150 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [March, 



times swept away by disease in vast numbers, to the sad disap- 

 pointment and loss of the industrious cuhivator. Hitherto, 

 however, as far as my own knowledge extends, few such mis- 

 fortunes have occurred. The profit upon the production of 

 sillc, must depend, of course, not merely upon the price of labor, 

 but upon the value of the article in the market. This will of 

 course again depend somewhat upon the supply. Any consid- 

 erable increase of the product would, as I have attempted to 

 show, inevitably reduce the value. Prices, too, are fluctuating, 

 especially where there is a mixed currency ; that is, a specie 

 currency and a paper currency, which does not represent 

 specie ; and when promises to pay are interpreted and qualified 

 at the pleasure of those who make them. No class in the 

 community is more interested in a sound currency than those 

 farmers, who are obliged to hire any labor, and are depend- 

 ant upon the sales of their produce. The constitution of 

 the country having fixed a standard of value in gold and silver, 

 every other currency is sound so far as, and no farther than, it 

 represents gold and silver. The defiance of their obligations, 

 which has characterized some of the monied institutions of the 

 country, and the persevering attempts in some parts of the 

 country to uphold and force a purely paper currency upon the 

 commmiity, produce disastrous fluctuations ; disturb all the 

 sound calculations of honest industry ; and in proportion to 

 his means and concerns, the small farmer suffers as severely 

 as those most extensively engaged in commercial pursuits. It 

 is to the deluge of an irresponsible currency, which was by 

 some institutions at one time poured out like water, that we 

 must in a measure attribute those speculations in the Multi- 

 caulis mulberry, which brought ruin upon thousands. At- 

 tracted by the glittering illusion of sudden wealth, like insects 

 round an evening bonfire, they rushed into the flames, where 

 many perished, or escaped with their legs burnt off" or their 

 wings singed, maimed and crippled for life. To the same 

 cause we owe every where the interruption and desertion of 

 the quiet pursuits of wholesome rural industry, for the hazard- 

 ous, and in many cases the immoral pursuits of speculation. 



