356 



I Extracts from an Jl.l Inss delivered before the Berk- 

 shirt Associdtion for the Promotion ofJli^ricullnre 

 and M'uufadure:!. ni Pillsfiild, October 2, 1823. 

 Bi/ George N. Kiuggs, Esq., P'ice President of 

 the Society.] 



Blessed wT'li lir:ilil), suiroiinded with plenty, 

 Biid ill tlie luidrit ot'sMiiliriu' peace, we have assem- 

 bled to conclude the irreinoiiies of the seventeenth 

 anniversary of the l?eiks!iire Agficultural Society. 

 The degree of succe s w!ii. li has attende<l the pro- 

 gress of this Society, must be a subject of liii,'h 

 gratification to tliose of its eariy friends who re- 

 collect the time and circumstances under which it 

 was established. 



Wo all reineiriber that stormy period of oni 

 own lime, when the torch of war blazed through- 

 out the continent of Europe, and the fairest por- 

 tions of her soil were bnd<en and toi-n by the hos- 

 tile hoofs of the foreign war horse. In our own 

 country, i)oliti(!al discord so agitated tho public 

 mind, that the very elements of society were 

 thrown into fearful commotion. All the better 

 feelings of the heart ;?ave place to suspicion and 

 distrust. The lines of party were drawn with 

 such exact and frif;btful precision, that the ties of 

 social ititerconrse were rudely sundered, and neigh- 

 bors, and friends, and f.unihes, were idaced to- 

 wards each other in the attitude of per|ictiiul bel- 

 ligerents. Ti;e hideous monster of disunion 

 Stamped the impress of his cloven foot in the very 

 sanctuary of religion, and jilaced in the hands of 

 its professors the weapons of |)arty warfare. The 

 spirit of injprovement which dawned upon the age, 

 was threatened to be overwhelmed and destroyed 

 by the all-absorbing spirit of the day. 



At a time, when under circumstances like these, 

 a number of patriotic individuals of our ov. n coun- 

 ty originated the project of a Society, whose ob- 

 ject should be to restore and promote social inter- 

 course among the members of the couununity ; to 

 improve the condition and add to the we.iith of 

 the farmer and tnechanic, and more eflectually 

 develope the natural and artificial resources of the 

 country. Foremost amongst them stood the Hon. 

 Elkanah Watso.n. The subject was presented 

 to the citizens of Uerkshire, with the expression ol 

 an ardent solicitude that it might be flxvorably re- 

 ceived. They listened to the proposition, and de- 

 termined to give it an experiment. The interest- 

 ing exhibitions and transactions of the first meet- 

 ing of the Society gave assurance to its friends 

 that their designs and hopes might in futuii; be 

 realized. Though too young at the time to have 

 participated in its concerns, the speaker with 

 pleasure embraces this opportunity of congratu- 

 lating those ])atrons and friends of the Society 

 who embarked in its cause, when the result of their 

 eflforts e.visted only in anxious conjecture ; who 

 through every period of its existence have yielded 

 to it their cordial and undivided sup|)ort, and who 

 are present on this occasion, witnessing the fruits 

 of their labors. 



The permanent benefits which have directly and 

 indirectly flowed from this institution to almost 

 every class of people in the county, are so identi- 

 fied with their present prosperity and future well 

 be'.ng, that to question its reality would be to 

 doubt tlie evidence of our senses. Let him who 

 Jie?itates to acknowledge its salutary influence, 

 Icok abroad over the face of the county, and con- 

 trast its present agricultural aspect with wliat it 

 yttii at t'lo time the Society commenced its oi)era- 

 liona. The improved condition of farms in every 



NEW ENGLAND FAll MEIl, 



ll| H 1—»-rM II .m Plll ll y — .TJtl. - I . M ■! ^. — III I. I— . -11 I I i . 1 . !■■ ■ I IPI .■HJIHI. I 



part of the county, their general management, ami I 

 judicious division into ])arts adapted to the difler- 

 oiit purposes of cultiviilion, and their high state ol 

 cukivalion, evince not only the presence of good 

 husbandry^ but exhibit the most cheering evidence 

 that the spirit of improvement, guided by increas- 

 ing intelligence, every w'lere prevail.--. Swamps, 

 and marshes have been drained ; branddes and 

 briars exterminated ; the waste places built up, 

 and desolate and unproductive portions have yield- 

 ed to the hand of labor an abundant harvest. 



The public have been greatly benefited by the 

 introduction of new and valuable kijids of seeds, 

 which have been brought into general use through 

 the mediiun of the Society. 



The great anil increased amount of bushels of 

 the various crops which have been produc m1 from 

 the acre, has raised the astonishment of tliose 

 who were not aware what a judicious and care- 

 ful selection of seed, the skilful jireparafion of the 

 ground for its reception, and the well-timed and 

 husband-like cultivation of (he crop through the 

 progressive stages of its growth, were capable of 

 producing. Improvements of this nature have by 

 no means been coiifineil to members of the So- 

 ciety ; but have been widely extended among our' 

 farmers who have never been competitors for 

 those tokens of merit which it has so liberally dis- 

 tributed. When any of its members, stimulated 

 by the inducements of the association, have made 

 successful experiments in any of the oi)eratioiis of 

 the agriculturist, his enterprising neighbor, moved 

 by that spirit of emulation and laudable rixalship 



May 29, 1829, 



eil the sources of enjoyment, and added to the 

 wealth of those districts of coimlry within the 

 sphere of their operations. 



In a country like ours, proudly distinguished 

 from all the other nations of the earth ; where not 

 only " the same hand that sows, reaps the field," 

 but where the same man that ploughs, owns the 

 soil ; where our political constitutions recognize 

 and avow the ))rinci|de, that the people are the 

 founloin of power ; and where, as a consequence 

 of tliat principle, everything valuable and sacred 

 in our public institutions, depends upon the fiileli- 

 ty and intelligence with which they exercise their 

 rights, the universal dissemination of ligh» and 

 knowledge is inconceivably important, lint intel- 

 ligence and knowledge are not less requisite to 

 the successful operations of agriculture, than as 

 the means of preserving our civil and iiolitical in- 

 stitutions. Can ignorance successfully cultivate 

 the earth ? Shall science be proscribed from the 

 labors of agriculture .' These positions,once held 

 as true, the light of this age lias explodei'. We 

 now see the labors of the schools contribute to the 

 success of husbandry. We behold the farmer en- 

 listiig into his service the experiments of the 

 chemist, and directing his movements by the prin- 

 cipli-s of philosophy. They enable him to uiiiler- 

 stanil the nature and quality of the different soils 

 and kinds of earth, and direct him with certainty 

 to tlie application of the various substances best 

 calculated to enrich and fit them for the produc- 

 tion of a full and abundant harvest. 



Tiie advantages which the scientific farmer de- 



vliich characterizes the American citizen, has at rives from his knowledge of those principles which 

 once adopted the improvements, with such varia- conduct him to easy and safe conclusions ujion 

 tions as his own skill and observation might sug- i subjects relating to his profession, can only be 

 gest, and in his turn been rewarded by an over- i gained by those who do not understand their aj>- 

 flowing harvest. The witnesses of his success J plication, by long and laborious experience. It 

 have been aroused to new enterprise and energy. I should then be one of the first and most impor- 

 Thus, the impulse first given by the Society, has tsnt objects of the farmer, after having familiar- 

 dilUised its benefits far and wide throughout the 

 whole community. 



The iinprovcinent in the breed of domestic ani- 

 mals, of the sty, the pasture, and the stall, has ad- 

 ded much to the beauty of our flocks and Jierds, 

 and essentially augmeiited the wealth of the coun- 

 ty. If any evidence is still wanting of the ad 



ized bis son to habits of industry, and instriicied 

 him in those branches of labor fitted to boyhood 

 and early youth, to provide for hiin the means of 

 a regular and systematic education. And when 

 he shall have finished his course of education, in- 

 stead of indulging the delusive hope of deriving 

 honor or success by entering into those learned 

 vanced condition of the various interests of the professions which are already crowded to over- 

 county connected with the Society, let him who flowing, and dividing the profits of a dunning let- 

 doubts, repair to the place where are exhibited ter with some hungry brother of the bar, or mount 



specimens of the luxuriant productions of the 

 earth, and tho golden fruits of the dairy. In these, 

 and in the rich and varied articles of domestic and 

 household industry, the works of the needle, the 

 spindle, and the loom, with the elegant specimens 

 from the finishing shop, he will find the most in- 

 contestible proof, that in articles of necessity, of 

 convenience, and of taste, improvements have 

 been made, at once flattering and useful to their 

 authors, and honorable to the county. 



ng the same steed with some half starved disciple 

 of jEsculapiiis, let him return to the pursuits of 

 early life, and become the industrious, intelligent, 

 and independent farmer. 



(To he continued.) 



From the New York Gardener. 



MAY. 



The sluggard is known by the neglect of his 



But it would be unjust in us, and ungenerous garden. Inaitentive to the proper season of plant- 

 towards our neiglibors, to jiretend that the bene- ing, and too idle to perform the necessary tillage, 

 fits which have resulted from the institution of i he but lightly stirs the surface of the ground, and 

 which we are speaking, are confined within the without art, sows his seed " ti/ Mc ipffi/ ^I'f/c" His 

 narrow limits of our own county. A numerous ! plants, as might be expected, are immediately im- 

 prcgeny lias risen up and gone forth from this poverished with weeds, or devoured by hungry 

 parent Society. In our own. and throughout our ; iu-ects, if they escajie the depredation of larger 

 sister Slates, societies of this kind have been ' animals. And there is another class of men, who 

 formed, and enrolled ainong their founders, and ! take much pains to manure and make their gar- 

 supporters, and oflicers,the names of the most val- j den, and then desert it altogether, seeming to ex- 

 urtd, talented, and honored citizens of our Rcpiib-'pect a crop without any further attention. These 

 lie. Ill their origin and progress, tliey have given ' men will never derive cither pleasure or profit 

 a new impetus to industry and enterprise, increas- 1 from a garden. 



