1849. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



15 



• the ore — reduces the metal — moulds it into countless 

 Bhapcs of usefulness — and sets to work the gigantic engine 

 with its thousand hands. Farmers and mechanics, if faithful 

 to their duties, ore nun in the full meaning of the word — • 

 useful men — men that the world oemnot do without Their 



occupations develope all the {acuities, and produ sound 



minds in sound bodies ." they aeoustom men to n ly on 

 their own Btrengtli, te love labor, and to feel the ind< perid- 

 ence of other men. and that contempt of little difficulties 

 which are the foundation of true greatness of mind. 



These, fellow-workingmen, :ire the occupation.'', this is 

 the land, ours the institutions, and our fathers the stock 

 which hav< produced the noblest race now living; ami 

 shall, if wo value and use our privileges aright, yet exhibit 

 human nature in its highest standard of perfection. We 

 have resources and advantages possessed by no other nation, 

 and a people better fitted than any other to develope these 

 irees and improve those advantages. We need little 

 mi abroad, for we have every tiling at home; we need 

 little teaching from strangers, for we know best what is 

 best for ourselves. According to my observation, farmers 

 are too easily persuaded to look to other states and countries 

 lor the means of increasing the products of their fields, and 

 improving their flocks and herds. We are not in England, 

 nor at the north, nor at the south ; and neither English, 

 northern, or southern improvements are what we want. 

 \\ e want improvements of our own, suited to our own 

 wants and position, such as none can make for us as well 

 as we can make tliem for ourselves. Is it not better, as a 

 general principle, both as to animals and vegetables, to 

 ■ and improve the best of such as are already adapted 

 to our climate and soil, than to be shifting and changing, in 

 ;n hope of arriving, by some short cut, at such results 

 as God intended we should accomplish only by close atten- 

 tion and the sweat of our.brows ? 



After some very judicious remarks as to the kind 

 of horses best suited to the wants of the farmer, he 

 says : — 



What I have said as to horses being improved on the 

 foundation of our native stock, applies with equal force to 

 cattle. In every settlement, a stock of good cattle is of the 

 highest importance ; and every sagacious farmer will learn 

 to choose, for breeders, such as promise best for his par- 

 ticular object, whether it be butter, beef, cheese, or labor ; 

 and he should study this subject with a deep feeling of 

 scientific interest, as well as for the sake of gain. Let his 

 first care be to put aside the very best progeny of his stock, 

 and never permit his dearest friend to cast a wistful eye on 

 them, nor be templed by any price to sacrifice them to the 

 butcher's knife. If he has a favorite cow, of the real fill-pail 

 breed, let him reserve and turn out that one of her calves 

 that most resembles herself, before it grows old enough to 

 be sold to the butcher, and always guard it with special care. 



We read of premiums being given to large imported cows 

 that have yielded some thirty quarts a day ; but every dairy 

 woman will tell you that it is not the cow that gives the 

 largest quantity at a milking, that makes the best one in the 

 long run. A better one still is she that keeps on through 

 the year, the same in winter as well as summer, let the food 

 be short or long. Run fast is a good dame, but hold fast is 

 a better one. 



In the agricultural journals I have read an account of a 

 middle-sized country cow : I refer to the celebrated Oaks 

 Cow, bought out of a drove in Massachusetts, for a mere 

 trille. Her history illustrates two things worthy of note. 

 First, what we can obtain from the best of our old breed ; 

 and secondly, how much depends on good feeding. — 

 And just as it was with the Oaks Cow, so will every man 

 find it with his farm. If he won't feed his farm, and that 

 often and well, he need not expect it long to feed him. 

 Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, 

 will soon come to the bottom, as poor Richard says. Rut 

 to return to the Oaks Cows, that did so much honor to the 

 name of Caleb Oakes : it is stated on the most unques- 

 tionable authority, such as satisfied the Massachusetts 

 oltural Society, that in the first year, with ordinary 

 keep, she ate twelve bushels of corn-meal, and then gave 

 300 pounds of butter : the next, 35 bushels, and she gave 

 more than 400 pounds ; the next year she had a bushel of 

 meal a week, and all her own milk skimmed, and then she 

 gave, from the 5th of April to the 25th of September, the 

 day of the show, 434 pounds, besides suckling her calf for 

 five weeks. She was exhibited, and deservedly took the 

 premium on the last mentioned day ; and will carry down 



■ ners name, with credit, to posterity, as long as Oaks 

 grow. * * * * * * # *° * 



Before I close tins.- remarks, let me suggest (being myself 

 a father, with some opportunities of observation) that you 



should incline your sons, above all things, to prize the honest 

 station, however humble, which is gained by personal 

 industry, and enjoyed without dependence on the capricious 

 breath of party, or of any mortal man in pcjW< r. 



Any honest pursuit will be esteemed bj ■< young man of 

 independent spirit ami honorable ambition, in' preference to 

 being seen lounging in the anti-chambers of public depart- 

 ments and the lobbies of the Capitol, a suppliant for the 

 precarious emoluments of office. Letit ever be deemed a 

 high honor by those who are qualified to be called onto 

 serve the people ; but when you sec your son, made in the 

 image of his God, inclined to quit the bandies of his plow, 

 or throw down his hammer, and sell his birth-right for a 

 mess of pottage — put into his hands the hemely fable of 

 the dog and wolf, which inculcates the love ofindepend 

 as a boon above all price. 



It is the independent spirit of our people that ranks them 

 above all other nations of the earth: because each man has 

 in himself the ability and resolution to accomplish his ends, 

 of and by himself. It is on this account that an American 

 can be cast penniless and alone in any corner of the earth, 

 and amongst any people, and instead of wasting his life out 

 a poor and despised stranger, he will summon his energies 

 and hear himself like a conqueror. Whatever the natives 

 are doing, he does it better than they : he makes the most 

 money — exerts the most influence, and soon becomes a 

 leader and a prince among them. From soloing a shoe to 

 leading an army, he shows himself in all things capable, in 

 all tilings superior ; and having accumulated sufficient for- 

 tune for himself, and honor for his country abroad, he returns 

 to lay at her feet the spoils of other lands, and enjoy in his 

 native home the society of his equals. What does such a 

 man want of official patronage or protection? He scorns to 

 eat the bread he has not earned, or to enjoy honors he has 

 not deserved. 



The farming interests of Greene have been 

 greatly benefitted by his exertions while President 

 of the Society. A new impulse has been given to 

 the cause of Agriculture, and long will the County 

 remember the zeal, the energy with which he devoted 

 himself to the advancement of this all -important 

 interest. During his presidency he contributed in 

 various ways over $500 to the funds of the Society, 

 to be expended in judicious premiums ; and the 

 effects, as might have been expected, have been most 

 salutary in increasing and greatly extending the 

 usefulness of the Society. 



In presenting to the Society in 1845 the sum of 

 $250 to be added to the amount of premiums to be 

 given, he remarked — 



Peculiarly adapted as our country is to pasturage, and 

 conveniently situated for sending the productions of its soil 

 to the great emporium, which furnishes always a ready 

 and profitable market, I confess that I should like to see a 

 liberal portion of the premiums distributed by our Society 

 for exciting emulation in the making of butter and cheese, 

 as well as for encouraging attention to the best breeds of 

 cattle suited to our highland regions. The name of Orange 

 or Delaware county is a creditable passport for butter all 

 over the Union ; and is there any good reason why the 

 dairies of Greene county (even to the summit of the Cats!; ,11 

 mountains) may not he made to compete with old- Orange 

 or Delaware, or any other county, in the articles which it 

 sends to produce market?— and for raising hardy horses, the 

 highland is superior to any other. No branches of agricul- 

 tural industry are more profitable when properly pursut d, 

 and let it be our aim. as a Society and as individuals, to 

 stimulate attention to their advantages. 



Without wishing to obtrude my opinions on men more 

 familiar with the subject, I would respectfully suggest that 

 the premium list lie arranged so as to excite more attention 

 to the improvement of our native breed of cattle and horses, 

 as probably calculated to weather our climate better than 

 some of die imported breeds — though I would not be under- 

 stood as underrating the very valuable qualities developed by 

 careful experienced culture in the management of live stock. 



