JNEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY JOHN B. RUSSELL, ROUKRS' ISUII.DIXGS, CONGRESS STREET, BOSTON.— THOMAS G. FESSEMIEM, EDiTOR. 



VOL. III. 



FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1824. 



No. 21. 



9[flr(ruktural ^nniTjtvsara. 



MR BA;iTON\S ADDRESS. 



The following is cxtracfrd from an (xccllont Address, 

 Jclivercd to the Agricultural Society of the VaJli'y, 

 Ill-Id in Winchester, (^'a.) on the 16th of November 

 1804, by AVm. M. Barto.v, Esq. Vice President of 

 ihe Society. We regret that want of room compils 

 us to omit some parts of this Address. The parts 

 omitted, however, are ci'itfiy of a local nature, and 



proper [losilinn iirnonrj tliose numerous employ- . '•But ive do not recommcr!'.! A<rr.'Ctillure to 

 mcnts to wliicli (he initustry nnd sngacitv of yon solely on the groiitid of its public utility :— 

 m-.iniiind are devolod; I fear I »m venturing on: we oft'er it to your more privnte consideration, 

 ii tlicme belter .suited lo the pen of Ihc cxperi-l;is an ajreoiible and protilable pursuit. To (he 

 enrrd riiuincier or the political economist. I votary of .science, — to the man of deep-toned 

 shall, iherefore, confine mv^filf to some gptieral i moral feeling and sen(imen;.^iO (he friend of 

 remarks on this branch of the subject, leaving; j steady habits and honest practical Tirtue — and to 

 it to more mathetnalical hea<l-i to calculate the the lover of domestic ease and comfort, — our 

 exact amount which each trade or avocation : profession tenders in at'.raclions. Husbandry 



contributes to the public treasury. The tillers 



of the earth may be very proix riy considered 



of course less mterestmg to New England farmers, j „, ,he natural Strength of the country ; because 



than those passages which we have retained. 



" It has been freipjenlly remarked Ihn! nn man 

 ha? ever [)ros|.ere"d in any puisuit or vocation 

 whalever, until he has rendered his heart and 

 liand to ils srrvice, and made it an object of ar- 

 dent :ind almost p\ol:isivo devotion. The ph;- 

 l6so|iliical truth, that '-the rays of light must 

 con\erge to a locus, before they can glow iii- 

 lensely,'" i.s equally applicable not only lo our 

 intellectual cii'orts, but to the most ordinary 

 employments of life. 'IMiere is in the faculties 

 of man so much dross and impeiiection, and so 

 little of the fine e-^senlial gold, that that lillJe 

 should be extracted with a chemist's skill, and 

 guarded and fostered with a miser's vigilance. 

 By applying it to loo gnat a variety of purpo- 

 ses, iind by attempting to gild with it a mniti-, „ n . -i, /• . . j- . 

 tude of objocs, we waste >ts substance and dis- .""•■'>"• f" '^"^ ^Y"'"'] '""'".»"'' '•«"«<^ '," "'<■ 

 sipate ils value. Var.eiy may be " the .«.ieo I "''^•"" "' f'e earth, and nourished by Us boon 

 of lite 



1 they afe the only class of society which, both 

 by liabil and by interest, is indissolubly bound 

 to the soil. The merchant is constrained by 

 the love of gain lo push his enterprises into 

 foreign climes; and, by the very nature of his 

 business to change his field of exertion every 

 ilay. The artist having no permanent interest 

 independent of his trade, when business grows 

 dull in one spot, has nolhing to do but shoulder 

 his few portable implements, and seek some 

 more firopitious siluation. The professional 

 man, u ho carries Irs f.irlune in his head, and 

 who is not necess.irily tied down to one spot by 

 (he unwieldy incumbrances of houses and lands, 

 is readily templed lo change his situation, to 

 yield (o the seduclion of novelty, and to follow 



j wherever " honour calls or inierest leads the 



le," and a change ol" occupation no 

 contributes much (o o'.r iwmedia!*^ ;^i!J:ivtn¥.;( ; 

 b\it 1 take this trulh to be well establfshed, hoi 

 only by the constitution of man, but by the more 

 pracl.cal and m^ire convincing evidence hIucIi 

 the world is e\ery day prcsenling^hat no man 

 can in (he long run succce.l, wi3|pt devoting 

 (he powers of h s 'uind to some settled, vvclUk^- 

 fined, and determined object. This principle 

 onc^^ admitted, it becomes us, as far as it is lot; 

 to our own pleasure and discrel'on. to select in 

 early lite that trade or profession, to which, 

 after due reflection, we believe we can fondl) 

 ntlach and devote ourselves through fo'isequent 

 years. Or if circuraslances have wilhholden 

 from us the power of making this selection, and 

 our lot has been unchangeably fixed, our firsr 

 endeavour ought to be lo reconcile ourselves 

 fo it, by studying ils advantages, regardless ol 

 its evils — by reflecting on the condition of oth- 

 ers infinitely worse — by contemplating t:ie fair- 

 er portions of the picture, avoiding its more 

 offensive features, — and by such other means as 

 our own reason and philos.i(d)y may suggest. — 

 ■\Vhen we have brought ourselves lo this deter 

 mination, — that some particular employment i^ 

 henceforth to occupy our time and comniaii-1 

 our talents exclusively, and that the tenor oi 

 our lives is now inevitably fixed, — we will then, 

 for the first lime, assume the task with readi 

 and willing hands, and prosecute it with vigou; 

 and alacrity. 



***** 



'•' In contemplating agriculture as one of those 



extensive provinces nn wbir;i a nation's ener^-i' 



is exerle I, and from which a nation's revenue 



is gathered; and altempiing to assign to it i(s 



dottl 1 i '-^ — ileriving fiom its cidtivation all the comforts 



- I v.liirh make life desirable, and all (he luxuries 



which enhance ils enjoyments, — feels for the 



•=oil a sort of filial attachment — looks upon it as 

 bis own rightful jind peculiar inheritance, and 

 holds himself especially bound to defend it with 

 his blood and with his treasure. It is the yeo- 

 man whose frame is fashioned for the labours of 

 husbandry, and invigorated by his habitual en- 

 durance. »vho in the hour of trial can raise in 

 his country's defence the most athletic and e(li- 

 cienl arm. Indeed, from very obvious princi- 

 ides, the familiar contemplation of rural scene- 

 ry — the comfort and pnd'usion which usually sur- 

 round the farmer's dwelling — the habit of sit- 

 'i:'g unmolested under his own vine and I;g tree 

 --and the whole tissue of endearing lies which 

 bind us lo present good,— inspire a love of lib- 

 erty, and an aversion to servilude, which have 

 in every age and country opposed the most for- 

 midable barrier to the encroachmcnts'of tyranny 

 and o|)prpss:on. 



" Without lielracting from the merit of other 

 |irofessions, or vvishing to undervalue their in- 

 iinence on the public weal, it may be said with 

 perfect propriely, that Agriculture is the remote 

 md primary source from which the whole wealth 

 of the nation immediately or indirectly springs. 

 The province of the mechanic is to take the 

 raw material furnished to his hands, and lo so 

 alter and mndily its form as to render it better 

 lilted for the use of man. The business of the 

 I'.irmer is to create these materials, — to extend 

 the magic wand of en!er[irise and skill ovei the 

 face of Ihe earth — and to summon into being, 

 'resh from the bosom of nature, all (hose choice 

 I'ruils aiul rich blessings which supply Ihe want, 

 and minister lo the corafbrt of (he human race. 



has been unjustly regarded as a plodding and la- 

 borious occupation; retp.iiring for its successful 

 [iroseculion nclhing more than sound health, and 

 vigori>u3 limbs, and animal activity. We pres- 

 ent it to you as an extensive field for scientific 

 investigation. Nature works by certain and 

 unchangeable laws. The growth of a plant,-*- 

 its fastidious selection of a genial soil — the man- 

 ner in \vliich it derives nutriinent from Ihe air 

 through ihe nied.ium of ils leaves, or from Ihe 

 earth by !l.e agency of iis roots — Ihe multitude 

 of changes which it undergoes from ils embryo 

 state 10 ils mnlurily, — not only furnish subjects 

 of curious research and ingenious speculation, 

 but, if properly examined, evince that there is 

 some priii'Aplt in the matter — some universal 

 law by whicli these various phenomena are pro- 

 duced and regulated. In li'.e discovery of this 

 law, and the differenl forms in which it ojierates, 

 consists the science of our ]irol('Ssion. The pru- 

 dent agririillnrisf, before he commits his seed to 

 an untried soil, or bestows much l.ihor on ils cul- 

 tivation, will e.xaniine (he condition and qu.ilities 

 of the yroniid he tilts, with (he character and 

 habiis of the plant hd wishes to rear, and thence 

 determine the adaptation of Ihe one to (he 

 growth of (ho other; and indeed the accurate 

 analysis of soils, and (he developement of (hose 

 projierdes which adap( (hem to (he producdon 

 of p.irticular plants, form the grand mystery ot' 

 skillul and sag.icious husbandry. If, for example, 

 in (lie examinadon of the soil we discover ingre- 

 dients, which, from a similar pr- cess, we ascer- 

 tain belong (o the coniposiiion of some plant, 

 and (o that peculiarly, we may rationally infer 

 that such soil is eslremely well adap(ed (o the 

 [irodacdon of such plant ; and where the analy- 

 sis has been properly coiidiicled, (he inferencs 

 is gener.illy sustained l>y aclual cxperimen(. — 

 Where the soil is compounded of various ingre- 

 dietils, and yet it is desirable (o cui(iva(e some 

 [lardciilir plant, we endeavor by extraneous 

 means to supiiress (hose superfluous qualKies 

 which dono( contribute to its growth, and more 

 I'ully to develope those whicli exert a mn.e pro- 

 pitious inflaeiire. A corrcspondt uce of he soil 

 and [dant is the end in view, and ihe mode of at- 

 taining it will depend on circumstances. If the 

 plant is given, and we are at Lberty lo select a 

 Soil at pleasure, our choice will naturally fall on 

 that spot of land where Ihe ingredients of the 

 plant are known to [irodominate. If', on the oth- 

 er hand, the soil is given, and our judgment if 

 limited to the selection ol a plant, it is wise 

 to distinguish that (other things being equal) to 

 which the soil is most congenial. It, finally, the 

 soil and plant are both fixed and delermipale, 

 our skill may be exercised in dierishing, by for- 

 eign application, those properties oi' the soil 

 wliich are best calculated lor the generation of 

 (he plant. 



