NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED r.V GEO. C. BARRETT, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural Warehods*;.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL. XII. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 8, 1834. 



NO. 26. 



THE HOUK JUDGE STRONG'S ADDRESS, 



delivered itfore the Worcester Agr. Society, Oct. 9th, 1 333 



[Published in lire N. E. Farmer at the rcqu.st ul'tlio Trustees.; 

 GENTLEMEN OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



When lirst incited liy your Board of Trusters 

 to address you oit this occasion, 1 felt such :t diffi- 

 dence, mill distrust of my powers and qualifications 

 for the suitable performance of such a duty, as tvj 

 most induced me to decline the honor. When I 

 considered the high respectability of the audience, 

 which I should here meet ; when I considered the 

 many eloquent addresses which had, from time to 

 time, been delivered to you; and the high stand- 

 ard of excellence which you and the public woidd 

 require from auy person who should stand in this 

 place on the day of your anniversary: I doubted 

 whether it would be possible for me to satisfy yon, 

 or even myself. I ( onsidered that I was not a 

 practical agriculturist; that I was not particularly 

 acquainted with the subject; and, that I bad not 

 for many years been iu the habit of addressing 

 public bodies, unless the regular discharge of the 

 duties of my office may be considered an excep- 

 tion. In the discharge of those duties, However, 

 confined as they are within such narrow 7 limits, 

 little scope is given to the powers of oratory ; and 

 they are very little, if at all calculated for improve- 

 ment in eloquence. On the other hand I consid- 

 t red, that I had been invited to the task hy men 

 highly respectable, representing a society equally 

 respectable; that I was myself a member of this 

 society; and, though I highly approved of the ob- 

 jects of the association, and saw with the greatest 

 .... i .' 



their exertions in every part of the county, I have 

 myself done little or nothing to promote these im- 

 portant ohjects. It seemed to me to be my duty 

 under the circumstances, having such a favorable 

 opportunity, to make one effort to discharge in part 

 the obligation which I and every one interested in 

 the subject, owe to this society. 



It will not he disputed that agriculture is a sub- 

 ject of great importance ; and that every proper 

 mode should be adopted for its encouragement and 

 improvement. Agriculture is the foun lation of 

 the subsistence, the comfort, and even the luxuries 

 of society. It supplies the necessaries of life, and 

 furnishes most of the materials of manufactures 

 and commerce. It spreads the table of the cotta- 

 ger, provides the substantial comfort of the middle 

 classes, and administers to the luxury of the rich. 

 It feeds, it clothes, and furnishes employment di- 

 rectly or indirectly for almost the whole commu- 

 nity. Agriculture is at once the cause and evi- 

 dence of civilization. No nation has ever made 

 much progress in civilization without making a 

 correspondent progress in the art of agriculture. 

 When nations subsist by hunting and fishing, they 

 are always savages. When nations subsist hy pas- 

 turage, by driving large herds of cattle over an 

 immense extent of natural pastures, they are but 

 one degree removed from the savage state, and the 

 arts of civilization can hardly be said to have 

 dawned upon them. Though they have more of 

 the principle of association than the savage ; and, 

 to a bunted extent, a community of interest ; yet 

 there exists among them the same predatory dis- 

 position, the same disregard of the rights of others, 



the same looseness of principle as it respects indi- 

 vidual property ; very little progress is made among 

 them in the cultivation of the social affections, or 

 in the establishment of the lowest, plainest, and 

 fundamental principles of moral duty. But, when 

 nations begin to cultivate the earth, as a principal 

 means of subsistence, when the individualsfix them- 

 selves upon particular portions of the earth's sur- 

 face to obtain subsistence from the fruits thereof, 

 the products of their own labor, a foundation is 

 laid for something like a regular government, law, 

 order, regard to the rights of individuals, and pro- 

 tection to private property. from this period, 

 improvement in agriculture and amelioration of 

 government mutually act upon and favor each 

 other. The improvements made in agriculture 

 require, and necessarily require a correspondent 

 amelioration in the government; and as the gov- 

 ernment makes greater and greater progress to- 

 wards perfection, it reacts upon agriculture and 

 accelerates its progress. In the course of time, 

 manufactures and commerce spring up, as the ne- 

 cessary result of an enlarged, extended and greatly 

 improved agriculture ; and we at last see that ele- 

 vated state of civilization which we now enjoy. 

 Though other countries and other climes are blest 

 with warmer suns, with brighter skies, and with a 

 greater degree of fertility, the surface of the earth 

 covered with a more exuberant vegetation, and the 

 native and adopted products have a more exten- 

 sive circulation, and occupy a larger space in the 

 commerce of the world than the substantial and 

 useful plants adapted to our soil, and the tempe- 

 of our rl'iiiate. ; yet the ; reductions of our 

 agriculture are highly important to us ; and vvhen 

 their various and important uses are considered, 

 may well be the subject of eulogy. We cannot 

 produce the sugar cane, the cotton plant, or the 

 tea plant ; but wheat, rye, Indian corn and the 

 potato will flourish here in all their luxuriance, 

 and make the most abundant returns to the well 

 directed industry of the cultivator. The orange, 

 the lemon, the pine apple, the fig, the olive, and 

 other rare fruits of tropical climates, cannot be 

 seen here except as an article of commerce brought 

 from distant countries; but we have the apple, the 

 pear, the plum and the peach — fruits which from 

 the beauty of their appearance and richness of 

 taste, may well vie with those of any other coun- 

 try. We have not as yet, and it is doubted by some 

 whether we ever can raise the grape in a climate 

 of our temperature, so as to produce wines of the 

 richness of flavor of those which come from warmer 

 climates. But we have the apple, from which by 

 a proper attention in the selection and cultivation 

 of the best fruits, and the making and preservation 

 of the liquor, a beverage may he made equal or 

 nearly equal to the wines of other countries. 

 II "heat is a most valuable vegetable. It furnishes 

 the most abundant, the most palatable, and the 

 most healthful of all farinaceous food. It seems 

 to have been given by Providence to man to sus- 

 tain him in all his wanderings over the widely ex- 

 tended surface of the earth. The number of spe- 

 cies of this genus is greatly multiplied, and some 

 one is adapted to grow, and flourish, and furnish 

 food for man in almost every part of the habitable 

 globe. From the great number of its species, and 



iheir adaptation to different climates and soils; 

 from the ease with which it may be raised in many 

 soils : from the facility with which it may be man- 

 ufactured into flour, and transported to every part 

 of the earth ; and from the portableness, nutrition 

 and healtnfulness of the food which it furnishes, 

 this ma\ he ranked among the richest products of 

 agriculture. — Ihjc is a very useful plant to the New 

 England farmer. It is, to him, an important 

 bread stuff. When used alone, Or mixed with In- 

 dian corn, it furnishes a substantial and healthy 

 food. It may be made to grow and flourish in 

 many soils where Wheat and Indian corn cannot 

 he successfully cultivated ; and where the soil is 

 properly adapted to it, perhaps there is no crop 

 raised by the farmer, where the value of the return 

 bears so great a proportion to the labor bestowed 

 upon it. — in/linn corn is a highly valuable plant to 

 the fanner. It is more hardy than wheat, and will 

 grow advantageously in many situations where 

 wheat will not flourish. This plant is peculiarly 

 valuable in the rough and billy portions of New 

 England where wheat cannot be advantageously 

 raised, except when the lands are first cleared. It 

 furnishes a wholesome bread for the farmer's fam- 

 ily, a grain better adapted than any other for the 

 fattening of swine, and is valuable fodder for bis 

 cattle. — The potato is emphatically the poor man's 

 plant, and the poor man's food, though it now 

 constitutes a portion of the food of all classes. It 

 is the en pest food which can be raised in New 

 England. This vegetable will grow almost any 

 where. If planted on good land, and good care 

 taken of good crop will be produced ; if plant- 



ed oil , o ' n.li(i ami very little care taken of it, a 

 considerable crop will be raised; 'anil let the 

 son be what it will, hot or cold, wet or dry, ~ 

 moderate crop at least will always reward the 

 labor of the farmer. It is not only very cheaj), but 

 very healthy food ; and those who subsist chiefly 

 upon it find it to he not only very wholesome and 

 nutritive, but also greatly conducive to strength and 

 vigor. The judicious and intelligent farmer will 

 also find an important use for this vegetable in the 

 fattening of his swine, and neat cattle ; and also, to 

 increase the quantity of milk for his dairy. 



Grass is also an important product to the New 

 England farmer. As much land in the present 

 state of agriculture is probably employed to furnish 

 food for cattle as food for man. In a climate 

 where, for so large a portion of the year, it is ne- 

 cessary to feed animals with fodder prepared and 

 stored for the purpose, it will continue to be the 

 case, as long as animals furnish the motive power 

 to so great an extent as at present. This vegeta- 

 ble furnishes the principal food for the horse, the 

 ox, the cow, and the sheep, all in their respective 

 places most valuable animals to the farmer. The 

 fanner cannot place too much importance upon 

 the production of food for cattle in sufficient quan- 

 tises and of an improved quality. How much de- 

 pends upon this in carrying on the various opera- 

 tions of agriculture the immense interior transpor- 

 tation, the business and the pleasures even of the 

 whole community ! That valuable animal the 

 horse, by whose cheerful services the numerous 

 and various assemblages of men for purposes of 

 business, of benevolence, or pleasure, are effected 



