C. F. ADAMS'S ADDRESS. 435 



more distant towns, having the best command of these growing 

 markets, that is most deeply concerned in the efforts that have 

 been lately making to infuse new spirit into their pursuit. To 

 them above all may it be said, that the cow should be not only 

 the leading, but the one idea. To them, if to any one, must 

 the labors of our society be of use. 



Admitting, then, that the towns nearest to Boston devote 

 themselves to the cultivation of vegetables and fruit for Boston 

 market, and that those at a greater distance are to find their oc- 

 cupation in supplying the products of the dairy not only to 

 Boston, but to these towns also, 1 propose to direct the attention 

 of farmers, for a few moments, to the expediency of improving 

 their cultivation of farms for these particular purposes. The 

 main dependence on home-grown products, for the keeping of 

 stock, are grass, hay, and Indian corn. I do not mention pota- 

 toes, because, great as their value heretofore may have been to 

 us, the disasters of previous seasons, followed by the almost 

 entire loss of the crop this autumn, teach us in no doubtful 

 language the absolute necessity of caution in relying upon 

 them for the future. But if we except potatoes, we have noth- 

 ing left to cultivate, by following the common practice, but 

 grass and Indian corn. This is not a sufficient rotation to make 

 a farm what it ought to be. It dispenses far too much with 

 the great secret of good cultivation, the frequent use of the 

 plough. Even the ancients had the knowledge of this good 

 point of husbandry, and their writers strongly inculcate fre- 

 quent and repeated ploughings.* But Indian corn cannot be 

 often resorted to without risk of exhausting the land, and grass 

 is too binding to keep it pulverized and free from the predomi- 

 nance of noxious weeds. In this connection it may be well to 

 consider what has lately been said of our practice by an Eng- 

 lish agricultural professor of eminence, who, not long since, 

 paid us a visit of observation. If we can trust the report made 

 of his remarks at an agricultural meeting in England, Professor 

 Johnston said, 



* " nia seges demum votis respondet avari 

 Agricolae, bis quae solem, bis frigora scnsit." 

 This passage of Virgil is explained to mean four ploughings, but the ancient plough was 

 an ineflective instrument. 



