The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-05-02

backs al peoples doors or waiting
for Immigration TO come and save
them. although they have no loea
of reducing their acreage by sell
ing "a part OF their surplus, o. Of
selling the whole for any thing less
than the highest figure (in g0ld)
ever thought of before the wdr:
waiting. some OF them, for lespe-
aezo. Cor Providence in some gulse)
to come and save them, TO fertlllze
their fields and fatten their cattle,
and avert starvation from their
doors. | meet this kind of people
in every part OF the State you
have no idea of the number Of them.
And people r everywhere and
continually excusing all sorts OF
delinquencies and shortcomings IN
the conduct of the farm, and the
housekeeping and everything else,
by saving "we have no negroes
now" and "the negroes won't
work" and all that sort of stuff
when the difficulty generally is, in
such cases, that White folks won't
work. And some again, IN disgust
and disappointment, attempt to
shirk altogether the responsibility
of the management OF their farms,
either abandoning them utterly to
90 to wreck and waste, or more
commonly allowing their former
slaves, or others, to squat upon
their lands and make what they
can or will, and then complaining
that they do not get the promised
rents, or perhaps any rents at all +;
having expected, most unreasona-
bly,, to find the negroes exhibit the
high qualities of foresight, judg-
ment and thrift, ia which they not
only have never had any training,
but of which they have never seen
any respectable example. You will
admit hat this is utterly an error,
a very unwise procedure. And all
Of us have seen many examples OF
the like, and perhaps Of some OF
you it may be added, ct quorum
pors fuisti, which is, being liber-
ally interpreted, "thou art the
man."
But | return to inquire what and
where is North Carolina agricul-
ture? Evidently, from this show
ing, very nearly where it vas four
years ago, Certainly as to its prin-
ciples and methods, if not alto
gether as to results J and that is
pretty nearly nowhere. Consider
ed comparatively, we are to-day
where Europe was 800 years ago;
with an immense area Of impover-
ished soil, its surface stripped Of
its food-producing properties by a
long course Of injudicious, waste
full, ruinous culture, supposed to
be a short cut to fortune, but in
the result, a short cut to ruin. in
stead, and poverty. "The fathers
have eaten sour grapes, and the
children's teeth are set on edge,
and the children are reyenging
themselves upon the grandchildren
by adopting a similar bill of fare.
Compared with agriculture in Eu-
rope to-day, ours is immeasurably
inferior, not worthy to be mention
ed at all. In fact, it is vastly infe-
rior, both in methods and results,
scientifically and practically, to that
Of the Romans 1000 years ago.
Our agriculture would not support
a 1.-THE of the population which
fiourished upon their soil Gin the
grand old days of yore." They
plowed twice as deep and twice as
well as we do, understood and prac-
ticed manuring with green crops
and guano better than any farmer
IN North Carolina to-day !; and the
best farmer in the State might
learn a hundred things from their
agricultural writer's, Columella,
Cato and the rest. And if we look
to other parts of our own country,
we shall not find much comfort f:
for they, too, have left us far in
the rear. IN the nODle ace Tor aGrl-
cultural improvement. Placed
alongside of New Jersey or Massa-
chusetts, what figure would we
make? Can any of you give a
good reason other than our shame
fully inferior tillage, why the latter
state, with but % per cent. more
of population, land three-fourths
of them engaged in manufactured
should create annually nearly as
much moneys worth of ogricuHu-
rat products as North Carolina,
with seven times the territory, a
soil more than twice as generous,
and a climate incomparably supe-
rior: And yet such is the edifying
but notifying fact. | should not
like to acknowledge that in Massa-
chusetts. But worse than all. even
tha Acro+icc ara ohao1 of - m