THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



3S*fo0tefc to ilgrtcultuu, WtovUtultuvz, unxt tht Sousdiol^ &rts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the I Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts 

 Arts. — Xenophon. I of the State. — Sully. 



FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor. * P. D. BERNARD, Proprietor. 



— i — ; — 



Vol. XIII. RICHMOND, DECEMBER, 1853. No. 12. 



ADDRESS OF JOHN R. EDMUNDS, ESQ. 



Before the Virginia State Agricultural Society, 

 'November 3, 1853. 



Mr. President and Gentlemen: 



The Executive Committee have invited me 

 to deliver the first annual address on this oc- 

 casion. The Constitution of our Society pre- 

 scribes the subjects of this address, and limits 

 them to praciical agriculture or science as 

 auxiliary to agriculture. It is to me a source 

 of sincere regret, that the task was not de- 

 volved upon a more competent person. But 

 it was not for me to evade the duties it in- 

 volved, nor to shun the responsibility it im- 

 posed—to shrink from the post which they 

 have assigned, and to display a lukewarm zeal 

 in this noble effort to promote the prosperity 

 of our State by advancing its agricultural in- 

 terest. Impelled by a high sense of profes- 

 sional and public duty, and by that considera- 

 tion alone, I may justly claim the indulgence 

 of the Society for its imperfect discharge. 



The extent of our territory and its unde- 

 veloped resources present their difficulties at 

 the first view. Our State stretches from the 

 Ocean on the East, to the tributaries of the 

 Mississippi on the West, embracing the At- 

 lantic slope, the intermediate valley, and pass- 

 ing the Alleghanies it spreads out upon the 

 valleys of the western waters, containing the 

 great elements of national wealth in its mi- 

 neral treasures, manufacturing power, outlets 

 for commerce, diversity of soil, and in its 

 capacity for varied agricultural products. It 

 combines the leading divisions of agriculture 

 in farming, planting and grazing. 



With this extensive territory and variety of 

 soils, we are commencing an era of improved 

 agriculture. Upon the fertility of the soil de- 

 pends our success— and upon the constituent 

 elements of the soil rests its fertility. A know- 

 ledge of the general origin and composition 

 of the soil must form the first foundation on 

 which to build. But here science has not 

 shed its light upon our pathway. No geolo- 

 gical report, with accompanying maps of sur- 

 veys of the State, has been published in such 

 form as to be accessible to the farmers. They 

 are not informed in regard to the general for- 

 mation and prevailing strata of their own 

 counties, nor the probable origin of their soils. 

 The soils of the State have been but little 

 Vol. XIII.-12. ' 



studied and accurate analyses have not deve- 

 loped the causes of sterility in extensive areas, 

 embracing large portions of many counties. 



Our soils are formed from the decomposed 

 fragments of the rocks on which they lie, or 

 of other rocks, usually at no great distance. 

 They consist very nearly of the same sub- 

 stances as the rocks themselves from which 

 they are formed; and we may not expect any 

 ingredient in large quantity, which the rocks 

 themselves did not contain. Geologists have 

 given the names of stratified and unstratified 

 to the leading and grand divisions of these 

 rocks. The rocks of the second class differ 

 widely in their composition, and will give rise 

 to soils partaking of their distinctive charac- 

 teristics. Thus, the granite contains within its 

 felspar and mica considerable quantities of 

 potash and soda, but there is scarcely any 

 lime, and no phosphates beyond mere traces. 

 Some varieties of granite do contain these 

 substances in fair proportions, but for ihe most 

 part, there is very little of either.— [Norton's 

 Elements, 202.] Soils formed from their de- 

 composition may contain potash of soda, but 

 we may with great certainty anticipate a defi- 

 ciency of lime and the phosphates. So, in the 

 same leading division, some specimens of the 

 trap rock contain a proportion of lime, calcu- 

 lated as carbonate, equal to 20 per cent, or one- 

 fifth of their weight.— [Prof. Johnson, Edin- 

 burgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, page 

 422, 1847-49.] They contain felspar also, from 

 which potash is derived — and soils produced 

 from their decomposition will be found more 

 fertile than those of granitic origin. 



The stratified rocks present the same dif- 

 ferences of composition; they occupy various 

 positions and inclinations to the earth's sur- 

 face, but their relative position to each other 

 is always the same in whatever part of the world 

 they maybe found.— [Norton's Elements, 200.] 

 The same differences will pervade the soils 

 which exist in the various strata. In this ge- 

 neral observation, however, we must except 

 those districts where disturbing influences have 

 operated to cover the original rocks by trans- 

 ported materials from some other source— by 

 which the crumbled fragments of other forma- 

 tions have been drifted in vast quantities, by 

 some unknown power, and now overlie the 

 original rocks. Even in this event, an inspec- 

 tion of a district by a practised eye, would 

 immediately detect any foreign deposits, and 



