^[)c iaimcf's illoutl)lD llbUor, 



189 



Liiioolnsliire, says lie considers himself houiul to 

 coiniiiue lii.s old leiiaiits and llieir cliiMrtii in |ios- 

 eeiwion, in in-efeience lo any other teiianl, as loiijr 

 as tliey choose to remain, mdess some e.xlraoidi- 

 nary contin^'ency presents itseIC; and yirinally 

 admits on Iheir part a properly in the soil. 'I'lie 

 fireal len;;! hot" lime during which families on his 

 estates iiave held their possessions from father to 

 son, shows thai he acts upon the most liheral 

 principles; and the condition of his tenants and 

 their jireat improvements, evince that his honor- 

 al)le condnct secnres their entire confidence. It 

 cannot be donhted, however, that the iincerjaility 

 of contimnmce, the ahsolnte power of discharjie 

 on the part of tlie landlord, the risk of his ca- 

 price, and the possiliility of a new one com-ing 

 in possession, must have some effect in preveni- 

 injT or djsconraging improvements. — Celmari's 

 Tour. 



[■"roni the JNew Getieeee Fanner. 



The position Farmers on;ht to occupy in So- 

 ciety. 



Reader! you are a liirmer. 1 wish I conid see 

 every farmer in the -late face to liice, and kive a 

 lialf-lio>n-'s talk witii him ; for i have nniHi to 

 say that concerns him nearly and dearly. But 

 as 1 can see only a small portion of them, let ns 

 commune toirelher for a few moments. We are 

 agreed, thai upon agricidture depends .tiie pros- 

 perity, the wealth, and permanent indepen<leiice 

 of any comiti-y. We are also agreed, that in this 

 country at leasl nine-tenths of ilie people are en- 

 gaged in agricultural pm-snils — that in the halls 

 of legislation, in the executive chair, in all the 

 important offices of honor and trust, the farmers 

 should he in a large majoiity. Theirs is the 

 great and paramount interest, jand lliey, of all 

 others, best iinderslniul it, and shonlil therefore 

 po.-isess and wield the influence which so justly 

 belongs to them. Proiluctive industry shouhl be 

 the badge of distinction. The liirmer is at the 

 fomid.itroii of all society; upon his broad shoul- 

 ders are borne all the other chisses, and his hon- 

 esty, and labor, and frugality sustains them. No 

 class can live without hiui ; .uul yet, he cau live 

 without any and all the others. His orrnpaliou, 

 then, is the most useful, as well as the most hon- 

 orable ol' human pursuits. He should occupy 

 the first position, while all others slioiild be sec- 

 ondary. 



Thus far, then, we are agreed. The dema- 

 gogues who haraugne before election concede 

 this to ns — indeed, the positions which 1 have 

 assumed, cannot he denied by any reflecting |)er- 

 son. 



Let us see what position the farmer does really 

 occupy in society now. The best iuchv that we 

 caji have is, the various offices which have to he 

 filled, from among the great mass of the people 

 at st.-Ued period.s. I will not pai.ticularizu, hut 

 look arouuci you at home — look aliroiKl, to the 

 highest offices in the stale and nation — and tell 

 me how many farmeis have been elected to, or 

 run for liiese offices this year, 'i'he nuujher is 

 so small that they may be counted upon the fin- 

 gers of \oiir hand. 



Next to the farmer, the mehcanic should rank 

 bighe.st : fur he too is a prodticlive lahoreiu Is 

 ihat class any belter represented ? Most cer- 

 tainly not. Productive labor is not honorable, 

 e.xcejit in theory; and the farmer aiul mechanic 

 are the ruled, instead of the rulers. 



But who do fill all tho.-e important offices? 

 Professional men — a class of men, who ai'e, to 

 all intents ami pinposes, the drones in the great 

 hive of human society. They a<id nothing to 

 the productive capital of the country — they live 

 upon the vices, and luiserie-s of their lellow he- 

 ing.s. Why, the man who tends hut one sheep, 

 and sells ihe wool it grows anuiially, adds more 

 to the real cajiital of the country than the whole 

 mass of them, from one emi of the union to the 

 other. Foremost anumg the profes.sions stands 

 that of the law: ihe least numerous of any, like the 

 lean kiue of Pharaoh's dreams, it has swallowiMl 

 up all the others; and yon will fitiil a lawyer in 

 almost every office of profit or honor throughout 

 the length and breadth of this great country. 

 T.ileuted, active, and eneregetic — a needy adven- 

 tiuer (iom one of the other classes — llie lawyer 

 is ever rea<ly to catch the first crtunb that falls 

 fiom the political table, and best knows where 

 that crumb is, or svhere it will (idl. Hence he 

 becomes a politician, and too often a mere dem- 



agogue, and the whole country is agitated that 

 he may either get an (jffice or keep one. As one 

 specimen among the nmuber that you or 1 can 

 point out — take ihe county of Genesee, with 

 Wyoming, composing a Congressional district : 

 since the settlement of the comity, (near some 

 40 years,) there has been hut two farmers chosen 

 representatives, ami they held but short terms: 

 all the others have been lawyers. There are at 

 least, eight thousand farmers in the distric:t now, 

 and not one bundled lawyers; and the propor- 

 tion at all times, probably, has been in the same 

 ratio. What is the inleieiice in this case ? Why, 

 that the farmeis are so ignorant and stupid ihat 

 they cannot find any man among them who cau 

 properly represent their interest, ;md they must 

 have a lawyer lo do it: or else the lawyers have 

 become a privileged class, and all the offices be- 

 long to them. 



But neitlier of these inferences are tinie, though 

 the latter Inis more triitli than the former. There 

 are hundreds of farmers in the district who would 

 make as useful, as atlenlive, and as influential 

 lepreseiitalives as any that have been sent, and 

 what is true every wliere, there is not one office 

 from president <lown to a lock-tender, that tin ni- 

 ers could not fill with as much advantage to the 

 country us any lawyer that ever lived. 



I do not mean by these remarks, to create a 

 hostile feeling aguint the legal profession. The 

 farmers arc most to blame, for they liave allowed 

 themselves to be led, when they should have 

 been the leadei.s. What I want is, that fiu'iiiers 

 should have their proportion of these offices 

 which properly helonge<l to ihem; and in con- 

 tending lijr that, 1 contend for ihe best interests 

 of all. The Governor of ihe State should be a 

 good praclical anil educated larmer : and there 

 should not be more than one lawyer to each party 

 ill the Senate and Assembly. If farmers made 

 the laws, they would understand tlieni, and so 

 wcuild their constituents. Tlie sessions would 

 be short, public business would he done without 

 unnecessary delay, and ihe meml/ers would go 

 home to their business, instead of consuming 

 uionths ill party strife, and wordy declamation. 

 I woiihl not make war against the professions, 

 lor in the present aitifii.'i:d slate of society they 

 must be tolorated ; what I want is, that they 

 should iioi occupy the front seat on the platform, 

 hut siaiid a Utile hack, and let those occupy the 

 best seat who did most to raise and sustain it. 



liiit there is yei anolher and important cotisid- 

 eratiou in this mailer. If you make the profiis- 

 sioiis occupy but a second.iry position in society, 

 aud give the first lo the liiruiers and mechanics, 

 you lessen the iniluceiiienls liir young men of 

 talents and education to embark in them, and you 

 keep at home, as it were, much of that vahiahle, 

 enterprising spirit whii h now enters the legal 

 profession, not because it is so very lucrative, hut 

 because it is the door lo most i;f the public offi- 

 ce's of honor or profit. Close this dour, and yon 

 givea great impeliis to.-igricullnrul impioveun-nt ; 

 you iiiiike fiiriniug fashionable, and it will Ipe 

 fiishionable fiir fiiriiicis, and liirmer.s' wives and 

 daughiers, to he educated; and the more intelli- 

 gent ue bei'Oiiie, the greater will he our improve- 

 ment in agriculture. 



Ueader! I have said but a small part of what 

 1 wish to say to you, but I have taken more than 

 my share of ihe space allotted to the dlfrereiil 

 conirihulors: yet, have I made injself under- 

 stood, and have you done any thing liir the cause ? 

 The election is over, and for the next four years 

 let the farmers lake care of themselves and their 

 own true interests. P. 



of him, that he did more than all oiheis. Having 

 had the privilege of his intimale acipiaintance 

 for ten years or more, as secretary, and as his 

 associate on the committee lor viewing liirms, I 

 speak with confiilence of what he did : — and I 

 lake pleasure in acknowledging that my admi- 

 ration of his example in this pnisuii has ever had 

 a strong influence on my own mind in its lavor. 

 The first movements towards the estalilisluiK'nt 

 of the Society, as I am informed, were iiiaile in 

 1818, by about twenty praclical farmers assembled 

 at Topsfield, who nnaiiimously invited Col. Pick- 

 ering to he their president. He may he said to 

 have prepared ihe soil, — lurnished and phmled 

 the seed, which olhers have only cullivated. He 

 was a careliil observer of nature, and drew wise 

 lessons li'om his own nntaiighl experience. He 

 was never satisfied with superficial inquiry, but 

 carefully looked into the coniiectiou lieH\eeii 

 cause and effect. Because a practice had been 

 conlinued tor a series of years, was not a suffi- 

 cient reason for his adopting it. Always ready to 

 receive suggestions from others, he «onld cheer- 

 fiilly yield his assent, when convinced of their n- 

 tiliiy. He was a man who ihought for himself, 

 and bowed to no man as his master. A refer- 

 ence to many of the maxims that he uttered, and 

 plans that he advocated, will show that he was in 

 advance of the age in which he lived. I have 

 ever esteemed the hints aiul observations that fell 

 from him at our meetings, and in our journeys to 

 visit the farms of the County, as among the most 

 valuable lessons ever taught to the liirniers of 

 Essex. 



I know of no man in Massachusetts, unless I 

 may except Mr. Lowell, of Koxbiiry, w ho did 

 more to elevate the farmer, aud instruct him in his 

 vocation. Forlnnale were our farmers, in having 

 devoted ti^achcrs, like these, with souls iibove all 

 sinister purposes, and a readiness to coiuninni- 

 cute that knew no bounds. At an age when most 

 men think their labors t-hoiild he ended, he was 

 in Ills prime in handling llie plough, and iiistilu- 

 ting new experiments. lie was not asliMined lo 

 soil his lianils or his clolhes with the labors of 

 the field, lie fi^lt it no disgrace to work with 

 those w ho work. Ill whatever he engaged, he 

 always look the part of the uorking man. On 

 the farm he was on a level with the farmer, — ill 

 the Senate there was none his snperim'. 



Many who hear me, cannot bill renieiiiber the 

 simplicity, energy and propriety, wiili v\lych he 

 spoke on every subject that was inlrodnced ; and 

 no one who listened to him with attention could 

 fiiil to have been inslrncted by his remarks. lie 

 did not speak to display his own acqnireinenls, 

 bill to inslrnct his hearers. Aud while all olhers 

 were adniiring his superior wisdom, he himself 

 was the only one not conscious of it. Like 

 Frauklin he always had some story lo the point, 

 some illustration so ap|)osite, ihat it wouhl make 

 an impression that s\ould be rcmemhered. To 

 these lessons, thus arllessly and iuliirmally given, 

 aiuoiig the thinking, [iiacli<-al men in all parts of 

 the Comity, do 1 aitrihute the germs of improve- 

 ment, that have since been <l-evelopcd. 



Timothy Pickkrino — orioi.n of thk Essex 

 .'Vgricultural Society. — The fijilowing para- 

 graphs are from the iiihlress delivered by J. W. 

 Proctor, Esq. at the late annual iJieetiiig of the 

 Society : — 



'• This society received its .first and best im- 

 pulses li'om ils first Presideut, ihe venerable 

 Tiiiiuthy Pickering. Retired li-om ihe agitating 

 scenes of public life, and the harassing exciie- 

 ments of pclilical coiiiroveisy, he applied the 

 energies of his powerful mind lo his lii-.uriu- pv;-- 

 suil, airricultural iiiiproveim Ul. For tl.i.-. he l.ai 

 ever eulerlaincd a strong inciinalion, — anil liom 

 his <:arly years, by nhservalions aud experiuieiils. 

 had been sloring ii|) fiicts lor fijliire applicalnui. 



Noiw iihstanding oiIku-s may have done iniich 

 to advance its interests, it is not too much to sav 



I'^rom l!in Fanner's Cibuiet. 

 Drilling Wheat. 



To THE Editor, — 1 am aware that lli« period 

 lor pulling in wlii-at is for ibis season gone by, 

 and with it, apparently, the proper lime for a 

 discnssioii of ils manner : but let il he remem- 

 bered, Ihat general principles may ataiiy lime be 

 incnlcatt'd, aud the ohservaiii iiiaii will not suffer 

 the snhject to pass so transiently <iver his mind, 

 as to leave no impression to he recalh-d wiieii 

 the moment for acli«u may have arrived. I was 

 pariicolaaly ii)tere.s(e<f ill the slaicuients of Dr. 

 Noble in tlie last (i^ahiiiet, respecting his expuri- 

 nieiits in drilling wheat. If liy this process the 

 crop may be lncrea.seil 27 per emit., il appears to 

 llie il would be well to inquire, if it does not lie- 

 hove us lo leave the old track and adopt aiintli- 

 er. 



.'^ly main object in asking a nook in the Cabi- 

 net at present, was to reft^r to a paragraph or l\vo 

 in Cohnau's second Reporl on Enropt-an Agri- 

 culliire, now \uu 1\ piihli.'-he<l, |uu't of which has 

 leferpuce to the ;.iiliiug in of wheal by the diill. 

 Ill passing, snjllu' me ti; express an opinion Ihat 

 one cannot read lliese l{e|orts, so liir as they 

 have iieen given lo the pnlilic, wilhoul lijeliiig 

 sensible of llieir great value and praclical im- 

 portance, and I trust many readers of the Cubi- 



