161 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 3. 



For tlie Farmers' Register. 

 DEEP PLOUGHING, &C. 



Tlie Athenian orator, to whom yoiir Frederic 

 correspoiulent relerp, wlio esteemed action the first 

 canon in the an of eloquence, had reference to the 

 taste and genius of his own times ; such would 

 not have been the answer of the late William Pitt, 

 the prince of orators, in the ao-e in which he lived. 

 Your correspondent considers deep ploughinij the 

 first rule in successful airriculfure : if h7s tireory 

 had been confined to the Valley of Virtrinia, "l 

 should not feel disposed to r|ijestion its accuracy. 

 Opinions founded on practical experience are enti- 

 tled to great respect ; but the circumstances upon 

 which they are formed are fiir subjects of investi- 

 gation. 1 spent some time last summer in that 

 part of Virginia, and I did not remark extraordi- 

 nary diligence in improvement by lime or putres- 

 cent manures, nor did I esteem their ao-riculiure 

 of the highest order ; but the fine crops of Indian 

 corn and oats afforded full evidence of the richness 

 ol the soil. The cause is now disclosed in the sub- 

 stratum containing a portion of carbonate of lime; 

 and miprovements made in Maryland and lower 

 yirginia at large cost, are accomplished in that 

 lortunate valley, (for fortunate I must call it,) by 

 the ordinary operations of cultivation. This pro- 

 perty in the soil must give great value to the lands, 

 and fully justifies deep ploughing. 



Successful, diligent larmers,'^who have kept 

 their lands up to a state of moderate product, and 

 have improved their fortunes by thrift and care, 

 not unlhequently speak lishtly of knowlpdo-e dp! 

 nved Irom books, and, by way of reproach, call it 

 " book larming;" and the/ derive support from the 

 fiict, that good theoretical writers sometimes fail 

 greatly in their practical illu.«tralions. I do not 

 think It can be justly denied, that books on a-rri- 

 culture have contributed creatly to its iiT)pro"^'e- 

 ment. By periodicals the approved experience of 

 one region is communicated to another: I am a 

 debtor to the Farmers' Reaister, and to the Culti- 

 vaior ; but 1 have seen some mischief done by 

 confident theorists acting upon limited experience. 

 About thirty years ajio, a farmer of this state 

 published a tract on aorricuiiure. Like your Fre- 

 deric correspondent, he insisted that deep plouffh- 

 ing was suitable to all soils. He supported his 

 theory by facts, and some plausible reasons- 

 among others, as I recollect, that the old exhaust- 

 ed surface might be turned down to recover, and a 

 fresh soil brought up for production. The scheme 

 was generally condemned by the old and expe- 

 rienced farmers, but found favour with the yonncr 

 and confiding, and the price paid for their credulity 

 was diminished crops and impoverished lands 

 The late Col. E. Floyd, of Talbot, who had then 

 recently come into possession of his estate, and 

 was full of enterprise, was greatly taken with the 

 plan, and experimented to the full extent of the 

 theory. Many years afterwards, I asked him the 

 result of^ his deep ploughins: he said it proved a 

 most injurious business, and the lands he had so 

 treated were greatly injured. I do not think your 

 corrcspondenf derives support by his reference to 

 England and Belgium ; the extent of marlino- in 

 those countries has rarely been attained in ours in 

 crop cultivation. By lime, ashes, and other suitra- 

 bie manures, they there make a soil ; in ours, we 

 only seek to improve. If one cubic foot of suita- 



ble manure be added to three or four cubic feet of 

 soil, it is no great matter whether the soil be sand 

 or clay. In this we are instructed by our o-arden 

 cultivators; and when the facilities of labor and 

 the prospects of profit offer the same inducements, 

 perhaps we shall plough our lands as deep as they 

 do theirs in the Valley of Virginia. 



Successful agriculture has of late become a mat- 

 ter of national consideration ; whilst schemers and 

 projectors, under color of increasing the national 

 wealth, have received largely assistance from the 

 general and state governments, no fostering ray 

 has been shed on agriculture. Without any sup*- 

 port but what it has derived fi'om its ovvn energies, 

 it has been ofien embarrassed by the wild and ex- 

 travagant schemes of the commercial and raanu- 

 liscturing community. The failure of the grain 

 crop for the two last years, and the large European 

 importations, have demonstrated that the present 

 production, in a favorable year, is but little more 

 than suflicient to supply domestic consumption; 

 and when the crop is diminished by an unfavora- 

 ble season, we must look to foreign countries for 

 supplies. In the event of a war this dependence 

 would be exceedingly precarious. Under the ad- 

 ministration of the younger Pitt, in a year of 

 scarcity in England, large quantities of rice were 

 imported from the East Indies, and our old enemy, 

 George the Third, ate potato bread, not as a pu- 

 nishment for his sins, but as a good example to 

 his subjects. The " American system" (falsely so 

 called) was adopted under color of making our 

 country in all ihinirs independent of foreign na- 

 tions ; and surely, if the manuliictures of cotton, 

 wool, iron, and copper, were entitled to a high pro- 

 tective tariff, bread, the stall of life, demands some 

 consideration. I would not ask from congress a 

 protective tariff; because I think the people of the 

 country have a just claim to articles of necessary 

 consumption at the cheapest rate, and because I 

 think a power imparted to the general government 

 (or one distinct, separate object, cannot be lawfully 

 exercised for another ; but I do think that a sound 

 and enlightened policy dictates that each state 

 should essay the discovery of its own agricultural 

 resources and capacities. It is little more than 

 thirty years since inarl was first discovered in Tal- 

 bot county; it was then thought peculiar to that 

 reaion ; accident, more than enterprise, has dis- 

 closed it in many parts of the Eastern Shore. A 

 o-eolofiical survey and examination of our state by 

 skiltul and faithful agents, I have no doubt, would 

 lead to many important discoveries. I should be 

 much better pleased to see a company of men en- 

 gaged in this work, at the cost of the state, than a 

 corps of civil enirineers surveying railroads, on the 

 borders of our navigable rivers. 



In mostof the schemes of infernal improvement 

 there are two classes of adventurers — a large one 

 who pay their money, and who look for profit in 

 the success of the project, and a small band of 

 choice, adroit spirits, to whom the success or fiiil- 

 ure of the work is a matter of secondary import- 

 ance. They count on profit in the progress of the 

 work, in salaries, contracts, and speculating on the 

 fluctuating of the stocks. They fully understand 

 the signs of the times, and in prospect of a sinking 

 concern, sell out, clear themselves, and leave the 

 poor gents at the bottom of the well, to surfeit on 

 bitter waters, which they had represented as ex- 

 ceedingly sweet. 



