Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1854-10-28
ADDRESS OF THE
HON. KENNETH RAYNER,
. STATE AGRICULTURAL FAIR,
THURSDAY, Oct. 10, 1864.
(CoNcLUpED.)

Agriculture though long regarded as tue caiitns
of the ignorant and the owy is invested witn lhpre
interest in historical associations than any otner nu
man pursuit Although, on account OF the oisooe
dence of our first parents, the ground was curseu
to the bringing forth thorns and thistles ana man
condemned to teat bread in the sweat OF his ace
vet. what was imposed by divine justice as punish
ment for sin, was tempered in divine mercy to ms
comfort and happiness, upon the cendiuoh ot ia n
and industry 1t was 'to till the ground that
Adam was sent forth from the garden OF Eden. we
are told by the same authority that the second great
progenitor of mankind, "NOah, vas husDandmah,
and planted vineyard" That agriculture was
divine institution, blessing granted by DIVINE pen
fcencc is prevailing idea in the reiisious llnPIe
fed in the Egyptian mind entitled to divine non
ors; and the worship Of Apis under the form OF an
OK, typifed their generation for the pillow. among
the ancient Greeks the festival OF the Ihesmophora'
rs it was called was annually celebrated IN honor
of Ceres the goddess of agriculture and was lnten-
ded to commemorate the introduction OF the laws
and the regulations of civilized life, which we're at
tributed to Ceres-thus typfyng agriculture as tue
basis of civilization. Among the ancient Romans
the DEGREES of the Senate were deposited for safer
keeping in the temple of Ceres, as token OF their
faith, that sound and prosperous agriculture was
the best guaranty of obedience to the laws ana the
preservation of the State The feast OF Iaoernac-
les" among the Jews, festival of Thanksgiving,
for the ingathering of the harvest. The Hndoo nus
bandman offers at the feet of his idol portion OF
his newly-gathered harvest and the green-corn dance
crude religious sentiment of this child of nature in
the Wilderness Agriculture is the first industrial
pursuit of man, after ceasing his nomad state ana
settling in fixed habitation. Food being the hTst
and most indispensable of human wants, and man
having to rely upon the earth for supply of food,
as soon as he has abandoned the pastoral state, OF
course the cultivation of the soil becomes the first
and most universal of human pursuits. 1t must OF
necessity therefore, be coeva with CIVILIZATION, ana
its chief element of strength. Next to supplying his
wants in appeasing his hunger follows the necessity
of houses in which to shelter against the lncemen-
ces of the weather; barns to hold his grain impro-
we'd implements till the soil mills to grind his corn,
and utensils to cook his food and thus the mechanic
arts follow as the adiuncts of agriculture in minis
tering to his comforts. The exchange OF his surplus
products for those of his neighbOrs, gives rise to
barter as a means of obtaining Injuries; and thus
arises commerce. The possession of property Gre
ates the necessity for some standard of value, and
thus originates money. The acquisition OF wealth,
and the consequent enjoyment of leisure, content
ment and ease, superinduce reflection !; III looking
upon the operations of nature around him. he IS led
to enquire into the causes of thngs-and thus grow
up science AMI learning and the cultivation ofhe NOR
al sentiments In his efforts to embody his abstract
idea of the beautiful and the good originate thepo
lite arts statuary, painting, architecture And so
on through the entire routine of all the industrial
and ornamental pursuits that mark the highest and
most refined civilization. We find agriculture is the
base Of this vast column whose eliminating point
pierces the very heavens
Agriculture commerce and manufactures, the
three great elements Ofnatonal prosperity and great
ness. Yet, important are manufactures and COM
in the development of national strength, vau-
able aids they to the promotion of agricultur
al improvement, they entirely dependant on ag
rcuture not only for their prosperity, but for their
very existence. The earth is the great storchouse
from which originally derived the raw materials
of manufacturing skill and agricultural labor is the
agent that supplies them to the workshop 1t is the
application of science to agricultural Improvement
by which the labor of part is made to supply the
means of subsistence to the whole; and thus the
manufacturer is fed whilst fashioning the rude pro-
ducts of the>agrculturst into the elements of COM
fort and luxury at home preparing them for the
markets of distant lands. And so in regard to
merce. The more nation produces, beyond its
wants. the more it has to give in exchange for the
products of other countries The fewer of its popu
lation, that, by means of agricultural SKILL
abcd to supply food for the whole the more can be
spared and probably employed in manufacturing
its products into articles of merchandise for foreign
markets. The medium of this interchange and traffic
arc the ships of commerce. And here again, the
very means of their construction and equi pment and
the subsistence of those employed in their propus
ion, supplied by agricultural labor. History and
experience have proven the truth of the application
of this principle to countries, where the pre-
cious metals were most abundant. Nature never,
even in the most highly favored regions, bestows
her bountes so freely to enable to enjoy
them, without some effort of labor And so inds-
to habits of industry-so insignificant are the most
successful labors of the rude golddust seeker, in
comparison with the vast stores of agricultural wealth.
with which the earth teens, that in those counties
where the mountains filled with gold, commerce
frequently languishes and dies and poverty and ig
norance prevail for the want of equivalent pay
for the products of other Chimes Look to South
America for example. Her mountains glitter with
the precious metals; and yet, with the agricultural
resources according to the accounts of recent ex-
porers, in the valleys of the Oronoco, the Amazon
and the La-Plata, not surpassed by those of the
Mississippi her States without commerce. with
out manufactures, torn to pieces by intestine fac
tions. Look again to Russia, with her vastness of
extent and power of numbers. Startling at first
sight appear the Cars wonderful annual resources
from the Cral mines yet, he cannot go through
one military campaign without resorting to the mar
kets of Europe for loan. And so trihing is the
commerce of that vast empire, that close blockade
OF her almost entire sea-coast, by England and
France, at the present time, is scarcely felt in it's eff
fects upon the great commercial relations of the
world Why is this? 1t is because her agricultur-
al resources constitute insignificant portion of
the marketable wealth of the world. 1t is because
there, labor is degrading, agriculture is identified
with serfdom, the farmer has Never yet walked up
to the dignity of his calling Thehistory ofthe past
has proven that, agriculture has declined man has
refrigerated towards his prmeval state of barbarsn
Look at PALESTINE small territory which, in the
days of her early Kings was able to send ZOO 900
fighting men into the field, scarcely able to
supply the wants of the rowing Arabs that encamp
upon its plains. Destroy agricultural Improvement
that improvement which grows two blades of grass
where nature produced but onc-whch enables one
mans labor to supply the food for two-and the sound
of the loom the hammer and the anvil will no longer
keep music in the valley the blast of the forge
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