1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



333 



ESSAYS UPOM" FIELD HUBBANDBY. 



We have before us a very interesting and quite 

 an old book. The preface is dated at Killingworth, 

 December 31, 1747. Probably Killingworth, Conn. 

 The title runs thus : — 



"EsBays upon Field Husbandry in New Eneland. As 

 itiB or may be Ordered. By Jared Elliot, A M. 

 Ecclcs. V. 9. 



'■Moreover, the profit of the earth, is for all ; the King 

 himtelf is served bv the Field." Boston : Printed and 

 sold by Edes cf Gill, in Queen Street. 1760. 



The preface opens by stating that there are sun- 

 dry books written on Husbandry in England, but 

 that the climate and method of management be- 

 tween them and us are so different, that these 

 books are not very useful to us. So he thought 

 that books of Husbandry calculated to conform 

 more to the circumstances of our country might 

 be of great service ; not a history of our practice, 

 not an account of what we do in our present Hus- 

 bandry, bid rather what we might do, to our ad- 

 vantage. 



Mr. Elliot was a clergyman, and it appears 

 that he had some doubts whether the suggestions 

 he made would be fiivorably received by farmers, 

 for he says— -"It may be thought that a Subject of 

 this Nature is not very suitable for one of my 

 Calling. But, certainly," he adds, "the Cultiva- 

 tion of the Earth affords the most useful Philoso- 

 phy, opens to us a glorious scene and discovery of 

 the Wisdom and Power of the Creator and Gover- 

 nor of the World. It is what has employed Men 

 of Rank and Orders, from the Prince to the Peas- 

 ant." 



Several expressions in the preface to the book, 

 show that the same sort of prejudice existed 

 against farming then, that we have now ; that it 

 "was not a genteel or profitable employment." So 

 he encourages the reader to hope that good may 

 flow fiom his Essays, by showing that useful 

 knowledge has frequently come from a quarter 

 where it was not natural to expect it, by stating 

 that a monk first discovered gun-powder, and that 

 the useful art of printing was the invention of a 

 soldier. He adds, that it is acknowledged by our 

 best writers, that while other parts of learning, 

 less useful, have been cultivated, agriculture has 

 been strangely neglected. "Some suppose the 

 Reason of this Neglect is, that the Subject is too 

 lov/ for Polite Writers. It was not so accounted 

 by King Solomon. He did not think it btlow his 

 Dignity as a King, nor inconsistent with his Char- 

 acter as a Prcicher." 



He continues, and we think with truth and force, 

 — "I rather thhik Husbandry has been neglected 

 as being too high ; That is, Writers do not care to 

 be at the trouble of Projecting, nor at the charge 

 of Trials and Experiments upon what hath been 

 Projected : It being a great deal easier to write a 

 Book upon the known Arts and Sciences that shall 

 be accepted and applauded, than to write upon 

 Husbandry so as not to be despised: for some 

 think we do not need it, and that we know all that 

 cau be known already." 



This idea— that so many think they know enough 

 already — has been one of the most stubborn things 

 in the way of progress in agriculture. It is just 

 so with the sinner. He who thinks he is good 

 enough already, will make no effort toward refor- 

 mation. It is our duty to live in better houses, to 

 have smooth roads, safe bridges and labor-saving 

 implements and machines to work with, as well as 

 to be moral and just in all our dealings. What- 

 ever tends to honest gain and a higher civilization, 

 is a duty ; an imperative one. The yjarable of the 

 "talents" shows this. We are not only to subdue 

 the earth and make it prolific, but also to make it 

 beautiful ; and this beauty will have a reflex influ- 

 ence and make our own lives beautiful. Mr. Eiliot 

 hoped that if any one thought him mistaken, they 

 would try their hand upon a few acres themselves, 

 or their heads in persuading people that there was 

 still something left to be learned in agriculture. 



No one will doubt that in Mr. Elliot's time — one 

 hundred and forty-two years ago — there was great 

 need of improvement in the modes of locomotion. 

 Not only need of better roads, but of better appli- 

 ances on them. Of quicker, cheaper and safer 

 means of transferring persons and property from 

 one point to another. No one doubted that ; but 

 hundreds seemed to believe that the houses in 

 which they lived were good enough, and so were 

 their crops and animals, and means of education. 

 Happily, the darkness which obscured their minds 

 has been dissipated by the efforts of an Elliot and 

 his followers, so that the "talents" with which we 

 have been entrusted are put to usury, and we are 

 in the way of hearing the grateful words, that we 

 have been faithful over a few things, and shall be 

 made rulers over many. 



We propose, hereafter, to notice some of the 

 suggestions made by Mr. Elliot, and show the pro- 

 gress made by those who have sut^ceeded him. 



AYRSHIRE AKD DURHAM COTVS. 



The Vermont Journal and Watchman says that 

 four gentlemen in Milton, owners of thoroughbred 

 Ayrshire cows, have challenged J A. Shedd, Esq., 

 of Burlington, a breeder of Durhams, to put four of 

 each on a farm together through the month of 

 June, and "at the endof the time, we will weigh the 

 cows, and if the milk produced by your Durhams 

 shall outweigh the milk produced by our Ayr- 

 shires, in proportion to the weight of the cows, we 

 will pay the sum of five hundred dollars premium, 

 provided that if the milk produced by our Ayr- 

 shires shall outweigh the milk produced by your 

 Durhams, in proportion to the weight of the cows, 

 you will pay us the sum of five hundred dollars 

 premium." 



In connection with the above we copy from the 

 Country Gentle?nati the statement that the In- 

 verness, Scotland, Farmers' Society lately dis- 

 cussed the relative importanceof these two bretds, 

 "in a national point of view," granting the Durhams 

 to be best for fattenmg, and the Ayrshiresas milk- 



