Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-04-15
IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE.

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ming, at 8 o'clock
IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE.
A contemporary very sensibly remarks that in
nothing are the practical benefits of science more
sensby felt than in the improvements which it is
introducing into agriculture Navigation is not more
benefited by the introduction of steam than the
culture of the earth BY the aid it is receiving from
chemistry. The welfare of mankind may be said
to be more promoted ~ the latter than the form
or. It has been said that agriculture remanedsts-
tiousry from the time that Virgil wrote bis Geor-
gies to the middle of the last century, as th-re is
| displayed in that poem q knowledge Of the sub
! jsCt at once minute and profound. The well es.
tablsbed but almost incredible population Of an
Gent States and cities demonstrates thst sgricul
ture must then have been carried to a very great
yer'ec ion, population being the measure OF the
successful cultivation Of the earth. During the
darkness OF the mid lle ages both the scie- &c and
| the ar; were ia a great measure lost. Extra
diDary attention began to be paid TO this suit CT,
in England, about eighty years ago. The ore i'm
provement OF the Introduction Of green cropping,
that is the sowing Of uroips at er toe frst crop
was taken from the soil, more than doubled the
productions Of many districts and added more Il an
one-tLird to the e and weight of all domestic
animals Since the commencement Of the present
century chemistry has been brought in to Increase
tie Productiveness Of the earth, and as far as we
ca now St e there is scarcely limit to the lie e.
! f b Oh q rlCu'ture may derive from it The
chemist has not only introduced feril era, but has
acquired the power to snslyss soils and discover
what itrii zlug agents are best adapted to improve
/ their qualities.
In cur own country little attention has been paid
to this subject because land is plenty and new and
fresh soils might be continuity brou gat under cuI
! tivston, and cd aud worn out lands abandoned to
resltc. Population, however, is now becoming
so much more deUse that the old and worn GU.
and Is brought into requistion, and the question
becomes how it can be restored to productiveness
As it fortunately hppeUs, we lave ierttl 0g
agents in the greatest abundance. Guano is pour
lug in from tie sIsrd3 OF the lcifc and is ourd
to produce sn almost mirscu Gus effect Enough
tine, however, TO test TIE permsDe1cy of the aid
which tie soil derives from this species Of manure,
il seems to be conceded, has not yet elapsed GER
tain j, is that ordinary soils are for season greatly
/ improved. The ueighborhood Of our ci-ies, where
LAID is most valuable aud fertility most important
/ ray he Constantly enriched by the cleaniDgs Of
tne streets and stables. A larger belt Of uzurisnt
vegetation is annually spread around al cur crest
| cities. This well cultivated region always sfgrds
/ a profitable example to the farmers more remote,
and stimulates them to more successful emulation
| No state in the Union is more interested in these
! agricultural improvements than Maryland. The
magnificent achievement Of her railroad C1mmun-
icstous with the gTeatWest, while It has brought
trade and wealth to her capital has brought her
agriculture into competition with one Of the rich
est and most productive portions of the globe
The only advantage which she has in the compe-
tiion is IN her nesrDess 10 the market. This will
not suffice in her exhausted lands, without the 90.
PliCstion Of extraordinary Industry and skill
That the farmers of Maryland have not been ruin
ed as was once predicted by juZts position with
the West, Is shown by the fact that hevaus of land
is sing al over the State. improvement in agricu
ture has this striking peculiarly, that its advantages
increase, not in simple, but in geometricsl ratio
Poor cultu7eis always the most wsstef1l and exrav
sgant The richer land is made the more it will
produce in proportion to the labor and expense be-
slowed upon il. The time is at hand when no man
will be able to afford to he bad farmer. If be
cannot make his corn and his wheat luxurisnt en-
Ough 10 shade the land from the intensity of cur
summers SUI, he may as well abandon the under. !
taking Of getting his living out of the earth.
FL FEMENT WITH WIFE AND TWO DAUGHTERS /
A man named John Cooper, re .idirg in ScJtts. |
vile, Monroe county, N. Y, arrived &c Detroit a
few dsys ago, in search Of bis family consisting of
wife and two daughters Of the respective ace,
Of twelve and Eurteen years The subsistence OF
the ts.e was that they had eloped with a man
named VIM. Story, of the same Place, who left
b, az HIM a wife and three children of his own.
The party had bro git with them their truaEs
and baggage and were vel proyi lei with all the
nects'arIes IN the way of clothug g. The
elJptment bad heen carried INTO execution On
Sunday, The 18th of Msrcb. TIE woman ia
about fifty years Of age The Detroit police toe
the matter in b. nd AID soon found the woman and
cbildrea-tbey having been robbed sni d serted
by Story. Nj. to1psr took charge Of the girls,
but rePud sted Lis erring wife and left her at De-
trJi..
'DRED sOOTT "A meeting Of the oolored peo-
pie was cid on Thursday evening in Philadelphia
the effect being as announced in the call ITO
cousid,r the strociOus decision Of tie SUPREME
Colrt 10 tie DRED sooTT case, and other ou,rsees
to which the cOIOfed people are subjected under
tie Constitution Of the Unued States" Various