The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1875-10-22

1t was a remark, | believe, of Jean jacques
Rousseau, that if lie were called upon to prepare
an essay on the subject of liberty, he would
choose to do so behind the bars of dungeon
1t is, perhaps, upon somewhat similar principles
that you have asked one confined to the sedcn.
tary occupation of a lawyer in q great city to
speak of rural occupations and the charms OF
country life. And in truth were my ability
equal to my Will, were | able to clothe in fit
words the sentiments which animate me- there
might have been some excuse for your choice
1t has been well said by one of the most agrcca-
BILE English poets
80 mortal man who Invest here by toll,
Do not complain of this thy hard estate;
That like an emmett thou must ever mol
In a sad sentence of an ancient date"
Indeed, there could be no sadder history writ
ten than that of the lives Of those, who con.
scious of somewhat more than average abilities,
have failed in achieving the eminence to which
their youthful ambition prompted them. And
when time and the rude contact with their com +.
petitors has satisfied them of this fact, when
the tree has become gnarled and knotted by the
storms which it has encountered, when habit
has become second nature and they find them
selves hacks on the road instead Of leaders in
the race, they look back upon the seemingly
humber scenes in which they might have
achieved competence and happiness, 1t is only
to realize that the elasticity of early youth is
gone and the machine has become too well fit
ted to its groove to be capable of profitable en-.
stances, and the past ten years have multiplied
them in this country in very extraordinary de-
gree. The changes wrought by the late civil
war have sent thousands and thousands Of in
telliSent and capable young men from the pur-
suits OF agriculture TO the large cities of the
country. How few out of those thousands sue
coed is best attested by the number of drones
who intest the cities; while even those of char.
acter and steady habits find themselves still
struggling after years of patient labor and cx-
treme privation.
Much of this has been unquestionably due to
result of the late civil war. The abolition of
slavery destroyed system in which the respec-
tive interests of capital and labor worked not
only without jar but under the influence of the
most kind and affectionate relations Between
those thus united in former days the introduce
ton of the new relation of master and hired
servant, while perhaps more just 10 the MASTER
required of him for his own safety u sudden re-
vulsion to hard and cold selfishness, of which
he frequently felt himself incapable. 1t was ca
sicr and more agreeable for both to seek new
spheres of action. Between those accustomed
to the old bond of union any new relation would
necessarily be harsh and constrained As |
heard neighbor Of mine say to one of his slaves
who begged him TO remain in charge Of them,
~ don't believe that belong TO Won any lonp.
en-"
These causes, however, have long since ceas cd to
operate. And to those who have reached man
hood since the war, no tairer field for enterprise
can offer than the pursuits of Agriculture, an
occupation which from the time of the "rruud
old gardener and his wife" TO the present day,
has proved alike the most noble and useful
of human pursuits. The prosperity of every
country depends upon the harmonious and COM
bined operations of every branch of industry,
but the keystone OF the arch, that upon which
the entire supcrstructure rests Is that of the
successful cultivation of the land. As has been
well said, commerce draws its life blood from
tins manufactures grow out Of it, They all
stand together like pillars in cluster, the lar
gcst in the centre, and that largest is agricul-
ture." 1t may be adduced us q proof of this as
well as OF our great advance in civilization and
intelligence, that no science has made so great
progress within the last century. Even in
Europe the interest in the improvement of stoc k
is of comparatively recent date. The OK of a
hundred years since was small and ill shaped
and the sheep may be said almost TO consti.
tutc new species, in consequence alike of the
improvement of the wool, the size of the animal
aud the iincness of the mutton. 1t is stated in
the last report of the Department of Agricul-
turc that the average gross weight of the neat
cattle sent for sale to the Smithticld market did
not exceed SO lbs, and that of sheep 2S lbs,
while the average weight of the former is now
over 500 lbs, and of the latter over so lbs. The
same volume states that the first animals impor.
ted into the colonies were those that arrived at
the James Island Plantation, some time previ
GUS to 1909. In 1910 several cows were landed
there, and u hundred more in 1911. The first
may have been brought by the carly adventurer,
either at the time of their first voyage in 1907,
or soon after, but the late additions probably
came from the West Indies, being the de-
sccndants of the cattle brought to America in
his second voyage by Columbus in 1893 So i'm
portant was it considered that the cattle should
be allowed TO increase and multiply, that ac-
cording to an old authority an order was pass.
ed forblddng the destruction of domestic ami.
mails on pain of death TO the principal, burning
oflhc hand and cropping the ears of the acces.
sorry, and sound whipping for the concea!cr
OF the facts. Such being the nature of the en-
courngement to the raising of stock, the mum.
Der of cattle in the Virginia colony increased to
about 500 head in 1920, and 10 about 30 600 in
1852 The first cattle that were brought to New
England arrived at Plymouth in 1924 in the ship
Charity. They were imported for the colony by
Governor Winslow, and consisted of three hef
ers ard bull. In 1923 twelve cows were sent
to Cape Ann and in 1929 thirty more, while in
1880 about a hundred were imported for the
governor and company of the Massachusetts,
Bay In New England" In the meantime hun.
dred and three cattle and horses were imported
into New York from the Island of Tcxel, Hol.
land, by the Dutch West India Company, and in
1927 the settlements along the Delaware were
supplied by the Swedish West India Company
SO that by the year 1920 the number of horned
cattle in all the colonies must have risen by i'm.
portations and by natural increase to several
thousands, to which were added in 1851, 1899