Newspapers / State Agricultural Journal (Raleigh, … / July 10, 1875, edition 1 / Page 3
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rn tt cm A rn -n a n t t -i tt t rn Tt t " t t a Ttti tit i t H O IX Jli Vj 11 1 V; U Li 1 U IX 2 U o J Uj IX 1 21 JU . 3 I you might let stand in grass Avith so.no small grain." Every acre of his land would produce fine enms of clover, orchard grass or timothy.'' in Asheville, 31 r. Winslow Smith ; assured me that on one aereo.f laijd set in orchard grass, with a little clover intermixed, he had olitain(d of cured hay at a single cut t Is g eight thousand live hundred and thirty-live pounds. The host elovr I had ever seen was grown on some ..of the lots about .Asheville. ' Whjit our people in the upper part of die State on the undulating lands ought to do, is to plant com patches in stead of corn-fields. They miglit thus ohtain enough of that grain for bread and to fatten hogs, 'and depend mainly on other kinds of produce to sustain their stock 1 n tins manner tliey count economise . 1 . 1 ' . IT !( labor and also improve their farms from year to year. Even if there he some exaggera ". tion in the calculations I have re- 1 erred to, no one can -doubt .-.that the difference is many to one in - jl favor of feeding stock on grass rather than corn. All animals not at work could be kept in good con dition -without grain, and even if when at hard work, something more Avas required, very little grain need be added to the hay. Before discussing remedies for this Actions or unwise mode of agriculture, let us consider briefly a kindred subject: In former times, traA'ellers Avould see at a road-side, inn, the Avords "Enter tainment , for, man and beast." We liav'e often read articles suggesting the best modes of providing fqod for domestic animals, but the wel fare of man seldom is deemed Avorthy of consideration. A highly educated physician of large' ex perience has said that dyspepsia .was the national disease of the United States. "When. I Avas in Paris in 1850, Mr. Mason, our Minister at that court, fold me that a physician of as much skill and, of a? large experience as any in Pa is, said ""that he liad ncAer knoAA'ii a ease of dyspepsia to' originate: in that city." Why such a difference against the United State's? We have as good a climate as .that of - - , j France, and a much greater abun dance of AA'holesome food. . j It has been sahl that the frying pan is the great enemy to our peo ple. There can be no doubt ut that it has slain its thousands ; but bad bread is the slaver 6f tens of thousands. While travelling in Europe for eight months, I saAV liothing but cold bread' nor did I, whil there, see or hear anything that tended to fndufe me tobe- lieve that anybody in Europe had ; ever eaten a piece of hot bread. I invariably, however, -found the bread good, and the ncople I saw appeared healthy and robust.! Some, as the Englisli and Ger mans, were especially so. With respect to the 'United States, the conditioji of things mav be more strikingly ami pointedly presented by references to .iiutj A'idual cases. Many .wars since, I stopped at the house of an ac quaintance, ami" on seeing him, I said : " You are not looking as Avell as usual." "Xo," he replied, "I have the dyspepsia powerfully bad." When dinner Avas ready, there Avas an abundant supply of 'it 1 meat's and Avell-baked corn bread.' There -Avas alsoj hoAvever, some thing called biscuit, Avhich Avas in fact rather Avarm dough, Avith much grease in it.- I saw that my host ate this freely Avith his meats. I remarked that I did not wonder that he had dyspepsia, for that I could not Ha'c a month in that Avay. I suggested that if he Avould eat Avell-baked corn bread, or better still, light bread, ' he Avould not suffer as lc Avas doing. He -answered vehemently, "that he Avould rather die than eat light breaid." I replied, "this is a free country and you haA'e a right to die in this mode if you choose, and I 'lurvejiiq' doubt but that you will soon die." I then ; referred to cases in avIucJi . I had knoAvn people to die from such practices. My cool mode of discussing the question evidently smade "an; impression on his wife. Next: summer, on meeting him, I said, " you are looking much bet ter." "Yes," lie replie'd, bursting into a hearty laugh ; "I followed your ' advice, and took to eating . i light read, and I am as Avell as I ever was in my life." Two or three years after this occurrence, I went to the house of another friend, and on meeting him, remarked , that hp Avas thin . and appeared to be in bad health. "Yes," he ansAvered, "I haA'e been suffering Aery much from dyspepsia for nearly a year." In a few mo ments his wife lappeared and on his introducing me, she extended her hand pleasantly and said: "Is t)iis Tom Clin gman, is this the member of Congress !" "The same,"j I answered. "Well," she said,1 "I have often wished aou Avere dead because my husband used to lose so much sleep for fear you Avould not be elected." When dinner AA'as prejiared I obseiwed that my friend ate witli his meat the same kind of biscuit as those above described. "Wh" said L "you need not be health, tur- constitution i bettT than mine, i .con a nor ivt' ! : in o u s on those biscuit. It aou M ill eat well done light bread or eV en corn bread,' xoi can get well, have been told,"1 was., the "So I answer, "but I believe I had rather die at once than to do it." Xot wishing to lose such a friend I tallied very fully on the subject with- him, and Avhen, a year later I niet him, he Avas in good health, as he be lieved, solely, because he had given weight to my suggestion. I am inclined to think that Avith in teu years, as many persons have died prematurely in this State from bad cookery as Avere slam hrthe AAnr. Dyspepsia is robbed af much of the credit of its operations. A certain individual, more remark able for the length of his htms and tail than for his friendship for hu manity, is said always to cjatch the hindmost. His agents act on this principle. Diseases are coAvardly things and aAoid attacking robust or vigorous constitutions, lint Avhen they find a poor devil enfeebled by dyspepsia, acting on the irinciple then is that when a man is:doAyn, the time to gouge hirn, they pounce upon the disabled and soon finish him. It t pens that cholera, consum creature ins hap- tion or llie cre- their co-laborers, carry off; dit that is due to indigesteAi. Just as Fallstaff appropriated tllie glory of killing Henry Percy. The question may be asked Avhy should the people of the United States, and especially in the South, in this respect, differ fi'om the ... j other civilized nations of the earth, and even those of former ages ? The Scripture tells us tbat Jesus Christ broke-;' bread, but ;much of Avhat is called bread in orr day is little less difficult to break than the molasses candy made, and pulled by young people.- A reason occurs to me Avhy this praeticej prcwails AVith us, AvbiifhT have never heard suggested. One avIio ljerfds the books of Sir Samuel Baker and other African explorers, will learn that the negroes are as fond of fat and grease as are t le Esqui- meaux Indians. They also eat and are capable of digesting raAV Aeget- ables, and have capacities in these respects much superior to those of the Caucasian. They have chiefly been the cooks of our coiintiw, and every cook, unless otherwise in structed, will prepare food to suit his OAvn palate. Early used to hear negroes say in life I that theA did not consider lean haih as meat, and they greatly preferred the j fat sides of the bacon. Their system disheartened about your of cookeiy seems to haA'e prevailed to -so greiit an extent, that the white race with its different phy sical constitution is now suffering seriously. As this practice results from ignorance entirely, avIia should it not be changed ? It is idle to say that ' the tastes of our )eopIe are essojitialjy different from those of the j kindred nations of "Europe. That; ' children-prefer hot bread half baked is due to early teach ing. Xo child likes the taste of tobacco, but by long practice they may be rendered fond of it. As children are ready to put anything into their stomachs, 'Providence kindly has given them the digesr tive powers of the ostrich, but after their minds have had time to expand and acquire knoAvledge, he leaA'es them to take care of them selves in this. respect. If a mother Avere convinced that by giving her children hot, greasy bread, she at the same time Avould render their, constitutions feeble and cause them to die early, Avould she persist in' such a practice ? IIoav, then, are these evils to be corrected ? As they arc due partly to laziness, but chiefly to ignor ance, the minds of the people must be enlightened. It is not sufficient that an article should occasionally appear in a neAVspaper, or an. essay be read tjo a small assemblage of people. clergyman thinks he has done his duty Avhen he has dehvered one sennon in a count A'. Earnest and continued efforts ,are necessary to enlighten: the public mind. Some time sineO I told the members of the Legislature that if tliev ' would send two suitable men over the State to combat laziness and ignorance! in farming and cookery, they might confer more real b-ciiefit on the State than all their legislation for the last ten years had done. But the men sent out must be popular - speakers ; such persons as are usually selected to canvass for the Governorship or for Congress. Let these men announce that theA will, on Tues day of each Court, sIioav the peo pleliow to pay their taxes easily, and; live comfortably. When the day comes, if the Judge will not yield one of them the Court House for tAvo hours, he will have' a box placed under a tree to stand on, and he will address the croAvd earnestly, like a man who Avants an office very much. After in forming them that God Almighty created Adam because he saAV that there Ayaj; no man to till the ground, he will discuss farming and cook ery. Ot the five hundred present,
State Agricultural Journal (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 10, 1875, edition 1
3
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