FARMERS' REGISTER 



307 



by shortening the time of open exposure, the co- 

 lor ofthe iiay is more perfecliy preserved, and coii- 

 sequeiiliy, ilu; ijuality; and the lernieutaiion or 

 sweating which lal<es place in liie cucivs, proves 

 60 much to have diminished tlie principle or incli- 

 nation, as (o prevent Us tiealing injuriously in the 

 stack ; and the whole operation of makinir, whe- 

 ther il lakes lour days or eight, requires three days' 

 labor only ; and the iiay being leli. in that state 

 every night, in which it is the least possibly ex- 

 posed to injuries oC the weather, and in which it 

 may remain lor a day or two in uncertain weather 

 without injurious exposure, most painful anxi- 

 ety and useless attendance of labors are obvi- 

 ated. 



SPEECH OF DANIKI. WEBSTER, ESQ. 



Al an Agricultural Meeting in Boston.* 



Mr. Webster began with stating that he regard- 

 ed agriculture as the leading interest of society ; 

 and as having, in all its relations, a direct and in- 

 timate bearing upon human comlbrt and the na- 

 tional prosperity. He had been iamiliar with its 

 operations in his youth ; and he had always look- 

 ed upon the subject wiih a lively and deep interest. 

 He did not esteem himself to be particularly qua- 

 lified to judge of the subject in all its various as- 

 pects and departments ; and he neither himself 

 regarded, nor would he have others regard his 

 opinions as authoritative ; but the subject had 

 been one ol" careltjl observation to him, both in 

 public and private life ; and his visit to Europe, at 

 a season ol"ihe year particularly favorable tor this 

 purpose, had given him the opportunity of seeing 

 its improved husbandry, and as far as it might 

 be interestiuii, or would have a bearing upon the 

 subject ofthe evening's discussion, the agriculture 

 of Mas^sachusetts, he would, as the meeting ap- 

 peared to expect, say a few words upon what had 

 attracted his notice. 



How far, in a question of this kind, the example 

 of other countries was to be followed, was an 

 in(]uiry worthy of much consideration. The ex- 

 ample of a Ibreign country might be too closely 

 followed. It would furnish a sale rule of imitation 

 only as far as the circumstances ofthe one country 

 correspond with those of the other. 



The great objects of agriculture, and the great 

 agricultural products of England, and of Massa- 

 chusetts, arc much the same. Neither country 

 produces olives, nor rice, nor cotton, nor the sugar 

 cane. Bread, meat and clothing are the main pro- 

 ductions of both. But althougli the great produc- 

 tions are mainly the same, yet there are many di- 

 versities of condition and circumstances and va- 

 rious modes of culture. 



The primary elements which enter into the con- 



* This speech, as first furnished in the reporter's 

 notes, has been published in most of the agricultural 

 papers of the United States. It has since been re- 

 vised and corrected by its author, and republished in 

 pamphlet form by the original reporter, the Rev. Hen- 

 ry Colman, the Agricultural Commissioner of Massa- 

 chusetts, together with an appendix by the latter. It is 

 the last edition that is here.gp^iedv— Ed. E',.,Rv 



sideration ofthe agriculture of a country are tour; 

 climate, soil, price of land, and price of labor. In 

 any comparison, therefore, of the agriculture of 

 England with that of Massachusetts, these ele- 

 ments are to be taken particularly into view. 



The climate of England diti'ers essentially from 

 that of this country. England is on the western 

 side of the eastern, and we on the eastern side oi' 

 the western continent. The climate of each 

 country is materially affected by its respective si- 

 tuation in relation to the ocean. The winds, which 

 prevail most, both in this country and in England 

 are from the west ; it is known that the wind 

 blows, in our latitudes, from some point west to 

 some point east, on an average of years nearly or 

 quite three days out of four. These facts are familiar. 

 The consequences resulting fi'om them are, that our 

 winters are colder and our summers much hotter 

 than in England. Our latitude is about that of 

 Oporto, yet the temperature is very different. Oa 

 these accounts, therefore, the n)aturing of the 

 crops in England and the power of using these 

 crops, creates a material difference between its 

 agriculture and ours. It may be supposed that 

 our climate must resemble that of China in the 

 same latitudes ; and this fact may have an essen- 

 tial bearing upon that branch of agriculture which, 

 it is proposed to introduce among us, the productioa 

 of silk. 



The second point of difference between the two 

 countries lies in the soil. The soil of England is 

 mainly argillaceous; a soft and unctuous loam 

 upon a substratum of clay. This may be consi- 

 dered as the predominant characteristic in the 

 parts which he visited. The soil in some of the 

 southern counties of England is thinner ; some of 

 it is what we should call stony ; much of it is a 

 free gravelly soil, with some small part which with 

 us would be called sandy. Through a great ex- 

 tent of country this soil rests on a deep bed of chalk. 

 Ours is a granite soil. There is granite in Great 

 Britain; but this species of soil prevails in Scot- 

 land, a part of the country which more resembles 

 our own. We may have lands as good as any in 

 England. Our alluvial soil.? on Connecticut river, 

 and in some other parts of the country, are equal 

 to any lands ; but these have not, ordinarily, a 

 wide extent of clay subsoil. The soil of Mas- 

 sachusetts is harder, more granitic, less abounding 

 in clay, and altogether more stony, than the soil of 

 England. The surface of Massachusetts is more 

 uneven, more broken with mountain ridges?, more 

 diversified with hill and dale, and more abundant 

 in streams of water, than that of England. 



The price of land in that country, anotherimpor- 

 tant element in agricultural calculations, difiers 

 greatly from the price of land with us. It, is three 

 times as high as in Massachusetts, at least. 



On the other hand, the price of agricultural la- 

 bor is mucli higher in Massachusetts, than in 

 England. In different parts of England the price 

 of labor is considerably various ; but it may be set 

 down as twice as dear with us here. 



These are the general remarks, which have- 

 suggested themselves in regard to the slate of 

 things abroad. Now have we any thing to learu 

 from them? Is there any thing in the condition 

 of England, applicable to ours; or, in regard to 

 which, the agriculture of England may be of use 

 to Massachusetts and other countries. 



The subject of agriculture in England has 



