THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



751 



Inn die Iagersoll, for his invention for 4 

 , producing Rotary Motion, Certificate of Merit. 

 Yardly Taylor, for his Plan and Descrip- 

 tion of a House for Drying Fruit, 



To Paschal Buford, for Basket, " 



For want of sufficient time to properly investi- 

 gate all of the very many subjects referred to 

 the Committee, it is thought not improbable that 

 some one may have been overlooked, and this 

 explanation is made with the hope of satisfying 

 any reasonable person who may have been neg- 

 lected. 



From the Lynchburg Virginian. 



Agriculture as a Profession. 



At the present time, when we have so many 

 among us who are engaged in agricultural 

 pursuits, a few reflections upon Agriculture as 

 a profession will not be considered inappropri- 

 ate or out of place. Poets have sung of the 

 beauties, advantages and pleasures of this glo- 

 rious life. Statesmen, after the turmoil and 

 labor of political life, and the contentions of 

 the Legislative Hall, have gladly sought repose 

 and retirement on the farm. Merchants, when 

 the vexations and toils and uncertainties of 

 their calling have worn out their health and 

 energy, longingly hope to spend the remnant 

 of their days in the tillage of the soil. Profes- 

 sional men, harassed with their cares and re- 

 sponsibilities, and their rough contests with 

 their fellow-men, fondly indulge in the same 

 expectation — and who have tried it have found 

 their fullest expectations realised. 



Agriculture, of course, has its cares and an- 

 noyances. Every profession has these to en- 

 counter. It is fore-ordained that man must 

 live by the sweat of his brow — and industry 

 and care and labor are requisite for success in 

 every employment. We speak by comparison 

 when we say that the culture of the soil com- 

 bines more positive pleasures, with fewer disa- 

 greeable incidents, than any other calling. In 

 the first place, it is the most independent life 

 which any man can follow. While the politi- 

 cian, and the merchant, and the professional 

 man, and the editor must have daily inter- 

 course with men, and must exercise prudence 

 and forbearance, and must humor this one, and 

 consult the prejudices of the other, and must 

 bear with ill-temper, and ignorance, and unrea- 

 sonable requirements of those w r ith whom they 

 have dealings, the Farmer, on the contrary, is 

 independent of them all. When his crop is 

 ready for the market, he has only to sell at the 

 highest price he can get, and here his necessa- 

 ry intercourse with all others end?. He may 

 pursue the even tenor of his way, regardless of 

 the opinions of the world. 



In the next place, it is the most healthful of 

 all pursuits. The statistics of mortality prove 

 the farmer ':o be longer-lived, in the general, 

 than any other class. While he has principally 



physical labor to perform, other professions 

 have mental labors in addition, which harass 

 the mind and wear down the constitution. — 

 Farming, it is true, is a laborious life — but 

 this very labor strengthens the frame, conduces 

 to health, promotes longevity, and gives zest to 

 the planter's life. 



Take it all in all, farming is about as remu- 

 nerative as any other profession. Ten mer- 

 chants fail in business wdiere one farmer does. 

 Professions men rarely grow rich from their 

 professional alone, and politicians notoriously 

 die poor, unless they accumulate wealth by 

 stealing. 



If the farmer, at the end of the year, has 

 been able only to " make both ends meet," he 

 has done well — for his property is increasing 

 and accumulating all the time. In fact, it is a 

 much more profitable business than many of 

 those engaged in it are themselves aware of. — 

 True, the farmer has to encounter occasionally 

 bad seasons and short crops, and low prices — 

 but, in the long run, the general average is fa- 

 vorable to him. And what he falls short in 

 one year, he is very apt to make up in another. 



The farmers and planters of the South, in a 

 political point of view, constitute the great con- 

 servative class of the country. They are not 

 so subject to violent excitement, and are not so 

 easily carried away by passion, as the commer- 

 cial and manufacturing classes of the large 

 cities. Where they are educated and intelli- 

 gent, as most of them are, they are averse to 

 everything like mob-law and insubordination. 

 " 0, fortunatos Agricolas, si sua bona 7W7"int," 

 was the exclamation of the Latin poet nearly 

 two thousand years ago, and the remark may 

 be made with still greater truth at the present 

 day. 



Co-Operation of the Wife. 



There is much good sense and truth in 

 the remark of a modern author, that no 

 man ever prospered in the world without 

 the co-operation of his wife. If she 

 unites in mutual endeavors, or rewards 

 his labor with an endearing smile, with 

 what confidence will he resort to his mer- 

 chandise or his farm, fly over lands, sail 

 upon the seas, meet difficulty or encounter 

 danger, if he knows he is not spending 

 his strength in vain, but that his labor will 

 be rewarded by the sweets of home. 



Valley Farmer. 



To Preserve Cut Elowers. 



Procure a flat dish of porcelain, into which 

 pour water sufficient to nearly fill it; in the 

 water place a vase of flowers, and over the 

 vase place a bell glass with its rim in the 

 water. 



