Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-06-11

study OF our l6m6r5. fTbctlCdl 6nQ IuFee
LEGATIONS should always be encouraged, when under
intelligent supervision since every item of practical
evidence which is added to stock of agricultural
knowledge may be regarded as progressive move.
ment towards perfection and such should be made
public. But we cannot now ignore the attanments
Of science in this pre- eminent branch of our indus.
trial pursuits or the requirements Of long line OF
practical farmers in both the old world and the new
but especially the old.
1t would be folly 10 suppose that we could attain
perfection without the experience of the past or that
the discoveries and abors of our predecessors were
in vaiD yet those who dsspse the aids of science, of
books, and of the schools, 10 the simplest and
most primitive pursuits of the farmer deny their
uses when they refuse TO learn from their sources
St strange TO say they practice through the uncer.
tain aid Of misty traditions, in barbarous and un.
productive manner. the precept and example which
they refuse originally from the written testimony 1t
seems strange indeed that go many Of our farmers
should neglect their beat interests 30 blindly as to re.
fuse not only the experience of the past but the dis
coveries and experiments Of their neighbors and CO
temporsries, as shown forth and illustrated in our
agricultural journals. Yet, stranger still, that Vir.
that her and exhaustless mineral her
abundant manufacturing facilities, her magnificent
commercial advantages, should all bo neglected and
rejected for the single pursuit Of scratching the so
that her revenue, her wealth, her influence and her
power, should depend on the intelligence and exer.
lion of her farmers and psnters and yet that agrl.
cultural knowledge or information ia go little sought
lJr "r publicly encouraged. How are our farmers edu
catedl Have they been instructed scientifically and
practically for the occupation they are to follow, and
which they and the State depend3 or are they edu
Gated for the pulpit, the bar the forum, the chsr,
the scape 1t is but too true that many of US, too
many have been educated for any pursuit, calling or
profession but our own, and that polite literature has
bsen more an object with many than agricultural
knowledge. Farmers may and should be generally
informed, but particularly in their own branch Of
business. Under these circumstances. our lands,
which were originally rich and plentifu,are becoming
less and less productive, while poor impoverished
lands are becoming more and more abundant.
The cotton, tobacco sugar plantations of the
South, cannot retain their productive fertility. more
than the wheat, corn, or tobacco fields OF Virginia,
without remunerstve return Of the extracted ee'
menta, and to do this ef-ctually must understand
the chemistry Of Nature-the character and quality
of soils, and the components and nutriments OF
plants. simple truth may be deducted from e1pe-
rience which is Of vital importance to communities,
and especially to those whose staples are the first
fruits Of the earth. That region or country where
agriculture is becoming more and more science,
and where, consequently the lands or soils are be-
coming richer and richer, thrives and prospers, and
must necessarily become more influential and power.
full than that region country, where the strength OF
the earth is barbarousy extracted without remuners.
ton to the soils, and often without profit to the hus
bandman, and where, consequently, the soils are be-
coming poorer and poorer and the lands less and less
valuable. Surely proposition is self.evdent, and
dictates the course which an intelligent agricultural
community or individual should pursue, by promo
ting every intelligence and every means which tend
10 increase and foster the capital Of labor, on which
depends the great end and aim Of both.
Information is necessary-indeed, a thorough COM
prehension Of the trade, pursuit we follow, is not
only desirable, but sminently profitable in all cases
and hence the proverb-"every man to his trade"
But in no industrial pursuit, and in no country or
place. is practical education more required than by
the farmers Of Eastern Virginia.
That eminent and able Virginia writer and sgricul.
turist RurFrN, in his work on "Cacareous manures'
and other essays on the low lands Of the Allan.
tic slope, has thrown much light on the pecu.
artes of that interesting part of our State, and
has been the means Of imparting and eciting much
valuable information that otherwise might not have
been obtained. Had our farmers generally been as
inauirng in their researches or had they exhibited
one 1.-THE of bis energy and industry in obtaining im
parting and practising knowledge Eastern
Virginia would ere this have been the FARMERS para
disc" and every year that pass would still be adding
beauty and richness to this vast domain, instead oil
clothing it in pney sterity, as the barbarous culture
Of the past has done.
The inexhsustibe beds of mari which lie promiscu.
ousy throughout this region, from the bay to the
head of tide water on the rivers, may be mentioned
as an important item in the resources Of Virginia 1t
may be reached at almost any point on the rivers be-
low the falls at moderate DEPTH and is frequently
found in BEDS ranging from to 90 feet thick edgng
or cropping out in the river bank. Indeed it is 80
plentiful and available at many places on the Potomac
James and other rivers, that can be obtained as
cheap and as easily the surface earth ITSELF and
frequently almost rich in carbonate OF me, as the
pure mountain limestone or, bushel Of pure mar
contains as much mineral manure or fertilizing quail
ties as bushel Of sacked me therefore, there can be
no questioning the value Of mari as manure, since
it contains the cscsreous qualities of the lime itself
Northern ms can be furnished in quantities, at ten
cents per bushe on our rivers, but mari can be fur
nished at any point to which the tide ascenos' from
three to FIVE cents per bushe therefore, mari 70 D0
cheapest when carefully selected. 10 many places
howsve. mari can be obtained at one cent per ousne
when !, lies near the surface and beneath the land
where it is required.
Tns,a can bs no doubt OF its fertzing qualities,
u.o, va observe how il sustains rich growth OF
,,,., ,.n.v and other forest trees, which flourish
~, ON ,nd, which posssss eDinenty wheat producing
so;js The manhsr of obtaining it. and also Of usng
II are .ti matters not yet understood but the day
mu,t come and should come soou, when this great
provision OF nature will be duly and properly appreci
uted since it evidently intended for that only
purpose to which it can be pro6tsbly applied. With
soils calculated to produce in abundance and wheat
producing climate genial in charscrer; with unlimited
increasing fertility; with march and meadow,
and almost every variety OF soils, and with nsvigsoe
rivers running near, through or around our fsrns
and plantations, all We want is agricultural infortna
tiop 10 mske of lower Virginia, what We have before
claimed-the garden Of the New World.