ing his knowledge of afjiiculliiie geiienilly. 

 Without eii;,'af;iiig in liaZHnlous experiiueMls, he 

 will ofcusioiially cimiige or iiiodity his iiioile of 

 ciillure, so far iis ilje lights of his own cxperiuiic^e, 

 or that of others, may seem to ju.^tify. Sorne- 

 thnig has been said of late years, ulioiit estahlish- 

 iiig an e.\|ierimeiital liirm, as u means olimprov- 

 ing agrii-nliuru. JJnl what could one smdi (arm 

 accom(ilish, when every wi.dl eidtivated farm 

 shoidil he an experimental one? An intelligenr 

 faiiner will become wiser in ids business every 

 year, as he will be inereasing his knowledge 

 and improving his judgment, from bis own op- 

 erations aiul observations. 



There is another requisite of a farmer. He 

 [ must be a man of cnlcuhition — of Caleidalion in 

 respect to prolit, present and perspective. Like 

 the merchant and maunlai'lurer, his olijert will 

 bi; to get the :;realest return for his ca|utal and 

 labor. And he will not look to present prolit 

 iiidy ; as he will regard the improvement of his 

 iiuiii as so iMueh addition to his capital, which 

 will constitute a part of the pcolits of the year. 

 Il'a certain portion of his farm is enriched and 

 put into better tilth ; if another part is draiueil, 

 or cleaned of stone, whereby it is brought nndei- 

 pro(itabh) cultivation, when it was unproticable 

 hcl'ure, he vvilll regard this as an addition to bis 

 capital, which consists ol" the value of his farm, 

 not oflbe lunnber of acres. He will steadily keep 

 these two olijects in view, of getting the "reat- 

 est autiual return iVom bis estate, ainl ofinrprov- 

 iiig its cumlitiou, whereby its value will be in- 

 creased A man of calculation will learn by ex- 

 peiience, wbellipr his farm is too large or too 

 small fur prolit ; what crops make the best 

 return for the labor expimded u|ion ibein, wlietli- 

 er it will do to pnrcha-c manure, or to pre- 

 pare compost or artificial manures, and wjietber 

 he can aflbrd to biro labor or not, and at what 

 price. Culcnlatioi), and a careful estimate of 

 the cost ami value of bis crops, will enable biin 

 to decide all these questions. 



Jn tins country, lands and the utensils and 

 Slock upon it, constitute the capital of tlie far- 

 Siicr. It is very ditl'erent in Bugiand, where the 

 liinncr is a mere tenant, holding under a lease. 

 His capital consists of his stock and utensils, and 

 the inouicd capital necessary to carry on the 

 business ol'a farm, which is a considei'able sum 

 required to purchase stuck, inaunre, jind pay for 

 labm-. Some farmers there pay tliirty thousand 

 dollars a year for rent, and several thousands for 

 liil)or and manure. Tliey, of course, iiuist have a 

 large cash capital. Faraiing, there is a business; 

 heie it is an employment. But whatever the cap- 

 ital of tlie farmer is, llie man of calculation will 

 endeavor to make the whole of it produc- 

 li\c. 



]t is too common an opinion with farmers, that 

 iiiouey uv|)eiuled in improving their lanus, is so 

 much capital thrown iiway. Never was there a 

 greater mistake in regard to improvements judi- 

 ciously and prudently made. A farmer, anima- 

 li'd by the right spirit of progress, will not ne"- 

 Icct iiuprovemeiils even of aiMiriiamelilal charac- 

 ter, when tliey can be acconiplished at a inorler- 

 ule expense. He will kecfi his btnldings and 

 fences in gooil repair, as well as his land in good 

 tilth. There are some lunbellisiiiueuts of an es- 

 tate, which cost very little, and yet are very 

 pleasant and agreeable, and actually add to its val- 

 jlte. One of these, is the planting of forest trees 

 •for shade and ornament, aliout the builditigs, and 

 ■,on the borders of public highways. But this 

 ^s of less importance than the planting of fruit 

 ^rees in theyar<i and grounds adjoiuing'^the iinildt 

 ngs: which are oriuimental, and at the same time, 

 source of luxury and profit, when frmt is culti- 

 vated for market. I coidd say much on tlie snb- 

 ct of cultivating fi-uit, as this is the only brancii 

 husbandry to which I have given any person- 

 attention lor many years ; but the lime assign- 

 ed to ine in the exercises of the day, will adnnta 

 [few suggestions only. The fruits, I suppose, 

 bich can be best cultivated in this country, are 

 the apple and pear; and these are tlie most valu- 

 able of fruits lieioiiging to our climate. Fortu- 

 iiatel), we now live in temperance times, and 

 apples are no longer cultivated for eider, or for 

 a bud liquor distilled from that article. But they 

 are every year becoming more in demand lor the 

 Iwble, and I'or various domestic purjioses, from a 

 change in the. habits of our people, as well a3 

 Ifroin an increase of lliat portion of our popula- 



(gt)c laxmcx's iWontl)!!! llisttor. 



163 



tioii not engaged in agricniture. Winter fruit, 

 as 1 have before stated, is already exported to 

 Europe, and it may soon become an object with 

 the American farmer in the Northern States, to 

 raise it for foreign markets, as well as to supply 

 ibe demand at home. But in cultivating fruit 

 for the table, and domestic uses, none but 

 the best sorts are worthy of attention. It re- 

 quires no more land nor labor to grow an or- 

 charil of the very iiest quality ol' liiiit, than one 

 of the ordinary kinds; and the dilFereuce in value 

 would be a iiui.died fold. 



In cultivating eiiher the apple or pear, the first 

 thing is the selection of the ground. The laud 

 sliould be li-ee from wet, either on the snrfiiceor 

 beneath ; and it should liave a Southern or East- 

 ern aspect. The soil sliould not only be good, 

 but it should rest on u deep and iiood snbsoilj 

 either of clay, or stony and gravelly. If you 

 would iiavc your young trees tbriliv, and grow 

 well, they should be manured, aiid the land 

 ploughed for several years. Jn selecting fruit 

 eitbei lor your own use or for market, it is not de- 

 sirable to have a great many sorts. A few of the 

 best for summer, fall and winter, are preferal)ie 

 to a large mimber of varieties. The old varie- 

 ties of choice apples, the pairmaius, pippins, &c. 

 have mostly degenerated, and are no longer 

 worth cultivating. The same is true of pears : the 

 old bell and vergalien, the bfestold varieties, now 

 lieing fickle, and often failing to ripen well.— 

 But there are many new varieties of both apples 

 and pears, which more than make gooci the place 

 of the old. In selecting the kinds of fruit, if you 

 are not familiar with the difiijrent varieties, you 

 should consult some one who i.s, or some work of 

 high authority, as this is an important matter. 

 The quality of the fruit is not the only thing to 

 be considered ; but equally the healthiness and 

 vigor of the tree, and its aptitude to bear. The 

 German Bough is the earliest, and jierhaps, the 

 best summer apple, wbieli should be followed 

 by one or two other varieties coming in after it. 

 The Porter apple is said to be the best fall fruit, 

 but I am not well acquainted with it, or the hab- 

 its of the tree. Of winter fruit, either for the 

 family or market, perhaps the four best sorts for 

 our climate, are the Rhode Island greening, of 

 which there are several varieties, and some quite 

 inferior to others; Peck's pleasant, the Baldwin, 

 and the Roxiniry russet. Of these, the fruit is 

 large, fair, well flavored, and the trees vigorous, 

 and generally fine bearers. The Hulibardston 

 nonsuch, a new variety, is lieing introduced in 

 Massachusetts ; and is said to be the very liest 

 fiavored of our winter fruit and ;i good bearer. 



The mercliant will soon ascertain whether be 

 has too much or too little capital for profit ; and 

 if too little, be will increase it, if in his [lower; 

 if too much, he will withdraw a portion, and in- 

 vest it some other way. He will use only what 

 he can employ to tbe'liest advantage, and great- 

 est profit._^ And why should not the farmer do 

 the same.' Why should he retain more ca[iital 

 ill land than be can take care oi; iu such a way 

 as to aflxird a reasonable profit? If then, the 

 calculating fariiier should find, that the labor, 

 care, and manure which lie can bestow on two 

 hundred acres of land, is not sufficient, iuid that 

 the same, applied to one hundred acres, woidd 

 produce about the same amount of products, be 

 will perceive the impolicy of continuinn to half 

 cultivate his two hundred acres. He will reme- 

 dy the evil, eiiher by increasing his labor and 

 nianure, or liy reducing the size of bis farm. 

 The judicious and calculating farmer will not 

 oidy strive to make all ids lands productive and 

 [irofitable, hut to make it all productive and prof- 

 italile ill the highest degree. If he finds that an 

 orchard sparingly planted on his meadow, will 

 not diminish the crop of hay, whilst it would 

 yield a considerable value in fruit, be will not 

 neglect to plant it, nor to take care of it when 

 planted. Nor will he eonsiiler the smallest addi- 

 tion to the products of bis farm, as liencalh his 

 notice, when it can be obtained at less cost than 

 the value of it. If there should be a thrifty apple 

 tree, producing worthless fruit, he will not ne- 

 glect to have it engrafted into a valuable kind. 

 This would lie a small matter; but if he liadonly 

 one hundred siicli trees, a mere inciimlirance on 

 Ids land, this improvement might, in a few years, 

 give him two hundred dollars' worth of winter 

 fruit, without any diminution of other crops. — 

 Should he have five acres, or a single acre of 



waste or unproductive land, in consequence of a 

 lednndancy of water, be will ascertain the cost of 

 Urauimgand reclaiming it; and if ho finds it 

 can lie done at less expense than the value of the 

 ami, which IS really of no value until redeemed,) 

 be will not neglect to have iKlramed, and brought 

 under ciil.ivatiou. The subject of drainage and 

 reciaimmg swamps and inaisbv land, is one of 

 great importance, upon which much has been 

 written, but cannot be too earnestly pressed 

 upon the attention of the farmer. Lauds of this 

 description, when reclaimed, are generally the 

 very liest soil ;and as tiiey are really of no value 

 belore such improvenieuts, are equivalent to the 

 crejition of the land reclaimed; and in this view 

 of It, are a puiilie as well as a private advantage. 

 How many larms .-ire there in the State of Con- 

 necticut, upon wiiich there are not at least a few 

 acres of iiiaishy, waste land ? Not many, 1 appre- 

 hend. If these lands were all reclaimed and 

 brought under profitable cultivation, it would 

 make a sensible addition to the anionnt mid value 

 of the agricultural productions of tiie State. 



And what is true in regard to the reclaiming 

 of waste laud, is in a degree, equally true, iu 

 respect to raising the quantity, and increasing 

 the productive powers of land not in a state of 

 waste. If, liy a more judicious and skiKul culti- 

 vation, a farm is raised iu fertility, so as to double 

 its products, lids is equivalent to duplicating the 

 quantity of land belonging to the estate. It is 

 even more tlian tliis; for, if one hundred acres of 

 land will produce the same amount and value of 

 products as two liundred of inlerior quality, the 

 former is of the most value; as it can lie cul- 

 tivated with less labor, fenced witii less expense, 

 and taken care of with less troulile. It is too 

 common a mistake with our fiiriners, to estimate 

 their estates by the number of acres, instead of 

 their capacity of production. How conimou it 

 is, that the thrifty landed proprieter, who has ac- 

 cumulated a few huntired dollars, will invest 

 it by purchasing the adjoining field of a less pros- 

 perous neighbor, vvlien he l;as already more land 

 than he can cultivate to profit and advantage I — 

 Yes, often when bis own farm is not b.-ilf culti- 

 vated, be will enlarge it, and thus diminish his 

 aliility to take care of the land be had, vviiereby 

 its cultivation will be reduced still lower, so that 

 the aggregate products of the enlarged farm, 

 may be less than they were on his original estate ! 

 How much wiser it would be, to apply those 

 few bundled dollars to im|)roving and increas- 

 ing the productive powers of the land he had! 

 This would equally, and p-obably in a greater 

 degree, augment tiie value of bis estate, without 

 depriving his poorer neighbor of the means by 

 whicii he obtained a living. 



I have paid much attention to the cultivatiou 

 of the pear, and have about forty difl'erent varie- 

 ties on the small patch of ground about my 

 bouse. But a comparatively small number will 

 suffice for every piactical and nsefiil purpose. — 

 For summer fruit, I would recommend the Mag- 

 dalane and BInodgoods ; for Autumn, the Wash- 

 ington, Seckle, Duchess de Augouleme, and 

 Beure Bosc : for Winter, the St. Germaine, of 

 which there are several varieties, and it is im- 

 portant to have the best— Ibe Easter Bergamof, 

 and tlie winter vergalien. There are, however, 

 numerous other valuable varieties of fall and 

 winter pears. These are all table fruit and melt- 

 ing. It is desiraljle to have one good variety of 

 baking pears for winter. 



But 1 am running too much into details, and 

 must iiasten to a conclusion, by a few additional 

 general observations. 



What I most desire to impress upon your atten- 

 tion is, the praciieability, the importance and the 

 profitableness of combining the improvement of 

 the farm, with its ordinary cultivation. A good 

 farmer will strive every year to have his farm in 

 a better condition than be found it at the coni- 

 mencement. 



The capability of the soil for improvement — 

 for the augmentation of its powers of production, 

 is not a speculative truth, nor does it ie.it mainly 

 on the deductions of science. It is an undoubt- 

 ed triiih, established by experience — iiy the ex- 

 perience of all suecBssful culti^itors. All lands 

 are susceptible of improvement — of an increase 

 of their productive powers : liut not equally so, 

 nor in the same degree. The principle exisls in 

 nature. All the elements which enter into the 

 composition ofvegetable subslancesare notderiv| 



