284 . FARMERS' REGISTER AGRICULTURE— IMPROV-EMENTS. 



Itself \\ ill be desirable. Nor do I imagine much 

 can be done bj- any one individual ; if an}' (liini; is 

 to be accomplished, it must be by the successive 

 elforts of many — and as all cannot be masters, an 

 indifieront workman may be allowed to give a 

 helping; hand. 



It is not my intention, at this time, to attend to 

 any one of the many subjects which aiiriculture 

 atibrd, but merely to throw out some hints which 

 have occurred to me, in reflectino- upon the proba- 

 ble result of your publication. So fully aware am 

 I of the character of us Firginians, that I cannot 

 but fear, that when the novelty of the matter is 

 over, )'our support will lessen, unless those who 

 feel an interest in the subject, instead of merely 

 crying- out to you, " go on," will, in the language 

 of good farmers, say " come on." 



No one can doulit the advantages to be derived 

 from an agricultural paper among us; tor notwith- 

 standing there are many writers upon the subject, 

 yet it must be discernible to all who have consulted 

 them, that it is necessary for certain sections of our 

 widel)'- extended country, to have some such work 

 as can embody general principles, and at the same 

 time give the result of particular experiments con- 

 fined within the limits of its legitimate influence. 

 The progress of education throughout our country, 

 furnishes a hope we shall have a more readino- peo- 

 ple, and if this should be realized, it is desirable it 

 should be well directed: and to what subject, of a 

 secular kind, can the people of Virginia better 

 devote themselves than agriculture.' That errors 

 have crept in among agricultural writers, is evi- 

 dent ; the useful parts ofthe science have often been 

 sacrificed to those which only afford subjects for 

 speculative inquiry : often more time has been ta- 

 ken in proving the fallacy of a theory than would 

 have been necessary to establish a true one, had the 

 theorist made a proper start, or (as every honest 

 writer should do) when he comes to the end of 

 his tether, there stop. The mind of man, limited 

 ag it is, should be satisfied with ascertaining facts 

 and tracing their relations to each other. But the 

 pride of man often urges him to envelope the sub- 

 ject in mystery, by endeavoring to point out cause 

 and effect beyond his ken ; and unfortunately, many 

 possess pre-eminently the art of plausible misrepre- 

 sentation, from which the mere agriculturist, who 

 may have been deceived, turns with disgust, and 

 is ever after averse to book knowledge. 



As it is probable that most of the writers for the 

 Farmers' Register will be individuals who have 

 not been in the habit of public exhibition, it is to be 

 hj(ped they will neither follow the verbose style of 

 the day, nor attach themselves to a theory, and hunt 

 up facts to support it, right or wrong, but will con- 

 tent themselves in fc»rming a theory out of facts 

 cautiously endiraced, and honestly stated. Ele- 

 gance is difficult to attain, and without great taste, 

 dangerous to attempt. What is principally re- 

 quired in agricultural writings is great perspicuity, 

 precision, simplicity and honesty. Flowery lan- 

 guage is well calculated to create a suspicion that 

 imagination has more to do with the subject than 

 observation. I cannot conceive a happier state of 

 things, than to create a confidence among the agri- 

 cultural part of the community, in what is called 

 by them book -know ledge. Could we transfer a 

 part of that confidence which the politician has in 

 the different newspaper statements of his party, 

 happy would it be for us. 



The time having arrived when wc must provide 

 for our sons in soiue other way than by throwing 

 them pell mell in what arecalledthe learned profes- 

 sions, it Iiecomes every jjarent to endeavor to raise 

 agriculture to its proper level, that the present re- 

 luctance manifested by young men in Virginia to 

 follow it, may be done away. Were they to con- 

 sult their interest and comfort, they would not 

 be thus backward; \vouId they look around, they 

 would find but few of those in the learned profes- 

 sions succeeding; and if the funds expended had 

 been applied to setting them up on a farm, (adding 

 thereto the time lost in ol)taining the profession,) 

 they would no doubt, by the time they arrived at 

 the meridian of life, be worth more money, and, 

 from experience in farming, be in the way of^ dou- 

 bling their income. But, it is said farming is not 

 a money-making business. True, it is not often 

 that a young man, setting up on a farm, can move 

 in the splendor which either a professional man 

 or merchant can on a borrowed capital; hut, it is 

 equally true, that he is not so often visited by the 

 sheriffs with writs, &c. We should, therefore, 

 never envy that splendor which is purchased at a 

 price we should not like to submit to. If, then, 

 you refuse the price, why expect the purchase? 

 Why repine at providence for not j)lacingyru in a 

 situation your spirit could not bear."* By well di- 

 rected industry, with our faculties directed to one 

 end, we siiall generally be successful, and enjoy 

 a peace of mind little known to the occupant of a 

 splendid unpaid for mansion. Let the professional 

 man make an estimate of his annual income, and 

 his necessary expenses, and as a genei-al rule, he 

 will find, unless he has a farm to aid him, he clears 

 but little. Let the farmer, on the contrary, who 

 thinks his.farm does not yield, at most, 4 per cent, 

 estimate the rent of his house, the keeping of his 

 horses, the food furnished his table, the domestics 

 around him, all necessary to his comfort; and he 

 will find, that from a capital of -S 5000, judiciously 

 laid out, he can live as comfortable as the profes- 

 sional man enjoying the profits of S 1000 from his 

 profession, with the addition of his ^ 5000 at 6 per 

 cent. Were I to attempt an average ofthe amount 

 obtained by professional gentlemen, (omitting those 

 who get nothing,) I would place it much below that 

 sum. If this be true as a general rule, how much 

 more so must it be when a father shall settle his 

 well educated son upon a farm purchased at a re- 

 duced price, upon which is profusely scattered marl 

 beds, every year adding inexhaustible wealth, which 

 neither the fiiilure ofthe banks can rob, or the ca- 

 price of man lessen: withal he may calculate upon 

 his son having a better prospect of long life, not 

 being necessarily dragged out at all times, through 

 all weather, with an harassed mind, as is the case 

 with the professional gentlemen, who, of all others, 

 are the greatest slaves. 



One of the many errors entertained by the Vir- 

 ginia agriculturist is, that land is cheap and labor 

 high; hence the destructive method hitherto pur- 

 sued. As a general rule, in Virginia, cheap land 

 is not worth cultivating, unless improved; good 

 land rarely obtainable. To improve indifferent 

 land is not fiishionable, and a large surface of poor 

 land must require considerable expense to culti- 

 vate ; and even to gather together its scanty pro- 

 duct, is often a most laborious undertaking, from 

 its scattered state. To remedy this evil is the great 

 object : when that is done, the reverse of the pro- 



