«42 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 9 



certain circumslances, to its cause; we ascertain, 

 in the first place, a method of determining ihe 

 sjjecific gravity of liquids; and in the second 

 place, a method of determining the height of 

 mountains. The efibcts by which we determine 

 these things, sprina: from the same cause as the 

 refusal of a pump to act, and yet they are of such 

 a character that we never should have dreamed 

 that there was any connexion between them, had 

 we not traced them to their common cause; and 

 more than this, we should probably have remain- 

 ed long in ignorance ot the two last mentioned ef- 

 fects, had we not traced the first to its cause. 

 Thus it is, that throwing knowledge into ihe form 

 of science, is like putting it out at compound in- 

 terest. 



Another reason why it is important to have our 

 knowledge in the form of science, is that in this 

 form it will greatly assist us in observing facts, 

 and collecting information. When the attention 

 has been directed to any particular subject, facts 

 connected with that subject are observed and re- 

 membered, which, in other circumstances, al- 

 though they might have passed before the eye, 

 would have made no impression on the mind. Let 

 a farmer and an architect travel together, through 

 the same country, you will find that although they 

 must have seen the same things, yet they have 

 brought home with them entirely different kinds 

 of information. The farmer can give you an ac- 

 count of the soil, the condition of the crops, the 

 methods of cultivation, &c.; whilst he can tell 

 you little or nothing of the structure of the build- 

 ings which he has passed. The architect, on the 

 other hand^ can give you a minute description of 

 •every principal buUding on the way; whilst he 

 'Can tell you little or nothing respecting the crops. 

 This difference arises entirely from the fact, that 

 ithese two men have had their attention pre- 

 viously directed to different subjects. By throw- 

 ang our knowledge anto the ibrm of scientific prin- 

 ciples, we get a number of subjects worthy of at- 

 tenlioR, distinctly out before the mind, and each 

 of them will be a nucleus around which know- 

 ledge will naturally collect. 



Such are some of the arguments, which urge a 

 study of natural science upon the farmer. The 

 want of success, which has in many instances at- 

 tended the efforts to apply science to agriculture, 

 may be brought forward as an objection, by some. 

 To such I would answer, this want of success is 

 to be attributed, in part to the present imperfection 

 of those sciences which most naturally apply to 

 agriculture; and in part also, to the visionary cha- 

 racter of many of those who have hitherto made 

 the attempt. If you will consult the history of 

 ihe application of science to those of the arts to 

 which it has been most successfully applied, you 

 will find that this has been a misfortune which 

 has happened to them all, in their infancy. Vi- 

 sionary men being the lightest part of society, 

 seem always to rise to the top ; and rising 

 science, like the rising sun, is forced to shed its 

 first rays upon those barren spots, where it is im- 

 possible that any thing should grow. Let it rise 

 higher, and pour its flood of light upon the rich 

 valleys below, and if it cause not these to spring 

 with life and verdure, then may you liiirly call its 

 claim in question. If the attempt has failed hith- 

 erto, in consequence of having been made by vi- 

 ^sionary men, the greater is the necessity that so- 



ber, substantial, practical men should now lake 

 the matter in hand. 



Much has already been done in Virginia for the 

 advancement of the interesis of agriculture. A 

 geological survey of the state is now in progress. 

 An able periodical, devoted exclusively to dif- 

 fusing information respecting the best methods of 

 cultivating and improving land, has been eslab-- 

 lished, and thus far well sustained. And last, 

 though not least, societies such as that whose anl- 

 versary we to-day celebrate, have been establish- 

 ed in many parts of the state. Thus far it is welL 

 There is yet another, and, as it appears to me, an 

 important step to be taken. The nature of that 

 step and my reasons tor believing it important, I 

 have presented before you. "I have spoken as 

 unto wise men, judge ye what I say." 



Every inducement ia held out to the farmer of 

 the valley to improve his land and his system of 

 cultivation. Who that looks upon the inexhaug- 

 fible water-power of our state, and at her vast 

 mineral resources; the iron and the coal, which 

 the hand of a bounteous Creator has so lavishly 

 bestowed upon her, can doubt, that she is yet tw 

 become one of the principal manufacturing states 

 of the union. Thus will she possess within her- 

 self a market for all that her farmers can produce 

 by the most skilful cultivation. The James River 

 improvement will soon open a grand highway, 

 from the valley to the very centre of this market. 

 Our climate is well adapted to the growth of every 

 species of grain; our soil is already good, and sus- 

 ceptible of the highest degree of improvement. 

 What then is there to forbid the hope, that the 

 valley of Virginia may yet rival in fertility the 

 lairest portions of the west? Let our farmers but 

 improve the advantages which they have; let 

 them engage in earnest in this work, and this hope 

 must soon become a reality. 



The traveller as he rests for a moment on the 

 top of yonder mountains, will cast his eye over a; 

 broad land of golden harvest. As he descends 

 and mingles amongst us he will receive the hospi- 

 tality of an intelligent, a blest, a happy peopte. 

 The inhabitant of the valley has already much to 

 rejoice in. He trembles not before the chill wind' 

 of the north, neither is he striken down under the' 

 oppressive heat of the south; surrounded by » 

 scenery so grand and beautiful, that no part of the 

 country can boast a superior; possessed of a 

 mount- girt home, such as has always been the 

 strong hold of the freeman, let him but add' to 

 these, that fertility which he can bestow upon the 

 soil, and Avith an honest pride may he exclartn, 

 my own, ray native valley, is the fairest spot on 

 which the sun shines. 



From Uie Genesee- PanuCT. 

 SPAMSH CHEESE PUMPKIN.^ 



Mr. Tucker — If you think the following notice 

 of an agricultural production worthy of a place in 

 your paper, you are at liberty to insert it. 



I have the present season, from the planting, of 

 one pumpkin seed, raised twenty pumpkins, 

 weighing in the aggregate, 671 pounds. 



The six largest weighed as follows : 71, 71, 70,. 

 62i, 60, 57i, making 392 lbs. ; 14 others weighed 

 279 lbs., making 671 lbs. Whole ieaglh of the 

 the vines, 989 leet. 



