Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1853-12-29
Gentlemen of The Society,"


Isuppose may regard the summons by
which appear before you as one calling
upon me TO testify as witness in the cause
of Agriculture, rather than an advocate
10 argue its claims, or as an orator, eloquent
ly to declsim about it.
This is an anniversary occasion intended
for the promotion of Agriculture, and intend
ed TO be in honor OF Agriculture-and we
may at such time very appropriately refer
10 the past. ] have sometimes thought that
in our congratulations Of ourselves upon
our success, we nigh, seem indirectly TO
reflect upop our predecessors the
dead-,he men and The generation of the
past. We should be careful TO do their
memory no injustice. There is certainly
very general and wide spread public opinion
To the effec1, that rural sports and pastimes,
the turf and the chase, the exercise Of en-
unbounded hospitality, aud the time spent
in social intercourse, not only lnerfered
with their agricultural pursuits. but 'hat TO
these causes are mainly 10 be attributed The
the WORKOUT estates 10 which the presen,
generation succeeded. This is shortsgh hi
ed and very erroneous view of the subject
il is true that The landed propretors OF
Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, in parlic-
-siar, continued TO engage in and enjoy the
sports lha, were regarded as appropriate 10
county life and which are so regarded
now, and so prscliced now by the people
from whom we are descended-a practice
in which hope, succeeding generations Of
our country population will long continue
to emulate them. Men cannot work always;
the bow should not always remain strung.
We have resources for amusement and re-
Taxation in our field and other sports, not
only more manly and heallhful, bu. more
harmless and innocent than those that are
nightly sought by the denlzens of our cities.
J trust the day is distant, when either the
economic spirit of uliIIsrian age, or the
sus,efily Of religious one, will Danish these
from our manual of paslimes and exercises.
The short and truthful history of the
past is this. The early settlers of this dis
trio. of country found themselves in the
possession of good lands, fine climate, rich
staples, the country in,ersscled by fine
Bays and Rivers, giving them easy access
TO market, and general time Of prosperity
ensued. They not only fed the country
toa great exten; from their wheat fields,
but grew for export an amount that
almost entirely supplied the foreign ex
changes, as wheat and flour were the lead
ing articles Of export up to 1905, when the
export of cotton rose to $9,0OO,00O, taking
the first place which 1t has since retained.
But the era of Agricultural improvement,
had not ye! dawned, not even in Europe.
The course of tillage was one of exhsus.
ton, sending away: The long European
wars had terminated; peace had succeeded
our war with Great Bfitliap, and the price
OF wheat went down in 1920 in England,
subject to a heavy duty, to AZ shilIings
quarter, while in our own markets it was
worth but aboul IS cents bushel, and corn
25 cents. There was more Flour and Wheat
shipped out OF the country during The last
ten years Of the last century than there was
thirty years later. From 1890 10 1900
there was shipped Of wheat 5,3S6,7l0 bush
els, and Of -four, 7,6S4,456 barrels. From
1920 to 1880 2l5,272 bushels of whea,
and 1896, ,920 barrels Of four-lhe excess
of the first decennial period being equal to
about two and half millions of bushels Of
= wheat
Dr. Samuel Black Of Delaware, IN q very
curious and able Essay: published IN The
old american Farmer, in 1920, states the
average Of the crops of that period In New
Castle County, to be, 5 bushels of whea. 10
the acre, 10 of corn and Is Of oats. These
were the causes-nalional causes-com-
mercial cause.-the state Of agricultural
knowledge-,hat postrated this interest so
low before the close OF the first quarter of
the present century, and not few horse
races and fox chases, or the discharge of
duties of an open and liberal hospitality
Hno,her charge indeed, is in effect, that
Mey did 100 much-,hat they cleared up
the whole country and wore il all out
having every where felled the forests, and
inconIinen'ly ploughed it forever. ap-