CULTIVATOR. 
219 
LETTER FROM ALABAMA. 
Editors of the Cultivator —In several numbers of 
the Cultivator, you speak of potatoes, particularly as be¬ 
ing useful as food for cattle. Now will you have the 
kindness to inform me what kind of potatoe you mean. 
We of the South, when we speak of potatoes, invariably 
mean sweet potatoes, not Irish potatoes. Had it not been 
for my lady, I would have gone to work in earnest to 
feed my cows on sweet potatoes. She suggested that the 
Irish potatoe was meant. 
I deplore the death of Willis Gaylord. Such men are 
not the product of every age. How much more praise¬ 
worthy are the deeds of such a man, than those of the 
mere politician. Our State would be benefited by such 
a man being within her borders. We have extensive 
resources yet to be developed, and it is necessary to have 
some one to call public attention to the important con¬ 
sideration of the full development of our agricultural re¬ 
sources. In other words, Alabama needs a Willis Gay¬ 
lord. 
In this connection, I would drop a word to the farmers 
of Alabama, knowing that many of them are subscribers 
to your valuable periodical. 
Our State is considered one among the wealthy States 
of the Union, and this wealth is to be attributed to her 
agriculture. But few, if any, of the States, have been so 
exclusively engaged in the cultivation of the soil as this 
State. The profits of her agricultural products have ex¬ 
ceeded those created by other pursuits of human industry. 
Of her improvement in the modes of cultivation, much 
cannot be said. The reason of all this is obvious. In 
the early settlement of the country, as indeed of all coun¬ 
tries, the greatest inducements were held out to the set¬ 
tlers to engage in the occupation of tilling the soil, owing 
to its extreme fertility. By such tillage, even after de¬ 
ducting all the expenses of transportation to a distant 
market, their annual increase in wealth far surpassed 
what could have been accomplished by the most untiring 
labor of persons living in older countries. The early 
settler in Alabama, as is now the case in Missouri, Arkan¬ 
sas, Wisconsin or Texas, having many privations to con¬ 
tend with, looked to the fertility of the soil, ‘the bright 
star of his hope,’ as a recompense for the dangers and 
difficulties by which he was surrounded. And he but 
seldom looked in vain. Read the history of our early 
settlers, and you will read the history of many of the 
most influential and wealthy men in our State. They 
were not distinguished for their skill in farming, nor 
particularly for persevering industry in their employ¬ 
ments. Still they prospered as ‘a vine planted in a good¬ 
ly soil.’ 
Two views are presented to us in contemplating the 
history of the early settlers of this State. They became 
wealthy, because of the fertility of the soil; and they 
were economical in the use of money. 
If the farmers of the present day would grow rich, 
they must follow the example of these early settlers in 
cultivating a rich soil. In order to do so, their lands 
must be improved. Enrich the soil of Alabama, and you 
will have a country not surpassed by any on the globe. 
Every means to facilitate commercial, manufacturing, 
and agricultural prosperity are amply provided through¬ 
out the length and breadth of the land. In regard to com¬ 
merce, we raise here an agricultural product which has 
never failed to bear a marketable price in any quarter of 
the globe. So valuable in this respect is it, that it has 
already, to some extent, become a medium of exchange 
* What is called the sweet potato and the Irish potato are 
vegetables belonging to entirely different classes—and perhaps 
we are not quite scientific in calling them both potatoes. The po¬ 
tato, strictly, belongs to the class Solarium, (Solarium tuberosum , 
L.), while what is called the sweet potato, belongs to the class 
Convolvulus , (Convolvulus batatas, L.) In this section of coun¬ 
try, we mean the first of these when speaking of the potato, 
either as food for manor beast. Personally, we know nothing 
of the value of the sweet potato as food for animals ; but we 
were lately told by' a gentleman from the South, that it had 
proved to be excellent, and it was his opinion that no vegeta¬ 
ble could be so profitably cultivated at the south for feeding 
animals. It will produce abundant crops on the sandy soil of 
that region, where the common potato and most of the root- 
crops raised at the north would be good for nothing. 
between this country and Europe. I allude to cotton. 
This product of the soil of our own and the adjoining 
states, is now considered a fairer representative of gold 
and silver than the notes of the banks of those states re¬ 
spectively, although their faith and honor are pledged in 
behalf of the banks. This is not said with the view ot 
disparaging state banks, but to show that this product 
which we cultivate at our very doors, is esteemed more 
valuable in the markets of Europe than a pledge of gold 
and silver, though that pledge be made by the most 
wealthy State of this Union. Having so valuable a com¬ 
modity with which to freight our vessels, every harbor 
in the world is open to receive them. 
The water courses of this State are well suited for 
manufacturing establishments, whenever these may be 
required. I understand that a contract has been entered 
into by some wealthy individuals to establish a spinning 
factory at the Falls of the Tallapoosa river. The water 
power is extensive, and no doubt at this spot will grow 
up a large manufacturing town. I am not an advocate 
for establishing large manufactories within the State at 
present. Our agricultural advantages are much greater 
than in the older States and in Europe, and they can en¬ 
gage much more beneficially in manufactures than we 
can, owing to the cheapness of labor there. If we,, 
therefore, establish manufactories here, we bring high 
wages in competition with low wages—a want of skill 
in competition with skill carried to its greatest perfec¬ 
tion. 
When I speak of our agricultural advantages as com¬ 
pared with Europe, I have reference to the price oflands, 
by means of the cheapness of which, the great mass of 
our population may engage in tilling the soil. No one 
acquainted with the subject doubts, but that tillage is car¬ 
ried to greater perfection in Europe than in the United 
States, at least in the southern states. But if we will 
make the comparision, we will find that to the sum total 
of human pursuits, agriculture bears a greater proportion 
in this State than in most European countries. 
With these multiplied advantages, let us use proper ef¬ 
forts to improve the productiveness of our soil. “So 
shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall 
burst out with new wine.” 
Nations or individuals, to become prosperous, must be 
economical in the use of money. The history of every 
nation proves that an extravagant expenditure of public 
money, has been the fore-runner of the decline of most 
governments. And the history of individuals shows that 
a wasteful use of money, is a too frequent cause of ruin 
to many. 
I will not produce arguments to show that economy is 
a blessing and extravagance a curse. The experience of 
any man who has reached thirty years of age, and is pos¬ 
sessed of an ordinary understanding will respond in the 
affirmative. A farmer, to be economical in the use of 
money, must by proper care prevent the necessity of pay¬ 
ing out money in the way of expenses; or in other words, 
he must live within himself. In order to do this, it is 
not necessary that he should make all he needs. By no 
means. But it is essentially necessary that he should 
make his expenses conform to the amount of his annual 
income—just as a nation’s imports should not exceed its 
exports.* 
This may be considered an eventful era in the history 
of agriculture. The increased attention that has been 
given of late to the modes of cultivation, to the improve¬ 
ment of stock of all kinds, and to the interests of hus¬ 
bandry in general, promises a rich harvest to those who 
are deriving their support from these sources. Nothing 
has contributed more to effect this, than the establishment 
of agricultural societies throughout the country. From. 
England, America took the example, and Alabama sho 
follow in the footsteps of the older states in this lauda 
enterprise. Although the State Agricultural Society 
Tuscaloosa departed this life in its infancy, still we ha 
reason to hope that the people of the State will again 
* It has been contended by some that a nation’s imp 
should exceed its exports. The fallacy of this doctrine I h, 
not time now to examine. The doctrine in the text is suppo 
ed by all the writers on political economy I have ever se 
Will Mr. Watts, of Butler, favor the readers of the Cultiva 
with a defence of the contrary opinion ? 
