JNEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



rUBLISHED BY JOHN B. RUSSEIX, ROGEKS' liUlLOI.NGf^, CON'Gn!:!-S S'niF.KT, BOSTOX.— TIIOM \s G. FKSSF.XDEN, EDDOH. 



VOL. in. ~ 



FRIDAY. .JANUARY 14, 182.5. 



No. 2.5. 



GEN. 1iarpi:r\s address. 



The following extracts iVom Gcii. FlAnpKu's Adilress, 

 delivered to the Maryland Agricultural irociety, on 

 the 261h of November ] 1^2-1, will he found highly 

 M'orthy of the attention and repeated pcrufal, as well 

 of New England cultivators as of those who are sit- 

 uated in the more southern section of the Union. — 

 The Address gives an epitome of good hn(-bandry,and 

 contains much very valiiable information in a con- 

 densed, and at the same time a perspicuous form. — 

 We have omitted some parts, on account of their be- 

 ing local, and adapted, e?.;cUisiv<:'y, to the time and 

 place of their delivery. 



Wr Pr.F.sinrN'T, 



AND G KKTIXMF.N OF THE ?OCIF.Ty : 



*•' It i« an axiom in pnlitir.Tl sciencr, lliat in 

 every well ordered commuTiily, the n2;ric<iltinMl, 

 msniifacturing and comniercinl chases ought (o 

 exi.-t in a <!iie [irnpDiiion. The first prodiioeti 

 (liu ttiiii'trial.'i with wliich the others work, and 

 the food of all: — llie second prepares these ma- 

 terials for the ii«e and enjoyment of man: — iind 

 the third circii!a(es the surplus products of both 

 — thus enabliiic: every individual to turn his la- 

 hour to the best account, by exclianguiff it for 

 such products of the labours of others iu eve- 

 ry part of the uorld, as his necessities, his 

 gratification, or his coiivenionce may require. 



Hence it results that, of these three pur- 

 suits, atjriculture is far m )-:t important, anil 

 must en)ploy much the greatest numlier of per- 

 sons. The tirs! necessi'y of man i-: foovi. Next 

 in importance are the niale.'ials of uhich his 

 clothing', and his other accomraodafions are 

 made. Both of these depend on agriculture, 

 in jireparing his food, and ivorking up the ma- 

 terials for his clothing and clher u=es, ina- 

 chinery is employed to a greater or less ex-^ 

 lent ; which enables a comparatively small num- 

 ber of individuals, in every community, to per- 

 form all the labour of this description, which 

 its wants or its comforts require. The business 

 oC transportation and exchnnge, which occu- 

 pies the commercial class, is also very much (li- 

 cilitaled by the mechanii-. apts, and may he done 

 by a few persons. But agricultural labour may 

 be performed by the hand of man, with the 

 assistance of those domestic animals which he 

 rears and feeds. Mechanic art gives it some, 

 hut very little, aid. Consequently it mu?t em- 

 ploy great numbers, the great mass of every 

 community : and in this respect, also, agricul- 

 rure is the most important object of human 

 pursuit. 



Nor is it less so, in its tendency to promote 

 the physical and moral excellence of our spe- 

 cies. The agriculturist is employed in the open 

 air, instead of being shut up in a close anil 

 crowded room. He inhales the pure breezes 

 of the morning, instead of the tainted atmos- 

 phere of a manufactory. His limbs are contin- 

 ually in I'ree and active motion, instead of be- 

 ing coniined to a work bench or a loom. He 

 has constantly before him the beautiful and 

 magnificent spectacle of nature, ever varying 

 >ct ilil! the same, which leads him to the con- 



templa'ion and worship of Na.ture's God, and 

 cherishes every nohlo and generous sentiment. 

 Ho derives his subsistence immediately from his 

 own exertions ; his mind is directed to a great 

 variety of ofiorations, instead of being coniined 

 to one or two : and where, as in our happy 

 country, he cultivates his own soil, reaping for 

 himsoll' all that he sows, and enjoying all the 

 Irulls of his own industry, care, and foresight, 

 instead of toiling tor a bare subsistence, to pro- 

 mote the wealth and supply the luxury of an- 

 other, he feels a proud and lofty spirit of in- 

 (lo[iendence, which elevates him in the scale of 

 boiii?, and tils him to fulfil with dignilv ;;nd ef- 

 fect his high (lulies, as one of the members 

 and supporters of our free and happy govern- 

 mc>iif. 



And yet this pur.-uit, noble and ennobling as 

 it is — (his pursuit which is not less conducive 

 to the dignity ami haj»|)iness of man, than ne- 

 ccsary lor hi" sub>istcnce, which occupies four 

 fifths of this and every other well constituted 

 cu.mmunity, h.is every where received less pub- 

 lic atleiiticn, countenance and support, than any 

 other brancii of indiislry. Those who are en- 

 g.iged in it have generally been lel't to grope 

 their way in (he dark ; to overcome obstacles 

 by their individual eti'orts ; to find out errors 

 by the experience of their injurious effecls; — 

 and to rely for their correction, as well as for 

 the discovery and introduction of improvements, 

 on single, divided and unassisted exertions. 



Among tho^eneral means of improving ag- 

 riculliire ift wliich i must cor.tine myself, [icr- 

 mil me first to call your attention to the selec- 

 tion of soils and situations. Every man's expe- 

 rience must have informed him, that almost ev- 

 ery [iroduclion ol the earth will succeed better 

 in some soils than in. others equally fertile, 

 ivhich in their turn are belter adapted to the 

 jrowlh of some other [dant. And where the 

 soil is in all rosprcis the same, the situation a? 

 regards the snn and the wind, and the greater 

 or less elevation of the ground, will render one 

 spot much less f.ivourable to some plants than 

 to others. 'No furmer, indeed, in the present 

 stale of our country, can adapt his cultivation 

 perfecliy to the situation of his ground*, and the 

 nature of his soil. Until towns and villages in- 

 crease to such an extent, as to afford a ready and 

 advantaijcous mirket for every product of the 

 soil, where each cuilivalor may dispose conven- 

 iently of the crop which he may find it best (o 

 raise, and purchase those articles to ^^hich his 

 own lands are not so well adapted, he must cm- 

 brace in his own cultivation almost every prod- 

 uct which his consumption requires, however 

 ill-suited it maybe to the nature of his farm. — 

 But still much maybe done, by careful attention 

 to this subject. Two neighbours, who have 

 farms of differt*nt soils and exposures, may often 

 exchanije products with each other, so as io en- 

 able both to cultivate to greater advantage. — 

 The same farm frequently contains a variety of 

 soils and exposures, a strict attention to which 

 will enable the farmer to adapt his crops to his 

 ground if not perl'ectly, at least to a very great 

 and beneficial extent. To this end it behoves 



him, not only to study well the nature and quali- 

 ties of his ovvii lands, but to make himself thor- 

 oughly acffpiainted by e-iperiment<:, reading, and 

 i observation, with the nature of dilferent crops, 

 I and the manner in which each is aiTecled by the 

 qualities of (he soil, and the situation of the 

 'ground. This is a fiiud.imental point iu agricul- 

 tural science, to which the practical farmer can- 

 not pay too much attention. 



Next to this comes the proper rotation of 

 crops, so as to adapt each to the actual condition 

 of the land. It is well krioivn that almost every 

 soil possesses in but a limited degree, the ingre- 

 dients which (it it for the nourishment of those 

 plants'lo wliich il is best suited. These ingred- 

 ients are exh.iusled by use, to a greater or less 

 extent, and leave the land after a crop much less 

 fit fbrit than belbre. But this land may, and al- 

 most always does contain, in a greater or less de- 

 gree in proportion to its fertility, the ingredients 

 suifBtde for the production of some other plant, 

 which the previous crop has not affected at all, 

 or but slightly. That other plant then should 

 succeed the lirst, and constitute the second crop 

 in the rotation. So of a third and a fourth, and 

 sometimes of a fifth and a sixth; in the course 

 of which the land, by a careful attention to ma- 

 nuring, becomes again replenished with the ia- 

 grcdient" suited to the first and other crops in 

 the rotation. Thus it is .always employed in 

 producing tliat crop, with the proper ingredients 

 of which it is mo«t pleiitil'ully supplied ; while 

 it isc'it.-itantly recruiting its stock 'd ingredients 

 ior olfi; rs,..ind ail its productive j ewers are jer- 

 pelually turned to the best ;*ccounl, and perpet- 

 ually renovated . 



But the most skilful selection of soils and sit- • 

 nations, with the sti iciest attention to the rotation 

 of crops, will be unavailing, unless we are care- 

 ful to return (o the earth those ingredients, fit- 

 ted to the nurture of her various productions, 

 which aie used up and exhausted in the act of 

 producing. — -Without tliis care her productive 

 powers are soon exhausted, and fields once fruit- 

 liil become barren wastes. In giving her this 

 constant sup])ly, in thus perpetually renewing 

 her perpetually wasting powers, consists the 

 great skill of the farmer. This is the most in- 

 dispensable object of his unremitted attention. 

 The two great agents in its accomplishment are 

 irrii^cii'ioii, and manuring. 



But few farms are so situated as to possess, in 

 a high degree, the advantages of irrigation. — 

 They are, however, much more general than is 

 commonly supposed. The smallest rill, the fee- 

 blest sjiring branch, is capable of being turned 

 to some account ; of being made to contribute 

 something to the fertility of some portion of the 

 soil. The manner in which streams may be con- 

 ducted over the lands, so as to produce the great- 

 est effect, if I understood it in detail, could not 

 be explained within the compass of an address 

 like this. It is a subject of very considerable ex- 

 tent, and of some intricacy ; but it depends 

 greatly on experience, and much may be done 

 by regular attention, with very small means. I 

 can state, from my own experience, that a small 

 stream by the simple expedient of damming it 



