J82.5.J 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



157 



the odier best, ve(, if il be expensive antl the 

 oilier pails of the farm have been noglccteri, 

 jou will nwarcl the premium to the inferior tnil 

 less cxjiensive crop, if the Sfenernl husliandrj^ ol 

 the farm on which it grow*, be gone!.'" 



They are further insirocted "• that il is the 

 oliject of the Eseculive Committee to encour- 

 age that kmd of husbandry which is tnost profit- 

 ablc — to give to the industrious and prudent ten- 

 ant of a small farm an equal chance to obtain a 

 premium, with the more wealthy owner of a 

 large one — in other words to encourage and re- 

 'j:ard real merit in husbandry " Such are the in- 

 structions given this committee, and such are, 

 the principles by which they have been actuat- 

 ed in making their awards; and I need not tell i 

 yon, with what intense interest the report of 

 this committee has ever been heard, at each 

 successive anniversary of the society. Andean 

 a man lay any claim to the honorable appellation 

 of a far.ner, nnd yet care for none of these! 

 things? Then for auglit I can conceive, Gallio, 

 the Iloman deputy, miglit have been a Chris- 

 tian. 



But more (liaii all this, would you have an op- 

 portunity, by actual inspection, each one for' 

 jiimselt, to sec what h;is been achieve<l in do- 

 mestic manufactures, by the enterprise and the 

 ingenuity of some of our most industrious citi- 

 zens ; or would you know what attempts have 

 been made and are now making in different i 

 parts ot the country for the improvement of our 

 domestic animals — would you be acquainted 

 w ith some cf the Ibreign breeds which have i 

 been imported into this country — wouUl you ^ 

 have an opportunity of comparing these foreign 

 with our domestic breeds ol cattle, with a view; 

 to an estimate of their comparative values? 

 Then rcpau i^ voniler liau aim it. _,...!.„ rvon*. 

 and what privileges you there enjoy — privileges j 

 to be sure which would be much im[irovcd wore j 

 the fiinds of this society more ample. And has 

 the Legislature of New Hampshire not one cent 

 to bestow I'nr the promotion of these objects?' 

 How is it that ber policy in this respect differs i 

 so widfly from that of the government of some 

 of her sister stales. In Massachusetts, by an act 

 passed 1819, every incorporated agricultural so- j 

 ciety, in that state, having a fund of jjlOCiO at: 

 inlerosl, accruing from the avails of member-i 

 ship, or by subscription of individuals, is entitled ■ 

 to receive from the treasury of the stale livo] 

 hundred dolUirs, annually; and so in proportion 

 for a larger capital, until the grant shall amount 

 to six hundred dollars, annually, to such society, 

 having a capital slock of ;fc3000, at interest lor 

 the u<^e of the society. New York, for several 

 years, has made an annual grant of ^10,000 to 

 be divided among lier agricultural societies. — 

 Even in Halifax, ajirovince formerly thought so 

 unpropitious to the operations of agriculture as 

 to be incapable, under the most skilful culliva-, 

 lion, to produce bread for the supply of its in- 

 habitants, even in that province the provincial 

 assembly made a grant of <^6,600 to its central 

 Board of Agriculture, the first year of its insti- 

 tution. The amount of lier grants the two suc- 

 ceeding years was ^10,000, amounting in throe 

 years to gl 6,600. And what was the effect of 

 this liberality? "Improvement has advanced 

 with such gigantic slr.des," observes one of her 

 own writers, " that already [a little more than 

 three years] the point is out of sight from which 

 ■we started." A spirit of reform actuates the 

 whole agricultural mass, and provided the ener- 



gy be sustained for a few years longer,will place 

 ilie independence of the province, as it respect? 

 llie supply of bread for its inhabitants, on fixed 

 and immoveable ground. 



Then extend your views more remotely a- 

 broad ; look to Europe — look to Great Britain. 

 Her Board of Agriculture was constituted by 

 royal charter, in 1793. At its first institution 

 a sum exceeding jjil 3,000 annually was voted by 

 parliament for its sujiport, besides several valua- 

 ble priviliges and powers conferred by the char- 

 ter. The Dublin Society, instituted in 1749, 

 received an annual grant of g24,000. The 

 Highland Society of Scotland, at its institution 

 in 1789, received a donation from government 

 of 13,000; the year following its revenue was 

 further augmented by a grant of ^3,500 a year. 

 These three great eslablishraents exfiend at 

 present nearly 70,000 annually, the greater part 

 of which is the immediate grant of parliament. 

 They extend their protection and encourage- 

 ment to the different districts, shires, or parish- 

 es of the United Kingdom; direct the tide of 

 enterprise; publish from time to time their prize 

 essays and Iran.sactions : hold out premiums ; 

 correspond with the government on iinporlaiit 

 objects; and are the main springs of that excel- 

 lent system of husbandry which has increased 

 llie liappiness and confirmed the stability of the 

 country. Similar establishments in France, in 

 Switzerland, in Denmark, in Sweden, in Italy, 

 and in many of the Slates in Germany receive 

 the aid and the fostering care of their respective 

 governments. Indeed, Spain, poor, sunken, de- 

 graded Spain, and the Sublime Porte, are almost 

 the only governments in Europe who do noth- 

 ing for the encouragement of Agriculture. Re- 

 turning home to New-Hampshire, what is the 



inference to be drawn from all these facts in re- 

 lation to ine policy or v^ui own legislature ; 



Surely, " There is that withholdcih more than is 



meet, but it tendeth to poverty.''^ 



Economy in the administration of the public 

 purse is unquestionably a virtue of liie highest 

 praise: but there is an economy which borders 

 on the neighbouring vice, and defeats its own 

 intentions. The husbandman who is parsi- 

 monious in the use of liis manure, or in the 

 quantity of his seed, may spare some little ex- 

 [lense in the spring, but his narrow views will 

 meet with their just retribution in harvest. A 

 mistaken prnciple of saving is fully as perni- 

 cious in its consequences as a protuse expendi- 

 ture. The former imposes restraints on pro- 

 duction, the latter wastes and squanders what is 

 produced. Both are destructive of property, 

 the one in preventing its creation, the other in 

 annihilating it. Should the withholding there- 

 fore of the proper means of encouragement to 

 extend tillage throw a damp on agricultural ef- 

 fort, this cannot be dignified by the name of 

 economy, and bears no resemblance to the vir- 

 tue. It is the saving of a cent to prevent a dol- 

 lar being drawn from the great store-house of 

 vegetation. 



But there are some of our farmers, after all 

 that has been said and done, who affect a total 

 unbelief in the utility of agricultural societies. 

 All their feelings are in opposition to them. — 

 They will not examine their claims, or if they 

 examine them at all, it is with the same feelings 

 that Hume, Voltaire, Condorcet, and other infi- 

 dels examined the claims of Christianity to their 

 belief — with feelings of settled hostility and 

 aversion. Reasoniog, with such mlDds, is of no 



(avail. There are two objections, however 

 sometimes urged against these societies, which 

 I propose nrietiy to notice. 

 I The firs is, tli.it men in other professions are 

 associated with the farmers in these Societies. 

 I To this objection 1 have already replied while 

 speaking of the practical, scientific agricultural- 

 list. To tl)e remarks then made I have nothing 

 further toiadd. Should more be necessary, 1 re- 

 Iferyou to the New Ham[)shire Agricultural Re- 

 pository, pages 12 and 43. In relation to that 

 ) work, I only lament that so many important top- 

 ! ics are there grouped together in an " Introduc- 

 jtion,'' which few ever read, occupying more 

 than half the book. Had these topics been sep- 

 arated, and exhibited to the reader as so many 

 distinct subjccts,\\hh a co|iious table of contents, 

 1 doubt not but the book would have been much 

 more read, and it could not but have proved 

 useful. 



The other objection urged against agricultu- 

 ral societies, which I propose to notice is that 

 I the rich obtain all the premiums. This is not 

 ; true. Those obtain the premiums who exhibit 

 the best cultiva;ed f.itms,who manifest the most 

 care in improving their stock, whose general 

 system of -jianagement is that which makes the 

 ; greatest return at the least charge. These 

 'things do not so much require money, as they 

 do industry, cnlerfirise and sound calculation. — 

 ■ With these qualifications, a man with a small 

 farm stands an equal chance to obtain a premiuni 

 ; as his more wealthy neighbor with a large one. 

 But why should a dozen men pay their money 

 1 for one man to pocket ? In other words — why 

 1 should men join Agricultural Societies, and pay 

 I a certain stipulated sura annually to raise a com- 

 ! mon fund to be expended in premiums ? For the 

 I same reason, that men pay a tax to raise a fund 

 I lu i.c cxpenrfctl in eclionli.ig their children. — 

 Most ol llie important points connected with ag- 

 riculture admit of being illustrated by experi- 

 ments. It is not convenient for every parent to 

 he the instructor of his own children. Neither 

 j is it convenient nreven possible for every farm- 

 er to engage in those experiments, which are 

 necessary to illustrate the vacious important 

 points connected with agriculture. In both 

 cases it is frequently more convenient to pay a 

 small sum to engage others to do these things 

 for us. Those who become competitors for 

 premiums or who enter on any new or untried 

 I ex|)eriment in agriculture, encounter all the 

 I risk attendant on their failure, while those of us 

 I who stand by, merely spectators of their opera- 

 itiuns, enjoy all the benefit to be derived from 

 I their success. Every new, well authenticated 

 fact in agriculture, when promulgated and known 

 becomes a light to guide the husbandman. It is 

 a light like that of the sun, which sheds its rays 

 equally on the evil and on the good. These 

 societies spread over most of our States, are the 

 foci,\v hence this light, emanating from ten thou- 

 sand luminous points, is converged; and from 

 whence it is again reflected, in all possible di- 

 rections, carrying comfort to every habitation, 

 and gladness to every heart. These institutions 

 ought therefore to be cherished as one of the 

 best hopes of our country. Let the whole ag- 

 ricultural interest rise as one man in their sup- 

 port. When all contribute something, general 

 improvement progresses. The tide then would 

 deepen, and quicken, and widen, and overflow, 

 until there should be neither waste or devnsta' 

 tion, in all our happy land. 



