The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-11-30
The Farmers Convention

ne & dII1C1S SShsS1t4Sal'
The convention of farmers in Petersburg
sec,as to have resulted in nothing decisive OF
practical. There was a great deal of discus
SIGN, some personal wrnging, ana ts'ese
were debates over subjects that ought not 10
have been introduced. But we cannot see
that ANYTHING whatever was accomplished
bY the gathering; and we are not disap-
polluted.
Do not farmers conventions, conventions
Of delegates from broad eypnnse of coun-
.ry-by their impracticab;lity, show that
the purposes for which they are called are
not to be attained in that way! Indeed
many Of the schemes proposed for 'hcsf con-
sidcraiion arc visionary and idle. The utter
irnpossihility of agreeing about them seems
TO show at once their inutility, and especially
does this remark apply to legislative ald'
The Legislature can do little for the
farmer. 1t cannot protect him from fraud IN
fertilizers, nor can the State go into the busi-
ness of manufacturing fertilizers. Nor do
we believe the State can establish any very
wise and efficient system Of immigration.
That Is an exceedingly delicate and trouble
some question, and the more We have looked
nj il the moro we are disposed to lei it alone.
Our rural population are as quiet as the
new social order will allow them to be, ana
they are yearly increasing their means OF IN
dcrcn!ence. Better than the rapid influx OF
a strange population Is that increase which
comes in i'm more regular and voluntary
way. Besides, we should not break our
necks to swell our population. The natural
increase is very good, and that gradual accu-
mutation which flows in with steady cur
rent that enables ii to establish itself firmly
without shock to the natives or discomfort
II themselves is the safest for Virginia, and
by all odds the best and most advantageous
for The farmer.
Dependence upon legislation is a dclusion
for the farmer. The State can do little for
farmers beyond the Improvement Of the
highways to market and encouraging com.
mcrce and manufactures, which are to cstab-
lish large cities in their midst, so that they
may have markets at their doors, and thus
be enabled TO increase the variety of their
crops, and be constantly in receipt Of the re-
suits Of their industry.
General FITzHuGH LEE, upon being elected
President Of the State Society, gave some cx-
ccllent advice to the farmer. Let farmers
follow this, anu they won't want much help
from the State. Economy, industry. close
husbandry, the saving of everything, the
wasting of nothing, and tilling well small
area rather than Swimming unlrutfuly
large one: These rules will take care of
the farm and insure its production. But
then the farmer must purge himself from
debt. He is the last man that should owe
anything, especially now, when shaving cuts
so near the bone, rising upwards from ten
TO fifteen per cent. or more. No business
will stand up under such weight Of interest
that is not speculative. The farmer knows
no such thing as speculation. and he should
cut loose from all devices and shifts OF Il
speculative character He cannot thrive, he
cannot be happy, while harasscd by debt
with its rapid accumulation through the
high rates for the use of money in these
times.
The State Society is an invaluable institu-
ton. The annual meeting of farmers to see
the results Of tllage, the specimens of every
department Of their noble pursuit, upon
which all others depend, is in the highest
degree beneficial. So the conversations Of
farmers about the best systems of cultivation
4 ly,,t 4 ,nr
o.. discussion is widened into topics that
transcend not only their means Of control,
but arc not susceptible Of practical and bene-
1cial action by the Legislature, they get into
q sea of incXtricablc confusion and irrecon-
ciabe discord.