February, 1921. 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 



The Junius of Nova Scotia 



55 



By M. CUMMING. 



I'liiicipal, Aj;riciilt\iral College, Truro, N.S. 



Being an account of a serie.s of rcinarkahle letters 

 written by .loliu Young, tlie first Secrctai'v for Agri- 

 culture of the Province of Nova Scotia, during the 

 years 1818-19, whicli cau.sed such' a complete re- 

 volution in the agricultural affairs of tin' Province, 

 that its financial condition was changed from a state 

 of depression td one of prosperity, in llu> short space 

 of three years. 



In order to attain liic end wliich Mr. Young liad in 

 view he assumed the press name of "Agricola" un(b'r 

 whicli he so effe<'tually concealed his identity that he 

 baffled all the ingenuity of the curious to discover 

 the author.sliip of the letters, until he hiinsclf nuide 

 known the secret some nine months after tlie appear- 

 ance of the first letter. 



■* * # 



On July ir)th, 181S, there appeared in the Acatlian 

 Recorder of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a newspaper still in 

 existence, a letter signed "Agricola" in which the 

 writer described tiic then lamental)le state of agricul- 

 ture in the Province of Nova Scotia and ui'g.ul as a 

 "first grand step towards internal improvement"' the 

 establishment of Agricultural Societies "in every 

 County and in most of the townships" which "should 

 hold meetings" and "dignify rural affairs", "excite 

 a i)rincipal of emulation" and "draw attention to 

 useful discoveries". 



This was the first of a series of sixty-two letters 

 which appeared for the most part weekly in the 

 Recorder and which, from the vigour and scholastic 

 character of their style as well as from the im))oi'tant 

 scientific information the>- conveyed, at once attracted 

 nublic attention and not only excited general interest 

 but inspired enthusiasm in regard to the sub.ieet of 

 which they ' treated. Each succeeding letter was 

 awaited with interest and naturally siieculation arose 

 as *o who was the author of the letters. 



To thoroughly anpreciate these letters and the in- 

 fluence they exerted, their setting must be understood. 

 The Napoleonic wa'-s had been concluded i)y the treaty 

 of Paris in 1815. During the war period, money had 

 flowed into Nova Scotia at a nrodigions rate. ITa\' sold 

 from £10 to £T^ per ton and frequently £15; beef and 

 nwtton varied fmm Sd to lOd ner lb.; potatoes, turnips 

 and beets wei'e oftenei' above than below 5s. per l)ushel. 

 Moreover, large sums were realized from the sale of 

 the rich cargoes and ships which were daily brought 

 in bv British cruisers. Dui'ing tliis unpi-ecedented pros- 

 nerity, no evertion was needed by the farming body to 

 earn a subsistence P>ut neace came and at once dried 

 .'ill the sources of Miis artificial prosneritw Real estate 

 fell almost in an instant : trade declined : and in about 

 hvo years after the Treatv of Paris an universal gloom 

 bad settled over the Province. It was .just when the 

 denression -was at its lowest that these letters were 

 published, )iroelaiminff the fact that prosperity conki 

 only be re-established by the plow. 



Of the sixty-two lettei's originally written, thirty- 

 eight were gathered together by the author and pub- 

 lished in a volume and some twenty-four others, while 

 published in newspapei-s, never appeared in a collected 

 form. Copies of tliis volume called Young's Letters of 

 Agricola, which appeared in 1822, are difficult to ob- 

 tain but are to l)e found in some of the older Libraries 

 in the Province. However, such is the value of the 

 letters and such is the high character of their literary 

 style that a new volume is iu)w being prepared in the 

 office of the old Acadian Recorder and will be ready 

 f'/r distriliution in a short time. 



The sul)ject matter of the letters consisted of a des- 

 cription of tile low state of agriculture and the general 

 commercial depression of the Province : of a reeom- 

 meudation to estalilish Agricultural Societies, with a 

 des<-ri]ition of the l)enefit which would result from these 

 lnstituti(uis; of a description of the climate aiul of an 

 attempt to show that the prevailing impression that 

 Nova Scotia was not adapted to agriculture was not 

 founded on fact. Then follows a series of di.scussions 

 on Agricultural Chemistry, describing the character 

 of plant growth, the formation of soils, the purposes 

 and uses of different instruments of tillage, the nature 

 and method of using of manures with special reference 

 to vegetable and animal manures and lime. The letters 

 conclude with a general discussion of methods of tillage 

 including drainage and finally, with a most inspiring 

 account of the possibilities of agricult\ii'e, — "the only 

 stable and permanent employment of capital." 



In addition to contributing tliis sei'ies of letters to 

 the press, Agricola encouraged all idasses of husband- 

 men to correspoiul with him, under tlie condition that 

 their letters were to be addressed to "Agricola," 

 Acadian Recorder office, Halifax. He was to have the 

 right to renuiin concealed under the name of "Agri- 

 cola" and to have the sole disj)osal of all communica- 

 tions. Some of these communications and replies to 

 the same, appeared in the preas ami are included in the 

 above mentioned volume and many were replied to 

 privately. A certain Dr. Petrie acted as the go-between 

 himself and the editor of the Acadian Recorder who did 

 not know who Agricola was. 



One is struck with the large amount of labor which 

 must have been involved in writing the weekly letter 

 for the Recorder, in answering the large mass of cor- 

 respondeiu'e to be replied to, and in looking after his 

 own private business, for he eould not engage an 

 Assistant in case his secret might be divulged. 



Many attempts were made to discover the unkno'vvn 

 "Agricola", and in more tlxan one letter "Agricola" 

 asked his readers to restrain their curiosity in respect 

 to this matter. He tells of one attempt which showed 

 the ineenuitv of those who were trying to allav their 

 curiosity. For a long time a clergyman of Halifax, 

 whose interest in rural affairs was well kno^^-n, was 

 supposed to be the author. The Reverend gentleman 



