I 



568 



disadvantage of requiring a unanimous vote to 

 secure their adoption when offered. 



The failure to form a quorum next Fall would 

 frustrate all present purposes of amendment, 

 and the consequent postponement of action to 

 another year, and perhaps to an indefinite future 

 period, would prove extremely disastrous to the 

 Society. Hence the great importance of an ear- 

 nest and concerted movement on the part of the 

 friends of the Society, to secure the election of 

 persons in every district competent to the effi- 

 cient discharge of the representative trust, and 

 who will pledge themselves, if elected, duly to 

 attend the meeting of the Assembly. 



As there is a most encouraging prospect for a 

 very fine exhibition, to be effected through the 

 united counsels and efforts of the State and Cen- 

 tral Societies, it will not be difficult, if the effort 

 is faithfully made, to secure from amongst the 

 numbers who will attend the fair from your 

 county, the attendance of gentlemen well quali- 

 fied to work out the deliverance of the society 

 from the embarrassments arising from the de- 

 fects of the Constitution. 



Ch. B. Williams, Secretary, 

 In behalf of the Executive Committee. 

 To the Members of the State Agricultural Society. 



Poor Land— What shall We Do with It ? 



Perhaps there is no question in which so 

 many farmers are, or ought to be, interested as 

 in the satisfactory solution of the one under 

 consideration. Poor land, the chief heritage 

 of many, must be improved, or the owner will, 

 year by year, become more and more a suf- 

 ferer, both in body and mind, and acquire an 

 increasing and _ more intimate association with 

 harrowing cares, gloomy prospects, pressing ne- 

 cessities, and unprofitable pursuits, until at 

 last the unfortunate 41 tiller of the soil" finds 

 his efforts to attain wealth, health, and prosper- 

 ity unavailing, and his hopes of all these ben- 

 efits finally threshed out of his heart, leaving lit- 

 tle room for aught save weariness and despair. 

 And who is it that is brave and strong enough of 

 heart, to keep his courage up when crop after crop 

 fails, and no rich field " in living green" appears 

 to bid him hope for a "better time coming," 

 when the worthy labourer shall reap his well- 

 earned hire; but when labour is almost thrown 

 away in pitching a crop upon an ungenial soil, 

 and the future opens a view of — ruin? This is 

 a dark picture, certainly, but its shadows will 



[September 



fall on many a face among the "sovereigns" of 

 this " great and prosperous country." 



That so much undesirable and worn-out land 

 can easily be found in all quarters of our old 

 States, is not altogether the fault of the present 

 generation. Imperfect tillage, rapid cropping, 

 grazing, and an utter indifference to the neces- 

 sity of manuring, together with ignorance of 

 many a truth, since revealed to us by chemistry, 

 all conspired to make our forefathers bad far- 

 mers. But along with poor land, unfortunately, 

 they have left their sons, in many instances, a 

 mistaken pride as to the number of acres which 

 they deemed necessary to make up the home- 

 stead of a respectable farmer. There can be 

 no doubt that one of the greatest obstacles in 

 the way of the rapid improvement of our lands, 

 is to be found in the fact, that nearly all of our 

 agriculturists have too great a disposition to ac- 

 quire land, rather than to improve their present 

 possessions with reference to a large yield from 

 a small surface, and to benefit each field in a 

 well devised rotation as it comes under cultiva- 

 tion. In consequence of this error, we find on 

 many farms a great deal of worn-out waste 

 land, useless to the owner, unless the number 

 of his acres give him pleasure and satisfaction 

 to feel that they add to his yearly tax bill, if not 

 to his income. Good policy would suggest the 

 expediency of getting rid of such an incubus ; 

 thereby lessening the expenses and the labori- 

 ous oversight of the farm, and rendering it as a 

 whole, more compact, easily managed, and 

 productive. Thus, a farm containing one thou- 

 sand acres of indifferent land might, with ben- 

 efit to its owner, spare five hundred acres to- 

 wards improving the remaining half, by being 

 sold off. This plan being followed, would raise 

 a considerable capital for many a man who, un- 

 der the present custom, cannot obtain the funds 

 to improve with. Capital judiciously expended, 

 is as sure a benefit to agriculturists, as it is to 

 merchants and others. We cannot apply, or 

 obtain manures of any kind, without expense. 

 Without manure, we need not expect to make 

 crops. We must have it, and we must pay for 

 what we get. In ours as well as other profes- 

 sions', " 'tis money makes the mare go." How 

 often do we hear a farmer say, in reference to 

 some work which Tt is evident would benefit 

 himself and his farm if it were done, "If I 

 could afford it, I would have it done at once." 

 If he has more land than he can work well, 

 which lying idle runs him to expense every 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



