Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1853-12-29

ssHe who does the best the circumstance allows,
Does well, acts nobly, the best and most generous
can more.'
| They did not reclaim their poor fields, nor,
gentlemen, with their mesns, could we have
done il.
These were dark days for Agriculture
days of gloom and desp"ndency-a night,
double night--an "opaqne Of nature and
Of soul'' seemed 10 shroud it. The popu-
ls,ion were flying from the Old States, and
there appeared TO be danger rf general ex-
odus.
About this time few bold public spirit
ed men began to urge. most strenuously the
necessity, and the prar'icability of a form
in Agriculture. Conspicuous among these,
though there were manv others in different
parts of the country. was Col. John Tay-
Ior, of Caroline The first Agricultural
press, the old .Hmerican Farmer, made its
appearance abou. this time, and no one can
refer to its ee,ly columns without feeling
tina. there is deep debt of gratitude due to
John S. Skinner.
| IA better rotation of crops and the use Of
Pras1er and Clover. and finally Lime, were
beginning to show their effects in improving
aud ameliorating the condition of our lands
when the Agricultural discovery of the age
so far as reclining WORKOUT lands is
Peruvian Guano, has enabled US at once, in
a single season. by slight dressing, hardly
more in weight Than The seeds with which
We sow the land, to restore the most worn
gu, ond exhausted fields TO the production
Of their m"s' palmy days.
Your merit, my brother farmers, the me-
rit of our contemporaries, is in the zeal and
spirit with which all have engaged in this
cause Of Agricultural improvement. No
sooner did single ray of hope arpe .r-no
sooner we're men able TO grope their way
by lIe dim IiehIs of science, or The doubt
ful results of half tired experiments, than
they were willing 10 venlure-w willing all
uncaculaling to cos. their bread upon the
waters. 1T was not in mercenary spirit,
or one that looked alone to gain. II was
with very many-perhaps q majority,
generous, unselfsh, patriotic purpose to I'M
prove their Estates if This could be done
MirtfoHtaapetessiy embarrassing r. r. etuselvts.
Df course they look ed to returns first or last,
or rather hoped for them, but the direct
profits OF The enterprise was less consider
ed than its success, and many swail and
bog, many a orn,ou. and quilted old field
has been encountered, subdued or reclaimed
in this spirit. repeat, this is crediable.
II was the impulse Of sentiment, un-
prompted by The passion Of avarice, or the
base spiri. Of lucue. The mind too, with
has han form
ing principle TO The plough.' Men have
thought, and read, and pondered over this
great subject in all its bearings. Judging
from the success that has attended US, there
is every cause for hope in the future. The
three States in part represented. by this So
ciety, are even now unsurpassed in the pro.
duclion of wheat, the great staple Of The
world, bv any other like amount Of popn-
a,ion in the Union. The aggregate pupus-
lion of Delaware, Msrv land. and Virginia,
by The las, census is 2096, l9l; their produc-
ton OF wheat 17,209 SO7 bushels or frac-
ton over s IA bushels To each person.
The aggregate population of Ohio and Mi
chigsn, is 2,37S,O6l; their production Of
wheat, 19,413,2S9 bushels, or fraction less
than s IA bushels to each person. Wis
consin is the onl ~ other Stale that gets up
10 s bushels aud tins Safe with a virgin
soil exceedst. The crop of Ohio, i! should
be observed, is said to have been shor, the
year the census was taken, or in 1S4S.
And thus the facts show, that in a few
short years we have completely falsifed the
vaccinations which are thus promug gated
10 the world in McGfegot's work on The
country:
sin all the old wheat districts Of Delaware,
Mary land and Virginia, the land Is all SO
completely exhausted by continued cropping
tha, it must be abandoned for years, until
ers Of nature, or transferred 10 another po-
pulalion better qualified 10 recover it by art
and industry"
Not only has such been the general re-
suit, but we may refer TO particular instances
wheae the crops grown by some of our
farmers abou. equal in quantity, and surpass
in quality the produce Of the best English
husbandry. A specimen of the beautiful
Gale wheat is on exhibition here to-day,
grown on the Estate of James +. Earle,
Esq, Of The Eastern Shore, averaging by
weight 80 bushels to the acre, and a more
clean, fair, plump and beautiful article can
hardly be seen. The farm on which il
grew produces now one thousand bushels
for every one hundred il formerly produced,
or the difference between handsome in
come of several thousand dollars by The an
nual sale of several thousand bushels of
grain, and the proceeds of few hundred
bushels spsrsely gashered from its wide
spread fields by It's former possessor, The
ancestor of Mr.. Ealle, The late Judge Earle.
This is bu! one instance, there are hun
dreds.
Bu.~>we have only IaifIy commenced