1335.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



505 



this sphere as the other. By pursuing this course, 

 you will elevate the agricultural interest. It may 

 be thought by some, that I am opposed to other 

 professions, that I am disposed to detract from, 

 and to disparage them. Not so; they are valua- 

 ble and usel'ul to society. But all cannot live by 

 the professions of law and medicine, and the thirst 

 for those professions ought, to be checked. I again 

 repeat, I have no intension to detract from those 

 professions; my only wish is, to exalt the agricul- 

 tural profession. 



Gentlemen — the seat of the disease lies in de- 

 fect of education; let. us attack it at its root; the 

 remedy must be applied. Love of country, love 

 of morality, love of our blessed institutions, all 

 demand it of us. Then let us be up and a doing; 

 we have rested on our oars long enough. Edu- 

 cate your sons as farmers — agriculture is as much 

 a science as any of the other professions. Is it 

 possible that any man can be acquainted with the 

 different qualities and properties of soils; tell the 

 constituents of which they are formed, unless he 

 be an educated man? Can he be a judge of the 

 most advantageous mode of applying manures — 

 tell what kind of manure is best adapted to the. 

 improvement of different soils? Certainly not. 

 The soil is as variable as the faces of men, and 

 requires different modes of cultivation. I again 

 repeat, that it is all important that agriculturists 

 should be educated, and in this way the profession 

 will be exalted. Knowledge is power — and if the 

 farmers of the country were educated, the profes- 

 sion would take that stand in society, to which its 

 importance justly entitles it. 



The remark was used by the illustrious Jeffer- 

 son in the trying times of 1798 and 1799, in a let- 

 ter, if I mistake not, to Wilson C. Nicholas, that 

 the only thing to save 'he country, and bring the 

 government back to its original simplicity; to the 

 spirit and letter of the constitution, was to fill the 

 offices of the country from the agricultural interest, 

 to lay aside those who were politicians by trade. 

 It is all important that agriculturists should be en- 

 lightened, educated men; it is the only way by 

 which the liberties that we now enjoy can be per- 

 petuated. Let your farms be cultivated by edu- 

 cated men, and the blessed institutions in which 

 we now rejoice, will remain as long as time en- 

 dures. It is important that the agriculturists of 

 the country should be educated, that they may be 

 able to scan with a jealous eye the actings and do- 

 ings of their leaders, their politicians in high 

 places — calling no man master, suffering none to 

 think for them, but in every case, being qualified 

 to form opinions and act for themselves. Let this 

 be done, and all will be well. Your sentinels may 

 stand on the watch tower until generation after 

 generation shall have passed away, and still con- 

 tinue, to re-echo u AWs well! AIVs well?'' 



Why should the great and important agricultu- 

 ral interest be held secondary to other professions? 

 It is easily answered — it is in the defect and want 

 of education. 



It is certainly true, that if you educate and 

 thereby elevate the agriculturist, there will be less 

 use for some of the other professions; less use for 

 physicians and lawyers. This would certainly be 

 a benefit to the public, and in this way, and this 

 way only, would I wish to affect those professions. 

 If I possessed talents equal to any man that lives, 

 or has lived, I would be willing to exert them all 



Vol. Ill — 61 



in endeavoring to arouse my countrymen lrom 

 their slumbers, to a spirit of education and im- 

 provement in agriculture. Let the minds of the 

 agriculturists be improved, and improvement in ag- 

 riculture will as necessarily follow as that an effect 

 will follow its legitimate and efficient cause. It ia 

 a lamentable fact, that the improvement in agri- 

 culture is advancing with but slow progress. Im- 

 provements are rapidly being made in the mechan- 

 ical arts and sciences, whilst it appears that the 

 agricultural interest is fast asleep. In passing 

 along the highways through the Old Dominion, 

 the land of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and 

 a host of other sages; the gullied hills and piney 

 old fields become visible to the eye in every direc- 

 tion; the bad management of the fathers, compel- 

 ling their sons to fly from the land of their birth, 

 which promises nothing but poverty and want, to 

 the far west in pursuit of fortune and fame. 



The spirit of emigration is now raging to a fear- 

 ful extent. Many of Virginia's most talented and 

 enterprising sons are losing their attachment to 

 the homes of their fathers, to the spot that con- 

 tains the ashes of their friends, flying to other 

 lands in pursuit of a more fertile soil. Unless a 

 greater spirit in improvement can be excited in the 

 minds of our countrymen, Virginia, proud Virgi- 

 nia! the mother of us all, the name which of itself 

 gives passport, and in every clime, commands re- 

 spect, will continue to decline and lose her political 

 weight as a member of the confederacy. 



[ am well aware that the views I have taken in 

 favor of agricultural education come directly in 

 contact with the prejudices of a large number of 

 persons. There is a prejudice prevailing against 

 what is called book farming, book knowledge. 

 This is amislaken notion and shows to what ex- 

 tent man can be carried by prejudice: and in con- 

 nexion with this I will relate an anecdote — a far- 

 mer of our count}-, a worthy citizen, remarked 

 not long since, "there were some things he dis- 

 liked more than all others, to wit: Tlie Farmers' 

 Register and blind ditching.'' 



Is not most of our knowledge derived from 

 books? Agriculture is as much indebted to the 

 arts and sciences, as any other profession. De- 

 prive the agriculturist of the benefits derived from 

 these sources, and your common implements of 

 husbandry will be taken from you. 



It has been frequently argued, that it was un- 

 necessary to educate the agricultural profession, 

 and often particular persons who are uneducated, 

 and who have been successful in agricultural pur- 

 suits, are pointed out to prove the proposition. 

 Can an}' thing be more fallacious? Is this con- 

 clusive testimony, or rather does it prove any 

 thing? It only proves that such men are gifted by 

 nature with strong and powerful minds, enabling 

 them to rise superior to the disadvantages under 

 which they labor, and does not prove that their 

 success would not have been still more signal. I 

 have no doubt, that all such feel, and sensibly feel, 

 that they labor under difficulties which education 

 would have removed. 



Improve the mind; — this is first in importance, 

 and the improvement of the soil, and improvement 

 in all the various branches of agriculture, will fol- 

 low as a necessary consequence. I have already 

 probably consumed too much time on this branch 

 of the question. I will pass on to the considera- 

 tion of' the improvement of the soil. 



