274 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



be expected, ihc niiiU first extracleJ, is not the 

 best — but that whicli is obtuiiieci the last con- 

 tains invariably tlie largest pru|)oriion of cream. 

 To salisty liiinself thoroughly on this pomt, he 

 caused a meal's luilk ol' one cow lo be milked into 

 jBve vessels ol" ihe satue size, and then separately 

 examined the milk in each in the order in which 

 it was taken. 

 No. 1, or lliat drawn first, gave 5 per c. of cream. 



"2, gave 8 - do. 



"3, gave 11,5 do. 



«' 4, gave 13,5 do. 



«« 5, ----- gave 17.5 do. 

 Making an average of '.he whole oi 11,05 percent. 



He extended his experiments so as to test the 

 quantity of caseous or cheesy matter obtained Irom 

 ditierent drawings of milk, which displayed a simi- 

 lar result — proving, in the most salislactory man- 

 ner, that tlie last drawings of the milk were con- 

 stantly much richer, bolli in butter and cheese, 

 than the first; and demonstrating in the most con- 

 clusive manner the vast importance to the farmer, 

 of having trusty milkmaids, who will tug away 

 as long as a drop of the precious fluid remains in 

 the udder. 



ADMKESS TO THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 

 OF CUMBERLAKD. 



By TV. S. Morton, President. 



(Communicated for llie Ucgistcr by order of tlie Society.] 



Gentlemen — The deplorable condition ol' 

 agriculture in our state has perhaps been the 

 theme of as much idle declamation and Iruilless 

 reoret as any other subject of general interest. 

 Anxious inquiries have been iiisliiuied into the 

 causes which have produced this condition, by 

 Bonie of our ablest men. 'Mie evil has been 

 traced lo various causes. The apathy ol' our le- 

 gislature, in relation lo the mleiests of agricul- 

 ture, has been condemned. ■ Our geograj^hical 

 locality has, by some, been thought to produce in- 

 surmountable obstacles to agr:culiural prosperity, 

 inasmuch as we are, by it, precluded from a mar- 

 ket for those crops best comporting with an im- 

 provement of the soil. Our lailure lias also been 

 charged upon our eager fondness lor politics and 

 political exciiement. We have also blamed our 

 ancestors liar cutting down and wearing out our 

 best lands, and rearing us in opinions and habits 

 unsuitable to successlul improvement, in short, 

 we have been disposed to throw the blame any 

 where else but on ourselves. V/lierever ihe re- 

 proach may be lodged, the evil stiil exists. There 

 is now nearly the same cause lor lamentation, 

 over gullied and barren fields, and wide-spread 

 wastes, as existed about Ibrty years ago, when 

 John Taylor was exerting his powerlul and patri- 

 otic mind, lur the improvement of agriculture, in- 

 deed, it IS highly probable, that aiihough ihere 

 may have been a multitude of instances of indi- 

 vidual improvement, yet, that since that time, the 

 soil of the stale has, in aggregate value, greatly 

 lost. With this belief, some have despaired of 

 our good old commonwealth, and supposed that 

 she was formed to shine, lor a while, as " the mo- 

 ther of states," and was doomed then to wither 

 iand die, like the moth. But, gentlemen, in this 

 ■ pause, it seems something like trcEtson to despair. 



We all can see that something is greatly wrong- 

 instead of searching lor those on whom to throw 

 iilame, let us assume much of it to ourselves. 

 'i'he remedy, ii ihere be any, must fe sought by 

 ourselves and our compeers. Let '■'■ nil desperan- 

 dum " — '• don t give up ihe shi[)," — be our motto; 

 let us often contemplate, how tiiuch the [jrosperity 

 of our beloved country depends on the exertions 

 of iis agricultural class ; let us double our exer- 

 tions at improvement, and, rely uj)on it, brighter 

 days will yet await us. 



Among the many cures for the evils of which 

 we complain, thec.rganization of agricultural socie- 

 ties has generally been resorted lo with most con- 

 fidence. Such institutions, if wisely and zealously 

 conducted, may produce the most happ}' results. 

 The mere ibrmation of a society, and the simple 

 gathering of its members occasionally, unless 

 each one resolves to exert himself in the cause, 

 and to bring with him all that he possibly can, to 

 throw into the common treasury of inlormalion, 

 must end in liiilure. Eut has not each one of ua 

 trusted too much lo the mere formation of this so- 

 ciety, to |)roduce benefit, without reflecting suffi- 

 ciently on his own individual duiies in it, and re- 

 solving to liischarge them? Which of us at its 

 co.mmencement, finding himself in a region con- 

 fessedly capable of high improvement, and sur- 

 rounded by those whom any man might delight 

 to consider his friends and neighbors, did not 

 prognosticate more fruits li-om our association, 

 than have yet been produced ?• We have entered 

 on a field, new indeed in this region, and filled 

 with many difliculties, but happily exempted from 

 much that poisons the peace of men in other 

 modes of consociation, in agriculture all arc 

 brothers. Each delights in the |)rospcrity of ihe 

 rest. Each is at liberty lu Ibllow, and to profit 

 by, the example of Ins neighbors. Emulation 

 can hardly degenerate into malignant rivalry and 

 pariy spirii ; the baneful genius ol the age has no 

 home liere. V/hich of us, on deriving inibrma- 

 tion irom a brother member here, would once 

 think of the party in politics to which he belong- 

 ed "^ Indeed, were there no other benefits lo be 

 derived from agricultural societies, their meetings 

 would be desirable, that their members might oc- 

 casionally be overshadowed by the benign influ- 

 ences of social afl'ection. Let us resolve, then, 

 that we will cheri-h these influences, yea, let us 

 resolve that we will make a new eflorl to secure 

 the best benefits from our institution. Our own 

 interests, the honor ol' our country, and the good 

 of our country, imperiously demand this effort at 

 our hands. Should we sufler the society to die 

 from individual apathy, some lew of us may go 

 on with etlorts to improve, but it will be in rather 

 a lonely, unsocial way ; without the cheering 

 tlioughl that our best friends and neighbors are 

 wishing us success, and earnestly laboring in the 

 s;ime caus'\ "With ardent and united endeavors, 

 we surely could eflect something valuatile, and 

 should we lail, the conciousness of having honest- 

 ly striven will attbrd consolation. That we have 

 as yet done so little, instead of discouraging, 

 should stimulate us to renewed exertion, boih to 

 ascertain the causes of lailure, and to remove 

 them. 



Col. Taylor has made this remark : " the chief 

 obstacle to the success of a society Ibr promoting 

 agriculture in Virginia, in my view, is the morbid 



