THE FAKMEK8' REGISTER 



431 



our pons may be as planif? rjrowii up in thoir 

 youlli ; iliat our dauizliieis niav lie us corncr- 

 siones poli'^lieii niter ilie einiiliiude oi a palace ; 

 lliat our jjarners may be luil, alibrtiiiii: all man- 

 ner ol" store ; that our sheep may brinij Ibnh 

 thousands and tens of thousands in our streets; 

 that our oxen may be strong to labor ; thai there 

 be no breakinjr in nor ii;oin<r out ; thai there be 

 no ooiuplaininij: in our streets. Happy is that 

 people thiU is in such a case." If this beaunlul 

 picture could be realized, then should we obtain 

 what we all so devoutly wish lor — peace and plenty . 



I will not disguise the lact, gentlemen, that 

 this lovely picture is taken from the Bible ; nor 

 is this the only passage, by many thousands, in 

 which the loveliness of rural scenery is depicted, 

 iniiiesame good old book. But Jrom the fact 

 that I havequoied Iroui the Bible, and especially 

 as I wear a black coat, perhaps some ol" you 

 may think, that I intend to preach a sermon. 

 But be not alarmed, gentlemen. I intend no 

 sermon, nor any other theological lecture of any 

 kind, but a simple, plain address, adapted to this 

 first meeting ol' our Agricultural and Horticul- 

 tural Society. Indeed, were I to take a text, 

 there is another thai would suit me much better. 

 In tbrmer days — those days when temperance 

 societies did not exist, there lived a brother black 

 coat, who had unlbrtunately contracted a great 

 (i)ndness for the Ibrbidden creature. He couti- 

 niied, however, to exercise the Tunctions of his 

 office, and concluded all -liis sermons with these 

 emphatic words—" Brethren, don't do as I do, 

 but do as I tell you." Yes! this shall be my 

 text. It suits me exactly, for on it I can preach 

 just such an agricultural sermon as I think pro- 

 per, and none of you can charge me with de- 

 partmijirrom my text. 



With this motto in view, then, I propose to 

 describe, in a very summary manner, what I 

 conceive to be a well managed, a well regulated 

 larm. In doing this, I intend to use the plainest, 

 the simplest lauiruage of which I am capable. 

 I intend to call things, not by their botanical or 

 scientific names, but by the very names that farm- 

 ers call them ; nor will I attempt to appear 

 learned at the expense of being misunderstood. 

 What then is a well managed farm? Here I 

 am sorry to say that I must depend for my pic- 

 lure, more on fancy than on the reality. If such 

 a farm does actually exist, I have never yet seen 

 it. lam sure you will agree with me, that it 

 exists no where within the limits of our Society. 

 That which ccmes nearest to it of any I 

 have seen, is a farm in Charles City county, 

 called VVeyanoke, the property of the late Field- 

 ing Lewis, Esq. where a neatness and system 

 pervaded the whole, which I have seen equalled 

 in no other instance. 



But to the answer. A well regulated farm 

 is a portion of land with its enclosures, and 

 buildings, and shelters, and resources for enrich- 

 ing itself, and stock and lijrming utensils, and a 

 great many other things which I cannot enu- 

 merate—all so arranged, and all kept in such 

 order as actually to answer the purpose for which 

 they were intended. Now let us apply this 

 simple rule to any particular case. What use 

 do you wish to make of your land 1 All will 

 agree that it is to furnish bread and vegetables 

 and all other necessaries Ibr the family, together | 



with as large a surplus as possible to be die- 

 posed of ijt market : and yet this liirm must not 

 oidy mainiain its own, but be in a state of con- 

 tinual improvemeiit. When, therelbre, I see a 

 larm producing largely the above articles— when 

 I see the corn and other crops lice Irom frass 

 and (luring their growth exhibiting that" dark 

 luxuriant color on which the eve of the expe- 

 rienced liarmer dwells with so much (leliirht 



and when at harvest, I see the ears lanre and 

 liill and so heavy as to be borne down by their 

 own weight ; then 1 say, that as far as fhc land 

 is concerned, here is a well managed, a well 

 cultivated larm. 



Now it is obvious, gentlemen, that this beau- 

 tiful state of things cannot exist on lands, which 

 are poor by nature or poor by exhaustion, or on 

 which superfluous waters are permitted to stag- 

 nate. You never saw, nor will you ever see, 

 the rich luxuriant hue on the impoverished or 

 excessively wet lands. There the growth is 

 slender and the color a sickly yellow. Ii; there- 

 loie, your lands are poor— the remedy is a plain 

 one— enrich them— if they are too wet, drain 

 them. But some one will say — why preach to 

 us about these delects in land ? Is none of your 

 land poor? Is none loo wet ? Ah ! you forget 

 my text— I will remind you of h— Don't do cis I 

 do — do as I tell you. 



Again. This fiirm, liowever rich and well 

 drained and well tilled, requires enclosures, or 

 all the labor will be lost. And here permit me 

 to remark, that I consider our whole enclosing 

 system as fundamentally wronir. On my. small 

 larm 1 have had to incur an expense of many 

 hutidred dollars— certainly more than a thousand, 

 in erecting enclosures. And why all this ex- 

 petise? Ills not to restrain my own cattle, Ibr 

 this I could do Ibr less than filty dollars. It is 

 to prevent the depredations of mv neighbor's 

 stock, and my neighbor has to be'ar a "similar 

 heavy expense to protect himself from the de- 

 predations of my stock. Now the simple re- 

 medy in this case is, to compel every man to re- 

 strain his own stock, and this he could do at an 

 expense bearing a very small proportion to what 

 it requires lo prevent the ravages of the roamin^ 

 stock of his neighbors. ° 



And here it is an object of curious inquiry, 

 why has not a remedy so effectual, so obvious, 

 and at ihe same time so simple, been already 

 employed"? The answer is a very plain one. 

 Our whole system of legislation is wrong, and 

 therelbre, our whole enclosing system, and road 

 system, and taxation system is wrong also. The 

 evil complained of arises Irom ihTs— that the 

 very men on whose slioulders rest nearly the 

 whole support and expense of the irovernment, 

 have very little to do in Ibrmins; the government. 

 Who is it, fbr instance, that is sent to fill our 

 legislative hall? Who is it that makes long 

 speeches day after day and time after time abou't 

 the man in the moon and oiher subjects of equal 

 importance? Who is it that, in this way, pro- 

 tracts the meetings of our legislature until every 

 body is literally wearied out with them? Who 

 is It that, fbr their own amusement or their own 

 vanity, will continue to spout forth speech after 

 speech, each of which they know costs the 

 state a thousand dollars or more, and that, too, 

 when every man's mind is fully made up ? I 



