454 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



detail the merits of the question of an jfgricul- 

 tural Survey of the State, and the consequent 

 resoluiions, be addressed lo the diHerent agricul- 

 tural societies ollhe state, requesting their opinion, 

 and ilconsonant with their views relative to the 

 same important object, their co-operaiion. The 

 plan devised as the best, is for the various socie- 

 ties to pelilion ihe legislature at the ensuing ses- 

 sion, or to submit the same lo the General Siaie 

 Society who liold their meeiings at Columbia, 

 and request them to present the said petitions, and 

 to lend their aid in condiiciing the same to a suc- 

 cessful result. Francis D. Quash, 

 Curr. Secretary of So. Ca. Agr. Society. 



Mr. President :—l am desirous of enlisting 

 Ihe action ot this socieiy, in a measure of much 

 imporlance to the prosperity of our state, in pro- 

 moting the cause of agriculiure. My design is, 

 through its medium, to invite the aitention of va- 

 rious auricultural societies throughout the state to 

 the importance of effecting an agricultural survey 

 ofthe parishes and districts ol South-Carolina, and, 

 by simultaneous pelilion to the Legislature, impart 

 a probability ol success. This subject was agitat- 

 ed in the legislature during the last session, intro- 

 duced 10 their consideraiion by ihe recommenda- 

 tion of the governor, and, alter very general discus- 

 sion, the lollowing resolutions, submitted by the 

 committee on agriculture, were adopted : 



Resolved, That an agricultural survey of the 

 state of South-Carolina IS highly expedient and 

 necessary. That it will prove a means of deve- 

 loping und Improving her resources — retaining at 

 home her ciiizens and slave labor, and counter- 

 acting, in some measure, the ed'ecis of competition, 

 in her great staple, from Ihe lertility of new lands 

 in other states. 



2. Resolved, That the result of each year's sur- 

 vey be annually reported to this house, and copies 

 distributed lo every agricultural society through- 

 out Ihe state. 



The following and last resolution, intended to 

 give effect to Ihe two preceding, was lost, viz. 



Resolved, That the sum of 1^3,000 be appropriat- 

 ed lor the ensuing year to said survey, and that 

 the governor be specially charged with the selec- 

 tion of a capable person to execute the same. 



A larger vote was taken in the house of repre- 

 sentatives, in favor of these resolutions, than 

 had ever belore been known. It was asserted in 

 the course of argument, that if a survey was desi- 

 rable, it ought to be so intimated by some of ihe 

 agricultural societies of the state, whereas no 

 petition to that effect had emanated J'rom any of 

 them. This objection 1 propose to obviate, and 

 show, that the agricultural community are fully 

 awake to the important results that must spring 

 Irora attention to this subject. 



Some discrepancy of sentiments prevails among 

 the advocates of survey, whether its character 

 ought to be geological or agricultural. Both 

 branches bear an analogy lo each other. In ef- 

 fecting the accomplishment ofthe one, eome light 

 must be thrown upon the oiher ; but to ftroduce 

 practical available results, they must be pursued 

 separately and distinctly. 



A geological survey is confined to minerals, 

 metals, rocks and earths, and by ccllateral associa- 

 tion, sometimes may bear on agriculture. The 



geologist digs into the bowels of the earth for 

 scientific invesiigaiion or hidden treasure ; the 

 first involving antiquarian research — the last ap- 

 periainiiig to commercial speculation, and requiring 

 large capiial. 



The agricultural surveyor, in his investigation, 

 seldom prnt^iraies far below the surlace ofthe soil, 

 as his purpose is lo examine ils fructifying proper- 

 lies, which relate only so lar to geolosy as the 

 growth ol a soil indicates its base and constituents. 

 — Here the line of demarkaiion at once diverges, 

 and the agricultural surveyor turns hia attention 

 to practical researches, in which he associates 

 himself wiih the humblest tiller of the soil lo aid 

 with the light ofscience. Nature, in beneficence, 

 has decreed that the earih shall put forth ?ponla- 

 neous productions lor the welfare and food oi'man, 

 but not lo such exient as to impair tlie divine law, 

 that from the sweai of his brow man shall eat his 

 bread He receives the productions of the soil, 

 only as the germ of what he is to improve, and by 

 care and observation perllgcts its character and 

 usefulness. The mass of mankind pursue their 

 objects with as little labor as possible, and are 

 content to travel in ibe beaten track marked out 

 (or them. Some independent spirits, gifted, with 

 investiiraiing minds, escape this servile habit, and 

 indulge their particular notions by experiments 

 of their own; but such laudable efforts are often 

 doomed to disappointment, when, if aided by 

 science, perfect light would be thrown on the in- 

 vestigation. 



This fact may be illustrated by stating the 

 utility of a system of rotation in crops. The ex- 

 uvie of one set of roots is often pernicious to a 

 plant of the same species, and stimulating to 

 those of a different species. A soil is frequently 

 said to be sour, which implies the exisience of 

 vegetable acids, operating on a plant in a manner 

 which only science can account for. I once plant- 

 ed a field in cotton, which gave flattering pro- 

 mise till the bowls of ihe plant began to form, when 

 they dropped in such abundance as materially to 

 impair ilie produce. A field on a contiguous 

 planiaiion was abandoned from a similar cause, 

 the conon being said lo take the rust. A friend 

 of mine, of liigh intelligence and enterprise, plant- 

 ed in rice, lor ten years, a piece of swamp on 

 Cooper river, (low down the river,) where the 

 plant in ils early stage was vigorous and promis- 

 ing, but about the period of jointing and the ear 

 to swell, the stalk became attenuated, assumed 

 a russet hue, and ihe crop always proved unpro- 

 ductive. This land is now abandoned, and the 

 fine banks and ditches in destruction. How much 

 lime, expense and profit may have been made 

 available, in these instances, by a judicious agri- 

 cultural surveyor, who would have pointed out 

 the peculiar diseases ofthe land and corrected the 

 gradual decrease of always scanty crops ? In 

 Massachusetts, H. S. Colman has doubled the va- 

 lue of some of the townships, by imparting to 

 owners a knowledge of the properiies ofthe soil 

 they cultivated. In England and Scotland the 

 agricultural chemist is applied to lor that purpose, 

 and he designates the manures and products most 

 congenial to the soil, which saves expense and 

 crude experiment?. Recent discoveries have es- 

 tablished the fact, that all soils contain an acid not 

 hitherto suspected, called humic acid, from the 

 Latiri word /M/mus, (earth,) and humin appears to 



