Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1870-01-01

Was Osiris, WorshlpPed in the shape
Of a beautiful white OK, because u
Was through the aid OF this animal
they were, As they believed, sue
eessh,l in agriculture. The ancient
/ Greeks and Romans bestowed mneh
care aud attention 10 the soil. The
Greeks first taugh. agriculture as a
science, having harmed the ART of
sowing aud preserving the seed
corr, as is maintained from tho 81
eilians The Romans held agrienl,
turo in the highest estimation, and
olten called their Senators ana Gen
erals from their plOughs. Agrleul'
ture, in morderh times, ls = portion
OF tho history of almost every peo'
ple Institutions 90 facilitate pro-
duetion aud honors 10 encourage
talent and discovery have long been
common among tho nations Of the
Old World, and more recently have
made considerable advancement In
the New. Notwithstanding, how
ever, ladies and gentlemen, the at
tention which has been paid toagrl'
culture, both in tho Old and tho
New World, both In ancient and
moaern times, it Is, perhaps, the
least understood Of all tho popular
sclenees of tho day. Although ad'
mitted to DO great aud hidden sell
ence, the question may DO asked,
whether il Is of any practical nlIli-
ty and really necessary 10 DO thor
oug,lly understood by those who
cultivate the soil. | answer that II
ia the most practical Of all tho eel
cnccs and the most necessary 10 be
thoroughly understood by him who
follows il In order that ho may reap
the full benefits of his labor. IL Is
true that In n soil like Ours, of snch
wonderful depth and richness far
mer may raise n suiiiciency 10 drive
want from his door anu oven some
times find himself with surplus;
provided hc merely does enough to
eptitlc him 10 the namc of farmer,
and this Notwithstanding he is ms
profoundly ignorant Of the nature
of tho soil he is pretending TO culti'
vatc or tho ingredients which com.
nose IL rs the animal that draws his
implement. Aud while this is go,
ladies and gentlemen, and when We
take into consideration the tardi
ness with which imam advances in
Improvement, unless keenly feeling
the necessity for it, we may almost
be led to conclude that il is rather
unfortunate to have soil rendered
so rich and productive by nature as
that of Northern Texas. The sill
yer and gold thincs of America
made Spain poor because they made
the people proud and lazy. And
because the people can here merely
subsist almost without cultivating
the soil at all or devoting a single
moment to the study of that soil
the elements that compose it or the
best method of making it subserve
the purposes for which it was crea.
ted, there is danger of universal
lethcrgy paralyzing tlp energies OF
the people to such an cXtcnt as TO
prevent tho onward march of i'm,
provement in this department and
Of retaining them in comparative
state of poverty In a county where
they have every facility to grow
rich. Such a deplorable state OF
things should be prevented if posi-,
bic, and this point should be vig'-
llant!y guarded. 1t is lamcntablc
fact that the system Of farming car:
ried on in our midst and all around
u.s. does not even approximate tc
that which is carried on in strict ac
cordanco with scientific principles
There is no doubt, in my mind that
the frequent failures in Tho crops IN
this country are moro directly at
tributable to an utter Disregard OF
scientific principles on the part O.
those who pretend TO cultivated
soil, than to tho want of rain, toe
much rain or any other fault of tho
season. The Almighty has givcI
| us q great country, and Ho vii
give us every thing necessary fol
the full enjoyment of it, if we vii
only use our energies and the intel
lcct which He has>givon to us t.
draw out and develop tho laten
mines Of wealth, which lay slum
bering in our broad prairies. Th'
best farmers have frequently beel
made from the poorest soil; and tn
experience Of the past, will justif,
me in asserting that the fewest fail
ures and the least frequent deprcs
sions have been found among thos
donominated scientific farmers ant
in regions comparatively sterile
Had d gcutleman, who had beel
farming for u series Of fears, afte
the fashion in this country, beel
transported a few years ago, t
those barren looking regions In VII
giniaI or : Pennsylvania, where tn
people said tho saltpetre had bee
exhausted by injudicious farming
flland had he been imperatiyely tol
that then he must go to work an
delve q fortune out. of the grount
fthe would have regarded such
thing as perfectly preposterous an
! would have denoubcedit as plae
f that would not produce black eye
peas, and be would honestly hav
!, felt that it was adding insult to il
I jury to transport a man to such
; place and ask him to make q forum
: on it. And yet those scientific ia
|. mers would quietly 60 to work o
. that very same land, cultivate i Q
: strictly scientific principles and
eve years on the very ground pr
2 nounccd = Incapable Of producin
4 aby thing valuable, they woul