Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1852-02-21
AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION.


my purpose, tonight, as many of you may per-
haps suppose, to speak of practical agriculture.
lappear before you in obedience to the call of
your Executive committee to discourse of other
themes; and shall be most happy if with the
briefperiod allowed me for preparation, [ shall
be able to discharge the duty assigned me, in a
manner at all acceptable to myself, or in the
least degree worthy of this large and enlight-
ened audience.
The occasion, which brings us together, is one
ofdeep interest to the entire commonwealth. AT
teryears ofvain and fruitess effort, and mortify-
ing disappointment, the friends of agriculture are
again assembled, | trust under better auspices,
with the hope of establishing on permanent
basis, State Agricultural Society, which shall
endure for all time, and dispense its blessings
to generations yet unborn The signal fail
ure of all former efforts, to arouse the attention
of Virginia, to the importance of this great OBJ
ject, would deter me from attempting the diff
cult task, if we were not now surrounded by
circumstances that cheer us with new hopes,
animate us with fresh zeal, and give us, indeed,
an assured confidence, Of the ultimate success
of this noble enterprise.
The great civil revolution through which we
have just passed, has, trust, obterated forever,
all traces of the former differences between the
various sections of the commonwealth. The
strife is ended; and whatever may have been our
feelings or convictions of right and duty, we of
| the East no longer brood over our griefs but
are resolved, that all our ealousies and heart
| burnings shall be forever buried. Now, no
| Tweed divides kindred people. The noun
tain barriers are broken down, and with them,
the conflicting interests that seemed to sever a
people, always in heart united. Amidst the
greatest excitement, in the very tumults of pas
sion, the hearts of our people have always been
| right. AT no moment has that generous affec-
ton which binds brother to brother, ceased to
burn in their bosoms. Let the safety, inter-
ests or honor of Virginia, be menaced from any
quarter, and all domestic feuds are forgotten,
and the only rivalry that remains, is, who shall
render the most efficient service, in repelling
| the common foe. Whether that foe be To-
| reign power, invading our coast, domestic
army assailing our peace and property, we feel,
| that when Virginia calls we have no surer ally
than the hardy pioneer ofthe West.
| "Bravest ofmen, his hocks and herds are SAFE
Remote from wars alarms, his pastures lie,
l. By mountains inaccessible. secured,
| Y ct foremost he, into the plain descends,
| Eager to bleed, in battles not his own
The society, which we propose to establish,
is to be as broad and comprehensive as the
commonwealth itself. Every section and in
terest of the State, will here be represented.
| The grower of wheat on the banks of the Poto-
mac, will here meet the planter of tobacco, from
| the distant Roanoke; and the tier of corn, who
| greets the first beams of the morning sun, from
the golden waves of the Atlantic, will hail his
brother, who catches its parting ray, as it is re-
Elected from the CLASSY bosom of the beautiful
Ohio.
If such an association We're productive of no
other good, than thus bringing together citi-
zens of distant quarters of the commonwealth
its benefits would be incalcuable. 1t would
remove prejudices, increase our State pride,
and enlarge our knowledge of the resources of
the commonwealth both intellectual and physi-
cal.
There is no department of human industry
in which the knowledge of Inventors, disoove-
ries and improvements, seem to travel so slowly,
as in agriculture. Manufacturers, congre gated
in cities and towns, quick to learn whatever
will facilitate their labors, and add to their pro-
fits; whilst farmersfliving in state of compare
tive isolation, often remain for years, ignorant
of the greatest Improvements. Thus, McCor-
mick's Virginia Reaper, an invention of one of
our own citizens, almost perfect in itself, and
admirably adapted to the wants fthe country,
remained, for ten years, unknown to ninety
nine hundradths of our farmers, and was only
brought to the notice of many of them, by its
And so ignorant are even the best informed men
in England, in regard to the advance ofimprove-
ment in this country, that there appeared, not
very long since, in the London Quarterly Re-
view, an elaborate article ON Roman agricul-
ture, in which it was maintained, that in some
respects, the Romans had the advantage of the
moderns; especially citing their reaping ma
chimes as an instance; the Romans having had
clumsy contrivance for this purpose, not
drawn, but propelled by horses, whereas there
had not been in modern times, an approxi1na-
ton to any thing of the kind At this very
time, the reaper had been in successful opera
ton in the West, for ten years at least, and was
moving in triumph in some of our fields In Vir-
gina, with the steadiness and precision of an
army with banners. Its successful exhibition at
the Worlds Fair, brought the merits of this
wonderful implement at once to the notice of
the British public. And who can estimate the
immense value, to Great Britain, of the know
ledge thus acquired! 1t is thought to be more
than an equivalent, for the whole cost of that
splendid pageant.
Richmond is remarkable for the extraordi-
nary excellence of her agricultural machinery.
Her axes, ploughs, corn shelters, thrashers and
horse powers, are not surpassed, if equaed, by
any in the Union. But how limited is the
knowledge Of this fact, which was only lately
brought to the notice ofthe general public, by
an intelligent traveller, correspondent ofan ag-
ricultural journal, in -neighbouring State
How soon would an agricultural exhibition
disseminate this knowledge, and cause the ad-
mirable manufactures to take the place of the
worthless implements that now find their way
into every corner of the State. The same
course Of remark will apply to Alexandria,
Fredericksburg, and other towns in which there
are doubtless many skilful and enterprising me-
chanics and artisans.
Such an association would not only thus ben
eft the whole community by its annual exhibit
tions, but it would be the means of spreading ag-
ricultural knowledge, far and wide, by CONVEX
sational meetings, public addresses, and practi-
cal essays that would doubtless be elected by
the Society. These advantages are SO obvious,
and have been so strikingly illustrated by the
eminent success Of the New Y ork and Mary
land agricultural societies. that it must be entire