214 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



much valuable information. For the purpose of 

 showing the benefit derived by a neighboring 

 state, Mr. K. instanced the county of Washing- 

 Ion, in Maryland — separated Crom his own coun- 

 ty (Jefferson) only by the Potomac — a county 

 possessing the same soil and advantages as Jet- 

 i'erson — exactly the same distance from market — 

 and in i'act no difference existing between the 

 two, except that the taxes in Maryland are four 

 times as high as in Virginia, — where land brought 

 nearly ^10 more per acre than it did in Jefferson. 

 Nothing caused this but the system of cultivation, 

 which resulted Irom the establishment of the Cen- 

 tral Board of Agriculture. 



Mr. K. said he could not let the occasion pass 

 without expressing his deep regret, that Virginia 

 sbould present such a spectacle, as she now did, 

 of barren fields and deserted firesides. She had 

 not improved with the time. She had not kept 

 pace with her neighbors. She did not maintain 

 her stand among the other mem.bers of the con- 

 federacy, and he greatly feared that she was 

 losing the dignity of her posiiion. It was only 

 necessary to refer to her census and to her adver- 

 tising journals, to perceive that her character, 

 her talent and her wealth were fast leaving her 

 and going to the prairies of the west. He ap- 

 pealed to gentlemen to do something to resusci- 

 tate the glory of the Old Dominion, and asked 

 them if they were willing to stand by and see 

 such a measure as this fiall to the ground for the 

 paltry consideration of two or three hundred dol- 

 lars. On such a subject as this, he would not 

 make an appeal to their sympathies, but to their 

 liberality, to their sense of justice and to their 

 intelligence. 



Mr. Bayly regarded the ryder as incongruous. 

 The bill provided lor the future pay of the mem- 

 bers of the Board, whilst the ryder repealed the 

 bill itself. He should not vote for the ryder, 

 though he might at a proper time be disposed to 

 vote for abolishing the Board. After some re- 

 marks from Messrs. Strolher and Bayly, 



Mr. Leyburn addressed the House in support 

 of the bill, and particularly in reply to the gen- 

 tleman from Rappahannock, who, he said, 

 seemed determined to kill the bill with hard riding 

 — " head it or die." When he heard that gen- 

 tleman denouncing this movement as a humbug, 

 raorus multicaulis as a humbug, all kinds of con- 

 ventions, even the JEducation Convention as hum- 

 bugs, he could not help coming to the conclusion 

 that the gentleman himself had been a sufferer 

 from the morus multicauljs mania. Gentlemen 

 had said, that the papers would render sufficient 

 aid to the cause of agriculture. Whilst Mr. 

 Leyburn admitted their utility, he still contended 

 that superior benefits would result from a Board 

 of Agriculture, collecting information from every 

 where, and affording that information to the press, 

 to be condensed and placed in an attractive form 

 before the people. All had heard of the Ameri- 

 can Almanac — a publication containing a vast 

 number of important facts, and bought by multi- 

 tudes of the people of the United States. Now, 

 he thought that a Farmer's Almanac, such as 

 they have in some of the states, gotten up by an 

 enterprising man, and embodying the informati' n 

 derived from the labors of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, might succeed very well, and be of eminent 

 ecrvice to the people. 



Mr. Holladay said the question was now 

 pending on the ryder, by which it was proposed 

 to abolish the board. Last year, the board was 

 established without pay — now, it was proposed 

 to abolish it and pay its members for past ser- 

 vices. This he considered singular. If the 

 board ought to have been established, it should 

 have been continued, and if so, it should be paid. 

 He hoped gentlemen were not prepared to de- 

 clare by their votes, that we were unwilling to do 

 any thing lor the cause of agriculture. Virginia 

 was esseniially an agricultural state. That was 

 the main interest and occupation of her people. 

 Was it not therefore our duty to do something for 

 if? Were gentleman willing to say to the first, 

 great, foremost interest, " we fold our arms and 

 deny that we can aid you?" How, he asked, 

 did the gentleman from Rappahannock (Mr. Stro- 

 ther) come to the conclusion, that no good would 

 result from the establishment of this board? 

 Did he go according to experience in his deduc- 

 tions'? If so, where did he find proof of the in- 

 utility and inefliciency of such a board ? Where 

 was there a community, in which there was a 

 board of agriculture, that had not improved in 

 its soil and its agricultural productions'? It was, 

 he thought, vain to say that the propriety of the 

 board was not demonstrated by experience. On 

 the conirar}', if we were guided by experience, 

 why could not the same results be achieved here 

 in our own slate as elsewhere? Did bur own 

 experience show that no good had resulted 1 



Gentlemen had laid great stress upon the ad- 

 vantages 10 be derived from the agricultural pa- 

 pers. These journals were established by men 

 who had given their attention to the subject, in 

 its principles and details. They all coincided in 

 declaring, that a board of atrriculture should be 

 established. As we had their advice to this 

 effect, why not take it? The present board of 

 agriculture was composed of men of high reputa- 

 tion and experience. They had testified strongly 

 in favor of the advantages which would be de- 

 rived Irom it. Did gentlemen here know better 

 thin they? Could they reasonably gainsay the 

 opinion of these gentlemen, fortified as it was by 

 lacts and experience ? They had no interest 

 in the matter, but the high and holy motive of 

 patriotism. They could derive no advantage 

 from it whatever. They could gain nothing lor 

 their reputations, unless they did something for 

 the slate, by reforming her condition, and enhan- 

 cing her agricultural interests. 



The house had been told that they should be 

 economical in expenditure. This board would 

 cost S500 a year, but what was that compared 

 with the benefit it was likely to conftjr upon the 

 state at large? He (Mr. H.) was as much in 

 favor of economy as anyone here; still, he de- 

 nounced as niggardly, the economy that would 

 defeat a useful measure like this, lor the sum of 

 ^500. He thought something should be done 

 for an interest which paid so large a share of the 

 taxes of the state. Let it not be said that no- 

 thing could be done for such an interest. Let an 

 efiort be made, and even if no good should result, 

 we should have the consolation of knowing that 

 we had made an effort for the cause. 



Mr. H. again referred to the argument of the 

 gentleman from Rappahannock, concerning the 



