FARMERS' REGISTER— MR. GARNETT'S ADDRESS. 



491 



on clover (protected from the hoof) aided by a judi- 

 cious rotation of crops, will restore to our lands 

 their long lost fertility. 



In conclusion, I must congratulate you, gentle- 

 men, upon the interesting show of stock, and upon 

 the handsome products ot' the soil, the salutary ef- 

 fects of organization of this society, and particu- 

 larly upon the beautiful specimens ol domestic fab- 

 rics exhibited by the ladies at this our first meeting. 

 It only requires perseverance to accomplish the 

 great objects for which this society has been form- 

 ed. 



ADDRESS TO THE AGRICULTURAL, SOCIETY 

 OF FREDERICKSBURG, AT THE ANNUAL 

 MEETING, ON THE 13tH AND 14tH OF NO- 

 VEMBER, 1834. 



By James M. Garnett, President. 

 Published in tlie Farmers' Register by request of the Society. 



Permit me, gentlemen; once more to welcome 

 you to another anniversary of our society. It 

 Kas been held every year, I believe, without a sin- 

 gle interruption, since our first establishment in 

 1818; which ILict may therefore be considered, I 

 trust, a sure indication of a still longer continu- 

 ance. To commemorate it thus has always afford- 

 ed an opportunity, highly grat hying, to renew our 

 friendly intercourse; and, at the saine time, benefi- 

 cially to interchange such knowledge as each of us 

 may have annually gained in regard to an/; or to 

 all of the various branches of husbandry. This 

 knowledge, after all, is, in one sense at least, of 

 more importance, than any other. It is the basis 

 of national wealth; for, without it, none of the va- 

 rious professions, trades, and callings essential to 

 national prosijerity — so far as this depends upon 

 wealth — can obtain even the means of subsist- 

 ence. Well, therefore, has it been said, that ''pas- 

 turage and tillage"' (upon which husbandry itself, 

 in all its branches, is dependent,) "are the two 

 breasts of the state." But an eulogium on our 

 profession is, I trust, entirely unnecessary before 

 my present audience. Let me, proceed therefore. 

 to state the lew agricultural facts which have fal- 

 len under my own observation, since our last No- 

 vember meeting, that appear to deserve your at- 

 tention. 



The first relates to a variety of Indian corn, 

 which seems to me — as far as I can judge from 

 one imperfect trial — far more productive than any 

 other I have ever noticed. Its history, or rather 

 the circumstances which induced me to try it, are 

 as follow: last winter, in Washington, two or 

 three Maryland farmers of my acquaintance, gave 

 me a very high character of it, and strongly re- 

 commended, fi'om their ov/n experience, that I 

 should make an experiment with it. They stated 

 that it was cultivated chiefly on the Eastern Shore 

 of Maryland, where it was called "the twin corn;" 

 (I should rather call it the extra prolific,) and that 

 it produced, in every variety ol" land, considerably 

 more than any other corn they had crer tried. I 

 procured a barrel in the ears jrom my friend Col. 

 Lloyd, (since dead,) who was an experienced far- 

 mer and a gentleman of un(iuestionable veracity. 

 His present was accompanied by a letter, in Avhich 

 he assured me, that, af\er a fair trial, he thought 

 the difference in favor of this variety was equal to 

 at least fifteen per cent., and that many of his 



neighbors estimated it still higher. I distributed 

 ears among several gentlemen of my acquaint- 

 ance, all of whom — at least all that I have seen — 

 speak very highly of it. My own experiment waa 

 rendered nearly abortive by a drought which com- 

 menced on the 5th day of July, and never ceased 

 until the last day of August. Still I have seen 

 enough to produce a determination that I will 

 plane my whole crop of this variety next year. 

 Before the drought began to act, I counted f"rom 

 five to eight good shoots and silks upon many 

 stalks, all of which promised to mtdve ears of corn; 

 but the intense, parching heat of the sun, without 

 rain for 55 days and nights, blasted mj^ prospects, 

 and left only the proof that more ears on a stalk 

 came to pedection, than of either of the other two 

 varieties which I cultivated, and had long consi- 

 dered of superior value to any that I had previ- 

 ously subjected to trial. The grain of this new 

 kind is very white, but not so flinty as the homany 

 or Madaira corn, and makes beautiful meal: the 

 cob is also white, and uncommonly small; the ears, 

 of course, are not large. It ripens somewhat 

 earlier tlian the gourd-seed varieties, and the stalks 

 throw out an unusual quantity of suckers, u])on 

 several of which, that I sufi'ered to remain, small 

 ears of corn Avere found. Enemy as I am to all 

 kinds of exaggeration, and especially to the prac- 

 tice, so prevalent among our agricultural brethren, 

 of "making all their geese swans," I will venture, 

 notwithstanding, strongly to recommend extensive 

 trials of this extra prolific corn, as I beg leave to 

 call it. If it will add only three or four per cent., 

 instead of fifteen, to a farmer's crop of this most 

 valuable grain, it should be preferred to all other 

 kinds. 



While my hand is in, I will take the liberty to 

 make another recommendation. This is — of the 

 guinea-grass as a green food for horses, mules and 

 other stock, to be cut f"rom the 10th or 15th of 

 .June, until the last of October. It will be recol- 

 lected, perhaps, that much was said and Avritten 

 about it several years ago, in some of our southern 

 l)apers; and that afler a while, both the voice, and 

 the pens which had been so busy in its praise, en- 

 tirely ceased their eulogiums. Why this should 

 have happened I cannot imagine, unless the 

 friends to its culture got wearied out by the little 

 success of their recommendations; although it as- 

 suredly deserves a place on every farm in our tide- 

 water country, where natural grasses are scarce. 



Bryan Edwards, in his history of the West 

 Indies, gives the following interesting account of 

 its great value and its introduction into the island 

 of Jamaica. 



"The guinea-grass maj^ be considered as next 

 to the sugar-cane, in point of importance; as most 

 of the grazing and breeding farms, or pens, 

 throughout the island, were originally created, and 

 are still supported, chiefly by means of this inval- 

 uable herbage. Hence the plenty of horned cat- 

 tle, both for the butcher and ])Ianter, is such, that 

 few markets in Europe furnish beef at a cheaper 

 rate, or of better quality, than those of Jamaica. 

 Perhaps the settlement of" most of" the north-side 

 parishes is wholly owing to the introduction of this 

 excellent grass, which happened by accident 

 about* 50 years ago; the seeds having been 



* As the 1st edition of Edwards' history of the West 

 Indies, printed in London, appeared in 1798, tlie intro- 



