NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



03 



live and grow. Without it, they could not exist. 

 And yet, among a people of twenty-five millions, 

 and eminently an agricultural people, whose pros- 

 perity and future greatness depend upon their suc- 

 cess in this pursuit, there is not an institution ex- 

 clusively devoted to instruction to agricultural 

 knowledge. Which State shall lead the way? 



For the Ifeiv Ens'/and Farmer. 



INTERESTS OF THE FARMER—STATIS- 

 TICS. 



Messrs. Editors : — I was an attentive and very 

 gratified listener to the able and enlightened dis- 

 cussion hy the Legislative Agricultural Society at 

 the State House on Tuesday evening, 20th instant. 

 The question then discussed, "What is the best 

 mode to promote the interests of the Farmer?" is 

 a question vital to the prosperity of the State. 

 For Agriculture is, and ever must be, the great 

 interest of this State and of all States. 



Undoubtedly, as it was well stated by those 

 gentlemen who took part in the discussion, 

 knowledge is the great element of success in every 

 art and in every pursuit of man. A knowledge of 

 the materials to be wrought, a knowledge of the 

 tools to be used and skill in using them, knowledge 

 of the principles and elements involved in the 

 work, and the best mode of operating, all these 

 are necessary in husbandry as in every other art. 

 This presents a vast field of science ; — more ex- 

 tended, various and intricate than belongs to any 

 other art or profession. It includes farriery, 

 which is, in itself, thoroughly known, nothing less 

 than the knowledge of anatomy, therapeutics and 

 pharmacy needful in the cure of human diseases ; — 

 chemistry, and geology, and the application of 

 each to husbandry; vegetable physiology, sys- 

 tematic botany, and the individual characteristics 

 of plants. Tins large field of knowledge is not to 

 be explored in schools or colleges alone ; but is to 

 be studied both at the desk and in the field ; in 

 youth and in manhood and age ; by books and by 

 manual operations, by counsel and by contempla- 

 tion and by experiment. 



But there is another branch of information 

 highly useful in the pursuit of the farmer, which 

 it is the purpose of this communication to indicate. 

 It is a knowledge, accurate and intimate, of the 

 agricultural resources of his district of country. 

 This is to be obtained from a full body of statis- 

 tical detail, to be collected under the authority of 

 the State, or the patronage of the State Agricul- 

 tural Societies. 



This business of collecting statistics of Agricul- 

 ture has been recommended by the President to 

 the notice of Congress. But I am confident that 

 a little reflection, if aided by some knowledge of 

 the essential difference in the soil and products of 

 the country, will satisfy every judicious farmer 

 that this should be done by the State, not by the 

 national government. The statistics to be collect- 

 ed should lie of such matters as especially concern 

 the farmers of a particular State, section, or dis- 

 trict of country ; and not merely of the general 

 agricultural statistics. Such as the amount of 

 the several farm products ; the characteristic and 

 peculiar adaptation of the soil to the product 

 raised, and to the particular mode of husbandry 



used ; the systems of cultivation in use in certain 

 situations or districts and on certain kinds of 

 soils ; — the prices of produce in the markets to 

 which the farmers of the particular district resort ; 

 — and tlic amount of" produce consumed in that 

 market or disposable there. These statistics are 

 such as can only be collected by the State govern- 

 ments, or by some lesser district arrangements. 

 They are entirely impracticable to the national 

 government. For instance, we have thirty or for- 

 ty distinct geological formations or species of earth 

 in Massachusetts, and each of these species has 

 not one uniform quality of soil and productive ca- 

 pacity, but some thee or four, adapted to different 

 crops. The tastes and habits also of the people of 

 particular States have some connection with the 

 crops to be raised. In some of the New England 

 States, rye is a principal crop, and is also a bread 

 stuff in most general use. In other portions of 

 the country it is unknown either as bread stuff or 

 as a crop. But besides this the modes of culture 

 are different ; and the system of policy and taxa- 

 tion and general legislation calculated to effect the 

 interest, of the farmer must proceed from the State 

 government, not from the national. They are ob- 

 jects of State legislation, not national. The mea- 

 sures to be adopted, if any, to favor the agricultu- 

 ral interest, must proceed from the State not from 

 the nation. If the national government had the 

 constitutional power in the premises, it has not 

 and cannot have the power practically to adopt 

 such measures as shall afford benefit or encourage- 

 ment to the farmers of a particular State. What 

 might be done in that respect, though it might 

 look to the benefit of the whole country, yet for 

 the reasons above stated, for the peculiar condi 

 tions to be met in different sections of the coun 

 try, what might be beneficial in one State, might 

 be neutral or noxious in another. 



I hope, gentlemen, the farmers will see this mat- 

 ter in its true light, and not ask for the interposi- 

 tion of the general government to do that for 

 them which can only be done by their own State : 

 — and that they will direct their influence in the 

 right way, and discourage all application to the 

 general government in this behalf; while they ex- 

 ert all their energies to procure the action of the 

 State in obtaining full, reliable and accurate sta- 

 tistics of all these matters, and of the general agri- 

 cultural capacities and resources of the State. 

 The statistics in relation to farm stock, which are 

 depending essentially on climate and pasture, can 

 only be obtained in satisfactory details by the local 

 governments. There are other subjects, also, be- 

 side those named, comprehended in the rural econ- 

 omy, that can only come under the notice of the 

 State authorities, which will be readily suggested 

 to every farmer. I have thought it sufficient to 

 name a few for illustration of my ideas. 



If I have not trespassed too much on your 

 columns, permit me to make one other suggestion. 

 Would not the interest of the farmers of the State 

 be promoted by establishing a grain and produce 

 exchange, at which all the cereal grains and large 

 crops should be disposed of by an agent of the 

 farm, kept separate from the provision business or 

 retail trade, and also unmixed with other articles 

 of general merchandize and commerce, upon a 

 plan similar to the corn exchange of London and 

 other markets in Europe 1 I throw out this mere- 

 ly as a hint, without intending to discuss it now. 



