S66 



FARMERS' REGISTER— IMPROVEMENT aF AGRICULTURE. 



importance. His sfock are bred at a farm belong- 

 ing to him at Otumba, and driven to Mexico to be 

 fattened, when eight months old. 



FORCIXG EARL"V BEANS. 



From the Gardener's Magazine. 



In the month of November last, when digging 

 the ground where the crop of s^carlet runners 

 [beans] had grown, I could not help noticing the 

 large size of the roots; and it occurred to me that, 

 if 1 took them up, potted them, and kept them in a 

 cold pit during the winter, th.ey might llirnish 

 another crop tlie following spring. I tried the ex- 

 periment on two of the best roots, potting them, 

 and keeping them in a cold pit till the 1st of Feb- 

 ruary. At that time I put them into a hot-house, 

 in which the average temperature Avas about 60°. 

 They soon began to send up strong shoots, and to 

 show flower in abundance from the ground up- 

 wards. They are now about 12 feet high, and 

 make a very good a])pearance in a green-house, 

 where they' pass with many for a new species of 

 plant. If I had saved thirty or forty roots, and 

 had put them in heat in sprmg, in the manner 

 done with georginas, and if I had turned them out 

 in the open air about the same time that these 

 plants arc turned out, I certainly should have been 

 able to gather kidney beans a month sooner than is 

 done by the usual practice of sowing in the open 

 garden. 



ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Addressed to the Agricultural Society of Charlotte. 

 For the Farmers' Register. 



There can be no doubt that practical essay's are 

 better calcidated to promote the interests of agi-i- 

 culture, than mere theoretical opinions. As my 

 practice however, has not been the most success- 

 ful, and I feel my deficiency in practical operations 

 generally, I shall not attempt to offer any thing in 

 this way, but confine myself to such observations 

 as may seem to me suitable to the present occa- 

 sion. 



We must all deplore the careless and neglected 

 condition of agriculture generally in this and tlie 

 adjacent counties. 



At a time when every effort is making in some 

 of our sister States, and in some of the counties of 

 our own State, to advance the cause of agricul- 

 ture, by the dissemination of enlightened views on 

 the subject, it is our melancholy Tot to witness its 

 decline. 



The cultivation of the soil which ought to be 

 looked upon as a source of wealth and indepen- 

 dence, in many cases, proves to be the road to po- 

 verty and ruin — and rural occupations, instead of 

 being esteemed of the highest importance, are 

 sunk into a state of degradation. Our lands are 

 cultivated as if we had no pemaanent interest in 

 them, and as if it were a matter of course, that in 

 a few years wc were to throw ourselves into, and 

 float along the cuiTent of western emigration. Mis- 

 guided avarice, or an unaccountable apathy seems 

 to opero.te upon us, and the mandate of a despot 

 could not more effectually drive us from our native 

 soil. The wretched system of cultivation we are 

 pursuing, the exhausting nature of our crops, 

 (corn, wheat, and tobacco,) with scarcely any meli- 



orating process, and the consequent ra| id decline in 

 the fertility of our soil, are fast destroying our at- 

 tachment to our country, and drivang us to seek an 

 asylum from poverty and want, in the rich lands 

 of the west. For our country to be loved, (as 

 Burke says) she must be made lovely. But who 

 can say that at this time the agricultural condition 

 of this section presents a lovely aspect? Does it 

 not, on the contraiy, present us with many bitter 

 reflections on the past, sad contrasts of the pre- 

 sent, and gloomy and desponding aj: prehensions 

 ofthefiiture? But we must not despair. "Patriot- 

 ism bids us exert all our energies, to make Virgi- 

 nia a lovely spot. For it is here that the bones of 

 our fathers rest. Here upon our altars did the 

 pure flame of liberty first blaze up, and hence did 

 the mighty conflagration spread itself, until the 

 bands of British despotism were melted away, 

 America freed, and the world taught the glorious 

 truth, that the liberty of the citizen was not incon- 

 sistent with good government. The same spirit 

 which achieved our liberties still exists in our bo- 

 soms. She calls on us to nerve ourselves for a ge- 

 nerous effort. Let us not despond. Let not the 

 spirit of patriotism call on us in vain. This Socie- 

 ty may expect to be opposed by some, ridiculed by 

 others, and regarded with indifterence by the ma- 

 jority. But the patriot is not to be driven from his 

 pur]30se by trifling difficulties. His aim is high, 

 and he enjoys more real happiness in well-meant 

 endeavors for his country's good, than the cold 

 hearted bigot to his own prejudices can ever taste. 



I know that our resources have been weakened 

 and diminished. But well-directed skill and dili- 

 gence will help to make up for this. Our soil haa 

 been impoverished, but still enough remains to en- 

 able us to adopt a new system of cultivation. 

 Gloomy as the prospect appears, I do not despair 

 of yet seeing our soil, susceptible of improvement 

 as it is, clothed with verdure. Nature has lavish- 

 ed her favors upon us. Our country is peculiarly 

 adapted to farming — its products are highly diver- 

 sified — we are not tied down necessarily to any one 

 staple: grain, grass, tobacco, hemp, flax, and the 

 various root crops all grow well. It lies beautiful- 

 ly; is intersected with many fine, bold, navigable 

 streams, and both inland and seaport towns aflbrd 

 a market for our produce of every variety. A suf- 

 ficient portion of the soil is naturally fertile, and 

 (although much worn) still susceptible of the 

 highest degree of improvement. The climate is 

 one of the most pleasant and salubrious in the 

 world. Every thing in short, but the obstinate 

 i:)rejudiceB and apathy of our fellow citizens, com- 

 bines to make it one of tlie finest spots on the ha- 

 bitable globe. 



Why then, it may be asked, Avith a soil natural- 

 W good, and so many and so great advantages, 

 does not the cause of agriculture flourish? In ad- 

 dition to the causes already mentioned, is the per- 

 tinaceous adherence to old customs, and a disposi- 

 tion, inherent in man, to tread the path of his la- 

 thers. To a certain extent I approve this disposi- 

 tion, but he is not wise, Avho Avhen he sees the er- 

 rors of those who have gone before him, does not 

 avoid them — who when he sees the rocks on which 

 they are wrecked, rushesheediessly onto the same 

 destruction. Our eyes are now fully open to the 

 faults of our predecessors. The ravages which 

 their injudicious cultivation has made on the beau- 

 ty of our soil, are sufficiently manifest wherevef 



