308 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRIL 10, 1833. 



AN ADDRESS 



To the Jlembers of tlie Massachusetls Society for Promoting 

 A'^i^culture. Delivered at their request, October 17, 1S32. 

 By James Richardson, Esq. 



[Concluded from page 301.] 



The care and attention of the fanner must bo 

 extended to every object of his pursuit, as well as 

 to the means of effecting it ; to bis cuhivated lands 

 that they may be planted and sown at the proper 

 time, kept clear from weeds, and the crops season- 

 ably gathered ; to his fences, that they are sutH- 

 cient to secure his cultivation ; to his live stock, 

 that they are seasonably and liberally fed, and 

 properly housed; to his tools, that they arc of the 

 best kind, and kept in the best order, and put in 

 the proper place when out of use. Nor is this 

 care irksome to the well disciplined mini! ; it sup- 

 plies a substitute for those groundless hojics and 

 nnsubstantial images, that too often fill the youtli- 

 ful imagination, but which vanish with the first 

 touch of experience. 



The habit of attention, or power of directing 

 at will, the whole force of the mind to one 

 particular object, or course of reflection, to the 

 exclusion of all others, is among the most impor- 

 tant of human acquisitions. To the farmer this 

 habit is invaluable ; for, without attention, no 

 materials for reflection and comparison could be 

 collected, no skill could be acquired, and no sys- 

 tem formed. The attention of the farmer should 

 be directed to all his operations, and all their re- 

 sults. Every deviation from his former jnacticc 

 with its result should be carefully noted ; and, as 

 all are engaged in a common cause, the same at- 

 tention should be extended to the operations of his 

 brethren, and free communication made, without 

 feeling pride of success, or mortification at defeat ; 

 so that whatever is useful may be disseminated, 

 and all errors in practical husbandry corrected. 

 Theories, for few are destitute of any merit, may 

 well be examined, and experiments, within the 

 limits of the farmer's means, tried ; but the beaten 

 track is always safe, and experience will ever be 

 the surest guide. The saying that my father did 

 so, therefore do I, lias perhaps been held in too 

 great contempt. Many of the inventions and im- 

 provements in manufactures and the arts have been 

 the result of accident, and others the fruit of sci- 

 entific research, but the farmer must act from the 

 light he has, and feel out the way as he advances. 

 His progress, to be sure, must necessarily bo slow ; 

 all theory must be brought to the test of experi- 

 ment, and when any change has been proved bene- 

 ficial, then may he walk safely in the new path, 

 and leave the road trodden by his fathers. With 

 this view, attention to books and treatises on the 

 subject may be made useful ; but the more practi- 

 cal they are, the better ; and this attention always 

 coupled with attention to actual experiment. 

 Among the most valuable, are registers of results, 

 made by careful observers and scientific agricul- 

 turists, and accompanied by accurate statements 

 iu detail, of the kind and quality of the soil, the 

 characteristics of the season, mode of cultivation, 

 quantity and quality of manure applied, expenses 

 of labor, and amount of profit. And in no respect 

 are the advantages of this our society more strik- 

 ingly manifested, than in the encouragement given 

 to such experiments and registers, and to the com- 

 munication of results, and dissemination of practi- 

 cal knowledge through the whole community. It 

 is by pursuing this course that agriculture has 

 been encouraged, and has made such rapid advan- 



ces during the pi<'sent age, both on this, and the 

 other side of the Atlantic. 



Skill in husbandry is the fruit of attention and 

 observation, of a combination of theory and exper- 

 iment. It is the most valuable acquisition of the 

 farmer, and the all-pervading genius of the farm, 

 it directs all his exertions, and guides, under Prov- 

 idence, the operations of nature. Were our lauds 

 of an uniform quality, texture and temperament, 

 much less skill would be necessary in their man- 

 agenient, and that skill would be more easily ac- 

 quired. But considering the variety of our soils, 

 the deep and the shallow, the moist and the dry, 

 clayey loam, sandy loam, the peaty and the grav- 

 elly soil, each requiring different treatment, no lit- 

 tle judgment is necessary, to apply to each its ap- 

 propriate destination and culture, so as to gain 

 from each the most profitable cro])s with the least 

 e.xpense of labor, and the least exhaustion of the 

 soil, to determine what waste lands it would be 

 profitable to reclaim and subdue, what paits should 

 remain in permanent pasture, what be kept under 

 the scythe, what be subjected to the i)lough and 

 to alternate culture, what is capable of being ren- 

 dered ]>roductive by irrigation, what is subject to 

 redundant moisture, and requires the operation of 

 drainage, and what would admit of permanent im- 

 provetnent by covering with loam, or intermixture 

 with gravel. What land should remain for wood 

 and timber, where to leave groves of forest trees, 

 and what soil is best adapted to orcharding, and 

 the culture of fruit. Much skill may also be exer- 

 cised and displayed in the location and arrange- 

 ment of his furni-buildings, yards, and places for 

 the collection of manure ; much also is requisite 

 in the selection of his live stock — whether the 

 young that he rears, or the old that he purchases — 

 in the apportionment of the difl'erent kinds to the 

 particular qualities of the soil, to the situation, plan 

 and character of his fium, and in the arrangements 

 for feeding and housing them; and all these par- 

 ticulars with regard to stock, must be taken into 

 coiLsideration. For though some have said thai 

 everything depends on breed, and others that 

 'quality goes in at the mouth,' yet it is manifest 

 that without attention to breed, much good feeding 

 would be wasted, and without good feeding the 

 best breed of animals will degenerate and become 

 unprofitable. 



But in nothing is the skill of the farmer more 

 strikingly manifested, or more usefully applied, 

 than in the system he adopts with regard to the 

 series of crops cultivated in the same year, or the 

 succession in different years. The series of crops 

 has reference to the saving of labor, and rendering 

 it more eftective, by furnishing constant profitable 

 employment to the laborers, so that each and every 

 day may bring with it the duty of cultivating, 

 dressing or harvesting some crop, and that no crop 

 may suffer either while growing, or at the time of 

 harvest for want of proper attention. 



Some crops are said to be unprofitable, or to af- 

 ford but scanty remuneration to the cultivator. 

 Many have placed iu this class Indian corn, and 

 by calculating the expense of the manure, and 

 charging all the labor of cultivating and harvesting, 

 at the highest price per day, have perhaps sustain- 

 ed their proposition ; especially if planted on un- 

 suitable laud, scantily manured and carelessly cul- 

 tivated ; but when placed in a proper soil, well 

 manured and cultivated, — and we take into con- 

 sideration the series of crojis arranged to employ 

 the whole time, through the season, of all the la- 



borers of all sizes, — it is aiiprehendcd there would 

 be a difiisrence in the result. The corn crop is 

 planted aftei other seeds are put in ; the first hoe- 

 ing is before any crop is fit tor harvesting ; the 

 other hoeings may be done when the weather is 

 unfit for gathering in the crops of hay and other 

 grain ; the top stalks are cut after the haying sea- 

 son ; the crop is harvested after other harvesting is 

 finished, and the husks are stripped off at a time 

 when little else can be done ; then comes the crop. 

 The fodder, if well saved is equal in value to a 

 middling crop of hay on the same extent of land, 

 and the grain may fairly be reckoned at from forty 

 to fifty bushels, and on some lands much more to 

 the acre ; its value and various uses are too well 

 known to need description. 



In this connexion suffer a word or two on the 

 subject of sheep, especially the fine wooUed races. 

 If in a country like Great Britain, where there is a 

 greater demand for food than for men, and where 

 the ploughs for the culture of wheat run most of 

 the time from November to March, one sheep to 

 the acre over the whole cultivated territory, can be 

 kept to advantage, surely, iu a country where 

 there is more demand for men than for food, and 

 where the soil is locked uj) by fiost for several 

 months in the year, and fiirmers have little em- 

 ployment ; the keeping of sheep with proper atten- 

 tion, cannot be unprofitable, especially in districts 

 of country remote from large market towns. In a 

 country and climate like ours, to fill up the series, 

 some branch of husbandry is necessary, that fur- 

 nishes more employment in winter and less in 

 summer. Many portions also of New England arc 

 too uneven for cultivation, but afford excellent 

 pasturage ; flocks require little care in summer, and 

 strict and particular attention in winter; attention 

 III housing and airing thcin, and to feeding theni 

 with hay, roots, and perhaps a little grain, that 

 they may be in high condition at the tiine of yean- 

 ing and shearing, and so render a more valuable 

 return both in increase and in wool. This is also 

 a pleasing and interesting employment iu winter, 

 engages and occupies the mind, aids in forming a 

 habit of attention and care, and so becomes a use- 

 ful course of discipline in the education of the 

 young farmer. 



Succession of crops applies only to that part of 

 the fiirm which the skilful cultivator subjects alter- 

 nately to the plough and the scythe, and has refer- 

 ence not only to the annual crop, but to preserv- 

 ing and increasing the fertility of the soil. It is 

 not an unfrequent complaint that land is exhausted 

 and worn out. But, bountiful nature, like a kind 

 parent, is constantly supplying nourishment to her 

 inanimate, as well as to her animate offspring ; 

 and it is only the injudicious and improvident 

 operations of man that counteract her. By a judi- 

 cious rotation of crops, and the application of what 

 manure may by care and attention be collected, 

 this part of the farm, if wisely selected, and limit- 

 ed as to extent, may be kept in high condition, and 

 increasing in fertility. It is by extending cultiva- 

 tion over lands that ought to be left in pasture, or 

 kept under the scythe, and by stocking pastures 

 too heavily, and feeding the permanent mowing 

 grounds too much in autumn, and some even in 

 spring, that occasions the exhaustion of the fami. 

 Permanent mowing grounds should be fed but 

 little in autumn, none in spring; the second crop 

 remaining on the ground, forms a warm covering 

 for the roots of the grass in winter, and resting a 

 little above the surface of the soil, protects the 



