FARMERS' REGISTER— TO READERS AND PATRONS OF REGISTER. 63 



the Farmers' Register, and let those who <;an, as 

 freely answer: and if no other than this humble purpose 

 was served by the publication, its support would direct- 

 ly promote the pecuniary interest of every farmer who 

 can afford to spend five dollars a 3-ear on any thing be- 

 yond the absolute necessaries of life. 



We have been the more urgent in claiming contribu- 

 tions from practical farmers, because in general they 

 are the most unwilling to offer them. We hope that 

 it is unnecessary to pursue the same course with res- 

 pect to the literary and scientific subjects embraced in our 

 prospectus. There is nothing in the list there present- 

 ed that will not be valuable to our readers, and wel- 

 come to our pages, provided the discussion of the sub- 

 ject is confined to its connexion with agricultural sci- 

 ence, or agricultural interests. 



We shall doubly value the communications on prac- 

 tical agriculture that are subscribed by the real names 

 of their authors — and we are sure that their readers 

 generally will agree with us in that estimate. Sjjecu- 

 lative opinions, or pieces merely argumentative, require 

 not the authority of names to give them character : they 

 carry with them their truth and force, or their fallacy 

 and weakness. But with regard to statements of facts 

 and opinions founded on exj^erience, the author's name 

 is essential to give them currency, and to establish their 

 value by his responsibility. 



It is not from agriculturists only that we solicit con- 

 tributions. Men of intelligence and observation of any 

 profession may sometimes furnish facts or suggestions 

 to the Farmers' Register, which will serve to aid the 

 improvement, or promote the interests of agriculture. 

 To the subjects of this kind already mentioned in our 

 prospectus, many more may be added. Mechanics can 

 aid agricultural improvement by describing new ma- 

 chines and implements for lessening the farmer's labor, 

 or perfecting its object or by discussing the compara- 

 tive value of those already in use. Merchants and 

 millers may inform us of difficulties or obstructions in 

 the sale of our products, whether caused by the fault of 

 the individual producers, or by the operation of the 

 laws. Lawyers might teach us how to seek relief from 

 the many parts of our legal policy which seem to lessen 

 the profits and oppose the improvement of agriculture. 

 Physicians might throw much light on tlie intricate and 

 important questions of the effects of cultivation, and the 

 various processes connected with cultivation, on the cli- 

 mate and health of our country. Travellers in our own 

 or a foreign land, will see and hear of many facts in- 

 teresting and useful to farmers. All these and many 

 such services may be rendered through our pages, 

 even by writers who may be unacquainted with both 

 the theory and practice of agriculture. We hope also 

 to be indebted for many similar favors to the wives 

 and daughters of our subscribers. Good housewives 

 may offer much and various information respecting the 

 management of the kitchen garden, dairy, culinary es- 

 tablishment, poultry, and every other branch of domes- 

 tic economy. If we can obtain only one tenth part of 

 the valuable contributions which even lowerVirginia can 

 supply, we have no doubt of making evident the great 

 public utility of an agricultural journal. But without 

 such assistance, the editor is conscious that all his indivi- 

 dual exertions will produce but small & transient effects. 

 According to the views that have been presented, 



there can be no scarcity of matter for our pages, if there 

 is enough zeal to induce the supply. A treatise on any 

 branch of science, of which the truths are established 

 and undenied, may be confined within a small compass i 

 but the discussions, and statements of facts necessary to 

 establish those truths, might have filled an hundred 

 limes the bulk. In agriculture, whether considered as 

 a science or an art, almost nothing is established. 

 Every theoretical principle, every practice is controvert- 

 ed, and requires farther discussion. And if every point 

 now doubtful, could by possibility be settled, and our 

 knowledge thereby advanced to any now conceivable 

 degree, that advancement itself would open new sub- 

 jects for controversy, and hold out new rewards for 

 other investigations. The sources whence agricultu- 

 ral instruction might flow are as inexhaustible as tliey 

 are numerous. We cannot command those fountains, 

 and forbid their v/aters to stagnate in morasses, or be 

 dried up in sands : but if permitted, it will be our hum- 

 ble yet most useful labor, to draw and direct the va- 

 rious scattered rivulets into one great stream of improve- 

 ment and fertilization. 



The change of the time of our publication from week- 

 ly to monthly, will increase the value of the contents, 

 and also permit the form of the work to be made much 

 more convenient for use and for preservation. The 

 change serves somewhat to lighten the labors of the 

 editor, but at the cost of a considerable addition to the 

 expenses of publication. As the balance of advantages 

 from the change will be decidedly in favor of the sub- 

 scribers, it is hoped that it will not be objectionable to 

 any. By giving up the advertisements which were at 

 first proposed, more reading matter will be given in the 

 course of the year. A more important benefit will be 

 found in the size of a monthly publication, permitting the 

 largest communications and selections to be presented 

 at once, and thus avoid those separations and continua- 

 tions of articles, whicli so much lessen their value, as 

 well as their interest. 



To commence and exhibit at least some specimens of 

 what we deem an important part of our proposed plan, 

 we have engaged a gentleman who is well qualified for 

 the undertaking, to make an examination and report of 

 the state of agriculture, and the resources for the im- 

 provement of the soil, in some of the counties on tide 

 water. We shall make every eflbrt to obtain such 

 reports from different parts of Virginia ; but it is obvi- 

 ous that we shall not be able to effect much towards this 

 general plan, unless aided by the zeal and labors of ma- 

 ny other persons. Indeed, the authority and funds of the 

 government of Virginia would be requisite to carry such 

 a plan fully into effect ; and most amply would any ex- 

 pense so incurred be repaid, by the exhibition of the un- 

 knov/n or neglected resources of our country, which 

 would be presented by a general system of well con- 

 ducted survej-s, mineralogical and geological, as well as 

 agricultural. 



— OSS©— 

 PROPOSALS TO 



Publish file Farmers' Re§:lster. 



The low state of both the practice and profits of agri- 

 culture in Virginia, is admitted and deplored by all, yet 

 adequate remedies and relief have not been proposed, 

 and are scarcely hoped for by even the most sanguine 

 agriculturists. Notwithstanding the counteracting ef- 



