Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1872-01-05
AGRICULTURE IN THE SOUTH.
"what shall We Do a,'
To the Editors af the american Farmer !:

-
sWhat Shall We Do 9,'
To the Editors Gf the american Farmer:
I cheerfully comply with your reques
to furnish an introductory article for th'
first number of the new issue of this time
honored journal. It was the pioneer o
agricultural Improvement in the Unitet
States. and has been so intimately asso
|ciated for more than half a century will
the names of those great men, refined il
sentiment, elevated in intellect and sue
cessful 10 the practice of our noble art
who have contributed to its columns. tina
it must be subject of congratulation tt
all farmers of cultivated minds that it il
about to be revived
You have undertaken most importan
but I fear difficult and hazardous enter
prise. The circulation of the Anaerica,
Farmer, though confined to no locality
was chiefly in the States of Delaware
Maryland. Virginia and North Carolina
among class Of educated gentlemen. who
cultivated agriculture not for sordid gain
but as noble profession, to acquire indie
pendence and the means of supporting, il
comfort and abundance. happy and virtu
Gus families. Their homes were the a
bodies of elegance, hospitality and refine
ment. and their farms. though not in al
cases cultivated like a garden. were il
many instances managed as skillfully anc
successfully as farms of equal extent il
any part of the world This was the ma
tural home of an enlightened agriculture
journal, and the bound volumes still founc
in the best libraries of these States contain
an imperishable record of the virtue, in
|telligence and practical skill of the noble
men who originated and sustained it.
do not allude to the past to produce
discomfort with the present or desponden
cy as to the future. But as the skillfu
mariner who has passed through q storm
deems i. necessary to survey his ship, t
ascertain what damage she has sustained
in hull and rigging, before he proceeds
upon his voyage. it would seem but pru
dent for you to examine we'll your sur
roundings, that, seeing, you may be able
to overcome. the difficulties in the way o
your enterprise.
The prospects of agriculture throughout
the Atlantic States are very discouraging
The inquiry everywhere is: docs i
pay =. = an9 1asTsE is is nos G60iiI
admirable - ports of the B5agd u lky
culture of Massachusetts,. aud they are
full of complaints of the decline Of agri-
culture in all New England. The young
men GO to the cities or to the Great West,
in pursuit of excitement or of more pro.
ftable employment; the old cannot per.
form the labor, and cannot afford to hire
their fields and pastures are running to
waste. their live stock rapidly diminishing
in number. their farm buildings going to
decay, and the rural districts exhibit every
indication of abandonment and dilapida-
ton. It is In vain that learned and prac-
tical men, eminent for virtue and patriot
ism, reason and demonstrate. The tide
cannot be arrested. When cabbages can
be brought by rail from Michigan and
sold cheaper than those produced among
the hills of Berkshire or in the market
gardens around Boston. the young and
enterprising think it high time to be seek
ing the cheap and fertile soils of the West,
instead of wasting their energies among
the barren rocks of New England. The
prospects in parts of Maryland. Virginia
and North Carolina are, no better. We
lost our teams, floating capital and labor
during the war, and although the raw ma
terial of labor is abundant and cheap e.
nough, not one farmer in fifty can COM
mand sufficient capital to employ it the
regular cultivation of his land Hence
most of the farms are rented to freedmen,
or cultivated on the wretched Metoyer sys-
tenn, common on the Continent of Europe.
The lands yield little revenue to the pro-
prietors, aud are rapidly depreciating =
The efforts of our best minds have been
exercised to find. if possible. remedy for
these evils. With the earnestness of the
awakened multitude on the day of Pente-
cost, we have cried without ceasing: '.Men
and brethren. what shall we do?" Un-
we have yet. found no Peter
who can give US an authoritative answer
Sanguine statesmen have found an aaswer
in one word: Immigration" and the
people have re-echoed ''[mmigration. y
We have spread before the world the un-
surpassed advantages of our State, its
genial climate and kind and fertile soil,
our beautiful bays and rivers. magnificent
waterfalls, inexhaustible mineral deposits,
and our kind and hospitable people, with
arms outstretched to receive men of all
nationalities who may desire to cast their
lot among US. We are prepared to give
a warm reception to all, especially to the
worthy descendants of our sturdy British
ancestors. yet they come not. Our hopes
and expectations from this quarter are. I
fear. extravagant and unfounded. There
is little or no surplus population in the
North. and much less in Europe than is
supposed. This immense Con-
tinent is almost wilderness. not one
fourth Of the territory Of the United States
being inhabited. The Secretary of the
Treasury, in an address lately delivered
in Philadelphia. made startling state
ment, though strictly true. He said il
all the people Of the United States were