MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



pame field of practical improvement before them. 

 It is happily the nature of human knowledge 

 that the more it achieves, the larger is the Jield 

 of' ackimemcnt. As the outer circle of inven- 

 tion and discovery is pushed farther and farther 

 from the centre, the more numerous and of a 

 higher order are tlie objects which present them- 

 selves to the investigation of those whose lofty 

 ambition it is to add something to the mass of 

 human attainment. 



" The Society has endeavored to contribute 

 something to this onward movement by offering 

 prizes for essays upon the application of science 

 to agriculture. I trast that the result will vindi- 

 cate the wisdom of this policy, and lead to its 

 continuance. 



" In this country, -with ju.st laws, justly admin- 

 istered, where the popular voice can promptly 

 coiTCct every oppressive enactment ; where, 

 with common schools and an uutrammeled press, 

 knowledge circulates as fi-eely almost, as the air 

 w-e breathe, it would be surprising, and not less 

 discreditable than surprising, if agricultural im- 

 provement did not keep pace with the progress 

 of the country in every ofher respect. For one, 

 I have no fears on this point. I believe that our 

 progress, with or ^vithout Agricultural Societies 

 — though gi'eatly accelerated by tliem — is to be 

 decided and rapid. I am not, however, unaware, 

 nOr should we ever lose sight of the fact, that 

 agriculture, like learning, has had its dark ages. 

 It has risen to great peri'ection. receded, and 

 rested for centuries without any apparent im- 

 provement. The history of the world abounds 

 with evidence that the cultivation of the earth 

 was at an early daj- can-ied to a high pomt. 



" In China, it is well known that tor uncounted 

 centuries a degree of .skill has been exhibited in 

 the preparation and application of chemical and 

 vegetable manures, that is not, even now, equaled 

 in any part of Christendom. A recent popular 

 writer counts it as not the least valuable result 

 which may How from the Opium War, as it is 

 properly designated, and which it is to be hoped 

 for the honor of humimity, is now terminated, 

 that by opening a more general communication 

 Avith that extraordinary people, we may learn 

 something of their agricultural skill. The Clii- 

 nese are not the only people beyond the pale of 

 Christianity and modern civilization, who have 

 attained a remarkable degree of skill in certain 

 branches of husbandrj-. The aborigines of 

 South America and Mexico practised irrigation 

 upon a scale, and with a periectiou of detail, 

 not surpassed in any modem improvements. — 

 The Spaniards, superior to them in the art of 

 ^var. oveixame them in battle, but have not 

 equaled them in skilful and industrious tillage. 



" Throughout all those immense regions of 

 Briti.sh India, where the indomitable persever- 

 ance and courage of the Anglo-Saxons have 

 subjected millions to the control of thousands, 

 the conqueror has learned more tlian he has been 

 able to impart ef practical wi-sdom directed to 

 the cultivation of the soil. A high cultivation, 

 accompanied by the use of irrigation and min- 

 eral and vegetable applications, has there can-led 

 the productive powers of the earth to a point 

 never yet attained in those parts of the globe 

 claiming to be more enlightened. 



" In ancient Egypt the results were, if possi- 

 ble, more extraordinary. There, not only agri- 

 cultural productions, but the imperishable monu- 

 ments of art, surpass even the comprehension of 

 modern science. 



" Coming down to the early days of Chris- 

 tian era, we find the Roman writers abounding 

 in sound precepts and suggestions, which even 

 now might be adopted with advantage. Nearly 

 the whole of Van-o might be read with profit 

 by our modem farmers. Tme, it is often tinged 

 with a superstition now hat^pily discarded, and 

 relates to a state of society and govei-nment, 

 widely differing from our free institutions. 



" But in all that relates to tillage, to the pre- 

 paration and application of manures, his sug- 

 gestions accord witli the views of our best mod- 

 ern practical fanners. In the classification of 

 mineral and vegetable manures, such as lime, 

 marl, and many varieties of compost, he gives 

 to each the relative value which has been affixed 

 by the most profound chemical analysis. 



" If it is somewhat discouraging to look back 

 and find oui-selves but little in advance of the 

 remotest times, in many depaitments of our pro- 

 fession, we may at least, congratulate ourselves 

 that we live in an age when agriculture is in 

 the ascendant. It is no longer given up to serfs 

 and slaves, as the fitting occupation of the most 

 ignorant portions of the community. It now 

 takes its rank among the honorable and ele- 

 vating pursuits of industry. To follow the 

 plow and tend the flock, is no longer, here at 

 least, the mark of ignorance and servitude, as 

 under a false and despotic system it w^as, and in 

 some parts of the globe still is. In this we 

 stand upon ground which the ancients never 

 attained. It is the great achievement of modem 

 times. The rights of man and the dignity of la- 

 bor are vindicated — the one follo\vs from the 

 other. Agricultural improvement, then, rests 

 upon a foundation on which it never stood be- 

 fore. It is sustained by free institutions ; it is 

 the result of laws, wise, becau,se liberal. The 

 eufi-anchi.sement of the many, the elevation of 

 the masses, must go hand in hand with tlie in- 

 telligent, industrious, and prosperous cultivation 

 of the earth. 



" If agriculture owes much to the benign in- 

 fluence of free institutions, liberty owes not less 

 to agriculture. Where do we look for the calm 

 discretion, the disinterested patriotism, \vhich 

 must su.staiu a representative government, but 

 to the great community of cultivators of the 

 earth ? Even those most skeptical as to the fit- 

 ness of man lor self-government, admit that if 

 the experiment ever succeeds, it will be in a 

 nation of fanners. The experiment, thank 

 Heaven, has succeeded ; it has succeeded in a 

 nation of fanners ; and while we must not be 

 guilty of the illiberality of doubting that the 

 gi'eat manufacturing nations of other continents 

 may be fitted to administer the high duties of 

 freemen, it becomes us to cherish a profession 

 which, more than any other, prepares man to 

 receive the highest blessuig ot his race in this 

 world — a free government. We must cherish 

 it by industry, by virtue, by intellectual cultiva- 

 tion ; by connectmg it\vith science and the arts, 

 and with evei"y thing which can elevate and 

 adom it. If we do our duty by ourselves and 

 our children, agriculture will never again, it is 

 to be hoped, know the dai'k ages in which for 

 so many centuries it slept with liberty and learn- 

 ing. Let us do our duty in the responsible sta- 

 tion and happy era in which Providence has 

 cast our destiny, and I trust the day is far, far 

 distant, \vhen we shall cea.se to be a natioJi of 

 farmers and a nation of freemen." 



