92 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
ADDRESS 
Of Col. B. L. C. Wailes, (President,) 
Delivered before the Agricultural, Horticultural and 
Botanical Society of Jetferson College, and a numer- 
ous assemblage of ladies and gentlemen, at Wash- 
ington, Mississippi, April iS, 1843. 
* * The first place in the primary produc- 
tion of those material objects suited to the wants 
of mankind, is assigned to the husbandman. — 
Contributing most largely to the necessities of 
all classes, he is the least dependent upon the 
labors or productions of others; and although 
this very independence may perhaps retard the 
progress of agriculture, by repelling or reject- 
ing the adventitious aids of science, which are 
constantly accelerating and perfecting most 
other pursuits; still, the benerits conferred by 
agriculture, even in a rude and unimproved 
state, are so numerous and important, as to en- 
title its votaries to a high consideration, and in- 
sure them great respect. Few, it is true, are ed- 
ucated for planters, or receive that kind of men- 
tal culture the most suited to that pursuit. Many 
who pursue it, are learned to a degree calcula- 
ted to adorn the most respectable and liberal 
professions; yet in their scholastic course, have 
gained little more, in reference to husband- 
ry, than a few glimpses of pastoral life, glean- 
ed from their early classics. Upon such, the 
influence of associations for the promotion of 
Agriculture, is not less salutary than upon the 
unlettered farmer. Nothing is better calculated 
to supply such delects of early education, and 
to stimulate a spirit of investigation and in- 
quirjL 
To a cultivated mind, imbued with science, 
how instructive, lor example, is the contempla- 
tion of vegetable matter. 
In every stage, Irom the gem of the seed de- 
posited in the earth, the expanding leaves and 
opening flowers, to the maturing and ripened 
fruit, it excites surprise, and challenges admira- 
tion. In the season of returning life, when dor- 
mant nature, awakened from repose, reflects its 
cheerlul smiles, warmed by the influence of the 
orb of day, the excited sap ascends, It circu- 
lates through innumerable flbres, courses thro’ 
thousands of little tubes, or pores, too minute 
lor the unaided eye, delicately, yet perfectly, or- 
ganized and arranged, peiforming offices equi- 
valent to veins and arteries in the human frame, 
extends through all the branches, and nourishes 
the unfolding buds. This circulation, or cur- 
rent, whic'.i in some plants can clearly be seen, 
Avith the aid of the microscope, forms the bark, 
and marks the age of trees, with a layer for ev- 
ery 5 "ear. Banqueting in morning dews, the 
same warming and illuminating influence pen- 
cils a tint on every florver, and paints the ripen- 
ed fruit. In this fluid, or juice, as various in 
color as in taste, the principal medicinal virtues 
chiefly reside. In some it is sweet; in others, 
acrid and corrosive, bitter or acid, aromatic or 
narcotic. The sugar maple, the cinnamon and 
the poppy, furnsh some examples of these pro- 
perties; whilst the dye-woods, the beet, and oth- 
er vegetables, exhibit it in all the varieties of co- 
lor. As a knowledge of the curious structure 
and wonderful functions of vegetable life is un- 
folded, the character and habits, the affinities 
and antipathies of plants understood, it maj’’ oft 
times be discovered that the prevailing system 
of treatment or cultivation, injudicious and at- 
tended by a wasteful expenditure of labor, in 
actuall}' stinting and restraining their produc- 
tivene.ss. A mind thus awakened and directed, 
will not rest content with ob.servations on vege- 
table physiology alone. It will look further into 
the wide and interes ting field ol investigation, 
afi-d explore the mysteries of Agricultural chem- 
istry and geolog}q in quest of those laws and 
principles which must govern the various ope- 
rations of the successful cultivator. To distin- 
guish merely between a fertile soil and a poor 
one, will not satis.ly such an inquirer. A thor- 
ough knowledge of ihe constituents of soils will 
be sought after, their properties and combina- 
tions inv^estigated, and the proportions of the 
various elements of which these are composed. 
will best sustain, stimulate and mature the va- 
rious plants, the objects of our cultivation and 
care, will be carefully examined. The very at- 
mosphere in which they thrive, and the gases 
they inhale or imbibe, will be analysed. Chem- 
ical changes are continually going on in the ma- 
terials in which the planter operates, and a fail- 
ure to take advantage of them, from ignorance 
or neglect, occasions great losses. In propor- 
tion as the valuable or essential properties of the 
soil are taken from it, in its vegetable product, 
must it be restored in some form; and a know- 
ledge of the best manner of applying and assi- 
milating the requisite ingredients, and of pro- 
moting and regulating the proper chemical ac- 
tion, is among the most valuable acquirements 
of the the farmer. In such investigations, ma- 
ny ol the most learned and judicious men ol 
our age are activel}'^ engaged. At no former 
period has science contributed so extensively 
and beneficially to the cause of Agriculture; or 
has more important and valuable discoveries 
and improvements been made, than in the pre- 
sent day. That the abstruse and scientific prin- 
ciples fiom which these improvejnents have 
been deduced, should be understood, or even in- 
vesligated by all, is not to be expected; nay, it 
is not necessary that they should. Many who 
deride such studies as idle and visionary, will 
nevertheless adopt, from the experience and 
practice of others, improved processes in culti- 
vation and domestic econorpy, without troubling 
themselves with the rationale ol their operation; 
and whilst loudly contemning the vksionary stu- 
dies of the scientific, be successfully, though 
unconsciously, demon.strating their value and 
utility — as much to their surprise, perhaps, as 
the plain farmer, w^ho, whilst vaunting the mer- 
its of his favorite plough, (a miracle ol perlec- 
tion in his estimation,) found himself uncon- 
sciously ridiculing and undervaluing the studies 
and investigations in mechanics, of the very 
man who had invented and constructed it. 
A system of cultivation, or some process con- 
nected with Agriculture, may sometimes be 
adopted by chance, or suggested by convenience. 
That such is the case, we have reason to be- 
lieve. That it may not always be calculated to 
insure the best results, or have had its founda- 
tion on any known or tried principle or experi- 
ment which recommended it to use; yet it may 
become the prevailing system, almost universal- 
ly adopted, and be long persevered in, with such 
tenacity as almost to preclude anj'- modification 
or improvement. A discovery has recently been 
made, (I term it a discovery, for under the cir- 
cumstances, it surely is little else,) which goes 
far to illustrate and establish this position. 
The Cotton Plant has been cultivated in the 
Southern States for more than fifty years, and 
for a long period there has been no process more 
generally adopted and uniformly followed, than 
that pursued, in which the principle seems to 
be, to culfivate the greate.st possible quantity of 
land in cotton to a given force. Now, a planter 
in Alabama, Dr. Cloud, acting on an opposite 
system, has endeavored to obtainfrom the small- 
e.st space the greatest product. The result of 
his experiment, the past season, 5989 pounds to 
the acre, is truly astounding, and being accom- 
plished on land of inferior quality, originally 
of pine and black-jack growth, is the more so. 
From his statement, published in the Albany 
Cultivator, and copied into many other agricul- 
tural periodicals, it would .seem that his system 
of planting and cultivation will ensure apio- 
duct of near four bales to the acre; and although 
this may seem incredible, other experiments, on 
a smaller scale, it is said, have demonstrated 
that nearly double that quantity may be produ- 
ced. A detail of the AAdiole proce.ss, and mode 
of operation, by which this is effected, would 
doubtless possess more valse than any thing I 
can say, did my space allow of it. It must suf- 
fice to state, that it proposes to restrict the culti- 
vation of cotton to three or four acres to the 
hand, whieh will be sufficient to keep pace with 
the consumption, and to suppl}’’ the demand, and 
at the same time greatly reduce the proportion 
of the inferior article, and to effect his at one- 
third of the cost, or the capital engagea in its 
production. The system favors the natural ar- 
borescent growth of the plant, and a mure per- 
fect development of its staple, which v ill great- 
ly influence its market value. At a period like 
the present, when the production of cuUuii is so 
redundant, the price so depressed, the character 
and quality of the staple so greatly impaired, 
the system pursued by Dr. Cloud commends it- 
sell to adoptation with irresistible force. If we 
look forward to the future, what prospect of re- 
muneration gleets the cotton planter. 
Admitting the East India experiment to be a 
failure, that no fear of successful competition 
exists in that quarter, still xve see in the assu- 
rance of an increased production of our staple 
at home, fearful indications of a continued, if 
not a further depression of its value. View the 
active and earnest preparations making every- 
where, to make good in the coming crop, by 
quantity, the reduction of price. See the wide 
alluvial plains on our borders, to what extent 
they have been reclaimed and brought into cul- 
tivation Avithin the past year. Look at the mid- 
die and northern portions of our Slate, last }'ear 
cheerless, desolate and abandoned, now filled by 
emigration — scarcely a plantation untenanted; 
all— all intent on cotton. Happily, Ave haA'e 
learned wisdom enough in our adversity, to pro- 
Aude at home many of the necessaries of life; 
but the extent to which we are still dependant 
on foreign supply, in the circumstances of the 
coun’rjq is appalling. 
The cost of horses and mules, farming im- 
plements, bagging and rope, pork and clothing, 
still required, forms a most formidable aggre- 
grate drained from our resources. It may be 
saidthattl o.se ardcles are noAV cheap; yet do 
they not bear the same proportion as formerl}', 
to our means of purchasing, or the value of our 
staple! Surely, it is time to seek out other sour- 
ces of Avealth, and new objects of industry. — 
Fortunately, few countries are more favored in 
this respect than ours, in its adaptation of soil 
and climate, to the production of many articles 
for AA'hich we have an ample demand at home. 
In the rearing of horses and mules, the groAving 
of wool, the cultivation of silk, rice, indigo and 
tobacco, AA'e have a choice of remunerating and 
profitable products, to divide our attention, with 
the production of our present staple. 
The rice planters of the Carolinas and Geor- 
gia, are noAV accounted the most prosperous ag- 
riculturalists in the Union, and though this pro- 
duct may not be generally suited to our uplands, 
still Ave possess extensive tracts well adapted to 
its growth. 
Silks, to the value of tAA^enty millions, are an- 
nually importei into the United States. Eng- 
land imports nearly that amount of the raw ma- 
terial, and our own country is infinitely better 
adapted to its production than France, from 
AA'hich much of it is derived. It Avould prove 
the lightest and most lucratiAm employment we 
could adopt. 
Sheep hu.sbandry is rapidly increasing, and 
will soon form an important branch of industry. 
Tobacco and indigo, once the staples of the 
country, could be advantageously raised. Re- 
cent discoA^eries and improvements remoA'e the 
objection to the latter, since the disagreeable and 
unwholesome process of manufacturing it is 
rendered unnecessary, a sufficient demand ex- 
isting for the plant in its dried or cured state. 
Many .successful experiments have been made 
in the State of Ncav York, and other .sections of 
the country, in making sugar and .syrup from 
the stalk of the Indian corn. It is better adapt- 
ed to this purpose than the maple or beet, and 
it is thought, when the process is perfected, Avill 
not prove inferior to the cane itself. 
With such resources, need the planter des- 
pond! Combining within the scope of his ope- 
rations so many elements of independence, the 
exercise ol prudence, industry" and economy are 
onl}’’ nece.ssarA’' to insure competence and pros- 
perity. * " * * * * 
Though peculiarly suited to the care and nur- 
