1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



211 



tive, but highly stimulating medicine; if inental 

 slimuli can properly ho compnrcd to corporeal, 

 ami the luriin-r can he both prepared and adniiiiif;- 

 tered to us liir more easily iliaii many iiuafiiue. 

 You liave only to call us ''' the sovereign. people ;^'' 

 to translate lor us ihc old Latin blasphemy, '• vox 

 pnpuli est vox Dei ;''' to swear, at the same time, 

 that it is literally true, and you may lead us "into 

 the cannon's mouth." Then huzza ! lor us Vir- 

 jrinia hoys ; who but xvc '. although we may ac- 

 tually have sunk ourselves by our supineness as to 

 ail state concerns, and other political sins, to the 

 very lowest <rrade in our great conlederacy. ikit 

 throw cold water on us, especially on as of the 

 agricultural brotherliood, who arc as cold general- 

 ly as li-oixs, and you level us nearly to the '■'caput 

 mortuum^'' of earth, into which, alas! our own 

 prodigal waste and abuse of nature's bounties has 

 converted a very large portion of the arable lands 

 of our native state. "Rely upon it, my good friend, 

 that we Virginia agriculturists want, most griev- 

 ously, all sorts of legitituate mental excitement, 

 that can be applied with the least probability of 

 success in promoting our cause. We have al- 

 ways too little, rather than too nuich steam, jjor/y 

 politics always excepted. Our danger, meaning 

 thereby the danger of our class, is caused by too 

 m«c/i torpor; too much oi^ the good-enough mala- 

 fly, and not by the hobhy-horsical extreme. Par- 

 don me, therefore, for saying, that you appear to 

 me inclined to use the lancet, and its almost inse- 

 parable companion, calomel, (if such a figure be 

 allowable,) somewhat more than is good lor us. 

 We of the clod-hopping genus have had quite 

 enough, and to spare, o\' depletion, in all the modes 

 wherein empiricism could injure us, either in reli- 

 gion, morals, politics, or husbandry — nay, in body, 

 and soul, and estate; and what we most want now, 

 is an abundance of that good old-fashioned sort of 

 thing called kitchen-vhysic. But to procure it, al- 

 though it be the staff of life, we, the said clodhop- 

 pers, require the excitement of censure and ridi- 

 cule, for our numerous sins of omission, with un- 

 ceasing commendations and praise, for every evi- 

 dence ofan inclination to quit the old beaten track, in 

 which so many of us have nearly starved, for the 

 purpose of trying, so far as 9ur means will justify, 

 all well-authenticated experiments that hold out a 

 tolerably fiiir prospect of bettering our fortunes. 

 JBe it well understood, however, that I utterly ex- 

 clude all humbugs, properly so called, from even 

 the slightest claim to toleration, fn plain Eng- 

 lish, they are, on the part of the contrivers, down- 

 right frauds to cheat the ignorant and credulous 

 out of their money ; and most heartily will ! join 

 you in a war of extermination against them, ft-ar- 

 iul as the odds may be against us. But for the 

 hobby-riders, one and all, much as I often join in 

 the laugh against them, I confess my sympathy 

 is "pretty considerable," as brother Jonathan 

 says. For this, you probably, as well as some of 

 my other readers, will thirds I have good cause, if 

 near relations ought to sympathise with each other. 

 Be this, however, as it may, there is certainly more 

 color of excuse for those poor fellows in Virginia, 

 than in any other state in the Union : for our ag- 

 riculture is literally ''sick almost unto death;'''' 

 and you know that "a willingness, nay, an anx- 

 ious desire, to be cured of any danij'erous and 

 alarming disease, is perlectly natural ; and the 

 danger usually leads those vvho are threatened by 

 it, to catch at all sorts of proposed remedies." 



Thus endeth my long, and I fear, tedious homi- 

 ly, in regard to which, let me conclude by beg- 

 ging you to correct me, if I have so fa- mismider- 

 stood your opinions as to misrepresent them. Should 

 we really dill'er materially, and any good to our 

 cause grow out of the public expression of that dil- 

 Rirence, I confidently trust that neither of us will 

 leel any such Ibolish pride of opinion as will pre- 

 vent him from heartily rejoicing at the general re- 

 sult, even should the verdict of our brethren be 

 given against him. Discussion, fijll, free and 

 ti'iendly discussion, of all important agricultural 

 subjects, and willing, unprejudiced readers, are 

 what our cause in Virginia most grievously wants ; 

 for our everlasting political party quarrels have 

 nearly banished the language of gentlemen from 

 all argument, whether oral or printed; while to 

 read any thing in relation to husbandry, is deem- 

 ed such up-hill work, such a waste of time, by 

 most of our brethren, that all imaginable pains 

 should be taken to change, if possible, so paralyz- 

 ing, so stultifying a habit. That your highly 

 laudable efforts to do it may be crowned with en- 

 tire success, is the constant and earnest wish of 

 Your old friend and fellow-laborer, 



J. M. G. 



REPLY TO THE FOREGOIIVG, AND SOME OTHER 

 ORJECTIOSS. 



We liave been singularly unfortunate in conveying 

 the meaning designed in some of the passages of the 

 article commented on above ; which appears, not only 

 from some of the objections urged by our present cor- 

 respondent, but from several others. This misappre- 

 hension is doubtless caused by the hasty and careless 

 mode of expression used ; and therefore we readily 

 lay the blame at our own door. But, the general po- 

 sitions there assumed, (and by which the words of 

 particular illustrations and examples should be con- 

 strued,) still seem, to our understanding, so plain, 

 that we fear that any additional explanation will 

 scarcely dispel the existing obscurity. To avoid repe- 

 tition now, we would request of readers to refer to the 

 article in question, (especially the portion on pages 48 

 and 49,) for examination of the grounds assumed or 

 denied. 



We were far from meaning to deny the importance 

 to the product of crops, of a pi'opcr selection of seeds. 

 On the contrary, (putting aside many and strong ex- 

 pressions of ours in other editorial articles, which we 

 cannot expect readers to remember,) in this piece in 

 question, the advantage of such selection is fully and 

 directly admitted in particular passages, as well as 

 fairly to be inferred from the general context. It is 

 there said, that •' it is highly important to adapt the 

 kind of seed to the soil, climate and usual seasons ; 

 and the waAt of such adaptation may reduce a crop to 

 less than hdlfofwhat might have been obiained from other 

 seed." This surely was saying, though generally and 

 indircctl}^ yet strongly and explicitly, that by a pro- 

 per choice of seed, a crop may be, in some cases, even 

 doubled in amount. This greater productive power of 

 one variety of a particular grain over another, was as- 

 cribed, not to qualities such as are usually recommend- 

 ed, and soiight for in "hobbies," or new pet grains, but 

 to the suitableness of the plant to the circumstances 



