Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-10-12

State Fair.
OPENING ADDPEss OF GOV. IsHAM @. HARRIS.

is the address of Gov. HARRIS on the occa-
sion. 1t is very appropriate and highly sug-
gestive. We have seldom, if ever, seen any
thing of the kind conceived in better taste:
Ladies and FelLoa0- Citizens:
As Governor of Tennessee am, by law.
made President of the Agricultural Bureau,
whose Annual Fair we this day inaugurate
Owing nv position here, and the honor of adj
dressing the industry of the State through its
assembled representatives, to the kindness
of my fallow-citiZens, in calling me to an
other office. rather than to eminent attain
ments in those pursuits. which it was the
wise policy of the State, in the establishment
of the Bureau, to foster, it would be pre-
sumptuous in me to attempt to instruct the
experienced and eminently successful ag
riculturists and mechanics who surround me,
in their respective pursuits. / come here
equally curious learner of the arts by which
may of you have illustrated your noble
callings and to pay the homage of my ar
dent admiration to the signal success which is
attending the general interest lately awaken
ed in our State in the great cause of agri-
cultural and mechanical industry. / address
you, not so much as matter of choice, as in
the performance, of official duty. yet almost
shrinking from that duty, in the certainty
that your time would be much more profta-
Dly eUplUSEu III llSleHluS 70 tile udIIdIiFc vi
the long observation and actual experiments
of some one of the many scientific or practi-
cal agriculturists who compose my audience,
than the mere suggestions or theories of an
individual like myself, who cannot justly
claim eminence in either theory or practice.
There are, however, some popular errors,
which have taken possession of the public
mind. which need only to be pointed out and
maturely considered. to be corrected brief
L. 81,
to the present occasion.
The first of these errors is a want of pro-
per appreciation of agriculture and mechanic
arts, as vacations in life.
1t may be set down as an axiom throughout
world, that man never eXcels, If indeed, he
succeeds in any vocation, where he does not
feel that his pursuit in life is in every way
worthy of bis respect, interest, energies, and
highest efforts. He may rest assured that
there is no industrial pursuit-no vocation IN
life-to which the undivided energies of the
best of the species may not be proftably ap-
piled.
Hence, the agriculturist or mechanic who
feels gefiraded by his pursuit, or thinks that
his position in societyis compromised 10y Lean
never enter upon its duties with that single
ness of purpose, united energies, and fixed
resolve. absolutely necessary to success In
every department of the business of life;
anu Tue tIOlI "HlCH may DC HItiuN ~ 'hi0
character of hesitating, reluctant hand,
must result in the failure of the enterprise,
and the degradation of position which the
individual is unworthy to fill.
The origin of the evil is to be found in the
fact that too many fathers of the present day.
instil into the minds of their children, the
idea that there is more dignity, responsibility
and worth to be found in the professions OF
law, medicine, &c, than in those OF planting,
nfn a
result of which is that in almost every family
you find one or more candidates for prefer
ment in those professions, while the latter
pursuits are adopted as the dernler resort OF
those who are supposed to be too dull to sue
coed in the former; and when thus driven TO
this department of labor, they reluctantly
adopt it temporarily, until some employment
shall present itself which they regard as
more reputable, and hence more cOngenlal to
their taste, in which they hope to do better.
Silly errors! Fatal to the individual who
entertains them, and injurious to the highest
and best interests OF the country. Will such
a man honor the calling of agriculture or
mechanics? Never. If you would excel, or
even succeed, you must give to your buSl-
ness, whatever it may be, the undivided ener-
gies of both mind and muscle, and act upon
that old adage, which is certainly as true as
it is homely, whatever is worth doing at all,
is worth doing right. and doing we'll"
If you would honor your calling, you must
resolve TO equal, if you do not excel, the
most successful in your respective departments
of labor.
What employment is more dignifed or wor-
thy, than that department of labor by which
God has decreed that all of his children shall
eat bread? Palsy the hand Of agriculture,
and the merchants doors are closed, the
wheels of the manufacturer are stilled, the
tools of the mechanic rust in his shop, the
sails which whiten every avenue of commerce
are furled. and business in every department
is hopclessly Frustrated, to be revived only
by the revival of that class of labor which
ALONE PRODUCES the wealth of the world.
The Lawyer, the Physician, the Merchant,
and the Teacher are all absolutely and indis-
pensably necessary to the weli-being OF or
ganiZed society. Yet, however useful each
may be to the community, and however sue
cessfuI each may be in his profession, he pro
d1sces notting-adds nothing to the aggregate
wealth of the country; but is taxa neces-
sary tax, it is true yet he is tax tG the eX-
tent of his consumption upon the productive
industry Of the nation; while he who produces
one pound of cotton, WOOL iron, sugar, or
tobacco single grain of wheat, rye, or
corn; or even one sprig OF grass, or from the
raw material has produced a fabric which con-
tributes to the comfort of man, has added
something TO the aggregate wealth OF the
world, and is to that extent benefactor.
Then where is the vocation in life more
honorable. more dignified. more important.
and the votaries of which are more indepen-
dent than those OF agriculture and mechanics?
Another. and very serious of those errors, is
the employment of almost the entire agricul-
tural labor of Tennessee in the production of
a few crops; such as cotton, tobacco, and the
cereals, to the exclusion of grasses, stock, and
choice varieties of fruits and flowers which
contribute so materially to the profit, health,
comfort, and luxury of man. East Tennessee
should recollect that her mountain sides,
however PERCEPTIONS, can be made to smile in
the verdure OF the cultivated grasses, sup
porting large flocks and herds, rivalling in
profit and surprising in beauty, her fertile
and productive valleys. Middle Tennessee
should learn that there is scarcely cedar
glade or hilltop within her limits. that will
not produce blue grass and clover luxuriant-
lv, however near the surface the rock may
approach, each acre of which will support its
number of sheep, cattle, mules, or horses;
costing the husbandman little or no labor,
while the land is being improved every day,
and yielding a larger return In pecunlary
gain as well as in ornament, than the same
amount of toll would yield in any other de
partment of agricultural labor. And expert
ence will very soon teach the planter of the
west, that the swamps of that section, though
too wet for cotton, tobacco, or the cereals,
will produce herdsgrass and timothy in great
perfection, the products of each acre of which
in hay and stock, will pay a larger profit than
his best acre in cotton or tobacco.
These improvements, so Important, II not
indispensably necessary, to the success, health
aud beauty of the farm, may be made, by the
judicious employment of such leisure as oc-
ours between the cultivation of crops, at
comparatively very trifling cost of labor or
capital.
The time has come when Tennesseans
should learn the Importance of a variety of
crops and diversifying their labor, thereby
improving, instead of impoverishing, soil so
L n.