340 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



May 9, 1S32. 



AN ADDRESS, 



Delivered before the Society of Middlesex HMhaml- 



men and Manufacturers, Oct. 5, 1831. 



By John M. Cheney. 



Concluded from page 333. 



Roiifjli as iiiiicli of our land is, and barren and 

 unproductive as it appears to be, I do not believe 

 there is in Middlesex an acre, upon which there 

 is any soil exposed to the action of the sun and 

 air, that by some mode of culture, known or un- 

 known, may not be ])rotitably tilled. It has been 

 said, that " we have yet to learn the immense pro- 

 ductive power of a single perfectly cnltivaied 

 acre." We have also yet to learn, what and how 

 much many an acre that now lies waste may be 

 made to produce. And while all this remains to 

 be learnt and profitably learnt, here in this coun- 

 try, a spot blessed above all others by its moral, 

 social and literary advantages, let not our young 

 men sigh for the luxuriant prairies of the West. 

 Let them remember, that a hard and stubborn soil 

 is favorable not only to the development of the 

 physical powers, but to the growth of manly sen- 

 timent and moral virtue ; that it is along the steep 

 end precipitous sides of the mountains of Switzer- 

 land, or on the rough and misty summits of cannie 

 Scotland, or among the rock bound and forest clad 

 hills of our own New England, that a stern but 

 merciful necessity has brought nearest to perfection 

 the physical and moral man ; that the ease and 

 luxury of a milder climate and a richer soil, so far 

 frogi being the blessings that they are imagined to 

 be, induce langour and disease, and oflen prove fa- 

 tal, not only to the vigorous and healthy action of 

 the body, but still more fatal to the growth and 

 expansion of the intellectual and moral nature. 

 Again, therefore, to the yoimg and enterprising sons 

 ofNew England, I would say, desert not this your 

 native land. Industry, intelligence and virtue, w 

 make you respectable and happy here ; without 

 them, you can be so nowhere. 



Do you complain of labor, as a burden too griev- 

 ous to be borne — remember it is an immutable and 

 eternal law of our nature, that no permanent and 

 substantial good can either be obtained or enjoyed 

 without labor; that when man was -first placed 

 upon the newborn earthj then all fresh from the 

 hands of its Creator, it was not, that he might 

 stand an idle spectator of nature's operation, nor 

 merely to contemplate and admire the beauty and 

 grandeur of the works of God; but in the very 

 morning of his existence, and before the " primal 

 curse" was pronounced upon him and his pos- 

 terity, it was made his duty to till and cultivate the 

 eartii from which he sprung. If you ripine at la- 

 bor, therefore, the common lot of all our race, you 

 do but murmur at the decrees of Providence. Be- 

 sides, it is an undoubted truth, that agricultural 

 labor is more conducive to human happiness than 

 any other. The voice of cheerftdness and health 

 is heard most frequently within the dwellings of 

 the farmer. To the peace and quiet of rural life, 

 men of all professions have turned their eyes as an 

 . asylum, where they might escape the evils of a 

 vexed and disordered world. 



I know that the laboring man sometimes looks 

 with envy upon the favorite of fortune, who need 

 not toil for the means of gratification, and whose 

 life seems to be passed in a round of pleasures — 

 but he knows nothing of the thousand nameless 

 and imaginary ills, the legion of diseases, the in- 

 tolerable listlessness and ennui, that torment the 



miserable slave of pleasure or devotee of fashion, now be directed. It will avail him noihing 

 I know that he sometimes contemplates whh feel- hack " a longing, hngering locJ»," to the ui 



..„- of discontent, the exemption from manual 

 hor of the professional man and the scholar, but 

 could he know what sacrifices of health they make, 

 what fearful responsibilities they incur, what in- 

 tellectual throes and pangs and anxieties they en- 

 dure, and 



<■ How hard it is to climb ^^ 



The steep, where Fame's proud temple shines afar, 



to cast 

 inexam- 

 plcd advantages that were enjoyed for the accu- 

 mulation of wealth, from the adoption of the Fed- 

 eral Constitution until the peace of 181.5. Let 

 him look forward, rather, to the sure and certain 

 rewards of an improved state of agriculture. And 

 let him not stand all the day idle, nor call on Her- 

 cules to help him, but put his own shoulder to the 

 wheel, and do what he can to render his art more 

 ..scientific and more perfect, and consequently, more 

 sure I am, he would be satisfied that the labor of pig^.,papt gnd „,oie profitable. 



the mind was no less severe and painful than that j^ would ill become me, to attempt to give in- 

 ofthe hands, and that the heights of professional I ^^1.1^^.^;^^ ^g ^^ assembly of intelligent and practi- 

 eminence or learned renown, are not reached, but i |.jjl j-jjj.i^pj.g^ ^.p^ subjects with which they are 

 at the price of many a sleepless night and of many 'jli.g,^ily fj,„,iiiar. But, gentlemen, you will in- 

 an anxious and wearisome day. j julge me for a moment, while I attempt to give a 



There is, however, another objection to agri- ; Jhtle of practical and useful character, to this oth- 

 cultural pursuits, of a difl^erent and more impor- | erwise rambling and idle discourse, while I sug- 

 tant character, that is frequently urged u))on our jgest a few siinple iinproveiuents and recommend 

 notice. It is said that the profits of the business to your notice a few new objects of attention, 

 are so small, that there is no inducement to engage ' The first suggestion that I would make, relates 

 in it. A well estimated principle in Political to the introduction of hedge fences. One of the 

 Econoiuy furnishes a different answer to this ob-l most considerable expenses of the farmer arises 

 iection. " The rate of profit in agriculture is from building and keeping in repair his fences, 

 the standard rate, or the average rate of profits I If his land happen to be rocky or if timber remain 

 obtained from capital employed in agricultural in- nbimdant and cheap, perhaps the materials now in 



diistry, must always govern the average rate of 

 those obtained from capital emyiloyed in every 

 other department." And this, for the simple rea 



conunon use may be the best that he can employ. 

 But in some parts of the country these materials 

 are so scarce and costly, that the expense of a 



son, that agriculture is that branch of industry up- ! fence constructed of them, bears no inconsiderable 

 on which all others depend, ai:d thcrefiire nuisl proportion to the value of the land inclosed by it. 

 and will be carried on at all events. Yet, in a Now, repealed experiments have proved, that from 

 community where there is a free and unrestrained 1 the hawthorn, Virginia thorn, and other shrubs, 

 competition in every kind of business, it will be, vvith a few years' growth and proper attention, one 

 easily seen that it would not long be carried on,' of the most perfect and durable as well as most 

 if its profits were permanently Ixlow the average | beautiful fences in the world, may be formed at a 

 of those in other departments of industry. The ; comparatively trifling e.xpense. A great variety 

 reason I believe, that this objection is so often ' of trees and shrubs have been successfully em- 

 heard is, that we are in the habit of looking hark ployed for this purpose. So that whatever may be 

 to those golden days, when from extraordinary the nature of the-eoil, some one may be found adapt- 

 causcs, we were placed beyond the reach ofthe e«l to it. If then, you can, for one half of what 

 ordinary principles of Political Economy. When you now pay, have a better and a handsomer fence 

 the neutrality of our flag, and the necessities of than you now have, it is certainly worth your 

 Europe, growing out of its successive, destructive while to inquire into this'matter and see if these 

 and desolating wars, gave such an impulse to com- things are so. 



mercial enterprise and created such a demand for \ In the next place, I would have more attention 

 our agricultural produce, that the wo.-ld seemed paid to r-ural architecture. Our &j-m houses are 

 tributary to our success, and its wealth was poured many of them constructed with little regard to con- 

 in upon us without parallel and without measure, venienec or economy. Thejih^ve been built^with- 

 Wc retain, I fear, the extravagant. notions and ex- out first sitting down to count the cost, and of di- 

 pcnsive habits, induced by an age of unexampled mensions altogether dispropoflioned to.tjie wants 

 l)Ut fortuitous prosperity, while we forget the chan- ofthe occupant. The- expense of the first erec- 

 ces that have taken place in the state of the world tion and of keeping in /epair, (if they.1»«:ftp£ir to 

 and in our own condition, while we forget that the be kept in repair,) often consumes. thv hard'sarn-. 

 immense profits of tlie era to which I have allu- I ings of a life of toil. They become objtcis ofde- 



ded, were but treasures accidentally driven to our 

 shores by the storm of a continued and universal 

 war ; and that now, in the sunshine of a univer- 

 sal peace, while foreign nations are busy in sup- 

 plying their own wants, and our commerce is con- 

 trolled by their restrictions and their competition, 

 we must rely upon our own internal resources, 

 and in every kind of business be content with 

 moderate profits. The age of dazzling successes 

 has passed. The evils that grow out of great 

 changes in the objects and applications of national 

 industry have, we trust, been mostly endured ; — 

 and nothing remains for us, as a nation or as iudi- 



ision to the traveller, and thcii^aDpearancje is. such 

 as to aflbrd a fit theme for live Satirist. So inju- 

 dicious and extravagant is tlie expeliditnre upon 

 them, that it is no uncommon thiitg for the whole 

 farm, with all the buildings upon it, to be sold for 

 a less sum than the buildings alone cost the owner. 

 Now I am no advocate for mud-cabins nor log- 

 huts. I would have the farmer's dwelling neat, . 

 comfortable, and in a certain sense, elegant. But 

 I would have it understood, that this does not de- 

 ])end upon the quantity of boards and shingles, 

 that are heaped together in its construction, but in 

 the adaptation of the parts to the purposes for 



viduals, but with moderated expectations and which they are designed ; a jnoper rt-^ard for ar- 

 steady efforts, to develope and improve our iia- chiteetural proponions, and a correct taste in the 

 tional and individual resources. | application of a few simple architectural embel- 



To this object should the attention ofthe farmer lishments. 



