1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



171 



SEVENTH LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTU- 

 RAL MEETING. 



Eeported for tue Farmer bt II. E. Rockwell. 



The seventh regulur meeting of the Legislative 

 Agricultural Society was held on Tuesday evening, 

 in the Hall of the House of Representatives. The 

 meeting was called to order at half-jiast 7 o'clock, 

 and Gen. Salem Towne, of Charlton, was called on 

 to preside. He expressed some regret that the 

 meeting was not more full, and that a notice of it 

 had not been put in the daily papers. Before the 

 close of the meeting, however, the attendance was 

 as good as usual. 



He then introduced as the lecturer of the eve- 

 ning, George E. Waring, of New York, stating at 

 the same time the topic of the lecture tobe, "^^n*- 

 cultural Education." 



The lecturer commenced by paying a high trib- 

 ute to the people of Massachusetts as having done 

 more, through their Legislature, for the promotion 

 of agriculture than any other people on the conti- 

 nent. 



He then spoke of the relative importance of ag- 

 riculture, as not only surpassing any other occupa^ 

 tion, but all other occupations. The necessity of 

 educating those who are to be farmers, in such a 

 manner as[to fit them for their appropriate business, 

 Avas insisted upon, and its necessity illustrated in a 

 variety of ways. Agricultural Colleges are needed; 

 but in order to be most highly beneficial they must 

 be supported by those who attend them. But while 

 we have no Agricultural Colleges, their place may 

 be and should be supplied by giving an agricultural 

 education to boys in the common schools. The in- 

 troduction of agricultural studies into the schools 

 of Great Britain has been tried with success. Chem- 

 istry should he made subservient to an agricultural 

 education by making boys acquainted with the 

 fundamental principles of agricultural chemistry. 

 Philosophy also should be studied with reference to 

 making boys acquainted with agricultural mechan- 

 ics. Whoever is to be a farmer has a right to 

 know all that relates to the first principles of his 

 business. No one can be a good practical farmer 

 without knowing the nature of the raw materials 

 from which he is to produce his crops. He must 

 know what he is to get from his soil in any particu- 

 lar crop, and consequently he must know what to 

 apply to the soil, in order to enable him to obtain 

 that crop. 



The materials which constitute plants were then 

 specified to a considerable extent, and 'then Ihe 

 manner of their growth was considered, and plainly 

 pointed out. 



The uses and abiuses of soils were next referred 

 to. In the consideration of soils it is necessary to 

 regard especially their ashy or inorganic matter. 

 In all fertile soils there is a large quantity of phos- 

 phoric acid. The soil of the Miami valley contains 



4 per cent, of phosphoric acid, while the best wheat 

 land in Massachusetts contains only 2J per cent. 

 The importance of atmospheric fertilizers was par- 

 ticularly commented u])on. The air supplies to 

 soils quantities of ammonia, carbonic acid, and oxy- 

 gen. These not only enter plants through the 

 leaves, but they enter into the composition of the 

 soil to a great extent. 



But few realize to how great an extent manure is 

 lost in the country. In riding from New York to 

 Boston, he had taken pains to notice the barns along 

 the route, so far as he could do so, and he had 

 seen but one barn upon the side of the railroad 

 track which he was in a position to see, where the 

 manure was not thrown out of the stable Avindow 

 and left exposed to the action of the atmosphere. 

 The waste of manure, especially in cities, is enor- 

 mous. Some very interesting statistical statements 

 were made in this connection which were well fitted 

 to impress the audience with the importance of 

 greater attention to saving manures. Man is Imt 

 a tenant of the soil, and he is guilty of a ciime if 

 he impoverishes the soil and leaves it poorer bv his 

 cultivation than he finds it, so that those who come 

 after him suffer from his wastefulness. In conclvi-- 

 sion, the lecturer said that farmers were yet, to a 

 great extent, working in the dark, and were guided 

 by superstition in many instances, rather than bv 

 reason. 



At the close of the lecture. Rev. Ralph Saiv- 

 ger, of I^over, said that he was much pleased «ith 

 the lecture, and he considered it, — to use £o> ex- 

 pression suited to his own profession -^J'pretty 

 close preaching," and to carry out thi-iame.idea, 

 they had got to make an "applicatiqri'- of it., He 

 then referred to the comparative results of cultivat- 

 ing wheat in Ohio and in Massaohusetts. The av- 

 erage crop of wheat in Ohio has. been stated to be 

 sixteen bushels to the acre» tv Nprfolk County he 

 had known forty bushels to ha raisetj to the acre. 

 Of three entries for preraiupjs on wheat, the lowest 

 was about twenty-five bushels to the. acre and the 

 highest was thirtj'-two. 



Mr. J. Brooks,.. of Princeton, said that the aver-- 

 age crop of corn, in Illinois is thirty-six bushels to 

 the acre, and. in Massachusetts, it is thirtyronje... 

 There is, therefore, more made in Massachusjetts . 

 than in Illinois, by the cultivation of an acre of.", 

 corn. The price of a bushel of corn in Illinois was , 

 40 cents, the last year, making the value of the - 

 crop from an acre $14,40. It is said to cost $5 an 

 acre to cultivate it,, which would leave a profit of ■ 

 $9,4<) per acre. Corn has sold in Massachusetts 

 for $1,25 per bushel this year, and the value of the 

 average crop of an acre Avould therefore be $38,75. 

 Admitting the cost of cultivating an acre to be $20, 

 which is considered high enough, the profit is 

 $18,7.5 per acre, or $9,35 more per acre than in 

 Illinois. 



