The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-05-16

must suffice.
Another most important adyan-
tage of which, however, we have
as vet failed to avail ourselves TO
anv extent, IS our
PROXIMITY TO MARKET.
With our system Of t~ransporta-
ton properly organized, uH!fed
anil directed. we ought to be able
to throw u wheat and corn crops,
for example, into the great channel
of the worlds commerce, net only
three or four weeks in advance OF
the great wheat and corn States Of
the upper Mississippi, but at one
fourth Of the cost. And so Of the
fat cattle from our mountain pas
lures, in competition with those
from Texas, and Of many other
articles.
And then in our vast manu-
featuring and mining resources
there exists the means of creating
at the door of the producer, a de-
mand for a hundred fold the pres
ent marketable surplus Of the farm
products of the State. There IS
no agriculture in the world like
that Of England. And its develop
ment is due to and has only kept
pace with the grand march OF her
manufactures.
The last advantage | shall speak
of is
THE ABUNDANT MEANS FOR THE
IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL.
Although the fertility of our soils
must be restored and maintained
chiefly BY the Introduction OF a
better system Of culture and rota-
ton, involving green crops and fat
cattle, yet, as auxiliary to these,
the immense deposits of mari which
spread over all our eastern coun-
ties. from the Peedee to the Roam
oke, are Of untold value. These
great beds of ca%lcareous, phosphate
and alkaline manures seem to have
been accumulated here and re-
served by a benignant Providence,
with special reference to our pres
ent need. They are naturally dis
tributed over nearly one-third of
the State, and our rail roads and
rivers ought to extend the dis
tributiOn over another third.
Such, then, not to go into de-
tails, is the condition, and such the
means for the reconstruction of our
agricultural system. And bad as
this condition is, with such adran-
tdges, we ought at once to start
forward with a bound.
But how is this reconstruction
to be effected, and these advan-
tages to be available in the realiza-
ton of the grand possibilities which
they suggest?
We have seen that the great evil,
the root and source Of all other
evils, is the almost universally
prevalent ignorance of the princi-
Piles of agriculture; which has
gradually been developed almost IN
a generation, into a grand science,
a science of sciences; into a high
art, an art of arts. The man who
farms now successfully, must farm
intelligently. Agriculture may be
defined, comprehensively, as the
modification and multiplication of
the natural products of the earth
for the purposes of civilized men.
To do this successfully, it is, of
course, necessary to know some
thing of the laws and forces of
nature which control and limit all
its processes. These have been
a%scertained by experience, observa-
ton and study, and embodied in
science. The farmer should know
something of the origin, texture
and elemental composition of his
soils, and their relation to ma
nures, and the relation of both to
his crops. He must also have some
acquaintance with the nature and
processes of plant growth, and with
the conditions under which, the
means by which and the limita-
tions within which, these may be
changed and modified. And SO
also he must not be ignorant of
those principles of zoology, which
will enabled him to develop the
desirable qualities of his domestic
animals, and combat lis enemies
of the insect world. Farming, in
a word, is no longer the simple and
rude process of a half century ago.
: even. 1t has advanced and is ad.
vancing with rapid strides, and ha:
attracted to its service the highest
genius, has subsidized the resource:
of chemistry, botany and zoology
} and called into requisition The
t highest inventive ingenuity. The
I North Carolina farmnr who nr0