 

 their repective organization, may have established 

 them. 



Many centuries ago, the classic farmer of Man- 

 tua, the immortal Virgil, impressively taught the 

 importance of this inquiry, the fitness of station, 

 and to learn the winds and the various qualities of 

 the climate, for successful cultivation: 'Ate segetes, 

 illic veniunt felice wt'ffi,' and he adds, these laws 

 and eternal regulations, nature, from the begining, 

 ordained. 



Without occupying your time to dwell upon the 

 beauties of this arrangement, upon this conspicu- 



