Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1869-03-18
ICoNMUNICATED
AGRICJLTJ RE.

4A'n m"."M
FzaG notice in your Isl issue. ! o.
sery. Editor thai uug.5er Of gen
tleus I MILESTONE haze organized 4
"F 3 Club both for the protection
Of thsi kwn Interests. aud loosing TO-
wa43Es general aigancem en- Of Ayr
cum . the neighborhoOi This seems
to proper and very pr-isowor;hy ua-
The depressed condition 0: Agriculture
in our Community tie apparent wait Of
actiyitt in farmers themselves the ne
ccssitv waiting long and patiently for
The ft>, lon Of their laboys; the compar-
ativR slow accumulation Of means from
SINAI Resources the change in great mea-
sure Rom commercial system Of credit
to }ash basis the general want Of cap
itsl,1l those even who are disposed to
cs.s,s themselves the unreliable nature
and the deficiency as vel. as inet ,iency OF
the labor which W. are obliged TO employ.
pc 1aps the unsettled aspect of public At
=. land other considerations besides.
have tendency in. or ater OF less degree,
to discourage their exertlons. Some OF
these causes belonging Of necessity TO a
farmers profession or being Boy mi his
control, need not be discussed but the
want of energetic action on the part Of
farmers themselves lies entirely within
their own power to remedy; moved to 1t
as they should be. by every motive OF
self-intertst, II not BY more dl>intercst-
ed desire to benefit their fe.lowmcn, or
laudable pride to reuovate the worn out
and ncglscte fields now reproaca TO US,
aud an eye-sore to visitors from sections
more thriving and advanced. The abro-
CATION in great measure Of credit. the
exhausted state of our pecunary means
consequent on the abolition of slavery and
the condition Of labor, here and through
out the South, where it once obtained.
must very naturally cause much serious
ref Action to many Of Us. To ma they
seem the principal extraneous obstacles
that we have to encounter.
We all know the improvident, untru,t
worthy, thriftless disposition Of the pop
ulation on which we must principally rely
for labor. We cannot trust them to flu
fill a contract, after making it; and they
seem less disposed Gay by day, even, to
undertake one. We Gu recover nothing
fron; them, though they throw up their
engagements at the busiest season, en-
failing on the owner. the loss ofhis whole
crop, and perhaps inf:ctlng irretricraolo
ruin.
We follow no recognized AMI well cs-
tablished system, such as exists among
farmers in the Northern States in refus-
ing to employ hands, leaving III this man
ner, ana in never attempting to In luce
them to leave their employers.
Many of US are compelled to rent small
portions IF our farms, gardens single
fields, &c, and submit to great loss, in
careless cultivation and neglected crops
Those who engage labor and work their
own farms have no security that their
hands will remain throughout the year.
They are usually obliged to hire by the
month, so far as my knowledge extends
suppose the negro has, like the rest of
his species, a very natural wish to be free
and independent, and he fances by set
ting up h;s household gods in some out
Of the way Fl III, or half acre. clearing IN
the pines, he accomplishes in some mea-
sure that desirable object. Domestic SER
wants are still more difficult to obtain and
think | should hardly venture much III
predicting that before long it will be next
to impossible.
!. The negro being with US the principal
dependence for lat or. II IS uutortunate
that the difficulties of race still further IN
9ove the question. They cling together
as a body and are advised and supported
for Interior and selfish purpos 9 by a pow
erful an now dominant political party
We the farmers of the county whose bus
mess is SO dependent upon conco.t OF ac-
ton between the employer aul lmPioyce,
whose interest it certainly is to benefit
the laborer whilst protecting ourselves,
YET mako no effort to introduce any gem
eral system on which both the farmer and
his hands might agree or failing that
some plan to obtain supply elsewhere
On the contrary We seem to be inert 4Is-
organized, seeking temporary private ad-
vantages and We shall if we continue to
pursue such policy, one day surely reap
its legitimate fruit In private as well a.
public loss The thunder of the 81 At
storm that has passed has not yet subsl-
ded, It's distant echo is still reverb :rat.n9
in menacing if muttered tones along the
plains and through the forest OF our
Southern land; We have not yet s2ttie4
down IN assured or hopeful ante p1t,oA
of the feature but the gloom OF the con-
test has lightened, the drift has suthcicht-
ly lifted TO show that we are passing
through great social as well as poLitieL
changes. We can cling no longer 70 tAc
issues Of the past. but must grid up our
loins for the strug lies OF the future
" hatever may be the ultimate result of
the revolution 1t appears to me that in the
interest OF our material well being. We
should accept, and try to make the most
OF the immediate condition, in which W
find ourselves That seems to be to adopt
the economic principles, the steady in
dustry, the energetic enterprise Of the
former free States, necessarily modified
By our own social feeling. and educa-
ton.
Our political system one Of whose OBJ
iects it is, to divide property. and keep
up a cons.au, circulation Of means, OF its
own action. has constant tendency TO
produce large numbers Of small farmers.
That position We who remain attached e
The soil. mus: expect to embrace. Can
we not then. ty association, exchanging
views, and BY adopting ana acting on
those most banefcit. to us. efae; far more,
even ter our indrlIu4l Interests, than by
each attempting to seek ms own, often At