. ' - -; -, : --;.-;- - s , ' - v . -v? K-u;v- ". N ''W; H :'- 'kx ! U ..vy '. ' i
AN ADDRESS
Vfldgh7cmler 1882, 6n K. h. Hme, of JbAn.
sfan C(wn.; ' V . r- . ; .. . . . , ,
xr PrMiJen and Gentlemen of the Society, ' '.
.Ur. Fresiaeni, a willingly- comply with your request in
u;vern: to you an Address on ' Agriculture, and only regret
lyinlbiHty to do that justice to the subject, which its impor-
rSer was a time calculated (or agriculturarpur
?, tTmproinents iiutlie Hrt,'it is .the present. Peace
f'1? ie battle's claneror nor the cannon's
pervaaeH uui - J i,,,.. m, swords arc beat to
" ilisturDS not -our. muuiuno y - - , . r
....i our cnMis to nruninc hooks.??. We live
roar
our own
and en-
n Vt pT M ttl pf
r thp fin ts Of OUr laOOUr. UOVn nmcH ur-
iLr :r iufe ;,r us Mi-.yr . kee to,
rnHvd onlers ; nor pay tiles lor ti.e snppori ;oi a
vhcae tlieologital tenets are discordant w.t . our
pnesthoou s w ere a1 thc.lieccssarleS) all the
0 J onil maiiv of the superfluities of life can be produced
Cntrdan" " It only becomes necessary that We should im
'"t " b'lessfnss ?fc Wy,-l.icb an all-wise and mun.C
?pn? Providence has bestowed upon us.
Man cannot live without labour.; it is the source of all
ueahh. Agriculture is the mother and support of all the
and it is by the due application of laboor to agl-.culture,
S. .A.im exist and kingdoms are supported.
B i s Muen edjoii the moral faculty it has tamed our.
naTuVes, and made man a civilized being. It is not
3.e mother of all the arts, but it is he grand pillar upon
all the sciences rest.. It has prompted and expanded
tte hum"n U'tellectin its researches, after truth and knovv
ed4" It has developed nature's arcana, and caused man to
lel'ifve in, and to adinire in astonishmt at the power and
Sibiein its purposes, so beneficial in its in
fluences, has been too olUn.rded as a von only caU
l-a r' nml the iernorant. Its histnry is coevu
"egleet. IVue, in .tracing
Ky now and ll,cn nd mcn-f "h ' S
botl St and modern times, affording to .t their aid and
. : - : i
ennnnru . . ii A
" .1 k T7o.vninns w ho cave Dirin W uie
lne Assyrians uu,'1' -"tjr - -
Improvement, ahd a nursery tor the growth of paupers.
Her
1 1 bU I i
oi,oT,cho.r.a.iilinnftis-rtf Mr. Coke do its prosperity
This gentleman, however, deserves the i-espect and esteem oj
every farmer of this country and of Europe, for his spirit and
enterprize in attempts to improve the art, and for the many
valuable lights he has thrown upon the subject. .
But we need not travel from home for testimony to prove
fhat agriculture is neglected and abused ; the great majority
6f the farmers of North-Carolina bow to jts truth. V . .
I In nnintine- out some of the causes, which have retarded its
(progress here, ahd in all the Southern States,, there is one
i xvhinh lito thp irV snots u oon the sun's disk; appears more
dark from the light which surrounds it, and which will for &
long time keep us behind our brethren of the north in agri
cultural improvement I mean the slaves oi ine coumrv.
it is an evil we all regi-et, but cannot remedy. Agriculture
will always flourish most successfully, and improvements will
go on more rapidly in a country -where the manual labour is
the work of freemen, than" where it is done by slaves. ,
Civilization and freedom are as necessary to the prospen-
, L -P 4.1. A n In lira linOQ fliA ic in niir YiKtence.
ruinous m pthod of our husbandry. We skim over
hut little in return for oui labour
o-liind consist of from fifty to-two 1
lind fiftv Tacres. a'soil naturally rocky and barren, a climate system of
pubHc-e&iteme
is against it. In mv humble opimoh,Mf those wha havhaa - ;.
the superintendence of the improvement of ourj rivers hadfbe- .x
unyat their mouths and worked agairfst the sreara tneyr : a ; ,
wuld haVe brought m
ses or the people. Instead of seeing the tefmbefs thb tojgu , ft;
Iflturei for fear of. loosinc their seats, Voting against a mea-
sure of such vital fmportahceto fall clasNaoT ,themmftni,M:
sensible to the smartU liook at iNew-rorK,;sne nas urpuu, -
thiP iniTAs tnthps ffnean. ana l ie mouuiauia uj uio oc ,3
she
cultu
rulers
Tri nP-piniTture. as n all other arts, he ;who wishes to bd
I skilled in its mysteries, must first become acquainted with its;-
rudiments. In the bold ana rapitt marcnes ,v mui nuuraiu ,
knowledge has made in the last century, it lias travelled over
tli nntnral historv of the earth, and left but few hflpressidn. v
; of its foot-steps; : The science of geology w yet in its Unfa'ri- MiTi
I
far less congenial to the crowth of plants than ours, yet that
persevering and hardy race of yeomanry, whose eyes never
wink and whose hands never tire in pursuit of that which
they believe to be their interest, have brought agriculture to
a high ate of improvement, far outstripping as in the beau
ty, as well as in the profitable part of the business-i-they farm
but little,'but that little they farmell. "
The low estimation in which agriculture iias:iiercunuio
the universe was not the work of a day V; ,ages ha vd , r
rolled away front the ghinmering ot Udpernicusi ipie iini ,
minations orNewton. ; i.fy': '-a'-;.''ii ,;t t,i : . .".'
Acreeably to the present opinion of Geologists, the planer
many masses m . wnyi
ni'iwi
wKifli vvf inlmhit. was
they have given the names of silicious, aliiiiiinoucalcari.iisj-
and magnesian ; that irl the revolutions ot time, those rocKs navo4 4
i been broken down by attrition and decay, and' trnxlng , with ii
dead animal and vegetahie mHiter, nave consuuiiuu .uic ,yi t-
SOU Willi. II uunina uiv ""--
oAiitnfipa ami. thev earned
mat of their faces, and sacrificed the fint iruits of their la
bour to the God of the Seasons. ' . ; f wni.
The Grecian and Koman writers uiou iu a n-ujv
2: ory oi me an. ; vinummiun .
and the diadem ;Virfiil louno. bot iu .. .., -
the lofty power of his muse, a.id such was the rrwpect for the
art anion? the Romans, that at the conquest of Carthage,
.-rim the. libraries of that city! were scattered oyer Africa, he
oily work that arrested jthe hand of destruction were the
writings of Mago on Agriculture.;- . ,
But when that swarm of. barbarians pouwrd forth from the
northern hive, as it'has bien aptly called, and -.became con
querors of conquerors, in the mighty struggle which over
turned the Roman empire, the arts and the knowledge of cn
i....i kati. ;ts coins : civilization cowered
beneath the potent arm of savage superiority i intellectual
light wa enveloped in the dense clouds of ignorance and su
perstitionand no attempt was made for the revival of the
Trtsand sciences generally, until nearly! eight centuries of
this night of gloom and ignorance had elapsed,, and theiv ot
bo little consequence was the art ot agricuiiuro c.cu, u,.b
feudal policy and feudal tyranny consigned it to vassals and
oi. polypi
licentious
A Prirultli
-which the religion of the times cast around the moral faculty,
1 ;x -t.i:A hot- tli snmrhum bonum oi all
luuuceu .iis votaries iu uchcic mc i ,
earthly happiness was centered in their altars and f heir arms,
and that to cultivate the arts; or to expand theliuman intel
lect, by liehts drawn from science; was beneath the 'dignity
of the mighty chieftain whose fame floated upon the blood he
had spilt to acquire it. ' - . u a
Although in.the modern marcjirof civilization, the arts and
the sciences generally have arrived at a height creditable to
tV human mind, yet it is a lamentable fact, that the art of
iculture lingers' in thenar 'of ail the rest, ok over
Barope, where much has been done, and you will find much
more left undone. Italv, Switzerland, and French Flaridei-s,
are the only highly cultivated countries. In: Europe., France
has improved greatly in her agriculture since the days of Arr
thur Young. She owes it to tlic political wisdom -Napoleon;
Her present imbecile monarch sits like the night-mare
upon her energies, -r orced4pon -ine pcu,HC
consent,.they view him as a titled tool; fit for other s uses.
r,f T?.n J the head and front ot the flo-
jllllll1 wifvi ; , . . . - m
ly Alliance," from: his thi-one, crimsoned with the blood oi a
murdered father, lobks with an eye of lmlitterence over nis
vast empire, upon the misery, the brutal and worse than sa
age barbarity bestowedupon the labouring part of Jiissub
cts, the very bone and sinew of agriculture, by .the nobility.
Here the distinction between great and jsmall, between noble
ami
am'
icnnhlft. nrcsses with all the weight ot ancieni leuuaiism,
I nakiim thp. haml 'iif industnr. fX ' !T' : v:
In England? althbUghi4 the politicardistinction of . Barqn
atid vnal ic mprotl ln the; softer. appellation ;oi lanuiora
and tenant, yet her laws of descent, giving to a .few the-whole
real estate of theldnsdomoperates as a bar to agricultural
The low estimation in which agriculture lias nereioioro j j ueaa animal ana vegeiau-ie.uKuwi m v. u.. . . a 11
been held in this country, has militated much against its en-1! ous soUs which are spread upon theVsuif l tt
bouramcnt and implement ; it has been confined to those sandy, clayey, calcarious and magnesian. .Sdicious ; rock iJ. a. -h
chieflf who wei-e ignorant of its. first principles, although! theasisorsaud, flint and gravel raiuminou
some individuals of scientific acquirements -.are engaged inj ous of lime, stone and chalk, riveand m
Wlmt fC call farming, yet in. nine case in ten it is with 'ter marble and bones and the fourth is tha (
& alecondary object; their attention is taken up Jtli ' tlie shops of the apothecary by th
soue more lucrative and fascinating. pursuitUha.i the dull 8ia. In their primitive or,pui-e state, hese if
and monotonous labour of tillage. Every parent who can ; tie or, no nourishment to p ants : -tivcTo
hK sor an education above that of mediocrity, sees ; tile when decomposed and inid in; duep
with eyes of parental partiality in this son, the germ of a r another, and with dead anima
Wman, and he would think it a culpable neglect of his highly necessary that the Agritiirist shou d be sftciently :, , - :,
dutv a derogation of his fatherly discernment, and a blight- acquainted with chemistry, to he abl6 to analyzethd different
in- frost to1 the budding genius of his son, were he to mae ; soils he intends! to cultivate, an i with botany, toikuow what ; ; ; ;
Lathing less of him aii a lawyer or adoc
PT and rinrtars that are caueamnv icw.wrcuwwt, uue. inioriuauoit .uuou mcsc iav-w ;.iv., "rr; .-T i; - 1 r
ure of his crops to" a cause - aiainemcaiiy.opposuerw;wio, wro ;, ui
one. The study of the natural history of plants; as connected j j j!
are with nrjir-tiral atri lculture, is highly important to the scienti i -M
. O- . 'i- .- -v - f-- 4 : v....:. . T
If
llittle doe the blind and fond parent think . that in placing his
: ..K.w .,nt,rm novpp iiitonflPfl him 10 OCCUPY, UC IS
SOU III el njJUCl C namiv lw-
him misery and disgrace ; how many
there this day of thirty, forty and fifty years of age, who re
pent in bitter agony this misapplication of talents ; as far
mers, as mechanics, they might have been respected and ho
noured in their stations, but having spent their youths in
the pursuit of an object beyond tfieir capacity, to reachhey
are at this day unfitted for the one or the other, displeased
with themselves and envying those who outstrip them m their
professions, they will go down to the grave unwept, un ...
LnoM ii.iin?." The minds of men are not all cast
in the same mould, nor fitted to follow in life's devious path
the same pursuit, j
For not alike to every mortal eyfc . ' :
Is this great scene tinveil'd. For since the claims
Of social life, to different labours urge- . " t
The active powers of man ; with -wise intent
The hand of nature on peculiarminds
Imprints a different bias,; and to each
Decrees its province in,tbe common toil. ; ;
' , To some she taught the fabric of the sphere - ,v J
The changeful moon ; the circuit of the stars ' ,
' ' The golden zones bf heaven to some she gave
To weigh the moment of eternal things, : , - ...
Of time, of space, and fate's unbroken chain,
v Anji will's quick impulse. Others by the hand
She led o'er vales and mountains, to explore r
What healing virtue swells the tender veins ;
' Of herbs, and flowers, or what the beams of morn .-.-
' Draw forth." " ' '' 1 ' - ' . .
"" To place agriculture upon that high and honorahle ground,
which it ought to sustain, and to make , the knowledge of it
worthy the ambition and the pride of the youths of our state,
there ought tobe established a Professorship of Agriculture
in our University. It l am not: misinwrmed; the , pecuniary
fiitnatimi nf that institution is amply sunicient for the pur-
pose, and if it is not, I certainly believe that the present iLe
gislature emphatically .styled the collected j visdom of, the
- nAnnacantinff ' With lllAPtJ. Ihft fl-rirultural interest of
the conrmunity, would give their undivided support to .-a mea
sure, as t humbly conceive, wise in its project, and beneficial
in it ends. - The Ae-riculturai; Society of Albemarle, sn Vir-
cinia, have prppiised such a measure to, the citizens of that
state, and MrMadisoit has undertaken to see it carried into;
effect. With such a noble example betorc us, we ougnu noi iu
hesitate. ': ,' - i.-ii - : j - ' '- '
" Were the funds, of this Society sufficienf, I -would recom
mend the apK)ihtment bf a skilful and scientific agriculturist,
assisted by Professor Olmsted, of our.IJniversity, as a geolo
gist, to make an agriculturlal and geological tour of ,U:e state f
it would twid muclf to-thev nrorabtion of tourart, ; ancl have a
happy influence in harmonising the jarring intertaich now
divide its western and eastern sections. As connected vvitli
th e ad v a nee ni en t jof r agri b'u 1 tiii ie fHvott d iroadpt and j n a v 1 gab e
streams, are of primary importance but to carry this bbT
ject into effect depends upon : tliose
of the state. Upon the inteWal imjirovein
liiUWU iiioiiey iraa-uccu A5vuuu m,vi
fin i.iiQharnimnn: Vo??fttah fis. in their Orsraiiizauoii resera-
ble, in a great many respects, the animal ecbnonliy', and servo'
as a connecting link inithe great chain of creation.? Linujeus
44 compares" the roots ot plants to ine ausyruing liicicai yi
sets in aninfals : theyiave excretriul;
arteries, vt'ins. elands and lymiihaticks : their leaves are said ,
! to be their pulimi nary-organs 01 i-epirauun. whwjii,; uh,:.:
Duhamel, Van Helmont, Uoyic, liunter, anq,a nosi. 01 omers,
have formed various and conflicting hpinioiis upon what con
stitutes the food of plants? - but it requires not the aid of spe
culative theorists to infprni us;rthat lights heat, air,- earth and
water are absolutely necessary to the growth of vegetables iW
a healtliy stateand ai'aauxU
to those elements in their influehciin
tion, is manure lr MaVuie (vriou kihd and ho-faiv
mer can expect to pursue uis art
applies theni to the soil Tpen the different
kincls of manure would be tedious
they embrace thtflatuma
Wrjters upon thH subject aie ;yolu mi hou.s! alidA xitli i.n '.ther.;.
reach of us alK I would refer the I philosopliic agrirultMt bt to
Davy's AgncurtUrat Chemistry, ,a w?h;k 01 -ueep scienunc re
1-..'
', i .
1 1 1
,1
search, ana pi .:mncn -..uieo.reviMH r yvy:tf'W' ",rtl?v,,v -
The , modern discbyeries Tit clieniislry haVeishojwn its jntimatpV.A;.'5, JJ
connection with Agriculture
the arrangenjent pf mattercnected: ; with .the growth and ',7'
tiQurishmentipf plants, tlje comparative j'i :j
as fiod, the constitute IM
are ehHche by manUio ihe-diffe'mi'V- .j pj
pHcesses'ofcurtir l v
AVoll flnilQ ianilv flPrtainfed: ' H&'ftJ- -: . .' 5 f -i
1 . 1 r
It becomes Necessary for farthers in1 their endeavors' to im
prove "the husband ry of tthState, mer ; ;:
ifibd of 8hUllbW'pfouMiinff1iR jtakiiiff from' X
the land, -for a succession qf years,- a'crop; of .tlic saine kind V . !
to tins iniuicibuV 0hod
;
.1
1 1
cblbkinf;thefr PP,U? M)?' ucep f
and hoHzohtal ploughing a Ju
a ilDCrai application, oi maimre,
former i ftrtilitft farmiii
iilv calculated to answer the pt
tended f like tlie mechanicthermc
tirt tltoit t erood tool &tif -ftv: ::e ?i 5 irtijh .''-v-.i'
JXTliere; is nooetteK evidence in tate x -, i
its igricultureth aii the aprance ojdquietic aiiimUli To ?
jbbfNbrth-
suit ;wouia not oe roucu.in lis iavor ; xxary iauu i juh jch ug-
i
fast herirmefcVupi'
, irs and Cattle !
I
iV11'
' V