Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1852-12-02

resoried 10 the cultivation Of the soil found
sod which never had been broken ,eaming
with llthose fertiizing elements go necessa-
ry for the growth and support Of plants. The
furrow had only to be opened, the seed
sown, and nature almost did The rest. There
were then no worn and exhausted lands
The soil was in its primitive and virgin state.
| Natures exhuberance, by simple art, sup
piled the wants of a young nation. There
was no necessity for science to lend her aid,
and Agriculture received not that attention
which its importance deserved. But since
we have become mighty and powerful
people, with our limits stretching from ocean
10 ocean, what great change has come over
the face of things. Iempora mutantur nos
! et mutamur, in, Ills. The old ystems,
which through generations have come down
from father TO son, are found not TO sui! the
times. Tired nature, groaning SO long un-
der the weight of an exhausting tillsge, at
last cries out for help. Old lands, impov-
erished, can no longer supply the wants OF
country growing as rapidly as ours, and
feed, too, a, times, millions starving abroad.
! Necessity stimulates 10 energetic action ::
Hence, one great cause Of our agricultural
hence, too, the reason why science has been
so busy in lifting that mysterious veil which
heretofore has concealed the wonderful
workings Of nature. We have al last become
sensible Of our true interest. The calling
of the Farmer is no longer looked upon as
one of unnstructed toll, and degrading in
its character. 1t is dgnlfed now as sci
ence, aud ranks among the most honorable
and noble pursuits of man.
From having considered then Agriculture
! so long as mere art, simple IN It's opera
tions; from not having been forced By any
pressing necessity TO improve it; from not
having known, and no, caring to know the
constituent elements Of the soil we ill, the
properties of the manures we use. and the
injurious or beneficial tendency Of The diffe-
rent rotations of crops; these, conceive,
together with what has already been stated,
are some Of the causes why the condition
Of our Agriculture has been so much de-
pressed. But as the march Of improvement
has already commenced; as a new era has
idannad- Epoa us as -sc!ence has zone deep
into the earth, and shown US so many hid
| den treasures, 1t becomes now the duty OF
Farmers, as great class, having under their
control The country's greatest interest, to
embrace every opportunity to improve their
condllion-io call 10 their aid the wisdom
and experience of those who have proved
themselves bene(actors Of mankind, and TO
stop not in their exerIions until the capsbi-
lilIes Of The soil are developed 10 their full
! est extent.
| When we look out upon our own below
! ed State, favored as she is so much in geo.
graphical position, in soil, and in climate,
and see the many fields which once waved
with golden grain and bloomed with luxu-
rant clover, now grown up in sedge grass
or turned out as commons; when we see,
too, homes with all their sweet associations.
! deserted by many who could no longer live
upon the scanty products of worn -out land,
! The question naturally arises how are we TO
bring back those barren fields TO their ori-
ginal fertility, and how stop this migration
and keep our people a, home con,ented and
happy. This is question certainly Of no
lule importance, aud one which deserves
our serious consideration.
And first, | conceive it 10 be our great
! duty to study more TO know ourselves and
to understand our deficiencies. We must
! husband more our resources, economise our
means, and check that eager spirit which Is
coustanny urging us on to clutch al more
than we can grasp. "Gnothi sesulon,' was
wise saying among the Greeks. 1t has
los, nothing Of lis wisdom among Anglo
Americans, and will continue to be wise
/ saving through ell time while man remains
constituted as he is. Pope beautifully ex-
pressed the same idea when he said
"The proper study of mankind is man.
So many indeed are the frailties and imper-
Gecions of his nature, and SO great are the
temptations which besei him in his pilgrim
age here, that self culture seems to be his
chief want and destiny. "What are all the
inventions Of human genius, or the treasures
of agricultural wealth if we have not skill
| to employ The one for The production of the
other: Earth is the fulcrum, and know
ledge the lever, by which the rich ores
of Agriculture are 10 be titled from their
dark beds"
| He who succeeds 10 an estate, as many
do now, exhausted and impoverished by
injudicious tIlage, should first ascertain The
defects of that system which has induced
this state Of things, so as in future to avoid
the same errors which have proved so ruin
Gus. To do this successfully, his mind
should be trained, and made acquainted with
all the branches of that pursuit upon which
he is about to enter. 1t is idle TO tell me
that Farmers, for full success in their ope-
rations, require no knowledge but tha, de-
rived from personal observation that an
ounce Of unlettered experience is worth a
ton Of book teachings. This will do very
well for those who are contenled 10 stand
still in this age ofprogress. Tue prevalence