150 



^\)C jTarmcr's iBont!)lij Visitor. 



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have reason to tlinnk God lliat tlicir occii|);itioii 

 has been thiit of tilliiiR tlie earth. GoontlK'n— 

 go on ill your avocations and encourage ngriinil- 

 ture ; and aikiso vour hoyn and tlie hoys of pro- 

 fessional men to pursue the same course, rather 

 than have tlioni hroUeu down merchants or hun- 

 gry-fed lawyers or politicians, 1 do not wisli to 

 be" understood to .speak disrespectful of any 

 branch of husuiess, or any ijrofession |iursned \n 

 a pro|)er manner. l?ut I oidy ask the question, 

 nnil 1 put it to yau as honesiand intelligent men, 

 if there are not too many of our young men dis 

 posed to get a living by their wits, rather than by 

 honest industry or hy cultivating the earth? 



I wish to call your attention to another i'ur.l 

 which I deem of iinjiortance, and that is, \ve 

 have too many consumers for the number ot 

 producers — in other words, our agricultural pro- 

 <lucts are not sufficient for the consumption of 

 our State. Why,il is startling to see the immense 

 amount of flour and other bread stufl% 

 that is brought into this State. This ought not 

 «o to be — there is sonietbing radically wrong,and 

 it must be set right — we ought to be in a condi- 

 tion to supply all the wants of the consumers 

 from the product of ourown farms ; and to do this 

 more jjcoplo must twn their attention to agricul- 

 tural pursuits. 



We are very much in the habitof cultivating too 

 much land ;— liy so doing we do not get fio large 

 crops from our farms as we ought. Certain it is 

 that one acre well cultivated and richly maiuired 

 will prodiKje more than two acres indifferently 

 cultivated ; — and then you save half the labor, 

 which is a very im|xirtant item iji the profits of 

 your farm. The farms in this county and in the 

 State now tmder cultivation are capable of ))ro- 

 ducing by proper and judicious management, 

 from 25 to 50 per cent, more than the present 

 yield, I think I do not exaggerate in my estima- 

 tion. Is it not well worth the attention then of 

 our farmers to make the en(|uiry and ascertain if 

 a better mode of cultivation cannot be had, so 

 that greater cro|)s can l>e produced. There is 

 one store in Concord which sells annually twen- 

 ty thous;ind barrels of flour ; and that is but a 

 very small projiortion of what is sold in this 

 State. Suppose (hat is one fifth part of the 

 quantity sold in this State — then there would be 

 one-hundred thousand barrels of flour consmned 

 yearly. Estimate this at the lowest price, say five 

 dollars per barrel, and you liave the sum of 

 $500,000 expended for the single article of flour, 

 beside the other grain which is brought into the 

 State. Could you believe this, half a' million ol 

 dollars yearly is paid froin this State and put into 

 the i)ocket9 of our western farmers. Certain I 

 am from enquiry that the estimate 1 have made 

 is small: and had I the time to iiave collected 

 correct infonnation on this point, you would have 

 been utterly astonished at the vast amount of 

 money drawn from the pockets of cm- own citi- 

 zens. You ought to raise your own bread stufls ; 

 you might easily su])ply the wants of every con- 

 sumer in the State. There is no reason, no ex- 

 cuse why we should be dependent upon our 

 western farmers for such an immense nmount of 

 bread stufls. We have soils well adapted for the 

 culture of every kind of grain. And we as 

 farmers are as oapalile of producing largo and 

 abundant crops as any farmer in neighboring 

 States. That there shoidd be such a deficiency 

 for our hoine consumption, is ahogether unac- 

 countable. We ought to encourage our sons 

 and Toimg men to remain here on the beautiful 

 hills and vallien of our own native State and cul- 

 tivate our lands, instead of advising them to go 

 West. It is a mistaken notion, that young men 

 can do better West than they can here. We 

 have lands enough in this State, if properly divi- 

 ded, to give labor to double the present popula- 

 tion. We have advantages here that you cannot 

 have in the vrestern country ; and all that is want- 

 ing is a contented mind and a determination to 

 make our own ^few Hampshire a- vender of 

 bread stufl'a rather than a purchaser. There is 

 something radically wrong in sufTering such an 

 import of bread stuffs in this State ; and by you, 

 gentlemen farmers, the wrong must be righted. 

 We have water power here that will mak"e us in- 

 dependent, if we only cidtivate the soil and sup- 

 ply the wants of the consumers who are engaged 

 in our manufacturing establishments. We shall 

 always find a ready market for every thing that 

 the farmer raises. 



1 have alluded to the in>.portauce of making 

 compost manure — and 1 will at tliis time call 

 your attciuion to the vast importance of keeping 

 your grounds enriched by manuring. Some far- 

 mers spread their manure over so large a quanti- 

 ty of land that they receive little or no benefit 

 ■from the use of it — in consecpience tif this error 

 you not only lose your manure, but you lose a 

 vast amount of labor, and your soil is not nnich 

 enriched hy it. Now if ilie same quantity was 

 put oil half the land, you would reap a great ad- 

 vantage from the present crop and also for suc- 

 ceeding years. Rich soils without manuring will 

 soon become impoverished by cultivation, and 

 your crops will decrease. — I know of no labor be- 

 stowed on a farm that returns a better profit, 

 than that which is e.xpended in the saving and 

 spreading of manure upon cultivated grounds. 

 If you were to pursue a prudent and judii-ious 

 course in this respect, you may increase and ren- 

 der perpetual the fertihty of your fields. 



Permit me at this time to call your attention 

 for a few moments to the great importance of pre- 

 serving yoiu- wood lots and timber lands. You 

 must be more saving ai>d economical of yotu' 

 wood lots — and too much care cannot be had in 

 saving and protecting your tindier lands. It is 

 not necessary for me to speak of the great waste 

 and destruction which has been made for the 

 few years past upon our wood and timber lots. 

 The tiuie has now come when every ])erson who 

 has a timber lot or a wood lot unist look to it and 

 see that there is not waste committed by the lum- 

 ber men, who are now purchasing up every lot 

 of timber witliin their reach. Their object is 

 present gain ; and when they enter your woods 

 it is a matter of no consequence to them how 

 much wood is destroyed. Good wood lots are 

 becoming scarce and demand greater prices than 

 any other lands which are exposed for sale. 

 Hence the vast im|>oriance of seeing that there 

 is no waste committed upon them. 



It is hardly necessary tor me to say one word 

 upon the importance of improving your stock. 

 You all well know the impoivmce of alluding to 

 that jiart of husbandry, 'i'he beeves liittened U|)- 

 oii our hills always couuiiand in market the high- 

 est [irice.s. IMuch depends upon the breed ot' 

 <-atlle — lint if your breed be of the best kind, un- 

 less you have ample pasture for them and feed 

 them with proper care, they will deteriorate and 

 lessen much in value. To cnsine good caitle 

 you must lake care to select fiom yoiu' calves llio 

 t)est proportioned and those that bid fiiir to lir- 

 come large bullocks. Let the butchers take the 

 inferior ones. Never raise an inliirior calf— al- 

 ways sell him to the butcher. It matters not 

 nnicli what you get for him, but be sure to dis- 

 pose of him — by so doing you will improve the 

 hree<l of your stock and render it much more 

 valuable. — And so with your sheep — raise the 

 best — select the finest wool. Never let a butcher 

 enter into your flock of sheep ; always select 

 tliein yourselves. The liusiness of raising fine 

 stock camiot be overdone in a State like ours in 

 a climate so propitious and on such fine pastm- 

 ages. The demand will always be greater tfian 

 the increase — and you will tind it a sfiiu'cc of 

 profit, and will be well paid for your trouble and 

 the attention yon giVB to the subject of raising 

 stocks. 



Thus far, gentlemen, I have endeavored in my 

 poor way to present to you some of the leading 

 topics which I think are coiuiected with agricul- 

 ture. I know I have fiiiled in presenting any 

 thing new to you ; but still what I have saiil may 

 be of some benefit to the agricnitujal interest — 

 and if it should chance to be, 1 am amply com- 

 pensated lor what little time and trouble I have 

 devoted to this cause. And [)ermit me now, Mr. 

 President and gentlemen of the agricultural so- 

 ciety, to say that twenty years has pas.sed by 

 since the organization of your society; this is 

 your twentieth anniveisary, anil without flattery 1 

 am emboldened in saying that there is no society 

 in this State, that has kept up the same interest 

 and made the same exertions in the great cause 

 of husbandry as the society which 1 have had 

 this day the honor to address. Your society 

 was formed in 1824, at a period when the legisla- 

 ture of this Slate withdrew their pecuniary aid 

 fiom all agricultural societies — in so doing they 

 perhaps acted wisely, Ifir those societies which 

 received aid from the Legislature, I believe in 

 every instance are for behind this in zeal, activi- 



ty or improvpuienr — they placed too riuudi rcli' 

 nnce upon the aid which they rc^ceived from the 

 State. Yon have placed youi- rfli.-mce upon your 

 own exertions, skill, industry and enlerprii>e, and 

 now stand as one of the best regidated societies 

 in this State. Your motives have been and still 

 Jire of a difli>rent kind from those arising from 

 a selfish or sordid gain. Yoi;r triNit obji-ct is 

 and always has been t<i imprnvc the vari(Mis arts 

 of hn.sbandry, and iruicli 4-redii K due you for the 

 great zeal and enterprise whi<'h you have always 

 manifested in the noble can.ve of agriculture. 

 Go forward, then, in this noble vvork, and you 

 will receive the phuulits of all who are willing 

 to acknowledge that agriculture is one of the 

 most honorable employments that has ever occu- 

 pied the attention of man. 



IjiPOBTATio.'v OF Manures imo Great Bri- 

 tain. — It was stated at a late meeting of the Ag- 

 ricultural Chemistry Association, that the liillow- 

 ing sums were paid for manureft imported into 

 England and Scotl.-md, during the last year. For 

 bone-dust, £91,755; rape cake and rape seed, 

 £l()9,Ii31 ; guano, (being the amount imported, 

 not lor the country at large, but to Liverpool a- 

 lone, in one year,) £5!l,240; being a total of up- 

 wards of £320,000. It is also stated that there 

 were three hundred vessels engaged in the im- 

 portation of guano. 



Sand as an improver of Soil. 



Sand, as every body knows, is an aggregation 

 of loose, small grains. Generally it is believed 

 that the grains consist merely of quarizor silica, 

 but by closer ex.imination it is found iliat many 

 grains of felspar, mica, iron ore, silicates of pot- 

 ash, soda "and lime, oxide of iron, &c. are 

 amongst the main mass. If, tlierefi)re, sand is 

 brought on fields, we must not believe that it 

 merely improves them mechanically ; on the con- 

 trary, we ni.iy assume that it furnislirs them with 

 sources of vegetable nutriment. Because, al- 

 though the mineral substances of which it is 

 composed are not soluble in water, still they are 

 decomposed byilie liiimic acid, and gradually 

 changed into Ibod of plants. For marshy, or ve- 

 ry hutiiic soils, even the quartz is a m.-uiure, as it 

 supplies them with silica, in which they are 

 most deficient. 



As the value of sand as a manuring substance, 

 consists in the (pianlity oi' l\uise of its mineral 

 components pans wliich are fit liar beromin^' the 

 food of plants, obvinusly that is to he chosen 

 which is richest in lime, soda, |intasli, and mag- 

 nesia silicates: this, however, can he only ascer- 

 tained by chemical analysis. .Sand, moreover, 

 used as manure, ought to be very fine, as it will 

 then |)resent to the humic and carbonic acids, 

 which have to decompose its silicates,:! greater 

 scope for contact; a clayey soil, nevertheless, 

 which has to be loosened and improved by sand, 

 requires oiic> of coarse grains. Allhnui;li sand, 

 generally speaking, is only used liir the im- 

 provement of clayey or very humic soils, it may 

 be also useful for chalky soils, as these are al- 

 ways deficient in that quantity of sihca which is 

 required by the grain-bearing plants. 



On slifl' clayey soils, which require an iniprpv- 

 ed texture, a sand is to be used which conlain.s 

 many grains of lime, as those will lonsen the soil 

 even better than grains of quartz. On the sea- 

 coast that sort of sand, therelore, which is thrown 

 out by the waves, is used with much success for 

 the improving of clayey fields, as it always con- 

 tains fragments of Shells, rich in carbonate of 

 lime. It is generally first used as litter, and 

 then carried (mixed with excrementsUo the clay- 

 ey fields, which, if the [irocess is often repealed, 

 will not only he improved physically,hut also be- 

 come very fertile. 



The coar.-^c sand may be siiread over a clayey 

 field to the thickness of half an inch, and in 

 this case it will not be ti"dden in by the cattle, 

 but will work downward into the crevices which 

 are to be found in a dried np clayey soil — an op- 

 eration which will be also assisteil by the rain 

 water. The first subsequent plowing is done ve- 

 ry shallow, and the first cro[( should be oats. Af- 

 ter the lajise of a few years or when the field is 

 used as a pasture, sand is again spread to theabove 

 thickness, which, in fact is repeated until the clay- 

 ey soil is changed into a loamy one. The same 

 process is resorted to if sand is useil for the ini- 

 proveinent of moors, peaty and marsliy soils, but 



