Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1841-07-03
TO THE PLANTERS, MECHANICS
AND CITIZENS GENERALLY
OLE LOUISIANA.

The undersigned have been appointed by
The Agricultural Association Of the state
of Louisiana, to address you briefly on the I'M
lurtance of this institution TO tho interests Of
The State.
The subject. ms all will readily concede, is
one which opens n wide field for reflection,
and which cannot receive adequate justice III
the haaty sketch, TO which, by present circum-
stances, the undersigned are limited, But the
intelligence Of those addressed, we feel MS
sured, will fill up with appropriate suggestions
the outlines here drawn the truths involved
arc neither intricate nor deeply buried in mys-
terry, and the attention of n thinking commit
nifty once directed towards them, 10 Il sufficient
warrant that they will encounter a thorough
investigation.
We should but weary your patience and re-
peat to YOU that with which you arc already
familiar, were we to dwell here upon the ar
dor which tho great nations Of Europe, and
many OF the elder sisters of the Union, have
long manifested in associations of this nature.
It is sufficient to call to your recolloctions the
fact that such institutions are honored and
supported throughout the civilized world, be-
cause they crown with honor those who sup
| UpII HtiH llsdtlltdih titilIt dilu dN'l " lHC DlGNS-
ings whlah nature has every where spread be-
fore man. England, France and Germany,
are little if at all more indebted 10 the natu-
raj industry and invention of their people, for
their present bold rank upon the scroll of ma.
tons, than to the stimuli with which the heads
of those governments have managed to renew
perpctually their tagging energies and multi
ply the resources of genius. Competition and
rivalry have been there cultivated as cardinal
virtues in society and rewards and honors,
distributed by Just and discriminating hands,
| have called forth from every branch of science
and .rt, names that are revered and beloved
wherever they are spoken. Those men have
been found as well among the humble direc-
tors of mechanical and rural pursuits, MS
among tho directors of institutions of learning
and affairs Of state.
BY opening to every branch Of industry and
invention, a tribunal at which the value of
every product may be fully and justly tried,
and its producer rewarded according to his
merits, a spirit of competition that never SUM
bers, has gone forth; the intelligence of all
classes has been taught the full value of la
Dor have discovered the most convenient
and profitable sources, inlets and outlets of
trade have discovered and are continually
discovering new objects of commerce either
for foreign or domestic markets have learn
ed the protective character of such ~institu-
tons and the science of an equitable inter-
change of commodities and where, and when,
and through what means that interchange may
be most proftably made.
The object of the Agricultural Association
of Louisiana, might be summed up in one
short sentence, viz: 10 improve the mind, and
increase the number and ralue Of The products
Of the State.
The staples of the State are now two-su-
gar and cotton. 1t is undoubtedly the inter-
est of the State, and such is the object of the
Association, to awaken a spirit of competition,
by the proffer of medals, tokens of merit, GER
~tlficates of distinction, etc. among the ~cultiva-
tors of these articles, which will tend to i'm
prove, and d~evelope the means of improving,
both. Nor is this the only advantage the
sugar or cotton planter may expect from this
Association. By attending its annual meet
lngs, he will learn in conversation and from
reports made to the society, the most effectual
means of securing to himself a safe and ready
market for his crop, and of protecting his in
terests against those silent yet powerful
oxyds in trade-conmissions, factorage, lists,
&c. The planters of Louisiana have talked
much and long upon evils to which they have,
or supposed themselves to have been subject,
and of the necessity of uniting, heart and hand,
to sustain and protect each other. The op-
portunity is here offered, attended with many
other extraordinary advantages o>form and
seal that union. Let this occasion be prompt
" and warmly espoused.
Again. The staples of our State are but
tco !; while the nature of her soil, the genius
of her people, the wonderful advantages of
her location, the uncertainty of human events,
all warn us that the number may and ought
to be increased. 1t is one purpose of this So
ciety, by stimulating its members to investi-
CATION and judicious experiments, to ascertain
what objects may be proftably introduced into
the agricultural community of the State, and
to foster and encourage the cultivation of those
products by every laudabIe means. Suppose
the mouth of the Mississippi suddenly blocked
up by a foreign power, and your cotton and
your sugar, for five years to come, should find
only an internal market ; what, at the ter1ni-
natienof that period, would be the condition
Of the noR most wealthy planters Of Louisiana!