The Louisiana cotton-boll. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], Attakapas, La.) 1872-1883, 1873-06-04
(For the Cotton-BoH.)
Fruits and Resources Of Agriculture
Agriculture il one of the best allies oil
virtue and promoters of happiness

ARTlEu lure l" ttit ~ NhS btSt lAi IA
virtue and promoters of happiness
Ma. EDITOR The resources of agri-
culture are ~incalculable; and in the fer
tile soil especially, there is no occupa-
ton by which man can accomplish so
much as by tilling the earth. From
time immemmorial agriculture has held
the supremacy in wealth and virtue ; it
is coeyal 18th mans existancN and Co
natural with his being; It is ufuly said
by a eultivator Of the land, ''Respeot
me for | enrich the soil; / f~ertiliSe the
land, which without me would remain
uncultivated; | employ hands, which
otherwise would remain idle; in a word,
I solve one ofthe greatest problems in
modern society; | organize and moraliSe
labor"
The celebrated "Bascom" said. agri-
culture has furnished not merely the an
tecedents OF important events In history,
but of great historical eras. 1t claims
an originality, combination and perms-
nPnee Of relation, to which no other art
or pursuit of man can lay claims. 1t
may be depressed in a thousand ways,
but a only be destroyed by the ex-
tinctiqn of our c as the central point
of unity in the. whole field Of production.
wholly affecting the internal economy,
it must be relieved as the genus with
regard to every species of productive
labor. To every man it is natures Just
mandates and obedience always practi~
cable, it marked the dawn, has distin-
guisaaed the progress, and is destined
to crown the last stage of human i'm
procurement. Tt has ever been the grand
school Of invention, the birth place of
all the useful, and nearly all the other
arts. 1t is the great regulating princi-
pal of vitality in the growth Of nations,
and the enlargement of civil Improve
ment.
All history shows 1T to be the only
and true universal nursery of civilian
ton; and in every respect the mos:
fundamental arrangement in the econo~
my of human life; such are the words
of a man who has known the worth
of agriculture.
Now, Mr.. Editor, the cultivation of
the useful arts has certainly proven
beneficial to mankind, especially when
We reflect upon the important influence
they have exerted upon civilization; as
Franklin with the printing press, Whit.
ney with the cotton gin, Arkwright with
the spinning jenny, Watts with the.
steam engine and Fulton with the steam
boat. But when the immortal Liebig
discovered aid applied the aid Of chem.
istry to agriculture, by giving reneeccd
tFe and r,gor to worn out land, dilspi-
dated trees and plaRts, etc., he Ger
tainly became as much n b~enefactor to
mankind, and aided as much Of the pro-
gress OF civilization and the happiness
of tnan as many Of the sages above
mentioned.
Liebig's application Of carbon lime,
plaster and salt TO refresh and Improve
worn oat lands, and TO restore fruit
trees and plants have had o wonderful
effect, wherever taey have been judi
ciously applied. These chemicals,
when properly strewed on the land, will
give new vigor to the earth, and make it
a. productive as ever. l was an eye
witness to a case in question, in the
parish Of Point Coupee, some years ago,
where a planter redeemed twenty acres
of worn out land by the application of
two barrels of lime, n Of plaster and
two of common salt, the o s of which
was eighteen dollars aud the benefits de-
rived we're these The said twenty
acres of land, heretofore unpTaduetive,
we're 50 refreshed by this process that
they became highly productive. giving.
the first year after its application. a
yield of one thousand FIVE hundred
pounds Of sugar to the acre, and the
land kent for several years In o good
state of cultivation.
Respectfully, A. L. r.