674 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



on them, become of concern to the public, be in- 

 serted as, and charged double the regular rates of 

 advertieemenrs. 



Resolved, That, in the opinion of this conven- 

 tion, it would greatly tend to correct the pubHc 

 taste, to advance the cause of virtue and sound 

 moraJity, if the editors of nevvf:papera would dis- 

 countenance, ag much as possible, the publication 

 of the horrid minutiae and details of murders 

 and suicides, the disgusting incidents connected 

 with duels and affrays, which sometimes occur in 

 different parts of our country, and also, accounts 

 of the ingenuity of the vicious in their deprada- 

 tions upon society; all of which only tmd to en- 

 courage vice, and spread the knowledge ol" criaie. 



Resolved, That, in the o{)inion of "the conven- 

 tion, it would be highly conducive to the interests 

 of the public, and honorable to the characters of 

 editors, if the newspapers of the country were to 

 be devoted as much as possible, to the dissemina- 

 tion of usefuJ facts, of general knowledge, and of 

 all such matter as will tend to refine, to enlighten 

 and to improve, in preference to articles which 

 merely gratify a vitiated taste, or pamper a de- 

 praved appetite for scandal. 



Fridmj morning, \Mh January 9, Jl. M. 



The Rev. W. S. Plumer, editor of the Richmond 

 Watchman of the South, appeared and took his 

 Beat. 



The report and resolutions presented to the 

 convention yesterday by Mr. Sands, li-om the 

 committee under the second resolution, were taken 

 up, and after considerable debate, indefinitely 

 postponed. 



On motion of Mr. Snowden, 



Resolved, That it be recommended to the edi- 

 tors of newspapers throughout the commonwealth 

 to publish at the head ot' their papers, their rates 

 for advertising; and that they strictly adhere to the 

 same, and that these prices be always such as to 

 give a fair compensation for the labor perlbrmed. 



On motion of Mr. Blackford. 



Resolved, That Messrs. Ritchie, Gallahcr, Co- 

 wardin, RufHn, White, and Sands, be appointed a 

 committee to devise some plan for the more spee- 

 dy and certain collection of moneys due to editors. 



On motion of Mr. RufRn, 



Resolved, For the purpose of cultivatm<j per- 

 sonal acquaintance among the members of the ed- 

 itorial corps, and for renewing and continuing the 

 kindly and cordial intercourse which has been so 

 happily commenced, and also to strengthen, amend, 

 or complete the course now adopted and left im- 

 perfect — that another convention of the editors 

 and publishers of Virginia, be held in the city of 

 Richmond, on the 22(i'of February, 1839. 



On motion of Mr. Sands. 



Resolved, That it be reconmiended to editors, 

 not to employ any apprentice, who may have 

 left the service of his employer, before the time for 

 which he engaged to serve shall have expired, un- 

 less with the consent of the former employer. 



On motion of Mr. Ricketts, 



Resolved, That the Secretary be instructed to 

 tender the tiianks of this convention to the presi- 

 dents and directors of the Richmond and Freder- 

 icksburg, and the Louisa railroad companies, for 

 the eourtesy extended lo the editors of the state, in 



affording them the facilities of a free passage on 

 their respective roads. 



On motion, 



Resolved, That the proceedings of this conven- 

 tion be published in the several papers of this 

 commonweath, and that the editors not present, 

 be requested to signify their acquiescence in, or 

 dissent from, the principles embraced in the fore- 

 going resolutions. 



On motion of Mr. Hunter, 



Resolved, That the thanks of the convention 

 be tendered to the president lor the dignified, im- 

 partial, and agreeable manner in which he has 

 presided over i!s delibrations. 



On motion of Mr. Snowden, 



Resolved, That the thanks of the convention 

 be tendered to the secretary, for the satisfactory 

 manner in which he has discharged his duties. 



THoaiAS Ritchie, Chairman. 

 Wm. M. Blackford, Secretary. 



EXTRACTS OF PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 



Goochland, Va. October 10, 1837. 



When I ascribed (incorrectly) the communica- 

 tion, page 11 to thy pen, it vsras because we all 

 knew that thou wast in the habit, of occasionally 

 publishing accounts of the management of well 

 regulated farms. I have just read that of my 

 npirrhbor Sampson's, with a great deal of interest. 

 What adds to the inerils of his farming, is, that 

 his lands on the north side of the public road are 

 naturally some of the most barren in the county. 

 Higher up the river, the land is of much better qual- 

 ity originally. 



Amelia, November 28, 1837. 

 # # « # * 



I fear that your theory, as to the ultimate con- 

 stitution of soil, is but too well established. If so, 

 what are those who live on exhausted soils, in- 

 accessible to calcareous matter in any form, to dol 

 May not your theory, just, as far as it goes, fall 

 short of the provident economy of nature in this 

 respect? Such a degree of cover as will admit 

 rain, and only permit its escape slowly, will im- 

 prove any land highly. What is there in the 

 substratum, purely al.miinous, in red galls, in 

 any event to fix the fertilizing properties, carbonic 

 or hydrogen gas, of rain? The cover may be of a 

 material not decomposable till long after the im- 

 provement of which it is the medium. 



I infer li-om your ' Essay,' that you regard gyp- 

 sum merely valuable as a specific aliaient of some 

 grasses. Has it no affinity for humic acid, which 

 may render it a substitute for calcareous earth, as 

 well as a solvent for dead vegetables? I venture, 

 though a stranger, to put these inquiries; because 

 it appears to me that the fair infi^rence from the 

 reasoning of your 'Essay,' in ivhich I am well 

 prepared to concur, is that the part of our state in 

 which I live, remote both flom lime and marl, 

 and exhausted of any calcareous matter it may 

 once have had, ought to be abandoned. I should 

 act on this impression myself, but for the posses- 

 sion of resources for living elsewhere. 



My observation of prairies in the south, verifies 

 your theory in relation to them. # # * • 



