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Clpnick & Sentinel
PUBLISHED DAILY AND WEEKLY,
BY W. S. JONES.
FBIOAY MOKN’Gj DEO. 21, 1860.
Agricultural Resources of Georgia.
ADDRESS
Before the Cotton Planter*’ Convention
of Georgia, at I*lacon, Dec. 13, 1860.
BY JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
Chemist of the. Association, and Professor of M li
r-'l Chemistry in the Medical College of Georgia
at Augusta.
H ,. President, Officers and Members of the Cotton
planters’ Convention of Georgia, Friends and
Fellow-Citizens :
The learned Pliny in his great work upon Na
tural History, pleaded the cause ot the Earth,
even with Romans ; and felt it to be his duty as
well as his honor, to become the advocate of her
upon whom alone of all parts of nature we have
bestowed the uame which implies maternal vene
ration, for she is the common parent of us all,
receiving us at our birth, nourishing us when
born,-and ever afterward supporting us, and final
ly v/lien we are rejected by the rest ot nature she
embraces us in her bosom, and covers us with
especial fender ness.
If this great man who comprehended all the
sciences and learning of his time, thought in not
unnecessary to arouse the interest of Roman agri
culturists, and to defend their noble calling by
showing that the earliest surnames were derived
from agriculture, and that the various ranks and
distinctions of state had no other origin than the
pursuit of agriculture, and by reminding them
that in the earlier aud more fertile and virtuous
periods of Rome, the lands were tilled by the
hands of generals, and the soil exulted beneath
the plough-shear crowned with laurels, and guided
by husbandmen graced with triumphs—if the
Roman censor Cato, the violent opponent of luxu
ry and dissipation, and the sternest of ancient
moralists, thought it not beneath his dignity to
to defend ths agricultural population as producing
the bravest men, the most valiant soldiers, and a
class of citizens the least given of all to evil de
signs : surely the present attempt to advocate the
claims of the earth, and to incite and encourage
and defend her cultivators, imperfect, feeble and
humble though it be, will net seem unnecessary.
The citizens of Georgia need not the examples
of the past, great and illustrious though they be,
to incite them to the defence and cultivation of
the noblest aud most virtuous of all employments
—they have but to look to the benevolent founders
of the colony of Georgia, who may well challenge
the respect of the world, in their noble and gene
,rous designs und efforts to found a colony of active
and enlightened and virtuous agriculturists, who
should not only reclaim the dense forests and
swamps from nature, but should also reclaim the
still darker aud wilder savages.
iJ # Yhe motto “Non sibi sed aiiis,” which graced
the Colonial seal of Georgia, well expressed the
disinterested and noble zeal of these noble men,
who expended their time, labor, money and lives,
for the good of others, reserving for themselves
no other reward than that of approving con
sciences, and the gratification of \irtuous ac
tions.
And here w r e caunot refrain from quoting the
testimony of an eye witness to the efforts of these
foundersof the Colony of Georgia, to establish an
enlightened system of agriculture, for it will afford
pleasant and profitable materials of reflection to
Agriculturists of the present day.
Francis Moore, in the year 1735, two years after
the first settlement of Georgia, and one hundreds
and twenty-five years ago, thus describes the gar
den established near Savannah by the Trustees,
for the use of the first settlers of Georgia, and
the development and encouragement ot a scientific
system of agriculture :
•‘There is near the town, (Savannah) to the
east, a garden, belonging to the Trustees, consist
ing of ten acres; the situation is delightful—one
half of it is upon the top of a hill, the foot of
which the river Savannah washes, and from it
you see the woody islands in the sea. The remain
der of the garden is the side, and some plain low
ground at the foot of the hill, where several fine
springs A breuk out. In the garden is variety of
* soils ; the top is sandy aud dry, the sides of the
hiil are clay, and the bottom is a black rich gar
deu mould, well watered. On the north part of
the garden is left standing a grove ot a part of the
old wood, as it was before the arrival of the Colo
ny there. The trees in the garden are mostly
Bay, Sassafras, Evergreen Oak, Pellitory, Hick
orv, American Ash and Laurel Tulip.
‘‘ The garden is laid out with cross-walks plant
ec with orange trees, but the last winter, a good
deal of snow having fallen, had killed those upon
the top of the hill, down to their roots, but they
being cut down sprouted again, as I saw when
I returned to Savannah.
“In the squares between the walks were vast
quantities of Mulberry trees, this being a Nursery
for all the Province, and every planter that de
sires it, has young trees given him gratis from
Nursery. Thosejwhite Mulberry trees were plant
ed in order to raise silk, for which purpose several
Italians were brought, at the expense of the Trus
tees, from Piedmont, by Mr. Amatis; they have
fed worms, and wound silk to as great perfection
as any that ever carao out of Italy. But the Ital
ians falling out, one of them stole away the ma
chines for winding, broke the coppers, and spoil
ed all the eggs, which he could not steal, and fled
to South Carolina. The others who continued
faithful, had saved but a few eggs when when Mr.
Oglethorpe arrived, therefore he forbade any silk
should be wound, but that all the worms should
be suffered to eat through their balls, in order to
have more eggs against next year. The Italian
women w r ere obliged to take English girls appren
tices,*whom they teach to wind and feed; and the
meD nave taught our English gardeners to tend
the Mulberry trees, and our joyners have learned
to make the machines for winding. i
“Besides the Mulberry tree, there are in some
quarters in the coldest part of the garden, all i
kinds of fruit trees usual in England, such as ap
ples, pears, Ac.
“In auother quartef are olives, figs, vines,
pomegrants and such fruits as are natural to the
warmest parts of Europe.
At the'bottom of the hill, .well sheltered from
the north wind and in the warmest part of the gar
d n, there was a collection of West Indian plants
and trees, some coffee, some cocoa-nuts, cotton,
Paluia-christi, and several West Indian physical
plants, some sent up by Mr. Eveleigh, a public
spirited merchant at Charlestown, and some by
Dr. Houston, from the Spanish West Indies,
where he was sent at the exponce of a collection
raised by that curious Physician Sir Hans Sloan,
for to collect and send them to Georgia, where the
climate was capable of making a garden which
might contain all kinds of plants ; to which design
his Grace the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Der
by, the Lord Peters, and the Apothecary’s Com
pany contributed very generously, as did Sir
Hans himself.
“Thtso quarrels amongst the Italians proved
fatal to most of these plants, aud they were labor
ing to repair that loss when I was there. Mr.
Miller being employed in the room of Dr. Hous
ton, who died in Jamaica. We heard he wrote an
account of his having obtained Ihe plant from
whence the the Balsamum Capivi is drawn ; and
that he was ni hopes of getting that from whence
the Jesuits Bark is taken, lie designing for that
purpose to send to the Spanish West Indies.
“1 here is u plant of Bamboo Cane brought from
the East, Indies and sent over by Mr. Towers,
**hich thrives well
“There were also some Tea-seeds, which came
from the same place ; but the latter, though great
care was taken, did not grow.”
A vovage to Georgia begun in the year 1835,
Ac., by Francis Moore—London 17-14.
From these statements of Francis Moore, we
see that .the founders of the colony oi Georgia
were equal too, yea far ahead of the Agriculturists
of the present day, iu their enlightened efforts to
introduce the most important products of all
countries, and to establish an enlightened system
of Agriculture in Georgia.
The founders of the colony of Georgia endeavor
ed to introduce the cultivation of the great
staple of the South fifty years before its
successful cultivation ; and within two years after
the settlement of the colony, these enlightened
Agriculturists had experimented wita Tea and
Coffee and the Vine, which are only just now re
ceiving attention at the haifds of Southern Agri
culturists. s’
It has been announced as our duty as well as
our privilege and honor,/ to consider upon the
present occasion the Agricultural resources of
Goo r</ia.
In the brief space of time now at my command,
lean no nothing more than present the most
general views.
Georgia has been divided by the hand of na
ture into three zones, with very distinct geologi
cal, zoological, climatic, botanical and Agncul
tural features.
First, the lowest and what may be called the
tropical zone, commencing in a chain of islands
ana rising by a very slow acclivity from the At
lantic Ocean to an elevation of from 10 to 30 feet,
io bounded at the distance of 30 miles from the
Atlantic Ocean by another more elevated plain,
differing in the structure of its soil and in the
character of its vegetation
In the first low plain, which may well be termed
the tropical zone, there are numerous swamps,
clothed with a most luxuriant and imposing vege
tation —the tall cypress, tho splendid magnolia
grandifloru, the majestic live oak with its mossy
boughs, the luxuriant sweet gum and tupulo, anil
the impenetrable canebrakes, indicate not only
the fertility of the soil, but the warmth and mois
ture of the cjimate.
These swamps discharge their waters into short,
deep, sluggish streams, and increasing in breadth
from their juuctioii with the rivers and interlock
ing with each other form a chain across Georgia
and Carolina to the Neuse in North Caroliua, and
southward again aiiong the Atlantic border into
Florida. Ihe Boil of the river bottoms and
swamps and marsfaes, consists of a rich deposit of
vegetable matter, mixed with varying proportions
of sand and clay, sometimes alternately with beds
of marl and sand : this clay deposit varies in
depth from 5 to 5$ feet, and contains buried deep
beneath the surface supporting the present luxu
riant growth, the stumps of pine, cedar, oak cy
preas and other trees; and in some localities, as
upou’Skiddawey Island and HyneFs Bridge,'near
Savannah, and on the Brunswick Canal, between
the Altamuha and Turtle Rivers, bones of the me
gatherium, a gigantic sloth, and of extinct varie
ties of the horse, and other extinct animals simi
lar to those found in the Pampas of South Ameri
ca, an analogous formation the borders of
the Atlantic Ocean.
The existence of these remains of ancient for
ests, deeply buried beneath the present surface,
together with the bones of these extinct auimals,
associated with sea shells identical with those
uow inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean, prove conclu
sively that this portion of Georgia has not only
been but recently reclaimed from the sea, but has
been subjected to successive elevations and de
pressions ; and there are facts to 6how that the
sea coast of Georgia and South Carolina is now
slowly settling, and if this continues many rich
and valuable plantations will, in the process of
time, be covered by the waters of the Atlantic.
This rich soil, formed from the washings of
Upper Georgia, brought down by numerous riv
ers aud deposited in a shallow sea with a level
bottom, is not only characterized by the tropical
aspect of the palmetto, Spanish bayonet, tall
feathery cypress, aud glorious magnolia, but to
the agriculturist it is specially characterized as
the peculiar region for the successful cultivation
of rice and long staple cotton. Notwithstanding
the great aud inexhaustible fertility of these in
lands swamps, they are less cultivated now than
formerly, and the population of this region has
scarcely increased at all during the last sixty
years. \\ e may, in these swamps, see every
where the marks of formor cultivation—old em
bankments covered with large trees, and the en
closed lands which were once clothed with golden
rice, now support dense forests of cypress, tupulo
and gum ; and the once deep and broad canals,
which were used by the ancients to drain these
swamps, are now covered with trees and choked
up with trunks and limbs of aead trees and ac
cumulated sediment.
The sagacious American traveller, William
Bartram, thus describes the appearance of St.
John’s Parish, now Liberty county, in the year
1773, tw r o years before the Revolutionary war.
‘jObedient to the admonitions of my attendant
spirit curiosity, as well as to gratify the expecta
tions of my worthy patron, I again set oil’ on my
Southern excursion, and left Sunbury in company
with several of its polite inhabitants who were
going to Medway meeting, a very large and well
constructed place of worship in St. John’s Parish,
where I associated with them in religious exercise
and heard a very excellent sermon delivered by
their pious and truly venerable pastor, the Rev.
Osgood.
“This respectable congregation is independent,
and consists chiefly of families and proselytes to
a flock, which tl is pious man led, about forty
years ago, from South Carolina, and settled in
this fruitful district. It is about nine miles from
Sunbury to Medway Meeting House, which stands
on the high road, opposite the Sunbury road. As
soon as the congregation broke up 1 resumed my
journey, proceeding down the high road towards
Fort Barrington on the Altamaha, passing through
a level country, well watered by large streams,
branches ot Medway and Newport Rivers, cours
ing from extensive swamps and marshes, their
sources ; these swamps are daily clearing and im
proving into large, fruitful rice plantations, ag
grandising the well inhabited and rich district of
St. John’s Parish.
“The road is strait and spacious and kept in
excellent repair by the industrious inhabitants,
and is generally bordered by tall and spreading
trees as the magnolia, liquid amber, litiodendron,
catalpa and live oak, and on the verges of the
canals where the road was causewayed, stood the
Cyprus, lacianthus and magnolia, all planted by
nature and left standing by the virtuous inhabi
tants, to shade the road and perfume the sultry
air.
“The extensive plantations of corn now in early
verdure, decorated here and there with groves of
floriferous and fragrant trees and shrubs, under
the cover and protection of pyramidal laurels and
plumed palms, which now and then break through
upon the sight from both sides of the way as we
pass along ; the eye at intervals stealing a view
1 at the humble but neat and elegant habitation of
the happy proprietor,amidst arbours and groves all
day, and moonlight nights tilled with the melody
of the cheerful mock-bird, warbling nonpareil
and plaintive turtle dove, altogether present a
view of magnificence and joy inexpressibly charm
ing and animating.”
These statements of Bartram with reference to
the extensive cultivation of rice in the early his
tory of this section of Georgia are substantiated
by facts which I have already alluded to and by
the exports of Georgia at that period.
The great value of these rice lands, appears to
have been most thorough’ understood by Gov.
James Wright, who, by the successful manage
ment and cultivation of the low lands and swamps
of Georgia, not only acquired a large fortune, but
also by his successful example promoted at once
emulation and industry amongst the planters.
In 1763, the exports of Georgia consisted of
75,000 barrels of rice, 9,533 lbs., of indigo, 1,250
bushels of Indian corn, which together with deer
and beaver skins, naval stores, provisions, timber
Ac., amounted to £27,021 sterling.
In 1772, the exports from Georgia in 217 ves
sels, amounted to £121,677 sterling, and consisted t
in large measure of rice.
The introduction of cotton produced not only a
marked effect upon the cultivation of rice, but
upon the Agriculture and political position and
commercial^elutions of the .State.
Previous to the year 1783, cotton yvus not culti
vated in Georgia as an article of commerce ; in
this year, Richard Leake made an extensive and
successful experiment with this new staple, and
in 1789, John Milledge, Josiah Tatnall and a rice
planter of Liberty county, Mr. Gignelliat made
successful and extensive experiments with cotton.
The cultivation of cotton increased greatly, in
1790, 20,000 pounds of ginned cotton were brought
to the Savannah market, and in the year 1796,
1,700,000 pounds were produced. This increased
culture ot cotton, excited by its greater certainty
and greater profit, led the rice planters to aban
don to a great extent, the less certain and less
profitable cultivation of the inland swamps.
The great difficulty in the cultivation of these
! inland swamps, is the uncertainty of the supplies
of water —in dry weather, it is impossible to ob
tain a suflicieut supply of water, and in wet
weather, it is impossible to draw off the water
,rom the rice fields, and upon many places as
large a proportion as one crop in four, is lost by
I one or other of these causes,
i Front nty own personal experience in planting
one of these inland swamps, I am perswaded that
the great measure to re tder them safe, is the con
struction of large canals, which yvill allow a free
exit of the waters during freshets.
These canals cannot be dug without increased
labor, and as the laboring force in this section of
the State will not be increased until the tide of
emigration to other newer and more easily culti
vated portions of the State is arrested, many
years must elapse before these immense bodies of
lands with their iucxhuastible fertility will be
brought under thorough cultivation.
Notwithstanding that the population of the low
country of Georgia has remained stationary for
half a century, and notwithstanding that there are
thousands of acres of most valuable land lying
idle ; still, it is a pleasing thought to the Agricul
turists of Georgia, that the jpereasiug population
of Georgia alter all the new lands shall have been
cleared up and settled, will, in this fertile region,
with its tropical climate, so favorable to a dense
vegetation find a wide field for action, and will
moreover, find that this is the garden spot of Geor
gia.
The great enemy of the white man in these re
gions is the climate —no white man can ever work
with impunity in this climate—no race but the
African can ever stand the burning heat and fatal
miasms of the Rice fields, and ot the Cotton fields;
and it is worthy of note that the first attempt to
establish African slavery in Georgia, originated
in this section of tlie State—and especially worthy
of note that the reasons which led the citizens of
Savannah and the surrounding country, to peti
tion the Trustees of tho colony of Georgia, to in
troduce negroes, still exists, in spite of Che rav
ings of dishonest abolitionism.
The freeholders in the county of Savannah,
finding that it required an immense expenditure
ot physical labor to clear the river swamp lands,
covered with a dense forest—finding that the air
of the swamps was lo ded with poisonous quali
ties, which generated disease, which, if not fatal,
ended in debility aud entire destruction of the
constitution—finding that the cultivation of the
pine lands was not productive, and finding that
alter the severe labor, exposure, aud iil health of
several years, they were unable to provide even a
coarse common subsistance for themselves and
families, addressed an earnest appeal to the Trus
tees of the Colony of Georgia, in the year 1738.
That I have not misrepresented the freeholders
of Savannah, will be evident from the following
quotation from their petition :
“We have most of us settled in this colony, iu
pursuance of a description and representation of
it by you in Britain, and from the experience of
residing here several years, do find that it is im
possible the measures hitherto laid down for ma
king it a colony can-sueeecd.
“None of all those who have planted their lands,
have been able to raise sufficient produce to main
tain their families in bread kind only, even though
as much application aud industry have been ex
erted to bring it about, as could be done by men
engaged in an affair, in which they believe the
welfare of themselves and posterity so much de
pend, and which they imagine must require more
than ordinary pains to make it succeed ; so that
by the accumulated expenses every year of provi
sions, clothing, medicine, Ac., lor themselves,
families, and servants, several of them have ex
pended all their money, nay even run consider
ably in debt, and so have been obliged to leave off
planting, ami making further improvements; and
those who continue are daily exhausting more
and more* their money, and some daily increas
ing their debts, without a possibility of being re
imbursed, according to the present constitution.
“This being now the general state of the Colo
ny, it must be obvious that people taunot subsist
by their land according to the present establish
ment ; and this being u truth resulting from trial,
patience and “experience, cannot be contradicted
by any theoretical scheme of reasoning. #
We do not in the least doubt but that in time
silk and wine may be produced here, particularly
the former ; but since the cultivation of rice lands
with white servants only, cannot raise provisions
for our families, as before mentioned, therefore it
is likewise impossible to carry on these manufac
tures according to the present constitution. * * *
“ Your honors, we imagine, are not insensible
of the numbers that have left this Province, net
being able to support themselves auy longer, and
those still remaining, who have money ol their
own and credit with their friends, have laid out
most of the former in improvements, and lost the
latter, by doing it on such precarious titles; and
upon account of the present establishment, not
above two or three pfersons, except those brought
on charity, and servants sent by you, have come
here for the space of tyvo years past, either to
settle land or encourage trade, neither do we hear
of any such likely to come, until we are on better
terms.**
“ We do, from a sincere regard to its welfare,
and iu_duty to both you and ourselves, beg leave
to solicit your immediate consideration to tne fol
lowing causes of our misfortunes and the deplora
ble state of the country ; aud which we are cer
tain, if granted, would be an infallible remedv to
both :
.“.The want and use of negroes, with proper
limitations ; which, if granted, would both induce
great numbers of white people to come here, and
also render us capable of subsisting ourselves by
raising provisions upon our lands, until we could
make some produce from it for exportation, and
in some measure to balance our importation.
“ We are very sensible of the inconveniences
and mischiefs that have already aud do daily arise
from the unlimited use of negroes ; but vve are
as sensible that these might be prevented by a
proper limitation, such as so many to such a
quantity of land, or in any other manner which
your honors shall think.most proper.
“ By granting us, gebtlemeu, these particulars,
and such other privileges as his Majesty’s most
dutiful subjects in America enjoy, you will not
only prevent our impending ruin, but we are fully
satisfied, also, will soon make this the most flour
ishing colony possessed by his Majesty in Ameri
ca, and your memories will be perpetuated to all
future ages, our latest posterity sounding your
praises us their first founders, patrons and guar
dians ; but if, by denying us these privileges, we
ourselves and families are not only ruined, but
even our posterity likewise ; you will always be
mentioned as the cause and authors of their mis
fortunes and calamities, which we hope will never,
never happen.”
Notwithstanding that this petition of the free
holders of .Savannah was refused by the trustees
of the colonj’ of Georgia, and notwithstanding
that it was followed by counter petitions against
the establishment of slavery iu the colony from
the Highlanders of Darienjand the Saltzburghers
of Ebenezer, slaves were continually introduced
into the colony of Georgia, and agriculture ad
vanced, and wealth and commerce increased, in
exact proportion to the increase of slaves.
Without this race, which alone of all ruces is
capable of bearing with impunity, and in t*ct
thriving better in our hot and sickly climate than
iu the most healthy climates to the white race, the
great staples of the South could not be cultivated ;
and not only would millions of now wealthy aud
happyjinhabitants be brought to absolute poverty
aud starvation, but the African would have himself
remaiued in the deepest degradation of ignorance,
vice and superstition, defended from alt inter
course and shrouded in the deepest darkness, by
<his own inhospitable climate.
It is worthy of record by the side of these facts,
that this section which was first to introduce
slavery, was also the first to preach the truths of
the gospel to the slave ; and there now lives in
this region a devoted minister of the gospel, who
has for one quarter of a century, devoted his time,
talents to the religious instructionjof
the negroes, with no other reward than that of an
approving conscience, and who alone has accom
plished more real good to the African race than
ail the abolitionists in the world.
The second zone of Georgia extends from the
one just described, in aoiortberly direction up to the
falls of the rivers, and is bounded upon the North
by a line passing through the cities of Augusta,
.Macon and Columbus. The Southern portion of
this zone is elevated 70 feet above the tropical
zone, ar.d after maintaining this elevation for
thirty miles it rises again abruptly to a similar
height, and then gradually rises to the commence
ment of the primitive region which constitutes
the third zone.
The lir>t piain is composed of sandy soil, and
is covered chiefly by the long leaf pine and scrub
oak. This portion of Georgia will never support
a dense population, and will be valuable chiefly
for its timber. The northern, western and south
western portions of this zone are more fertile, the
soil contains more clay and in m%ny places rests
upon the joint clay which belongs to the Burr
stone formation,'which 1 have shown to be re
markably rich iu Phosphate of Lime.
This joint clay, and in fact the whole country is
underlaid by the Eocene lime formation, which
may always be reached at a depth varying from
10 to 60 feet beneath the surface, and which in
many places is exposed where the Joint clay has
been washed off by the denudations of former
deluges.
This Eocene lime formation contains inexhaus
tible stores of lime and of Phosphate of lime and is
capable of supplying the State with lime for Archi
tecture and Carbonate and Phosphate of lime for
agriculture in inexhanstilbe quantities for unnum
bered ages.
The value of these marls and shell liinestono
lias been developed in my recent report to
your honorable body, and I will merely stale that
in an ordinary application of these calcareous
manures, we apply more phosphate of lime than
is contained in a most liberal application of the
very best phosphatic manures; und further,
that, the value of lime in agriculture has been
established by the best and most reliable Agricul
turists from the days of the learned Pliny to the
present t.me—iu England the experience of Agri
culturists has been that the majority of soils cau
not be cultivated with advantage until they are
dressed with lime, which forms the basis of all
good husbandry: the predictions of Baron Liebig
us to the value of the fossil lime formations of the
chalk and ghault of England are now being veri
fied ; the celebrated Chemist of tho Royal Agri
cultural Society of England, Prof. Way, is now
conducting an elaborate series of experiments
upon the action of lime upon English soils, which
demonstrates conclusively its great and absolute
value in agriculture; Prof. Philip Tyson, oo.Mary
land, in his report of tbe last year, affirms that
the farmers of many portions of Maryland, who
had abandonee Mail for Commercial Phosphatic
manures, are now returning to the Marl and aban
doning Guanos ; within the past week the dis
tinguished Southern statesman and Agriculturist,
Senator Hammond, of South Carolina, has re
buked an attempt to decry the value of marls and
shell limestone of Georgia, and affirms his expe
rience “that in a good crop year, marl judiciously
applied, would increase the crop 100 per cent., iu
an ordinary year, 50 per cent.,” and in the num
ber of the Southern Cultivator iust now being
issued, its learned editor, C. W. Howard, has
brought forward reliable tistimony to the great
value ol'lirne upon Georgia’s soil —whoever, there
fore, attempts to decry these inexhaustible sources
of fertility, is an enemy to the planters of Geor
gia, and must be either grossly ignorant or else
actuated by improper motives.
In addition to these inexhaustible deposits of
shell limestone and marl in this section ot the sec
ond zone, there are beds of the most superior
of kaolin, capable of furnishing material of the
finest quality for China ware ; aud in the future,
when Georgia is independent of the North,
and developes her manufactories as well as
her agriculture and her commerce, her China
wares will rival those of Europe and Asia.
Here, are also found inexhaustible quurries of
the finest burr-stone, which has upon trial prov
ed equal and in some respects superior to the
French burr mill stones.
We turn uow to the third zone, which includes
all (hat portion of the State which lies north of
the line which connects the cities of Augusta,
Milledgeville, Macon and Columbus.
The justly celebrated argillaceous soils of this
zone which have resulted from the decomposition
of the granites and slates, are not only’ richly en
dowed with all tho elements of fertility, and es
pecially with that most valuable element, potash,
which has such a controlling effect upon vegeta
tion, and which, m these soils, has been derived
from the decomposing feldspathic rocks; but un
der a proper system of “culture, arc capable of
being maintained in their primitive state of fer
tility and of yielding abundant harvests which
will correspond in luxuriance to tho magnificent
forests of Black Walnut, Chesuut, Hickory, Elm,
Red Cedar, short leafed Pine, Black Oak, Red
Oak and Spanish Oak, which adorned this soil in
its virgin fertility.
With a rich and under a proper system of cul
ture an inexhastible soil—with the purest water
and the healthiest climate in the world—with an
elevation of 35U feet, upon the Southern border,
aud more than 2,<>00 feet in the Northern moun
tainous regions, affording inexhaustible supplies
of water, with the requisite falls and water power
for thousands of manufactories—with the cool
bracing and delightful and fertile vallies of the
Etowah and Chattahoochee rivers, so rich in mine
rals and so favorable to the culture of wheat and
the grape—with inexhaustible mines, of gold,
iron, copper, manganese and many other mine
rals—with inexhaustible quarries of slate, granite,
marble, limestone and sandstone for architectural
purpose;;—with rich mines of coal the wealth of
which has not yet even been conjectured—with
extensive regions of country, yielding the diamond
and other precious stones —with mineral springs
of the greatest medicinal value—with scenery,
which will compare either in its grandeur or its
beauty, its softness or its sublimity, with any in
the world, this zone is destined not merely to af
ford a rich field to a teeming and busy popula
tion, and to present a scene of the busiest and
happiest and most successful industry ; but it is
destined under anew and independent form of
government, of supplying the entire South, with
the most delightful watering pluces, equalling in
climate and suppussing in scenery the most
fashionable and frequented watering places of the
North, and we may add even of Europe, and of
supplying the entire South with manufactured
articles, with cotton and woolen goods, with Rail
road iron, with arms and ammunition, und with a
thousand other articles for which she is uow de
pendent.upon England and the North—it is des
tined nuclei- anew and improved form of govern
ment to support splendid seats of learning and
science, which, in tfie course time, will rival those
of Cambridge and Oxford —it is destined under a
new add improved system of government to re
alize what should be the golden dream of every
true hearted Georgian, the independence of his
State, in all that constitutes the true wealth, pow
er, dignity and happiness of a people, and the mu
tual depence and inalienable union and friendship
of the different sections, by a mutual interchange
of the products of labor.
In view of the inexhaustible resources of this,
our noble State, which in its Southern extremity,
has a climate suitable to the cultivation of long
staple cotton, sugar cane, rice, indigo, theorange,
olive, pomegranate, date, lemon, and palm; whilst
in the northern mountaious regios, the climate is
fully eight degrees colder and is favorable to the
cultivation of wheat, apples, and the grape, and
thus affords a field lor the successful cultivation
of every agricultural product cultivated upon the
North American continent; we may well ask the
question whether the agriculturists of Georgia
have improved aright these great natural advan
tages? If we attempt to decide this question by
an examination of the increase of her population,
we will find :
Ist. The rate of the decennial increase of the
entire population of Georgia, has progressively
diminished from 1790 to 1860.
2d. The population of the first settled counties
in the Southeastern portion of the State, has re
mained stationary in most of the counties for the
last fifteen years, in some there has been a slight
increase, whilst in others there has been an actual
decrease of population.
3d. The population of the earliest settled coun
ties of middle Georgia, has in most cases pro
gressively decreased for many years past.
4th. The population of the newly settled coun
ties of middle and northern Georgia, notwith
standing the rapid increase in the first years of
the settlement of this section of the State, is now
becoming stationary iu some counties, and in a
few counties has already commenced to decrease.
sth. The counties of the Northeastern portion
of the State, the geological formations of which
are more recent than middle Georgia, aud older
than those of the cretaceous and tertiary forma
tions of Georgia, have been but recently settled,
and iu most cases are rapidly increasing, and it
is, therefore, at the present time impossible to
say what the limits of the population will be—es
pecially as the soil contains more lime than twiy
other portion of Georgia, apd appears to be inex
haustible under culture.
Bth. The counties of the South-western portion
of the State, embracing the cretaceous and more
recent Eocene lime formations, like the counties
of North-western Georgia, have been but recently
settled, and are rapidly increasing by emigration
from the older counties of the State, and it is im
possible to assign at the preseut time, the proba
ble limits of the population with any degree of
certainty. We may, however, from a careful re
view of the rapid increase of population, and from
a consideration of the resources of the soil of
North-western and South-western Georgia, affirm
that under the same exhausting and reckless sys
tem of agriculture which has been pursued in the
older counties, the population of these portions of
tho State will, iu the course of fifty years, reach
its culminating point, and the tide will then flow
to the rich lands of newer States.
If we examine these facts collectively, and en
deavor to determine their causes, we will find
that the main cause, which is of far greater im
portance than emigration, changes of climate and
seasons, the value of produce and many other
causes is that system of agriculture which takes
for granted that soils are inexhaustible, and which
has regarded alone the interests of the acting
generation.
The lands of Middle Georgia, which at the time
of their original settlement were clothed with
dense and magnificent forests, and covered with
the accumulated mould of thousands of years, aud
which yielded most luxuriant and profitable crops
of cotton and corn to the early cultivators, who
imagined that the soils would last forever without
either rest or manure, and without any attention
to hill-side ditching and plowing, now preseut
the monotonous and dreary spectacle of barren
red clay hills, barely supporting stunted crops of
cotton, struggling to lift its fruit a few inches
above the hot and barren ground and avoid the
pelting of the sand, hardly saving the reputation
of the planter from the charge of sanded cotton.
These bald red clay hills, marred by deep fur
rows and yawning red gullies, and by deserted
dilapidated houses, with their diseased, half-dead
fruit trees, will long remain monuments of that
system of agriculture, which has disregarded the
value of the vegetable deposits of ages, and which
has had for its great object the enrichment of the
living generation, regardless of the interests 6f
future generations.
jj JThe same result has followed the same system
ot culture in the Southern portion of Georgia, the
ejects, however, are not so patent to the eye,
because the country is level, and because the riv
ers afford in- exhaustible supplies of organic and
mineral matters to the rice plantations.
It remains to be demonstrated, whether not the
fruitful plains of Southwestern Georgia, and the
fertile vallies of Northwestern Ga. will share the
same fate. The great questions to be solved by the
agriculturists of Georgia, are : How can the new
lands of Northwestern and Southwestern Georgia
be preserved in their original fertility ? Are the
native resources of the State adequate to tho re
generation of her exhausted lands and the per
manent preservation of the fertility ot her new
lands ?
Upon the determination of these questions will
depend the future agricultural, commercial and
political progress and importance of Georgia.
If they are ignored by the agriculturist, certain
it is that the lands will steadily be exhausted ;
their value will steadily diminish ; the population
will us steadily emigrate to more lertile regions,
and our State will not attain to that high po
litical and commercial position assigned her in
Providence, by her soil, her climate aud her pro
ductions. if, on the other hand, the resources of
Georgia be carefully developed and employed,
aud the reckless exhaustion of the soil be checked,
and an enlightened system of agriculture be in
augurated, Georgia will be capable of containing
as many inhabitants, black and white, as are now
found in the territory of the fifteen Southern
States, and will, with this teeming population, be
not more thickly settled than Great Britain is at
the present day. If we wish to convince ourselves
of the mighty results which pay be achieved by
an improved system of agriculture, we have only
to compare the present conditions of France aud
England.
In this comparison we shall use the testimony
of a French writer of the highest authority, as
quoted and endorsed by the leading Agricultural
journal of England, and shall use both his mea
sures aud his calculations, that tho greatest accu
racy may be maintained.
No stronger testimony than this of M. Leouce
de Lavergne could be adduced, not merely to
prove the relative conditions of England and
Prance, but more especially to demonstrate that
the commercial, political and intellectual condition
of a State depends upon the condition of the Ag
riculture, for aside from the very high qualifica
tions of this distinguished Agriculturist to draw
such comparisons, he is a Frenchman—a native
of that country, which in the natural gifts of soil
and climate, is far superior to Englund.
And first as to the system of Agriculture pur
sued in France and England.
France has devoted herself too exclusively to
the production of corn crops, which are the im
mediate food of man, without sufficiently consid
ering the means necessary to uphold the fertility
of the soil under this exhausting process.
England, on the contrary, has been led, partly
by the nature of the climate, partly by design, to
take a sort of by-path, which reaches corn crops
through the intervention of green crops; finding,
in the rearing of cattle and the supply of manure
the restorative process which is Deccssary.
The experiment has entirely succeeded, and is
extending itself day by day ; und the remarkable
fact is, that in proportion as the head of cattle
increases the quantity of corn increases also; the
gan in intensity exceeds the loss in extent.—
Thus, on a surface of 31,000,000 of hectares, re
duced to 20,000,000 by the waste lands, the Bri
tish Isles produce more food for animals than the
entire surface of France, of double the extent.
Hence the supply of manure is in proportion three
or four times greater.
The average profile per hectare in France is
6 hectolitres of wheat, about sos rye, nud 1 of
maize, or buckwheat; collectively about 11 hecto
litres. Iu England, 25 hectolitres of wheat (3%
quarters per ucre,) more than double in quantity,
and three times more in saleable value. Scotland
and Ireland at e included in this estimate. If the
comparisons are made with England alone, the
results are far more striking. This little country,
not larger than one-fourth of France, produces
88,000,1/00 of hectolitres of wheat, 16,000,000 of
barley, 34,000,000 of oats. If France produced as
much in proportion, she would product*, deducting
seed, 150,000,000 hectolitres of wheat, 200,000,000
of oats and other grains ; that is at least double
her actual production. Taking all products into
account, animal and vegetable, it appears that the
produce of England, per hectare, nearly doubles
that of France.
The great lesson which these figures teach l>e
youd the disproportion of the result, is the rela
tion of vegetable to animal products.
In France the vegetable products form four
sixths of the whole, and the animal products two
sixths only; showing at first sight an exhausting
cultivation, and ouo at least stationary. In the
United Kingdom the animal products are equal to
tlie vegetable. Thus the animal products alone
ol an English farm, are equal to the entire pro
ducts, animal and vegetable, of a French furm of
the same extent.
The most remarkable feature of British farm
ing, in comparison with that of France, is the
number and quantity of sheep. According to the
statistical returns and estimates, the number of
sheep iu France and iu England, is about equal
—about 35,000,000 of sheep in France and 35,000,-
000 in England. But this apparent equality con
ceals an inequality the most marked. 35,000,000
sheep in the United Kingdom live on 31,000,000
hectares of land ; 35,000,000 of sheep in France
live on 53,000,000 hectares. France, in order to
have as many sheep in proportion as the United
Kingdoms, ought to have 60,000,000.
If the comparison is made with England alone,
the difference is far greater. England feeds 30,-
000,000 sheep on 15,000,000 hectares of land ; that
is proportionally three times as many ns France.
But the great difference is in the quality of the
sheep, upon the breeding aud improving of which,
with a view to early maturity, so much care and
attention has been bestowed. The weight of an
English sheep is twice that of a French sheep ; so
that an English farm on an equal surface gives
six timesas much mutton as a French farm.
Iu the case of cattle, the same care iu breeding
from selected animals in the United Kingdom,
and continually improving the ruces, iu studying
meat-producing qualities and early maturity, has
effected results similar to the results produced in
sheep. France possesses 10,000,000 head of cat
tle, the United Kingdom 8,000,000. In France
three products are demanded from cattle—lubor,
milk, meat; iu England only two—milk and meat.
The yield of these two valuable productions is
materially interfered with, by requiring work also
from cattle. It might appear at first sight, that
the work of cattle could not in an important de
gree, influence the supply of meat, and it is uot
difficult for people to persuade themselves that
labor in utilizing the life of an ox enables meat to
be Bold at a lower price. But experimeent has
proved, that if this is sometimes a truth iu detail,
it is au erroi in the gross. The habit of labor
forms hardy, rigorous races, which like men devo
ted to hard worx, eat much, fatten slowly, deve
lop their bony structures, make little flesh, and
make slowly. The habit of inaction on the con
trary, forms, races, gentle, tranquil, which fatten
early, assume round fleshy forms, and give with
equal food, a far longer yield to the butcher. If
we look to labor, the ox is killed when be has
finished bis task. If we look to meat, the ox is
killed at the moment when lie yields the largest
amount. Cattle in Frabce are killed too young or
too old ; among the 4,000,000 head killed, figure
2,000,000 calves, giving each only 30 kilogrammes
of meat. Those which survive are killed at an
age when the growth has long ceased, i. e., when
the animal has long bec-n consuming nourishment
which has not. added to its weight. In England
on the contrary, animals are killed neither so
young, because in their youth they make the
most meat, nor so old, because then they make
noue. The moment is seized ulieu the animal
has reached his maximem of increase. In France
the number of animals killed annually, is about
4,000,000 head, producing4OO,OOO,oOO kilogrammes
of meat, averaging therefore 100 kilogrammes per
head. Iu the United Kingdom, the number killed
is 2,000,000 producing 500,000,000 kilogrammes of
meat, averaging 250 kilogrammes per head. Thus
with 8,000,009 head of cattle aud 30,000,000 hec
tares of land, britlsh agriculture produces 500,-
000,000 kilogrammes of meat; while France with
10,000,000 head of cattle and 53,000,000 hectares
of land, produces only 400,000 kilogrammes.
(Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England, vol. 17, 1850, p. 35.)
Such wonderful results as these achieved by an
enlightened system of agriculture, should encou
rage the members of this Cotton Planters’ Asso
ciation to persevere iu their attempts to inaugu
rate in Georgia a more perfect system of agncul
tflfre, by employing the experience of the past in
this State, and in every other State and nation in
the world, by inaugurating an enlightened system
of practical experiment, aud by developing 4|l the
native resources of the State, which have been so
bountifully bestowed by a beuificent Providence—
feeling assured that their labors are all iu the right
direction —feeling assured that their labors in the
breadth of the field which they occupy, in the
purity of the motives by which they are prompted,
and in the value of the results which they seek to
accomplish, are destined to obtain the highest of
all rewards, the increased wealth, and happiness,
and power of that class upon which depends the
commercial, social, and political advancement of
our noble State.
If the ancient Romans, so justly celebrated for
learning and courage, regarded the planting of
colonies amongst their noblest works, more glo
rious than wars aud victories ; surely such uu
Association as this, which labors to increase the
prosperity of Georgia, and of the entire South, by
improving imperfect systems of agriculture, re
claiming exhausted lands, preserving virgin lauds
in a state of primitive fertility, by developing na
tive resources, by advocating and sustaining home
manufacturics, and thus setting* in motiou that
circulation of wealth and prosperity which will
continue forever upon our own soil, and for our
own citizens ; and by the establishment ot direct
trade with all parts of the world, and thus pro
moting such an interchange of ideas with all na
tions, as will excite intelligent and profitable ac
tion—surely such an Association is entitled to the
respect ami confidence of virtuous minds.
The Planters of Georgia, and of the entire South,
have at this time the highest incentives to deep
thought aud decided action—the planters of Geor
gia ami of the eutire South, have at this time the
most stirring calls to vigorous and intelligent
action.
A sectional party hus triumphed which has
sworn to subvert our institutions, and excite our
slaves to rebellion andjmurder ; and which would
not merely make us dream of fire, poison, and
murder in our sleep, but would surround us with
a wall of tire, and apply the torch of the incendiary
to our cities, our farm-houses and our dwellings.
Notwithstanding that the South pays more than
fifty millioms of the seventy millions raised an
nually by our government —notwithstanding that
the South, in the distribution of these seventy
millions of dollars looses each year, more than
thirty millions of dollars of the money raised
upon her own soil—notwithstanding that the
South has generously submitted to those arrange
ments by which the North commands the carry
ing trade, and in fact, the entire commerce of the
United States—notwithstanding that the South
employs the North to carry one hundred and
forty-three million dollars of the one hundred and
eighty-eight million dollars of Southern exports,
aud twenty-seven million dollars of the thirty
three million dollars of the direct imports of the
South—notwithstanding that the South purchases
more than sixty million dollars worth of goods
from New England alone—notwithstanding that the
South expends millions upon millions of dollats
upon Northern hotels, Northern watering places,
Northern Railroads and Northern literary and
scientific institution—notwithstanding that the
South during her entire connection with the Gov
ernment of the United States, hus never asked
protection for a single branch of her industrial,
Agricultural or Commercial pursuits—notwith
standing that the South has generously granted
protection to all the departments of Northern in
dustry —notwithstanding all this, the North has
grown brutal upon the generosity of the South,
has become inflated, inflamed, drunk and mad
dened by her success; and now, that she has
doubled us in population and feels herself secure
in numbers, with a combination ot cowardice and
fiendishness and base ingratitude, unknown in the
records of the past, threatens to destroy that in
stitution by which her prosperity has been main
ly achieved—threatens to degrade and desolate
with fire aud swords and poison her generous
and confiding twin sister.
Ttvo courses are before the Planters of the
South :—submission to a sectional, false and base
party, who have not only violated all good faith
and justice, by the nullification of the fugitive
slave law and the passage of most odious liberty
bills; but who have trampled the Constitution of
the United States !n the dust and gloried in the
basest treason—submission to a treacherous and
blood thirsty party, who would not only deprive
you pf your political position and rights in the
National councils aud in the common Territories,
acquired by common blood and common treasure,
but would excite your slaves to rebellion, apply
the torch of the incendiary to your peaceful
dwellings, and poison the very food aud drink of
your wives and children :—or a brave prompt and
full assertion |of your rights peaceably if possible,
but if needs be, at the point of the sword, and at
the mouth of the cannon.
The cry of Union at this time at the South, is
the ci v of submission.
Union with whom? Union with men who are
the sworn enemies of your institutions and nf
your liberties? —union with men who glory in the
thought of debasing the South to a position far
lower than that of Mexico or of St. Domingo !
union with men who have prostituted even the
temples of the most high to the basest political
purposes, to the brazen promulgation of the
blackest treason, and to the preaching of rapine
lire and poison ! —union with men who have ex
cited, armed and deified the rufiians who murder
ed your peaceful citizens !
Submission to what? Submission to the tyran
nical rule of a purely sectional party who would de
grade you to a level lower than that of the native
African !
The moment that the spirit of fanaticism, injus
tice and treason of the North culminated iu the
triumph of the Republican party, by all laws of
nations, by every principle of justice, the com
pact of these free and independent States was
broken; and he who cries Union, to the South,
cries submission to tyranny and anarchy.
With a territory of eight hundred and fifty thou
sand square miles—with more than three thou
sand miles of continental shore line —with four
hundred and fifty thousand square miles suited
to the cultivation of cotton—with the largest body
of land a :d the best climate in the world, and
with the best system of labor that has ever been
devised for the cultivation of the great staple,
which has almost as much for the
civilization of the world as the printing press, and
which controls not only the destinies of the North,
but of England, and we might almost say of the
civilized world—with a population live times as
great as that of the United States at the period
when we gained our National Independecoe—with
a surplus production ot two hundred and fifty
million dollars—with a surplus productiou more
than three times as great as that of the entire
North—with the ability of raising for the support
of her government, fifty millions of dollars by a
system of taxation not greater than that now pur
sued —with command of the Mississippi, with its
forty thousand miles of tributary streams —with
possession of most of the great Mississippi valley,
and with the ability of commanding the whole of
this splendid region which by itself is capable ot
forming t splendid empire of the first magni
tude —with Mexico on the west aud southwest
and Cuba on the south, for the reception of our
surplus population and such an extended cul
tivation of the great stapples, cotton, rice,
sugar and tobacco, as shall meet the increasing
demands of the world ; the South is not only in
dependent of the North in all the elemeuts of
nationality, but if relieved of the unjust oppres
sion of her Northern robbers she will form
the most splendid and powerful empire in the
world.
Is the South dependent upon the North V Is
the South unable to secede ? Has the South any
thing to lose by secession ?
According to the last published official Report
of the Secretary of the Treasury for 1859, the
total value of the Exports of the United States,
from the Ist July 1855 to the SOtfi June 1859, was
$885,894,385, and of this amount a single article
of Southern produce—Cotton—formed $161,434,-
923.
The three great articles of Southern produce,
Cotton, Rice and Tobacco, together form $184,-
717,101’- —nearly two-thirds of the .entire exports
of the United .States.
Os the $151,177,276 remaining, $67,502,805 were
gold and silver bullion ; if we aubstract this <rom
the remainder of the exports, after the subst.'ac
tion of the Cotton, Rice and Tobacco, we have re
maining $93,674,971.
It is fair to assume that the other products ot
the South, sugar, lumber, pitch, tar, turpentine,
hemp and other articles, constitute at the lowest
calculation, one-fourth of these remaining ninety
three million dollars.
This calculation, therefore, gives us only $72,-
756,225 as the value of the exports belonging ex
clusively to the North. The exports of the South
then are more than two hundred million dollars,
and are nearly three times as great as those of the
entire North.
Is the South unable to support an independent
existence? Is the South unable to go to war?
Let us see what the South will lose by asserting
her independence.
The South will lose first and foremost a degrad
ing association under a common gove’-nment, with
those who have plundered and insulted her; the
Sftuth will lose a multitude of trauaicnt school
teachers, professors and preachers, who greet us
with honied words to our faces and behind our backs
distribute incendiary documents ; the South will
lose a multitude of transient merchants and ped
dlers, who come merely to make a fortune by sharp
transactions and miserly accumulations, and then
to retire to colder regions where they may impunity
enjoy their gains, aud villify those who pnly too
easily aud generously allowed them to make their
fortunes ; and abore all, aud this will bo the great-*
est loss, the South will lose the prayers and the
curses of those most devout Ministers, who thank
heaven they “are not as other men are, Slavehold
ers, Mormons and Murderers;” who wax valiant
and fight terrible but bloodless battles with the
South, withiu the close safe walls of their most
comfortable churches; who subscribe most libe
rally for Sharpe’s rifleuand iron pikes to be used
bv men in the destrqctjfbn of their fellow Southern
brothers, hundreds of miles distant; who sym
pathise intensely with the negroes of the South,
wriie incendiary tracts pay liberally the midnight
incendiary and assassin of the Planter, and who
at the same time, disdain to preach the gospel to
or feed the degraded starving negroes in their
very midst.
And what will the South gain by the assertion !
ot her independence V
the South will gain her (commercial as well as
her political independence—the thirty million of !
dollars of which the South is now yearly deprived :
in the collection and distribution of the revenues !
ot the government, will be saved, and her revenue !
which uow to sustain Northern manufacto
ries and Northern ships, will be distributed among
our own citizens, and will be expended in build
mg up Southern manufactories, Southern towns
and Southern commerce.
According to the last published report of the j
Secretary ot the Treasury, the total imports of
the Northern States for the vear ending June
30th, 1859, was *305,812,849, whilst the total im
ports of the Southern States was only $32,955,281,
whilst the exports of the Southern States during
the same period were $200,000,000. If the indtv
pendence of the Southern States was established,
oui Northern factors would be displaced, and more
than $200,000,000 of imports now received at
Northern ports, would enter Southern ports, and
all the duties aud advantages be received where
they of right belong.
During the year ending June 30th, 1859, $143,-
045,445 of the Southern exports were carried in
Northern vessels, whilst only $44,586,212 were
carried in foreign vessels ; during the sathe pe
riod, $27,898,653 of the Southern imports were
brought by Northern vessels, w hilst only $5,006,-
028 were brought by foreign vessels. When the
independence of the South is established, the
North will lose the protection of cuuninglv devised
laws, and will have to enter into competition with
the ships of the world for this cam ing trade.
1 lie Southern patriot should enquire with the
deepest concern—what has become of all this im
mense amount „ol money, annually received by
the South for her great staple products ?
lias her greater production rendered her cor
respondingly greater and more powerful than the
North ? Has the South built more railroads,
erected more factories, aud supported more splen
did seats of learning, thau the North ?
W e are compelled to confess that in all perma
nent, agricultural, industrial and educational im
provements, the North has surpassed the South.
f l he largest proportion of the money received
by the South in exchange for cotton, ripe and to
bacco, has net remained in the South, but has
flowed out lor the protection of the North, and in
the purchase of Northern and English manufac
tured goods, and in the support of Northern cities,
Northern watering places, Northern commerce
and Northern literary and scientific institutions,
Northern authors, Northern papers, journals and
books : the money of the South, therefore, has
not fulfilled its high destiny.
It mutters not what the income of a nation or of
a man may be, if it is all expended abroad, no
permanent benefit will be obtained. Money to be
really useful to the country where it is produced,
must be expended in that country, and must
change hands often amongst Us citizens, aud like
the life-giving and force conveying red particles
of the blood, be diverted into a thousand different
channels, and accomplish a thousand beneficial
results. It must build up aud sustain manufacto
ries, it must circulate iu a never-ending stream
between the agriculturist and the manufacturer —
it must build ships and railroads—it must support
those great institutions of science and learning,
which will react upon the State and return Jiu the
development of her resources and in the scientific
improvement of her agriculture, arts, and mauu
factures a thousand mill.on fold.
It is time that Southern manufactories should
be established and sustained by Southern money
—it is time that this ruinous drain of money should
be stopped—these great and vital results to the
South can be accomplished in no other way than
by establishing her independence. The fire
and sword with which our Northern enemies
threaten us, will prove our ultimate good and
their final etwptry.
Need we attempt to excite the Planters of the
South to action, and to sustain them in their de
termination to assert their independence, by show
ing that England with alMier expression of sym
pathy for our Northern enemies, with all her noly
horror of slavery, imported during the year 1859,
2,086,341 bales of cotton from the South, whilst
from all other sources she received less than
500,000 bales—by show ing that England has three
hundred and fifty million dollars invested in the
cotton manufactories, and four million inhabitants
interested in the cotton trade, and that in 1859
exclusive of the cotton used by her own people
and employed in her woolen manufactories,
$540,408,600 out of $650,503,185, the value of all
her exports for this year were for cotton goods
and cotton yarns?—need we enter into a history
of the manufactures of England, aud show the
powerful and unrivalled influence which the great
staple of the South has had upon the development
of this great nution, and demoustate that England
with all her wealth and power is dependent for
her very existance upon the cotton crop of the
Southern States ?—need we recount the fruitless
expei iinents, and calculate the immense sums ex
pended i y England in her attempts to supply her
self with cotton front he* possessions in Asia,
Africa, and South America, to demonstrate that
she must forever remain the firm ally and defen
der of the South, and the natural and uneompro
miing rival of the North? need we recount the
progressive increase of the consumption of cotton
in France, Belginm, Holland, Germany and Spain
—that in 1859 France exported $22,437,920 worth
of Southern cotton, Belgium $1,155,328, Holland
$1,859,895, Germany $7,321,416, and Spain $7,
222,942 ?—need we picture to you the filthy condi
tion ol the inhabitants of Europe, during the mid
dle ages, and prove that the twenty thousand hos
pitals for.lepers, said by Mathew Paris to have ex
isted in Europe during the middle ages, were
tilled by inmates who were lepers because they
had no changes of clothing, more than any other
cause and were diseased because they were in an
habitually filthy state?—peed we prove that in
sufficient and filthy clothing, more thau any other
cause, produced the terrible epidemics which
committed snch fearful ravages in the middle
ages?—need we point the planters of.the South to
alt these well established facts to prove that their
great staple will prove the greatest blessing to
mankind, will ever prove their strongest defense
against lawless oppression, aud will ever com
mand the navies and armies of the world?
I trust not my countrymen. I believe that the
spirit which animated and fired the hearts of our
noble revolutionary lathers, still inspires your
bosoms, aud that you will need no such facts to
sustain the firm resolve to achieve Southern inde
pendence, peaceably if possibly —but if need be
through fire, carnage aud blood, at any
cost and at auy sacrifice, however dear, re
gardless of every object aud result except the
establishment of your liberties. 1 believe that the
Planters of the South will never rest upon the
navies and armies of any nation, but will appeal
to the God of battles aud summon to the contlict
their own strong arms and brave hearts. )
1 have spoken of these suLjects which interest
us as citizens of the South as they have impressed
themselves upon myself a humble citizen of the
South ; 1 have dwelt upon them because the
effpi ts of this association are not bounded by the
confines of Georgia—we aim to advance the Com
mercial and Agricultural interests of every South
ern State by the establishment of direct trade and
the inauguration of that system of Agriculture
which will preserve the hinds of the South in
a state of permanent fertility.
I have uow completed such u view of the Agri
cultural resources of my native State as the brief
space ot time allotted to this address permitted—
if the picture falls far short of the reality, and if
measures have been urged which are inexpedient,
the errors have been those of the judgement and
not of the feelings—as a descendant of those who
fought and bled and died upon Georgian soil, in
delence of the rights, honor and liberty of Geor
gia and of the original States of the Union, I
drank in with my mothers milk, love veneration
and true loyalty to the Union ot these free aud
independent States ; the first name which l was
taught to revere above all other immortal names
was that of Washington, and the relations which
were inculcated as second only to those with my
creator, were those to the Government pf the
United States : it has been, therefore, with no
ordinary feelings that 1 have for the first time in
my life lifted my voice against this Union—but
when the mother who bore me is dishonored and
her liberties, and her existence as a free indepen
dent and honorable State are threatened, every
ties which binds me to her enemies, even those of
the once proud and glorious Uniqn of the United
States ot America, shall be sundered and fortune
and life pledged to the defence of the sacred
honor and liberties of Georgia.
If upon the present occasion I have in the de
sire to point out the defects, and tendencies of the
present system of agriculture, appeared to dis
parage the power of Georgia, it has been from a
too anxious regard for her future course of pros
perity, honor and glory.
Far he it from me slightiugly of the
resources of my native State at any time ; aud
especially at this time, when resistance—resistance
to insolent oppression and defiant treason, re
sounds throughout her borders.
With a population of more than one million, dis
tributed over fifty-eight thousand square miles—
wit.’ a territory three hundred and twenty-two
milet in length from North to North, extending
from the mild, almost tropical climate of the At
lantic c'ast to the cool bracing climute of the Blue
Ridge mountains ; two hundred and twenty-four
miles in b'eadth from East to West ; watered by
fifty streams which deserve and hold the name of
rivers--with a territory embracing almost every
geological for mation, from the oldest to the moat
recent found i.oon the Western continent; the
primitive and metamorphic non fossiliferous
strata of Middle .nd Northern Georgia, with its
inexhaustible mineral resources ; the older fossi
liferous formations o''North-western Georgia, re
sembling the celebrt.ed wheat district of New
I ork, with its inexhautfible deposits of limestone,
iron, coal, aud other mitarals useful in agricul
ture and the arts ; the e. etaceous formation of
Western Georgia, with itt inexhaustible beds of
green sand and marl; the Eocene litne forma
tion of Southern and Sout. -western Georgia,
with its inexhaustible suppl as of lime and
j phosphoric acid ; the rich alluvial and diluvial
! plains and river bottoms of Southern Georgia—
j with a territory embracing erery variety of soil,
: suitable to the growth and culture of every im
i portant agricultural product, and yielding al
-1 ro ost every mineral useful in tlfe arts and agricul
: ture producing annually five hundred thousand
bales of cotton, and with capabilities of producing
under an improved system of agriculture, and
with an increase of population, two million bales
of cotton—with an annual surplus production of
fifteen million of dollars—with 1160 miles of Rail
roads, which have been built and equipped at an
actual cost of twentv millions of dollars -with 25
bauks in a sound condition, returning during the
last rear $9,025,078, as their taxable stock paid
i in--with 33,345,289 acres of cultivated land, val
ued according to the tax returns of 1860, at
$161,764,955 collars; cultivated by 450,022 slaves,
valued at $302,694,855—with city and town prop
erty, money and solvent debts, merchandise ship
ping, tonnage, stocks, and manufacturies to the
value of $207,832,640— with an increased value of
j land during the past year of $12,217,075, and in
! creased value of slaves during the same period
of $31,074,450 with a balance in her Trea
sury of $274,820, and with n tax upon
slaves aud other property of only 6% cents on the
$lO0 —with a taxable property of $609,589,876,
which if distributed equally amongst the entire
population, adults and children, black and white,
would give to each inhabitant six hundred dol
lars ; and if we were to estimate the absolute and
not the tax value of the property, this sum would
be even greater than one thousand dollars tc each
individual, black and white, man, woman and
child —with fourteen hundred churches, capable
of accommodating half a million ol persons—
with twelve handled primary and public schools
with twelve hundred teachers; fifteen colleges for
males with thirteen hundred students ; twenty
seven colleges and higll schools for females, and
twenty-five hundred female scholars—with fifty
newspapers and pepiodicals —with resources and a
territory capable of supporting with even greater
ease than England supports her dense popula
tion, fifteen millions of inhabitants Georgia has
been and will ever continue tube, if she improves
aright the blessings of Providence, the Empirk
State of the South —Georgia is not only the Em
pire State of the South, but she lias the resources
and the power to maintain her independence with
or without the South, and to form bv herself an
EMPIRE.
£ PEC lA L NO TICES.
in?” .Masonic Notice.—A Oal.eii Meeting of Social Lodge,
No. 1, will be held THIS (Friday) EVENING, 90th Inst., at
7 o’clock.
r.y order of the W. M. DWELLS, Sec’y.
dec2o
JP*-South Carolina Railroad Compny.—Atocbta,
Ga,.Dcc. 20, lfifiO—The Sunday Morning Passenger Trait),
from Augusta to Charleston, Kingsville and Columbia, S. <N,
will be discontinued on and alter SUNDAY MORNING, ‘the
23d hist., untH further notice. H. T. PEAKE,
dec2 -St General Superintendent.
BARRET TANARUS, CARTER & CO..
US’"’ Wholesale and Re!nil Druggists, always having
on hand as LARGE AND WELL SELECTED A STOCK as
any demands require, will sell as low as any one could desire to
purchase. oct2C-dSin
C3?“ Dutch Bulbous Roots !—Now in store, HYA
CINTHS, fqrty choicest varieties; TULIPS, fifteen varieties
GLADIOLUS, four varieties ; CROCUS, seven varieties ;
IMPERIAL., five varieties; LILIES, four varieties; NAR
CISSUS, seven varieties, etc., etc. Just received by
PLUMB & LF.ITNER,
octi-dtf 212 Broad street, Augusta, Ga.
ONION S&TT3
We hate just received our stock of Fresh ONION
SETTS. Dea ! ets supplied as usual.
oct27-swtj|aiil PLUMB A LEITNER.
VThefoUonlug complimentary notice is taken
from the Missouri Democrat:
Immensl Aaouxi of Suffering Relieved bt Takixg
McLean’s Strexgtuenixg Cordial Since the 17th of Au
gust, the following cases have been reported cured ;
105 persons have been cuied of General Debility ;
63 •* “ “ “ Nervous Debility:
23 “ “ “ “ Diseases of the Kidneys;
ISO “ who have been afflicted with various complaints.
Fever, Chronic Diarrhea, Dysentery, Liver Complaint, Night
Sweats, Dyspepsia and Weakness of tLe Digestive Organs,
have been cured, besides a large number from whom we have
not yet heard. .
McLEAN \3 STRENGTHENING CORDIAL AND
BLOOD PURIFIER, is a remedy required by every cne in
the Western and Southern country. It is very pleasant and
agreeable to take, and it can be taken by man, woman or child.
Asa diuretic, it will cure any diseese of the Kidneys or
Bladder, and as an alterative, it ■will purlfv tbe blood, and re
move ail pimples, sores or blotches from the skin.
Try it—_ue drachm is sufficient to convince the most skepti
cat or its wonderful strengthening and invigorating properties
Seejt'.ie advertisement iu another column.
decßd<few2-v
nf Him
Augusta & Savannah Railroad, Dec. 5, 1860-
—Wanted to Hire, Fifty able-bodied NEGRO MEN, to work
on track. Apply to M. O’CONNER, Supervisor, or to
dccS W, C. .TONES, Agent.
sar Notice. —All pertons indebted to me, eitheT by note or
account, will please call and settle, ns, I wish to close up ruy old
bocks, having formed a co-partnership with John C. Chew, on
the IQIU of last month. [oct4-dtll M. J. JONES.
Lunch l Lunch!— The usual popular and substantia
LUNCHES will be served up at the WINTER GARDEN
every day, at 11 A. M. ami 10 P. M. Gentlemen will find
something to suit theirta.,te. nov6 ts
* !• has been currently reported that in most of
the Western cities the “ Town Bell ’ tolls every day at noon
foi the inhabitants to gulp down quinine, as a preventive of
diseases caused by malaria of the climate. Os course, taking
quiaine is a courageous habit, and every new settler is supplied
with the poisonous drug, and Instructed to take it in largo
quantities, if’ lie would escape the Fever and Ague. Every
house hop. its medicine chest filled with"this dangerous stuff,
and as regular ns the hour comes around, so regular do they
gulp it down, as though it was the richest delicacy of the sea
fort. Dr. J. Ilostetter, a Good Samaiitan, knowing the dread
ful effects of quinine upon the human system, when taken with
so much indiscretion, has prepared a compound which ha >, In
ail case-in which it lias been tried, proved a speedy cure for
Fever and Ague, and all other diseases caused by indigestion.
For sale by Druggists and dealers generally everywhere.
declC ddtwlw
B. L. Fahnestock’s Vermifuge.—This medicine
has a ffu-st excellent reputation, not only with the hundreds ot
thousands who have used it, but with the medical faculty
generally, who use it as a prescription in their dally practice.
It deserves its reputation, for where worms exist, it never fails
to remove them lrom the system. declS-d&wtw
CTf Among the many restoratives which nature Las
supplied to relieve the afflictions of humanity, there is no more
favorite one for a certain class of diseases than the “ medicinal
gum” of the Wild Cherry Tree ; but howc-ver valuable it Is, its
power to heal, to soMhe, to relieve, and to cure, is enhanced
ten-fold by scientific and judicious combination with other i>-
gredlents, in themselves of equal worth. This happy mining
exists In that
and a form indeed”
c-f medicine known si
DR. WISTAIt’B BALSAM OF WILD
w hose value In curing Coughs, Colds, Bronchitis, Whooping
Cough, Croup, A;thma, Pulmonary and Incipient
Consumption, is inestimable.
Georgia Testimony,
Certificate of Mr. E. Maussenet, a well.known and highly re
spectable citizen of Macon, Ga. -
, c ... „ , . ~ Macon, Ga., March 19, 1860.
Messrs. S. V.. Fowlc A Cos.:
Gentlemen: Believing In the great virtue of your renowned
Balsam of Wild Cherry, I cheerfully comply with tbe request
of your travelling agent in adding my testimony to the many
which you have already received. I have been acquainted
with this medicine for many years, and hkve always heard it
spoken of in the highest terms. A brother in-law, who at one
time was much reduced with a severe and obstinate cough, was
restored by it, after other remedies had failed. I have also
used it for myself and children for obstinate coughs and coids,
with an uniform and liuppy result, and therefore recommend It
confidently ms the best lung medicine withiu irjy knowledge
Yours, respectfully, e. Macssenet
CAUTION TO PURCHASERS.—The only genuine Wis
taria Balsam nai the written signature of “I. Butts,” and the
printed one of the proprietors on the wrapper ; all other is vile
and worthless.
Prepared by Setb W. Fowl? * <jo„ Ecston, and for sale by
lIA\ I LAND, CHICHESTER & CO., Wholesale Agents*
also, BARRETT A CARTER, PLUMB & LEITNER, and
by Druggists generally. . deels-d&w4w
S£'“ Fever and Ague, aud all Fevers, are cured by
perseverance with
BRANDRETH’S TILLS,
which takes all poisons, of whatever nature they may be, from
the circulation.
Mr. John Y. Haight, Supervisor of Newcastle, Westchester
county, New York, says, Nov., 1853 : “I was two years ago
attacked with Fever and Ague, which, notwithstanding the
best medical advice, continued sorely to afflict me for six tedi
ous months; 1 became as yellow as saffron, and reduced to
skin and bone. Medicine tq4 physicians were abandoned In
despair. As an experiment, I concluded to try a single dose of
six of Brandeth’s Universal Vegetable Pills, on an empty
stomach, early in thp morning. The first dose seemed to arouse
all the latent energies of my exhausted frame. I feared the
worst—their purgative effect was different from anything l bad
ever used or beard of. At length this effect ceased, and Is t m
ed lighter and breathed freer. That evening I was indeed sen
sibly better ar.d slept soundly all night. The next day I fol
lowed the same course, aud continued to take the Pills In this
way about three weeks, when I found myself entirely etned.
Mv health has been surprisingly good ever s nee.”
Price 25 cents per box. Sold by ail respectable dealers In
medicine. deol-dawiin
.Mrs. Winslow, an experienced Nurse and Fern a
Physician, haaa SOOTHING SYRUP for children Teethlnge
which gn atly facilitates the process of teetnmgby softening the
gums, reducing all Inflammation—will allay all pain, and Is
sureto regulate the bowels. Depend upon it, mothers, it will
give rest to yourselves, and relief and health to your infirats.
Perfectly safe in ali cases. See advertisement in another
olumn. mhl6-d&wly
W Messrs. Clark, Gregory A Cos., A ask villa
Tenn.—Gents : Some three months since 1 had the misfor
tune to he bitten hy a large rat, while asleep in my room, f
was bitten entirely through the nose, so tbutthe blood ran
through my nostrils. Knowing a rat bite to be very danger
ous, 1 felt much alarmed, ar.d having tried your AMBROSIAL
OIL for many aliments, and finding relief, I applied It thor
oughly during the balance of the night and next da>. It
healed at once, and I have never experienced any 111 effects
from the same. I felt that the world should know the magic
power of your justly celebrated AMBROSIAL OIL.
W. M. Collins.
Nashville, October Ist, 1830.
tebdSh&r J). F. TUTT, Augusta, Ot.
ear Fresh Garden Heeds.-We expect to receive eur
stock of GARDEN SEEDS this season, much earlier i _
usual. The assortment will be more extensive ana mo
plete than formerly, having added several new and c o
rieties to our already large catalogue. _
octll PLUMB & LBI’LNER. BUW***