362 



THE SOUTHE 



RN PLANTER. 



plough, the threshing machine, the wheat 

 reaper ? In Virginia we have not availed our- 

 selves of improved agricultural implements to 

 the extent of the benefits they confer. 'Tis 

 not for us to permit these great practical 

 agents of productiveness to remain unenjoyed 

 and unappropriated, and in the competition 

 which surrounds us, have them all actively and 

 injuriously employed against us. They are 

 the achievements of skill and science, and we 

 appreciate the benefits they confer — they are 

 the stimulants and aids of production, and we 

 must avail ourselves of them — they are prac- 

 tical blessings, to be laid hold of and secured — 

 not to be talked of, approved and neglected. 



We want in Virginia improvement in the 

 mechanical arts. We want implements of hus- 

 bandry in all the variety, extent and perfec- 

 tion, in which modern science and art has pre- 

 pared and fashioned them. 



Why. go abroad for them ? Why go to 

 New York or Massachusetts for those things 

 we can manufacture and prepare at home? 

 Why go to Pennsylvania for the steam car, the 

 plough, the axe, or any implement of husban- 

 dry ? The iron, the coal, all the minerals ne- 

 cessary for their fabrication, are found in 

 abundance and excellence among us. 



Shall they continue to come to us, bur- 

 dened with charges that diminish the profits 

 on our labor, that augment the wealth of those 

 whose power already controls your markets, 

 directs your commerce and regulates your ex- 

 changes Are we to be told, as heretofore, that 

 our skill is insufficient, our labor unadapted to 

 such pursuits ? Shall we acknowledge this in- 

 feriority, this weakness in our system, without 

 a trial ? Are we willing to perpetuate our de- 

 pendence and pay our annual tribute, without 

 an effort for relief? 



Regard this mechanical and manufacturing 

 system, as conducted by the united labor of 

 both classes of our people — the white man oc- 

 cupying the superior posts of intelligence, re- 

 ward, and control — the slave the less important 

 and inferior ones. In the work shops and fac- 

 tories of Europe and America, the intelligence 

 and skill necessary to direct and regulate the 

 entire operation, are procured from different 

 classes of their people, and paid for at higher 

 rates of remuneration than those paid to the 

 manual and routine laborers. In agriculture, 

 where labor is susceptible of but limited divi- 

 sion, we have found the slave valuable, effi- 

 cient, skilful. In mechanical and manufactu- 

 ring arts, labor is susceptible of almost infi- 

 nite division, and this it is, that renders it so 

 effective in production, in every pursuit to 

 which it can be applied. 



Its operation and effect is to simplify, to 

 make easy of comprehension by requiring one 

 thing only to be understood, and one thing to 

 be performed by the operator. — It makes him 

 able to perform that well, from constant habit, 

 and practice directed to that alone. He does 

 it better, and cheaper, and faster, because it 

 ceases to require thought, and becomes a mere 

 habit, performed mechanically, and without 

 reflection. 



Onr resources, our capital, our labor, are 

 abundant and adequate to supply our wants. 

 Diversify your occupation as you diversify 

 your crops for security and profit. Bring the 

 agriculturist, the mechanic, the manufacturer, 

 side by side, and increase the profits on the 

 labor of all. Shall we be told that the habits 

 and opinions of our people are opposed to it? 

 that the experience of the past finds it better 

 and cheaper to purchase them from the North ? 



Gentlemen, the painful experience of the 

 present is beginning to tell a tale not yet fully 

 revealed. It begins to tell of obligations vio- 

 lated, of anarchy and confusion. — It is teach- 

 ing the lesson of self-dependence and self-re- 

 liance. It is teaching the " South to look to 

 the South." 



Let us then resort to our own mines, our 

 rivers, our workshops and factories, and our 

 own people. Let us stand on the banks of the 

 "James,?' of the "Appomattox," the "She- 

 nandoah," the " Roanoke," the " Ohio," and 

 make them, at our command and bidding, do 

 the labor of ten thousand hands. 



When you do these things, then indeed will 

 you have improved your agricultural condition. 

 Then will you have secured permanent pros- 

 perity and repose — then, and not until then, 

 will you have established a commerce on your 

 own shores and in your own harbors — then 

 will you have at your command, the treasures 

 of the land and the treasures of the sea. 



BREAD. 



The Rhode Island Society for the Promotion of 

 Industry, gave the first premium on domestic bread 

 to Mrs. Hiram Hill, of Providence. The following 

 is Mrs. Hill's recipe for making the bread exhibited 

 by her : 



" For two loaves, of the ordinary size, take two 

 potatoes, pare them, slice very thin, and boil quick 

 until quite soft, then mash to a fine pulp, and add, 

 little by little, two quarts of boiling water, stirring 

 until a starch is formed ; let this cool, and add one- 

 third of a cup of yeast. ' This forms the 'sponge,' 

 which should remain in a moderately warm place 

 for ten or twelve hours, or ' over night,' until it 

 becomes very light and frothy, even if a little sour 

 it is of no consequence. When the 'sponge' is 

 ready, add flour, and work it in until you have 

 formed a stiff dough. The longer and more firmly 



