Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-24
THE AGRICULTURAL BUREAU.
A Matter in Which Every Farmer
and Land Owner in Tennessee
is Interested.
Information Wanted rs to the Actual
Agricultural Condition and Unde-
YelOped Resources Of the State.
To the organized Agricultural Societies an,
Farmers, GlmLs in the State of Tennnssnn.

! To tho organized Agricultural SOcletles and
Farmers Clubs in the State Of Tennessee:
By a recent act of the Legislature it is
made the duty of the Bureau of Agricul-
ture to collect all attainable information as
to th e actual agricultural condition and IN
| developed resources of the State. Very
naturally the Bureau turns to the various
Agricultural Associations and Farmers
Clubs for assistance and cooperation. In
this, as in the general work of developing a
better system of agriculture, these AssOcia-
tions are the natural allies of the Bureau,
and upon their efficiency and zeal necessar-
lily depends IN a large measure its success
and future usefulness.
Heretofore, it is true, the various Agricul-
tural Associations in the State have been
occupied almost exclusively with getting up
and carrying on those delightful reunions
known as Fairs, and have made but little, if
any, effort to collect information as to the
conditions of the various counties and
sections. OF tn mselves these annual
Fairs are invaluable and deserve to be en-
couraged and kept up, but Fairs are but
holdays-days of relaxation. They should
be but the celebration by the farmers Ofthe
close of the years labors-aud an expoSi-
ton Of the fruits of the lessons learned, or
Jli6 pIO8kCoS u1duC uuIlllg Tie year L lie
various Associations and Clubs of a county
should be the teachers of these lessons and
the leaders in this progress. 1t is not all of
their work to furnish successful Fairs.
They may do, and ought to do, much more
every day useful work which would but
make the Fairs all the better and render it
all the easier to get them up. For part
of this work the State Bureau of Agricul
tIIre was created, and confidently asks the
cordial cooperation Of every Agricultural
and Mechanical Association, Society or
Farmers Club in the State. There is
plenty of work for all and a fitting place
for all.
No systematic effort has yet been made
TO discover what the resources of Tennes-
see are or where they are located. Much
less Of effort has been made to develop
them, or make them known to the world.
This lack Of trustworthy information Is not
confined to the vast mineral resources that
are known 20 lie concealed within the bow
els of the earth, but extends to the every
day occupations of the farm and the work
shop. Not the best informed citizen in the
State can tell with any thing like accuracy,
either what is grown or manufactured in the
State, what it is worth, or where it is sold.
In short Trustworthy statistics of each and
all Of the great industries of the State are
wholly wanting. They are yet to be col
leCted.
And yet, though no accurate survey has
been made and no estimate eau be formed
Of the precise character, or exact amount
of the mineral wealth of the State, it is
well known that nature has spread with
bountiful hand coal, iron, copper, lead, zinc,
! - a., 4
the great river of the West; and, though it
may not be known how many acres are de-
voted each year to any given crop, or what
is the average yield per acre, it is a matter
of official record that Tennessee during
thirty years has occupied the foremostrank
among the agricultural States; so too, while
no well ordered system Of observations has
preserved the variations of temperature, it is
a notorious fact that within the borders of
no State in the Union is there to be found
a more healthful, life-preserving climate,
none wherein good health is so universal,
none wherein malarial, miasmatic and or
ganic diseases are so rare. On the other
hand it is a fact to be seen and known by
every Traveller hurried along by the railways
that the mineral wealth of the State has
scarcely been tapped, while the agricultural
possible yield from the land.
These facts render it all the more impOr-
tant that the work of collecting the statistics
of the State, wealth and industry be under
taken at once. And in proportion as the
importance of the work is maguifed, 50 is
magnifed the claim which the Bureau has
upon the various County and District As
sOciations and good citizens generally for
hearty cooperation and Jealous help.
In undertaking the work the Bureau of
Agriculture is fully apprised Of its great
magnitude and the very many and serious
obstacles to be overcome; nevertheless,
moved by lively appreciation of the i'm
mense value and importance of the re-
sources and relying cOnfdentiaily on the
generous aid Of its public spirited cO-labor-
ers, the work is begun in the strong and
cheerful hope that it may be so done as to
yield good fruit to the entire State.
Perhaps there is not county in the State
that does not possess features that would
offer attractive inducements to some per-
sons seeking new homes or new investment
of capital; certainly there is not a farm in
the State wherein Improvements are not
needed, to which improved culture would
not add much in value. These valuable
features may consist in peculiarly fertile
soils, great mineral wealth or abundant
water power at extraordinarily low rates,
or delightful climate with health-giving
waters, or any of the many things that
make a country attractive and render its
lands valuable. But be these features
what they may, it is only by we'll organized
and thoroughly systematiZed efforts that
they can be made known. 1t is only
through such efforts that The actual cOndi-
ton OF the State industry can be ascer-
tanned. And until it is known what is
doing and with what means, and what are
the natural capacities of the State, it is inn
possible to say what needs to be done, or
what means are wanted. In short, until
this work is done there can be no intelli-