THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
69 
the young, and the next generation will do bet- 
ter than the present. But little ground is neces- 
sary for an orchard, and nothing pays so well lor 
the labor and expenses. Moreover, the farmer 
who regards appearances, should be ashamed of 
a place nalred, and free from fruit trees. Noth- 
ing, indeed, is so ornamental as luxuriant Iruii 
trees leaded with their annual treasures. 
From the Teanessee Agriculturist. 
Wool. 
We have the satisfaction of knowingthat our 
eflorts to draw the attention of the farming com- 
munity of our own immediate region to the im- 
portant subject of wool growing, is being real- 
ized, and that they are awaking to a sense of the 
vast resources that are presenting themselves 
through sheep raising, and also of the increas- 
ing value of the mountain lands in this State 
adapted to this purpose. 
A few facts connected with the history of oth- 
er countries, when brought before the notice of 
the farmers of Tennessee, and indeed of the 
whole of the Southwestern States, if consid- 
ered with care, will, we think, induce many of 
them to revive their system of sheep husbandry, 
and extend them to their utmost limits. 
The growth of wool has never been underta- 
ken by any country or by any people, without 
returning to that people all the blessings to be 
enjoyed on this earth, that peace and plenty 
could bestow. The political situation of Spain 
may for a time, and no doubt will, operate 
against that prosperitv which she has so long 
enjoyed through her wool trade; and it is pro- 
bable that her flocks may comparatively degen- 
erate, through the anarchy and confusion that 
reigns through her once fair provinces. In this 
respect, she stands a warning to every true pa- 
triot, ttiough it is satisfactory to know that even 
this confusion had not taken place until the civi- 
lized portion of the globe have availed them- 
selves of the treasures once possessed by Spain 
alone, but now happily spiead to nearly every 
corner of the earth. 
One reference that we will make to exempli- 
fy the results of a judicious system of sheep 
husbandry, is to that of Germany, standing as 
she does before the world, as the greatest export- 
ing wool country known. It is to be borne in 
mind, that previous to the year 1765, Saxony 
was not a sheep raising country, and that it was 
entirely owing to the enlightened policy of her 
then ruler, who enforced his views, especially 
amongst his own tenantry, making it a part of 
his agreement with those to whom he rented, 
that they should keep a certain number of sheep. 
And let us now see her condition. It appears 
from the parliamentary documents, that the 
wool imported Irom Germany into England, in 
the year 1841, amounted to 20,953,775 lbs., being 
more than a third ol all the foreign wool, inclu- 
ding all the colonies, imported into that kingdom 
in the course ol that year. 
Let us also look at the wool producing colo- 
nies of England. That of New South Wales, 
established in 1787, under ail the disadvantages 
of her convict and criminal population. In the 
year 1841, (a period ol 54 years from her first 
settlement.) she imported into England 7,993,060 
lbs. of wool ; while her more infant establish- 
ment of Van Dieman’s Land, sent into the 
mother countrv 3,507,531 lbs.— and it is worthy 
to remark, that the first ship landed in that island 
did not take place till 1807. The total amount 
of wool imported into England during the year 
1841, was 56,170,974 lbs., (which is presumed to 
be equal to the amount grown in that country) — 
making a total of 112,341,948 lbs. It also ap- 
pears [hat there was, at the close of the year, 
6,912,060 lbs. ol foreign wool in bond, and, pre- 
suming there was about the same amount of 
home grown wool unmanufactured, the amount 
usQd in the manufacturing establishments of 
England for 1841, would be as near as possible 
100,000,000 lbs. 
VVe have not at hand any report of the amount 
of wool grown in the United States in 1841, 
though we have of that of her imports, which, 
it appears, was 11,409,764 lbs. la 1839, the 
wool grown in this country was 34,802,114 lbs.; 
and the probability is, that the amount was not 
much increased in 1841, which, if we take as a 
data to work upon, we have a total of 47,211,878 
lbs., being nearly one half the amount manufac- 
tured by England that year. 
Our imports of manufactured woolen goods, 
from England alone, in that year, amounted to 
.£1,521,880, or $1,366,353— so says the parlia- 
mentary report. What amount we imported 
from Germany, France, &c. we are at present 
uninformed of. That France is manufacturing 
extensivel}'-, and that she is short of the raw 
material, we are assured, from the fact of her 
having agents through the whole Western and 
Southwestern States, engaged in the purchase 
of every quality of wool; and, taking all these 
circumstances into consideration, we have this 
state of things presented before us : 
First, that as a pastoral people withal, and 
beyond the necessary resources under our con- 
trol, we do not grow sufficient wool for our own 
use, but import upwards of $10,000,000 worth 
of manufactured woolen goods yearly to meet 
our demand for that article, besides a large pro- 
portion of the unmanufactured material. That, 
as a commercial people, upon which we pride 
ourselves, wm are too careless to take advantage 
of and meet the wishes of a good customer lor 
an article which we can raise in the greatest 
abundance, and at a certainly larger amount of 
profit than any people. Will not our farmers 
reflect on these things? Once again, w'ith a 
view to drawing their attention to the subject, 
we inform them that every farmer in the State 
can have cash for every ounce of wool he can 
raise, at more than remunerating prices; that 
one house in Nashville alone, is authorized to 
purchase 1,000,000 lbs. — indeed, an unlimited 
amount for French exportation ; that home con- 
sumption must necessarily increase ; that, with 
ordinary attention, the quality and staple of the 
wool itself will be so improved as to produce a 
greater return; that our particular section of 
country is better adapted to sheep raising than 
any other in America ; that our climate is such 
that we can do all Spain or Australia can ac- 
complish; that, indeed, nothing is wanting but 
the judicious action of the farmers of Tennes- 
see in the improvement of their breed of sheep, 
and an expansion of their flocks, to insure them- 
selves and the State at large a position unequal- 
led in the annals of agricultural history, c. f. 
From the American Fanner. 
Washington’s Opinion ot Agricultural Life 
It is refreshing to us, and we hope it is to eve- 
ry lover of freedom, to read anything from the 
pen of Washington — and still the more refresh- 
ing, when it may happen to be upon the subject 
of Agriculture. In the belief then, that the fol- 
lowing opinion of the farmer’s life, from the 
Father of his country, may serve to reconcile 
every tiller of the soil to his lot, we give it in- 
sertion. But why need we say, that it may 
serve to reconcile the tillers of the soil to their 
lot? Surely there is no man owning a farm 
who is discontented with his position; tor, of a 
truth, if there be one condition more than anoth- 
er, which any man might desire without incur- 
ring the sin of covetousness, it is to be the owner 
of a good farm, well stocked, to be out ol debt, 
to have a good wife, and a family of children 
around him. There are other situations where 
a man may possibly make more money. The 
merchant, for instance, may realise more profit 
in a month, than a farmer would in half a life 
time. But then, where one merchant £^ie5 ihcA, 
there are ninety-nine who become bankrupt — 
and then, their gains, if gains they make, are 
realized amidst the cares, anxieties and tortures 
of the mind; for their’s is a life of hazard and 
uncertainty, dependent upon so many contin- 
gencies for success, as, in numerous instances, 
to make even the most brilliant success, a dear 
price for the wear and tear of mind and the lace- 
ration of feelings. While the owner of a fertile 
farm, unless avarice be his besetting sin, has 
everything around him to gratify all the aspira- 
tions of his heart, sweeten the pathway of life, 
and make him happy. Come what may — 
drought or rain — lu.xuriant crops or short ones — 
high prices, or low ones— if he be prudent and 
frugal, the bosom of the earth, in its generous 
yieidiogs, will always afford to him and his, 
both food and raiment, and a little to spare, 
either to be laid by for a rainy day, or dispensed 
to his fellow man, in “binding up the wounded 
heart, or pillowing the aching head;” and what 
more, pray let us ask, does man want w'hile he 
may be permitted to remain on earth 1 He that 
wants more is not imbued with that becoming 
sense of gratitude which is due to the author of 
his being. Riches, we are aware, have their 
attractions, and often weave around the brow of 
the undeserving chaplets wiiich but ill become 
it. We are aware also, that although an emi- 
nent philosopher hath said that “knowledge is 
power,” it would have been much nearer the 
truth, had he said, ihutwealtk is power — but with 
this belief firmly impressed upon our mind, by 
the daily evidences of tame submission to the 
povverof money by which we are surrounded — 
still, we wou'd not exchange that glorious state 
of independence which belongs to the thrifty 
owner of a homestead of two or three hundred 
acres of good land, for any other condition. 
Although such an one may amass wealth slowly 
and moderately — though he may realise but a 
competency, still that wealth, or that competen- 
cy, is earned by the most pleasurable, healthful 
and virtuous of all human pursuits. 
But as we find ourself running riot under the 
influence of enthusiasm, we must cry halt, and 
introduce the opinion which Washington en- 
tertained of the calling of an Agriculturist. 
In one of his letters to Arthur Ymmg, Gen. 
Washington used the following language : 
“The more I am acquainted with agricultu- 
ral affairs, the better 1 am pleased with them; 
insomuch, that I can no where find so great sa- 
tisfaction as in their innocent and useful pur- 
suits. In indulging these feelings, I am led to 
reflect how much more delightful to an unde- 
bauched mind, is the task of making improve- 
ments on the earth, than all the vain glory which 
can be acquired from ravaging it by the most 
uninterrupted career of conquest.” 
Nutritive Gualities of Tea. — M. Peligot 
states that tea contains essential principles of 
nutrition far exceeding in importance its stimu- 
lating properties; and shows that, as a stimu- 
lant, tea is in every respect the most desirable 
object of habitual use. One of his experiments 
upon the nutritive qualities of tea, as compared 
with those of soup, was by no means in favor of 
the latter. The most remarkable products of 
tea are; 1st, the tannin or astringent property; 
2d, an essential oil to which it owes its aroma, 
and which has a great influence on its price in 
commerce; and 3d, a substance rich in azote, 
and crystalizable, called theine, which is also 
met in coffee, and is frequently called cafeine. 
Independently of these three substances, there 
are eleven others of less importance, which enter 
more or less into the composiMons of tea of all 
the kinds imported into Europe. What was 
more essential, as regards the chemical and hy- 
gienic character of the plant, was to ascertain 
the exact proportion of the azoted (nitrogenized) 
principle it contains. M. Peligot began by de- 
termining the total amount ol azote in tea, and 
finished by finding that it was from 20 to 30 per 
cent, greater than in any other kind of vegetable. 
M. Peligot states that by reason of this quantity 
ot azote, and the existence of cafeine in the tea 
leaf, it is a true aliment. 
Fruit. — The demand in England for Ameri- 
can fruit is likely to become a matter ol consid- 
erable importance. A large quantity of apples 
was sent there last season and paid well. Many 
orchards of five, ten and twenty thousand trees 
have lately been planted in the Hudson River 
Counties, with a view of growing apples for 
export to foreign countries. We see no reason 
why peaches from New Jersey, and other At- 
lantic regions where they will grow, cannot be 
sent to England by steamers, and arrive in good 
condition . — Newark Advertiser, 
