BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 31 



brought upon the inhabitants was the business of 

 manufacturing ardent spirits. The chief source of 

 income from most of the farms was apples and 

 peaches to supply the distilleries, which were 

 dotted every three or more miles throughout the 

 up country. Intemperance followed as a natural 

 consequence, and demoralization afflicted society 

 to a frightful degree. My residence in Camden 

 about this time made me a witness of scenes de- 

 grading to the nature of man and revolting to the 

 feelings. Imagine then the abandonment of these 

 for a substitute like cotton. In cultivation easy, 

 healthful, remunerative, and congenial to almost 

 every acre of land in our wide-spread Southern and 

 Western country. A labor in which wives and 

 daughters may conveniently and safely share with 

 the husband and father. While he traces the 

 furrow, they, protected by their sun bonnets, eradi- 

 cate the weeds with a light hoe. 



A few years afterwards, independence and the 

 peace of mind which it brings became their pos- 

 session ; with these morality and good order im- 

 proved, and in a short time cotton was acknowl- 

 edged and hailed as a blessing from God to the 

 human race. For clothing, for wealth, with 

 abundance and cheapness of cloth, who can plead 

 an excuse for want of supply and cleanliness ? 



In casting our eyes over the prospect of our 

 country, and reflecting upon the evils which occa- 



