SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR, 
229 
and herbage plants of the South is yet to be studied. 
This study requires time, money and science. Where 
shall we find men in whom these three requirements co- 
exist, whose inclination will lead them in this direction. 
We have no Young, no Sinclair, noLawes. The country 
is too youug to produce them. 1 he State should furnish 
these experiments to the people. 
What is the best breed of cattle'? The advocates of the 
Durham, Devon Ayrshire, Alderney and Brahmin, will 
eaeh tell you that his breed is the best. Who shall decide 
this question '? We need some point at which each of 
these breeds shall be assembled, their comparative merits 
tried and determined for the benefit of the people. Ignor- 
ance will regard this subject as unimportant. There are 
about a million and a half of cattle in Georgia. A breed 
of cattle, that will give an increase of 20 lbs. of meat an- 
nually, with the same food over our present stock, will 
give a total increase of 30,000,000 lbs. of beef, which, at 4 
cents per pound, will give an annual increase of $1,200,- 
000— more than three times the increase of the State Rail- 
road, at “$1,000 a day.” 
We present the strange position of a people holding 
cheap land, much of it waste or forest, yet owning more 
cattle than sheep. There are, perhaps, one million sheep 
in Georgia. An increase of two pounds of wool to each 
sheep would give a total increase of 2,000,000 pounds of 
wool— at 30 cents per pound this annual increase would 
amount to $600,000— still more than the annual income 
of the State Road at “^1,000 a day.” There certainly is 
not one of the improved breeds •of sheep which will not 
give fully this increase. Will any one of these breeds 
thrive with us. on a large scale '? It requires capital to try 
it. But capital is timid and prefers the beaten path. The 
burden of trial rests upon the State. 
The production of cheap wine is intimately connected 
not only with our commercial prosperity, but with the ad- 
vance of good morals. We have everything to learn in 
connection with this important industry. Where and 
how shall we be taught, for we must teach ourselves. Ex- 
perience demands high pay — perhaps too high for private 
fortunes. 
We know enough of fruit-culture to be assured that the 
finest fruits thrive well with us. But which are the best, 
under what culture, in what soils and in what exposure '? 
We cultivate an almost endless variety of corn. Which 
is best'? To determine this would require labor, space 
and money. Yet the decision of this question would 
greatly affect the grain product of the State. The corn 
crop of Georgia is somewhat over 30,000,000 bushels. In- 
crease the w’eight of the corn by two pounds to the bushel 
and it gives an increase of more than 1,000,000 bushels. 
We cultivate many kinds of wheat, each of which is 
liable, to a greater or less degree, to the attacks of enemies. 
Which is most certain, most productive and most secure 
against its enemies '? Science has suggested defences. 
Are these defences real or imaginary'? Again, labor, 
space, money and especially time are necessary to give 
assurance. 
Insects prey upon our cotton and other crops. Ento- 
mology is a life-time study. New York, with commend- 
able liberality, employs an Entomologist. The entire re- 
lation of this class of enemi'^s to our crops at the South 
is yet to be ascertained. The first word of unequal legis- 
lation at Washington injuriously affecting the price of our 
staples is met by a simultaneous outburst of indignation 
from the whole South. Yet we let a worm ravage our 
crops, and sit still and look on in stolid ignorance. We 
defy men, v/e succumb to an insect. 
Ii would too far prolong this article to attempt to pass 
through the entire area of subjects, illustrating the im- 
portance of a model and experimental farm. We close 
our remarks upon this point with one consideration. The 
mass of men read but little. And of those who read, but 
a small proportion make their own the thoughts which 
they find in books and periodicals. That which they see 
they remember. It in a central position in the State, easy 
of access, the State had such a farm as has been suggested , 
at which her Agricultural School was established, at 
which one or more fairs were annually held, at which her 
Agricultural Museum was placed and at which a perfect 
culture was practiced and everything which promises 
well for Agriculture in the way of stock, fruits, grains 
and grasses was frirly tried, it would be a great centre of 
attraction to this strictly agricultural State. It would be 
constantly visited by our people. Impressions would be 
received which it wouid be difficult to efface. An impulse 
would be given to our Agriculture perhaps attainable in 
no other way. 
Such an establishment would cost a great deal of money. 
Much of it would be unwisely expended ; but experiment 
always presupposes hazard of loss. Yet experiment is 
our great teacher. Advance in knowledge cannot occur 
without it. In this country of limited fortunes, this haz- 
ard must be encountered by the State, to equalize the loss 
and to render it insensible by diffusion among a great 
number. 
We had designed to dwell upon the importance of an. 
Agricultural School endowed by the State, chiefly with 
regard to the education of young men to become common 
school teachers and overseers ; but the consideration of 
of this subject must be deferred to another opportunity. 
The measures suggested will require time for their com- 
pletion. An immediate impulse can be given to Agricul- 
ture by an appropriation of $10,000 to be expended annu- 
ally by the State Agricultural Society in Premiums, 
Massachusetts is now offering a Premium of $1,000 for 
the best ten acres of forest trees, planted by hand and 
suitable for ship building. Our sea coast abounds in land 
exhausted by bad tillage, yet in which the live oak grows 
with vigor. Fifty years from this time, five hundred 
acres of our poorest sea coast land now planted in Live 
Oaks would be a fortune to its possessor. A large belt 
of such plantations would be a source of commercial pros- 
perity to the State, Yet they will not be made without 
the application of a stimulus. It would be a source of 
gratification to every friend to Agriculture in the State 
to see our Society placed in a position to offer such re- 
wards to agricultural skill and enterprise as will stimulate 
it to the most, active exertions. 
It is our firm conviction that our legislators will do 
whatever is proper when they understand that the people 
so desire it. Do the mass of our people desire that the 
Legislature should aid Agriculture '? If they do not, it is 
because they are uninformed. Will the intelligent friends 
of improved Agriculture take this matter in hand "? Will 
they make it a subject of conversation among their neigh- 
bors '? Will they form Agricultural Clubs where they do 
not exist "? Will they take some measures to obtain an 
expression of opinion from the people, as to the propriety 
of the Legislature making appropriations for the benefit 
of Agriculture'? Fortified by such an expression, the 
timid legislator will not be afraid to act. Will not our 
Agricultural Societies send representatives to Milledge- 
ville, not members of the Legislature, who, actiag in con- 
cert, may filly and truly represent the wants of Agricul- 
ture, and secure wise legislation in reference to it. The)^ 
would represent not a company or a corporation, or 
speculation, or a party, but the people of the State, and in 
reference to their most important earthly interest. 
