Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-11-25
DOMESTIC.
AN EssAY-Br 7. J. R4sDolYn, Esa,,

/ Atffttftu WV t"I u Do'N'
al their annual Far on he 29M IF October, lol2.
The importance Of Agriculture TO all The substantial
interests Of mankind, has justly placed II, among th
most usuful avocations and necessary arts, Tor The wei
being and prosperity Of nations. No people have pre-
served a permanent power, and wealth, whose s2ri
culture has not advanced aud r%rospered wi'ii 'ha
power. The republics of Venice aud Genoa nfa strik
ing examples OF an epliemeral greatness, derived iron
commerce alone, not united with agriculture manu-
features and the mechanic arts, declining more "a
pidly Than il arose. A few miserable huts Of ~beggarlJ
Arabs, scattered amidst the ruins Of magnificent tenn
Piles and porticoes, mark the site Of the ancient Pad
mnr or Palmyra; whose power derived from commerce
enabled il to contend for the empire of the Eat, will
imperial Rome; and whose friendship for two centuries
was courted with emulation and sollcitude, by the Ro
mans, and their rivals for dominion, the Parthians. i
is apric ulture that clothes the earth with its ,c1urian
harvests, lis verdant fields Of heritage, IT'S Hocks ene
herds, furnishing the food OF man, aud the comfort.
ana luxnries Of life. Its raw material in the hands o
the manufactures and merchant, produces and supplies
The blanket that clothes the Indian of the prairie, ant
The gossaner fabric that adorns the belle Of the saloon
without claiming for 1t precedence, it deservedly stands
pre-. eminent for its usefulness, among oil the arts and
professions, which the wants, enjoyments, or eleganclei
Of society, have called into being.
The life OF the farmer, it is true, 10 one oftoll, and ex'
posure, but it is the toll Of the open air, and the expo
sure, of salubrious employment: how does his rudy
cheek aud vigorous health contrast with the ills OF Sc
dentary occupations, and pallid hue and ilaccd fibre
" ilibS WhOoG A"S 49,
or office d%rudgery. His children may be coarsely
clad, but breathing the pure air of the country es
empt from immoral contact, enjoying The full de
velopment Of The physical and moral man; he need
not envy the better dressed youth OF the city, inhaling
its confined air and noisome vaponrs, subject to its
temptations to indulgence, and its associations with vice.
Many years since at Lowell, Mass being in conversation
with q gentleman who had reared himself to distinction
and great wealth in his line by 4 course of successful
industry and enterprise, the men OF Boston who had
been distinguished by success and eminence in various
callngs became Q subject. He remarked that a lew
days before he had been in company with several indi-
viduals, long residents of Boston; that this had been a
subject Of their conversation, and that they had been
surprised to discover, that with scarcely an exception,
every man remarkable for his success in any branch
OF business or profession, had been reared in the coun.
try, settling in Boston after his moral principles and
habits had been formed.
The farmer beyond all others enjoys the cheering
Consciousness Of independen nee he is not dependent
upon others for his success: no mans prosperity les
sens his comforts or enjoyments. In common with his
class he is affected by the rise, or fall OF the markets,
but there is nothing in his vocation which makes him
fear individual rivalry, or that his family may be deprived
of their bread by successful competition; lie is obliged
to no one for the purchase Of his products. The law.
yer, the merchant, and the mechanic, have their rivals,
superior talents may win oil, the clients OF the one, So
perior address or skill may lure away the customers of
the other, they often experience a CALLING dependence
upon public favor. Yet how often 10 we hear our
Itl VI kG f'hSu - $500
business. With a capital Of ID or 10000 dollars vested
in land, labor and stock, which in the best funds would
not yield more than $1,000 per annum, a farmer residing
on lis farm, supplies for a numerous family house
rent, fuel, servants, horses Tor pleasure, all the com
forts of lie, with many Of lis Injuries, in an abund.
ance that invites his friends TO share his hospitality,
and 10 an amount that 10 be purchased with money,
could not be had for 81 500; in fact furnishing them
every thing in kind necessary for their comfort, but
groceries and finer clothing. Yet this individual hav'
ing derived from his investment, more uian SIX per
cent. in his living, complains that he does not derive
an additional six per cent. in money. II he would
place bimself upon the world, with an income of 1900
per cnnuun, 10 rent his house, hire lis servants, buy
his fuel and supply his family with all that they re.
enired for their consumption; diminished comforts ana
s,in,cd supplies, would soon teach nun 10 appreciate
the value Of farm.
If farmer has education and o taste for intellectual
endowment, what a wide field has he in the contempla
ton of Nature: In the study of plants, OF animals, the
properties OF soils and manures; The whole science OF
agricultural chemistry, so little unde stood. With all
these advantages, how proyerbialy Ignorant have
apriculturisls been how slow has been the progress
Of their art, and with what bEnd and ~bigotied oosti.
macy have they persevared III their old praciices.-
In lie early ages an individual who was more success
full Than his neighborsin his culture, II ne escaped inc
punishment Of Il wizard, was suspected OF dealing IN the
black art or holding converse with The ey.l spirit. PIiny
me ntions q freed man, who having much larger crops
than his n%eighbors, was accused oil witchcralt, ana
brought to trial. lie produced IN the forum q stout
daughter, and his exceilenily constructed spades,
shears. and other tools, with his oxen, and said, "These,
Romans. are my charms lie was acquitted. Exos-
cisms 10 make fields fertile, and produce abundant har.
vests by nonsensicai phrases and ceremonies, were used
bv the Anglo .Soxons and Cato The Censor has trans
United TO US 4 ridiculous receipt for the same thing
The implements and practices OF agriculture have, IN
many countries, been stationary, from the earliest re-
cords Of history. Modern travellers describe it in
SYRIA now, as it S existed among The Jews, long anterior
TO the Christian era. The ancient Roman plough 10
now used in parts OF Italy with little or no Improvement.
The Romans sbonnd.d in useful implements OF bus.
bandry, as cultivators, harrows, rnkes, hoes, axes
resp hooks, hand aud horse machines, for %threshlng
Grain. A reapin. machine is mentioned by fhny. ana
described by P~alladius, as used on The PLAINS OF Iaai.
Orr Aurlo Saxon ancestors, whose husbandfy had been
almost created By the Roman conquest, used rakes,
sickles, scythes, ana mans, very hiuch ihe e'o=e "e
now in England.
uolland in 1910. It's use was publicly denounced from
the pulpit as inpious. Sir Walter Scott in ha novel
Of Old Mortality has DANGEROUSLY ana graPh'caay oe.
scriLed the objections to it, in the complaint OF Manse
Eleadrigg to her lady Of Tiiietudlrm, "iour Leddy..
q sL;n and the Steward (says M1nse) has been pleased
q 10 propose, that my son Cutidie sud work IN tne
6 barn wi a newfangled machine for lighting The
q corn fIse the chat, thus iinpioasly ihwariing the
q will O! Divine Providence, by raising wind Tor yonr
q Leddy ships ain particular use BY human art, instead
q of soliciting 1t by prayer or waiting patiently ioT
g whatey yer dlspensation of wind Pfov,denee "as pleas
q ed TO send OIL. the sheeling mill. (ChaP. ~
Herodotus, who wrote 400 years before the Christian
ora. tells us that wheat and barley, common articles OF
food in other countries, we're considered mean and dis
graceful in Egypt. Beans were not grown. The N
sab;,an,s would not eat them, and their priests would
moi even look at them. Wheat, rye, oats, barley, m'llet,
Indian corn, clover and %lucerne, were cultivated BY the
Romans. The vegetables used by them seem 70 nave
been nearly such as are cultivated now, except the po-
,atoe and a few others. OF fruits the pine apple, goose
berry and orange do not appear to have been known to
them. Pliny The Younger, in a letter 10 his friend
Sep,imus Clerus mentions as delIcacles OF a supper ne
had prepared for him a lettuce . piece, lasee s Sman,
two eggs, q barley cake, olives, gcurd, shaiots. Snans
was q co nmon d sh at q Roman table. Plny the Elder
mentions one Falvius Hirp'nns. who had carried The
.rl Of rearing them to such perfection, that the shells
Of some Of his snniIs would contain ten q qua IS RI; IN
,s ~ in The last cen,ury.-(Addison Tsav. a64
rImSnsss a nnlo- Saxona cultivated Mheat and barley