Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1875-08-14

of the plantation aad the farm there
accrues to every other individual oI
class of Individuals, who handles OF
trades in them, a larger profit than to
the planter or farmer himself.
We find, we think, three potent
causes for this condition of things -
|. The youth of our country have
not been, and are not being, properly
educated upon agricultural subjects
Our people everywhere are becoming
more and more alive to the impor'
lance OF education. The land is filled
with colleges aud universities, from
Maine to Florida, and from the At
lantic to the Pacific Bat how many
of these institutions have established
professorships for instruction in this
greatest of all pursuits! We venture
the assertion that we would not be
far wrong were we to say there have
no, been half a dozen. Law schools
and medical schools are established
upon firm bases throughout the coun-
try, and young disciples of Putien-
dor: and Esculapius are annually
sent out bv the hundred, licensed to
fleece and to slay and, in these latter
days, commercial colleges exist at
various points, designed to teach the
Young merchant the nature and value
of accounts and the arts of trade.
Bu, we vainly endeavOr 10 point out
single institution Of learning OF
great prominence, in any Of the states,
amply endowed and ably Oiiicered,
designed 10 inculcate the great princi-
pies of agriculture. The young stu.
dent of chemistry gets an obscure
idea that, perhaps, this science has
something to do with determining the
constituent elements of soils and
plants; and in his cursory study oi
natural science, he acquires smatter-
ing of the subject Of meteorology
but be realizes not the fact that an
intimate knowledge of the former
opens to him the secret door of the
great storehouse of nature, and that
the time is close at hand in the near
future when thorough knowledge oi
the latter will foretell, with unerring
precision, the occurrence, locality aud
time of rains and storms aud other
disturbances in the material universe.
My friends, the scientific world is
moving rapidly forward, and these
subjects are being rapidly developed
but the great misfortune of the agri.
cultural world is that, while they are
more vitality interested in these sub
iects than the balance of mankind,
still, those employed in their develop.
ment belong to another class, and the
student in agriculture fails of instruc.
tiou in those great principles which,
applied to his calling, are calculated
to render him prosperous and rich
2. Another cause for this unfortu.
nate condition of things, is the fact
that the legislation of the country has
been studiously shaped SO as to dis.
crin':nate against the farmer and in
favor OF other and minor interests,
and, more still, this discrimination
has been enforced by corrupt rings,
acting in behalf of those minor inter.
ests; and to such an extent has this
been carried, that large sums ol
money have been freely and success
fully employed in influencing the
Congress of the United States and
the different State Legislatures in
aid OF various railroad, manufacturing
and other enterprises, to the detrimen,
Of the agricultural interests of the
, country; and this gigantic aud wide
!; spread corruption has extended So fal
4 as to put in imminent jeopardy tn,
/ moral aud social welfare Of societ,
/ throughout the land.
8. The depressed condition of thi
important pursuit results, in the thirt
F., place, from the want of cooperative
effort on the part of agriculturists
themselves. We will have occasion
to refer more particularly to this a.
We proceed.
i This condition of things, as we sal,
before, is anomalous. 1t cannot las
forever The interests involved ar,
SO important, that it must come to al
end. L: is TO correct these grave ant
growing evils that the order of tn
Patrons OF Husbaudry" has beer
established. Only very few year
ago, a small number of leading agri
culturists, impressed with the niagni
tude of the evils with which the,
had to contend. came together ant
organized this then Insignificant order
which has since grown, with unprece
!dented rapidity to be mighty powe
in the land. To show the rapidity 0
tits growth, l will here give few
facts taken from the statistical histor,
:of our order. Without going back L
Ethe beginning, We will state tha
when the National Grange met il
lS73, there were only nine Stat
IlGranges in existence, having unde
I;lbeir jurisdiction about 1900 subordi
nate oranges. One year later, thirty
1.-TWO state and two territorial grange
were represented by their duly ac
credited delegates in the Nationa
Grange held in st. Louis: and thes'
n a
aion nearly $4,000 subordinat
oranges. Coming on down still on
wear later, We have extracted fror
The report of the Worthy Secretary c
The National Grange sitting i
charleston. S. c., as follows, to-wil
IL show that the entire membershi
5f the order has been more tha