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FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 3. 



has resulted from the mere expenditure of money 

 in the construction of the improvement. Popu- 

 lation thus attracted to the state will frequently 

 form ties within our limits which will make them 

 a permanent accession just at a time when we 

 stand most in need of them. 



If every dollar expended in our state on the 

 James and Kanawha improvement could have 

 bee] i procured from abroad at the rate of lour or 

 five per cent., I have no hesitation in saying, it 

 would have been better I'or Virginia to have borrow- 

 ed the whole sum instead of raising it at home by 

 subscription. For I have no doubt that the tolls on 

 the improvement will ultimately pay much more 

 than interest on the money expended. And we 

 know too that so soon as the line is in full and 

 complete operation; the price of property, and the 

 profits of stock will rise throughout the state — new 

 employments will spring up — increased energy 

 and activity will be communicated to our popula- 

 tion every where, and there will consequently be a 

 new and rapidly increasing demand for capital. 

 Hence the greater disposable wealth in the hands 

 of the people, the greater their prosperity at such 

 a time. 



I do not however, by the remarks made, wish 

 to be considered as censuring those who i'avor the 

 joint-stock scheme of our state. It was the only 

 plan perhaps which could have been successfully 

 carried through, and therefore ought certainly to 

 have been supported rather than leave the state 

 without any improvement at all. There are many 

 other advantages which will result from this im- 

 provement, but as they do not fall within the limits 

 which I have prescribed for myself in these brief 

 remarks, I will here draw them to a close. 



PHENOMENON. 



By a gentleman recently from Prince William 

 county, Virginia, we have been informed, (says the 

 Georgetown Metropolitan,) of a remarkable occur- 

 rence which took place on the Neabsco tract, 

 about four miles from Dumfries, on Monday sen' 

 night, during that heavy thunder storm, which, it 

 will be recollected overspread the whole heavens, 

 and apparently visited every quarter of our coun- 

 try. The earth for several acres, which was pre- 

 viously firm and good, suddenly (from its present 

 appearance) sunk to the depth of about four feet, 

 and cracked open in innumerable places through- 

 out the whole mass, as if it had been blown by 

 gunpowder. The thunder and lightning which 

 here was comparatively slight, there was awfully 

 heavy and severe, accompanied by an abundant 

 shower of hail, which however, was not so injuri- 

 ous to the grain as to the window glass. Nume- 

 rous persons have visited the spot, but are totally 

 unable to account lor the remarkable phenomenon. 

 Some suppose it to have been produced by the 

 shock of an earthquake, although the people re- 

 siding in the neighborhood experienced, or rather 

 observed no sensation during the storm to justify 

 such a conclusion; yet it is possible such might 

 have been the fact, as from the continual blaze of 

 lightning and the heavy peals of thunder, with a 

 combination of apprehension for their personal 

 safety, they might have had the shock of an earth- 

 quake which they attributed to the effects of a 

 raging etorm. 



EXTRACTS FROM AN ADDRESS TO THE ES- 

 SEX COUNTY AGRICULTURAL, SOCIETY. 



By Ebenezer Moseley, President of the Society, 

 September 25, 1S34. 



Unsettled opinions on Agriculture. 



The art or science of agriculture, if examined, 

 will be found to be ae far removed from certainty 

 as the law. That is, there is not any settled opin- 

 ion as to the means of producing the best results. 

 Agriculture, in its highest state of improvement, 

 must be the result of long experience. The great 

 utility, therefore, of agricultural societies, is, that 

 they call forth to public observation the expe- 

 rience and practice of those, who have been most 

 successfully engaged. Yet it is not a little sur- 

 prising that agriculture, which was coexistent with 

 man, which has passed through all the successive 

 ages and generations of men, which has had the 

 knowledge of this long experience reflected upon 

 it, is yet, probably, in its infancy, and involved in 

 much uncertainty. 



I will illustrate this idea of its uncertainly by 

 taking the cultivation of corn. One would natu- 

 rally suppose, that the long experience among 

 us in the cultivation of corn, would have settled 

 down in establishing in the minds of all men, some 

 fixed and settled rules as to every part of its culti- 

 vation. Yet we find that such is not the fact. I 

 begin with the planting of corn. It is not yet well 

 settled, whether the moon has an influence upon 

 vegetation. Some plant without regard to the 

 moon, and some are very careful to plant only in 

 certain stages of the moon. Some recommend 

 soaking and even sprouting the corn before it is 

 planted, others think it does as well without. Some 

 advise planting in hills, while others think a better 

 crop is produced by planting in rows. Some place 

 the manure over the corn, some place the corn 

 over the manure, while others spread the manure 

 over the ground. With respect to hoeing the corn, 

 some think the corn should be hoed while very 

 young, to destroy the weeds, yet others prefer the 

 corn should remain and the weeds grow up till they 

 get to some height. The reason assigned is, that 

 the corn is less liable to be destroyed by birds, 

 squirrels and worms. Some are of opinion that no 

 hill should be made about the corn, while others 

 deem the hilling the corn to be attended with much 

 benefit. Some practise taking the suckers from 

 the corn, while others severely censure this prac- 

 tice. Some are of opinion that the stalks should 

 not be cut until the corn is sufficiently ripened to 

 be gathered; others arc of opinion that cutting the 

 stalks* after the farina has fallen, does no injury to 

 the corn, and affords an excellent fodder for 

 cattle in the winter. 



Such are some of the various opinions which have 

 been advocated relative to the cultivation of corn. 

 It is not my design in mentioning them, on this oc- 

 casion, to speak discouragingly of ihe art of agri- 

 culture. My more immediate object is, to show 

 the importance of greater exactness and closer ob- 

 servation on the part of those, who turn their at- 

 tention to the subject of agricultural experiments. 



* Above the ears, is meant — or "tops" as ca]Je4 

 here. — Ed. Farm. Reg. 



