Note 52 — HISTORICAL NOTES
Reading edition
W. Fullerton, Address to Piedmont Agricultural Society, October 18, 1876. Speaking to the Society in 1867, William Fullerton of New York chided Virginians by asserting that “there is no other calling in life in which there is manifested such an indifference to new discoveries, as is seen among the tillers of the soil. If a mechanic or manufacturer should in like manner fail to avail himself of improved implements or machinery, he would be compelled to relinquish his business. It is the farmer alone who resists anything new appertaining to his calling. This arises mainly from a deep-seated prejudice to what is called scientific or book farming.”
See also Moger, Rebuilding, p. 54, citing the fact that farmers in the area of diversified agriculture, such as Northern Virginia, had the highest number of agricultural clubs, farm newspaper subscriptions, etc., of all areas in Virginia.