BEING A SERIES OF AGRICULTURAL ESSAYS, PRACTICAL AND POLITICAL: IN SIXTY-ONE NUMBERS. BY COL. JOHN TAYLOR, THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. BALTIMORE: Printed by J. Robinson, FOR JOHN M. CARTER. HARVARD DISTRICT OF MARYLAND, 35. SEAL. BE IT REMEMBERED, That on this Third day of February, in the Forty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America, John M. Carter, of the said District, has deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Proprietor; in the words following, to wit:"Arator; being a series of Agricultural Essays, Practical and Political in sixty-one Numbers.-By Col. John Taylor, of Caroline County, Virginia." In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned." And also to the act, entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned," and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." PHILIP MOORE, PREFACE; BY THE PUBLISHER. THE publisher of the following essays is the first who has offered to the publick patronage, an experimental composition, adapted to the Soil, Climate and Agriculture of the greater portion of the United States; and so far as his knowledge extends, it is the first of the kind which this great district of country has produced. He is not qualified to judge of its merit, and can only infer from its being the work of a successful practical farmer, and not the offspring of interest or theory, that every purchaser will be reimbursed his money many fold. But however this may be, the Publisher respectfully states, that rude inventions have terminated in great publick good and that the deficiency of graphical merit in the agricultural country, for which the composition was intended, is almost as strong a recommendation of this effort towards improvement, as the hieroglyphicks of antiquity, were of those made for the discovery of letters. An encouragement of small improvements is the parent of perfection in every art and science, and as agriculture is the queen of the whole circle, the Publisher has thought it his duty to give the publick an opportunity of awakening better talents and greater exertions, for occupying the extensive space between its present and a desirable condition. The United States have been charged with a dearth of original compositions. Their reach of European books is the reason of the fact, so far as it extends to moral subjects; whilst the multitude, novelty and usefulness of their mechanical inventions, repels an insinuation, that it arises from a want of genius or industry. The strongest ground of the charge is, the deficiency of native books upon agriculture. Whilst the country was fresh, it was natural for the inhabitants to neglect the subject in the midst of abundance; but its evident impoverishment, ought to have suggested to us the necessity of native remedies for local errours; and the incongruity of English books upon agriculture, with the climates, soils and habits of the United States. This incongruity by drawing ridicule upon imitators, too often extinguishes a patriotick ardour, and checks instead of advancing im provement. If the book now offered to the publick should have no other good effects but those of suggesting the necessity of writing for ourselves on the subject, and introducing some taste for such discussions, the compensation to the Publisher for his labour will be amply repaid. To this taste, the agriculture of Europe in general, and of Britain in particular, is indebted for a vast improvement within the last century, and a similar spirit in the United States will undoubtedly produce similar effects. Every class of men will be benefitted by it. The Merchant will receive more produce, and sell more goods. The demands upon the Manufacturer will extend to more and finer commodities. Lawyers and Physicians will have richer clients and patients, and receive better fees. The Politician may find more resources for defending his country, maintaining her independence and rewarding patriotism. The Printers will sell more books and newspapers. And the Farmer, though the fountain from which all these benefits must flow, as receiving first the fruits of improvement, will make them subservient to his own happiness, before he diffuses them to advance the happiness of others. A tendency to shed prosperity over all these classes, has some claim to general encouragement, and whilst the Publisher respectfully solicits the publick patronage on this ground, he also confidently hopes, that a considerable portion both of amusement and information will be found in the following sheets. ARATOR, NUMBER 1. THE PRESENT STATE OF AGRICULTURE. I SHALL consider in a succession of short essays, the present state of agriculture in the United States, its oppressions and defects, and the remedies, political and domestick, which it needs. It is confessed, however, that the chief knowledge of the author, as to modes of agriculture, is confined to the states of Maryland, Virgi nia and North-Carolina. And therefore, whilst his remarks in relation to its political state, will generally apply to the whole union, those in relation to these modes, will particularly apply to all states using slaves, or to the three enumerated states. Mr. STRICKLAND, an Englishman, reputed to be sen sible and honest, published at London in the year 1801,.. a pamphlet upon the agriculture of the United States, being the result of his own observation, during a consi-derable period spent in travelling through the country, for the special purpose of investigating it. The judgment of this impartial stranger appears in the following quotations-Page 26: "Land in America affords little pleasure or profit, and appears in a progress of conti-nually affording less."-P. 31: "Virginia is in a rapid decline."-P. 38: "Land in New-York, formerly producing twenty bushels to the acre, now produces only ten.-P. 41: "Little profit can be found in the present mode of agriculture of this country, and I apprehend it to be a fact that it affords a bare subsis-tence." P. 45: "Virginia is the southern limit of my inquiries, because agriculture had there already arrived to its lowest state of degradation."-P. 49:. "The land |
