192 SELECTIONS FROM ADDRESSES. 



Farming may be so conducted as to be made protitable, or 

 merely to afford a living, or to run out tlie farm. Taking the 

 land as it averages in the State, this depends more on the farmer 

 than on the soil. The man, who makes no provision for the 

 raising of his crops, cannot reasonably expect any. Agricul- 

 ture, like all other business, to be made profitable, must be con- 

 ducted with some method as well as energy. What would be 

 thought of the merchant, who should neglect to load his ships. 

 and let them lay deteriorating at his wharf, or send them to sea 

 half loaded or manned, and without funds for a return cargo : 

 or the manufacturer, who should run his machinery without 

 system or order, and let it stand still upon every trivial occa- 

 sion, while the pay of his operatives was going on? Would 

 not such a course bring irretrievable ruin? And can the result 

 be more favorable to the farmer, who, though possessing hun- 

 dreds of acres of land, upon which he is annually paying taxes, 

 makes no adequate provision for the cultivation or improvement 

 of it, with the exception of a few acres, and that cultivated 

 in such a manner as not to afford a compensating return for 

 the labor bestowed. Although the soil in some parts of the 

 county is gravelly or sandy, still it may be made to produce 

 rich harvests. The farmers have, within their reach, ample 

 resources to convert their lands to a state of great fertility. 

 The farmers of no section of the State are more highly favored 

 in this respect. On the eastern border of the county, the broad 

 Atlantic rolls in upon the beaches her fertilizing materials in 

 great abundance. Upon the rocks, between high and low wa- 

 ter, grow weeds, containing the elements of vegetable nutrition 

 in a high degree. At some seasons of the year, a certain kind 

 of fish may be taken along the shore, with seines, in great 

 quantities, and be made valuable in the formation of compost, 

 or in the direct application to the land. The bays and inlets 

 along the coast abound in beds of muscles, of great value ; and. 

 in different sections of the county, there are vast deposites of 

 peat, amounting, in the aggregate, to many thousand acres. 

 Providence seems to have made ample provision by these bogs 

 for the fertilization of the soil for ages to come. While, in 

 tropical climates, the decay of vegetable matter is complete. 



