188 



NEW ENGLAND FAUMEU, 



bee. 28, 1S3I, 



ADDRESS, 



DELIVEKKD BEFORE THE WORCESTER 



AGKICULTURAL SOCIETY, | 



OcTMEcr, SO, 1831, 



BY OLIVER FISKE, M.D. 



As the general liisloiy of A-.'nciiltiire may be 

 considered an appropriate subject for tlie contem- 

 plation of an audience, vvliose oliject is to improve 

 in its science ; and as the avocations of a lariner 

 render it impossible to trace this history through 

 the numerous treatises which have been written 

 on the subject, 1 donbl not it will be acce|)table to 

 devote a few moments to its pleasiufj retrospect. 

 This course, though in itself of little practical 

 utility, may disclose facts, interesting and useful 

 to the modern farmer. I shall aitenipl, moreover, 

 in the prosecution of my plan, to render a dry 

 subject more interesting, by occasional irrigations, 

 or by discursive rambles into more enlivening 

 fields. The fair portion of my audience, who may 

 find no attraction in the dull progress of husban- 

 dry, in any sense, as derived from histori/, may 

 enjoy a pleasing abstraction in a mental i^pisode, 

 while the P/a^ in in reheamal. Let them choose 

 the same period — and lor their subject, the same 

 progress from their own dcgradalion, in having 

 been the lowest meiiinJi of this employment, to their 

 final emancip ition —when lordly man, from civili- 

 zation and retinement, ac(!nriled them the rank 

 intended by tlieirCreator, and surreinlered ihp scep- 

 tre. The ore of history is drawn, in ils crude state, 

 from the mines. When smelted by tlie discover- 

 er, and put into circulation as cnrr.-jicy, the dealer 

 in such commodity is not to be <leemed a purloin- 

 er, although ' the image ami sujierscriplion ' on 

 the coin he passes miy bear a resemblance to the 

 features, or other peculiarities of ilie personage 

 who first gave the impress, and stamped its vnhic. 

 This remark may be deemed both pertinent and 

 prudent, where an appropriaiioii from the store- 

 houses of others, which a narrator has occasional- 

 ly, and from necessity, entered, mu.<t be detected 

 in the massy material he withdraws.* 



The antiquity of the art of husbandry is, un- 

 doul)teilly, prior to all othef arts. It is coeval 

 with man. The calls of nature, independent of 

 the mandate from Heaven to cultivate the earth, 

 instinctively pointed to this means of relief 



Tlie prodigious length of life which the ante- 

 diluvians enjoyed, must have been favorable to the 

 advancement of arts and sciences, especially of 

 agriculture. This science, iiowevcr, seems not 

 to have been much cultivated at this early period ; 

 for Noah is the first on record who ' became a 

 husbandman, and planted a vineyard,' though 

 Adam, for centm-ies, hail cultivated a garden. In 

 the days of Abraham, and in some successive ages, 

 men lived in a shepherd state, and subsisted, with 

 their flocks and herds, not so much by cultivating 

 the earth, as by gathering its spontaneous produc- 



• In (he arnunciation of my subject, and in some of 

 the details of its history, I have availed myself of a 

 half sheet manuscript found among my papers, wiihout 

 positive evidence of its originality. But by the advice of 

 friends, most likely to have noticed it had it appeared in 

 the same form elsewhere, I have ventured to embody it. 

 If a s(cai/, I knew not why it came into my inclosu 



Itions ; lint, in proportion as population increased, 

 agriculture became necessary. 



I Different nations have ever been in a different 

 state of civilization ; and agriculture, its oflspring, 

 has at ail times, been in different degrees of im- 

 provement among different nations, at the same 

 period. From the earliest accounts of the eastern 

 nations, we have reason to believe that agriculture, 

 in all.stagesof their civilization, was understood in 

 considerable perfection ; for they appear to have 

 been always supplied, not only with the necessa- 

 ries, but with the greatest bi.vuries of life. High 

 birth, or rank, did not at that time make any dis- 

 tinction ; for agriculture was considered as the 

 most honorable empliyment. Then, as now, the 

 highest classes were in the rank of working men : 

 and the working classes were emulous of their 

 distinction. 



It is related of the ancient Persians that their 

 kings, once every month, laid aside their gran- 

 deur, like our first tnai.'istrates, to eat with hus- 

 bandmen. In China they did better; instead of 

 eating their stdistance, their rich repast was in 

 holding their ploughs. This is the hisrhest evi- 

 dence of the respectable standing, and of their 

 estimation of husbandry. 



The precepts of their religion, as taught by 

 their priests, included the practice of a^ricnlture. 

 It was a maxim of the Zendavesla, that he who 

 sows the ground with diligence and care, is rr>oie 

 acceptable to the gods, and acquires a greater 

 degree of religio is merit than he could have gain- 

 ed by ten thousand prayers. 



The Chaldeans, who inhabited the country 

 where agriculture derived its birth, carried this 

 valuable art, to a degree of perfection, bordering 

 on modern improvement. They cultivated their 

 lands with great assiduity, and seem to have dis. 

 covered Boino means of restoring fertility to an e.\- 

 bansteil soil ; for they obtained a succession .if 

 plentiful harvests, and consequently, were not un- 

 der the necessity, as their predecessors had been, 

 of changing their situation fur the support of them- 

 selves and th 'ir numerous flocks and herds. This 

 was a momenions achievement in the art, and is 

 the sound criterion of its hightpst advancement. 



There is no circumstance in the history of man 

 which so forcibly points to the degradation to 

 which he is susceptible, as the fiiot, that the arts 

 which seem necessary to his existence, are subject 

 to be neglected and lost. Causes which gave 

 them birth, in a measure, cease to operate, aiu' 

 they are forgotten in a removal from the place of 

 their origin. 



The children of Noah, who settled in Europe, 

 doubtless carried with them a knowledge of ngr- 

 cultiire ; but his decendants, who took possession 

 of Greece, were such a savage race, as to subsist 

 upon herbs and roots, in common with the brn'e. 

 Pelnsgus taught them the culture of the oak, and 

 the use of acorns as food ; for which servii^cs di- 

 vine honors were paiil him. After this period, the 

 .■\thenians taught the use of corn to the rest of the 

 Greeks. They soon perceived that bread was 



pliant in Africa, requested to be recalled lest liis 



lanii might suffer from want of cultivation in hi» 

 absence. To ipiiet his solicitude, the Governiaent 

 |)romised that it should be taken care of at th* 

 public expense, so long as he should ronlinue to 

 head ihei- armies. Cato, the censor, after having 

 governed extensive provinces and subdued war- 

 like nations, did not think it beneath his dignity to 

 write a treatise on agricullm'e. 



In Bnghind, where this art is now advanced toi 

 great perfection, little is known of its progress, 

 iiniil the 14tli renlnry ; and not until the begiil- 

 niii;; of the 16th century was it there taught as a 

 science. At this time Fitzherbert, judye of the ^ 

 Ci nimon Pleas, shone forth with distinguished 

 eminence in the practical parts of liusbandry. He 

 appears to have been the first Fnglislunan who 

 studied the nature of soils, and the laws of vegeta- 

 tion, with philosophical attention. Many valua- 

 ble and important improvements have been made 

 ill English husbandry, within the Inst century ; and 

 many writers have perforincd a most essential 

 service, by enlightening the minds of their coun- 

 trymen, and exciting them to emulation. 



About the year 1600, the Flemings became 

 distinguished for the practice of a;.'ricnliure. Not 

 so much to the fertility of the soil were they in- 

 debted for their preeminence, as to the general 

 equality of the inhabitants, their information and 

 industry, but principally to system in all their ope- 

 raiioiis. These combined, gave a productiveness 

 to their lalior.s, never equalled in any other coun- 

 try. ' In Flanders,' says Loudon, ' the gentlemen 

 are all (iirmers ; but the farmers do not all aspire 

 to be gentlemen — and the farm-servants, who are 

 treated with kindness and delicacy, feel the bene- 

 fit.' Farming was their trade, and their mystery in 

 it they endeavored to keep a secret from the rest 

 of tlie world. To make a farm, as near as possi- 

 ble, resemble a garden, was their leading idea of 

 good husbandry. Such a correct principle at first 

 setting out, led thetn of course, to miihriake the 

 ctdtiire of small estates only, which they kept free 

 from weeds, frequently turning the ground, and 

 manuring it, both plentifully and judiciously. 

 When by this method they had brought the soil 

 to a projier degree of mellowness, purity and 

 health, they chiefly cultivated the most delicate 

 grasses, as the surest ntenns of obtaining a certain 

 profit, from a small estate. A few years' experi- 

 ence was sufficient to teach them, that ten acres 

 of the best vegetables for feeding stock, properly- 

 managed, would support a larger niimber of graz- 

 ing animals than fnrty acres of common farm grass 

 on land badly cultivated. The I'lemiiigs were the 

 first among the moderns who plonglioil in growing 

 crops for the [lurpose of fertilizing the earth. 



At this early period, the art of husbandry had 

 acquired ils avguslnn age. The rest of Europe 

 have but lately groped their way to the splendid 

 eminence on which agriculture was placed by this 

 yet unrivalled people. More than two centuries, 

 have elapsed in arguinents and experiments, to 

 prove and illustrate the doctrines of her simple 

 code. They should be transcribed into the text- 

 book, and beconte the vianiial of every farmer as 



iiore nutritious, and ils taste more palatable, tha 

 that of acorns anil the wild produce of the field. 



The ancient Romans esteemed agriculture sol ''is '""st perfect guide. These simple elements:' 

 honorable an employmerit that the most illnstiiniis comprise all that need be known and practised in 

 or should remain there without an appropriate" mark, senators of the empire, in the intervals of public t'''=* '""g v^ed and complicated calling, and will 

 should it be claimed, ils JMC will be considered an ample ' concerns, applied themselves to the profes=iion prove the PAiYosopAer'i i(onc to those who faithfuU 

 3ore?hhre'ln'of?l'n; ^0 one can succo.slully j On their return from the toils of war, their great- ly f-How them. 

 explore tins region o( science, ivithout fallmg into the I .„, /-.„„„.. i • .l c ■ ,■ „ „ . . 



broad and luminous track of Lowlon ; and culling from i ^eneials, as m the oft-cited mstance of Ciiicin 



the fruits and flowers he has bountifully strewed by the "'""^' ^^''''c impatient to be again em|)loyed in the 



Fay side 



It will be perceived that the doctrine of rotation 

 of crops, deemed so essential by modern cultiva» 



peaceful arts of cultivation. Regukis, while triutn- tors, was not an ordinance of her enacting ; and 



