346 State Board of Agriculture, &c. 



GENERAL AGRICULTURE. 



ENGLISH FAKMING. 



BY WILLIAM S. THORP, OF UNDERHILL. 



Mr. Chairman : 



In attempting to give a little sketch in relation to English 

 farming, I feel my inability to do justice to the subject, as 

 the occupation of farming, with its different branches, would 

 be matter enough to fill a large volume ; likewise, it might 

 be very tedious to you to listen to all the details, but please 

 have patience, and I will cut it as short as I can to give 

 you a tolerable understanding of the matter. 



Agriculture is the art of cultivating the earth. When 

 our first parents committed the act of disobedience which 

 brought sin and death into the world, they were sent forth 

 from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which 

 they had arisen, and it was cursed on their account to bring 

 forth thorns and thistles, and Adam was told that he should 

 only eat his bread by the sweat of his face ; but so good is 

 God, though he does not suffer the ground to yield us bread 

 without our lal:)or, he always gives us bread if we labor for 

 it, Om- first parents, when driven from Eden, naturally 



