| Agricultural reform was an active movement in the South during the antebellum period. Many reformers from all sections sought improved agricultural methods, such as deep plowing, contour plowing, crop diversification, and the use of fertilizers. In order to foster wider acceptance of their methods, the reformers published agricultural journals, initiated societies and fairs, promoted the building of schools and colleges, sought a bureau of education at state and national levels, and finally encouraged experimentation to develop better strains of crops suitable for the various locales.;Charles A. Peabody was an active member of the reform movement. He adhered to its scientific principles, started his own agricultural paper, Soil of the South, which he used as a forum to disseminate better agricultural methods, and was closely involved in the area's many societies and fairs. Peabody made his greatest accomplishments in the field of horticultural genetics; he developed varieties of strawberries suitable for the South, as well as new strains of corn, cotton, and scuppernongs. Furthermore, he encouraged a style of architecture that was practical for the South, one that was functional in type and arrangement, well-suited for the southern climate and cooler in the summer as well as easy to heat in the winter. Peabody also stressed good farm and plantation management and the proper care of animals. Finally, he advocated the establishment of industry in order to make the South capable of supporting itself. Peabody's ideas reflected southern nationalism; a self-sufficient South would become independent.;The reform movement, active before the Civil War, promised to bring many changes, and a certain amount of diversification and better methods ensued. With the advent of the Civil War, however, the movement slowed greatly and was not revived until the turn of the century.;The war also affected Peabody personally. He saw his once prosperous life before the Civil War reduced to little more than subsistence level. |
