220 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
aroused to the importance, the vital importance of these 
societies to the general interests of farming. 
They add dignity to that occupation. All the learning 
'Hid talents of the farming community are brought togeth¬ 
er, and from mutual action of mind and mind, each one 
receives a proportionate share of improvement. This 
principle holds true in mercantile, manufacturing or pro¬ 
fessional, as well as in agricultural communities. Even 
among politicians we perceive the operation of the same 
principle in that notorious invention, called the ‘caucus 
system.’ 
I agree with Prof. Newman, “ that no member of a 
civil community is, in the strict sense of the word, inde- 
oendent .” “If there is any one truth,” says he, “taught 
more clearly than all others in the science of political 
economy, it is the mutual dependence and close connex¬ 
ion of the different members of a civil community upon 
each other.” “ The eye cannot say to the hand, I have 
no need of thee; nor again, the head to the feet, I have 
no need of you.” Notwithstanding this, the indepen¬ 
dence of a farmer’s life has become proverbial. His of 
all others, is least dependent on commercial or manufac¬ 
turing industry. His flocks and his fields yield him the 
necof/Sar'es of life, and the rural simplicity of his habits 
ma&esbim require but few of its luxuries. 
“ At night returning, every labor sped, 
fe sits him down the monarch of a shed ; 
Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys 
His childrens’ looks, that brighten at the blaze 
While his loved partner, boastful of her hoard. 
Displays her cleanly platter on the board ; 
And haply too some pilgrim thither led, 
With many a tale repays the nightly bed.” 
Do we ask for an example in some great nation of the 
e^rth in respect to the attention necessary to be paid to 
farming ? England is one. She is the mother of im¬ 
proved cultivation. Having signalized herself in fight¬ 
ing on every coast that is washed by the ocean—having 
reached the climax of parliamentary greatness, and hon¬ 
ored her arms by the brilliancy of her intellect— 
“ The land of scholars and the nurse of arms,”— 
now thinks it no disparagement to her fair fame to strive 
for pre-eminence in agricultural improvements. Her 
Berkshires and her Durhams show the extent of her suc¬ 
cess in that department of domestic economy. 
The spirit of emigration which has for several years 
characterized this and the adjoining States, presents a 
formidable barrier to extensive improvement of any 
kind. With many persons, not even usefuland economi¬ 
cal arrangements for domestic comfort are attended to. 
With such persons, the constant effort is to enlarge their 
fields. Each successive year brings an increase of acres, 
but a diminution of fertility, until the scene closes with 
a ‘sale-day,’—the prelude to afemoval to the great west. 
If this spirit prevail, Alabama will soon become an im¬ 
poverished state, for her soil cannot always bear the bur¬ 
den of constant tillage without some return to restore its 
exhausted strength This spirit may be counteracted by ex¬ 
citing a zeal for improvement of the soil and its products. 
This will introduce a greater abundance of the comforts 
and luxuries of life, and one is loth to leave a place that 
is adorned with the monuments of his own industry. At¬ 
tached to the soil—we love and venerate the institutions 
of our country. 
“Such is the patriot’s boast where’er we roam, 
His first, best country ever is his home.” 
Will you give an account of where the best breeds of 
the Poland chickens ( crested fowls—see Cultivator Feb. 
number, page 57) can be had—the same request I also 
make in reference to the Shepherd dog.* 
I must close this rambling letter. I may at a future 
lime send you another. 
Very respectfully yours, * * * 
Man at the best is hut a composition of good and evil. 
Diamonds have (laws, ami roses have prickles, the sun 
has its spots, and the moon its shade. 
* There will he plenty of the Crested fowls to be had here in 
the fall—at present we do not know of any to be sold in this vi¬ 
cinity. We have understood that a man a few miles from 
here breeds the shepherd dogs— we will inquire. 
APPLIED CHEMISTRY : 
In manufactures , Arts and Domestic Economy; editedby E. 
A. Parnell, author of “ Elements of Chemical Analysis 
&c. Publishing in monthly numbers by D. Appleton 
& Co. 200 Broadway, New-York. 
Five numbers of this work have appeared, and they 
enable us to appreciate its importance to the peo¬ 
ple of the United States. The work is edited by 
E. A. Parnell, well known in London as the author 
of “ Elements of Chemical Analysis.” The reprint of 
the work by Appleton & Co. cannot fail to be advanta¬ 
geous to the arts and manufactures of our country. 
The numbers before us contain some preliminary ob¬ 
servations, anil the history, progress and present practice 
of gas illumination, the preservation of wood, and the 
arts of dyeing and calico printing. These subjects are 
interesting to the general reader, and demonstrate the 
intimate connection between science and the practical 
arts of life. Chemistry particularly is applicable to all 
the arts as well as to agriculture. The subjects which 
are admirably well treated in detail in the numbers of 
the work before us, are not immediately connected with 
husbandry, yet we find that the cultivation of the earth 
supplies resin and oil which may be employed in produ¬ 
cing gas lights, and dyeing drugs which are applied in 
the arts of dyeing and calico printing. The preserva¬ 
tion of wood is interesting to the farmer, and the trea¬ 
tise on this subject shows the various and most approved 
methods of securing from decay, wood and timber for 
the construction of ships, houses, barns, fences, &c. We 
are given to understand that some of the future numbers 
will have a more direct bearing upon agriculture, and 
we patiently wait their arrival. 
A Practical Farmer. 
NORTH CAROLINA. 
Editors of the Cultivator — I have thought that it 
might be satisfactory to say a few things in favor of the 
claims of western North Carolina, to those inclined to 
move southward. 
1. Climate and Health. —A glance at the map of North 
Carolina will show the location of Iredell county, and 
Statesville its county seat. From a few miles east of the 
town to the mountains, is a belt of country as healthy 
perhaps as any part of the world—as free from fevers as 
the mountains, and much less subject to imflammatory 
diseases. Its atmosphere temperate and pleasant. 
2d. Soil, fyc. —The general character of the soil is 
good, and readily susceptible of improvement. Wood 
land abundant, the growth of which is the different vari¬ 
eties of oak, of good size and quality, hickory, pine, 
poplar, &c. The soil is generally somewhat mixed with 
sand, resting on a clay subsoil, adapted to the culture of 
corn, wheat, oats, tobacco, roots, &c. The country is 
well watered, abounding in streams well adapted for ma¬ 
chinery, &c. Price of land from $1 to 7 or $8, owing 
to location and other advantages. 
3d. Moral aspect, fyc. —There are comparatively few 
slaves in west North Carolina. Wealth pretty equally 
distributed. Hospitality- and sociability characterize the 
people. The mass of the people cultivate their own 
farms themselves. Manual labor is not regarded as dis¬ 
reputable. Moral excellence and not wealth is, to a con¬ 
siderable extent, the test ot character. Educational and 
religious privileges depend on the location. The settle¬ 
ments originally peopled by the Scolch-Irish from Pa., 
have flourishing Presbyterian churches and regular 
preaching, Sabbath schools, &c. They also have good 
common schools and academies. The state has com¬ 
menced a system of common schools which will eventu¬ 
ally greatly aid the cause of education. The Me hodists 
and Baptists a>so have churches throughout the country. 
By giving a place to the above in your columns you 
may oblige many of your subscribers. Should farther 
information be desired, it will cheerfully be rendered by 
corresponding with the Postmaster at Bethany Church P. 
O., Iredell county, N. C. W. A. D. 
By energy and honesty men become prosperous and 
happy. 
