218 



Jlsricultural Address. 



VIIL 



Address delivered before the Agricultu- 

 ral Society of Newcastle Co., l>el., at 

 the Aiiuual meeting, Sep. 14tli, 1843, 



by "william darlington, m. d. 



Mr. President and Gentlemen, — 



I appear before you in compliance with a 

 request, which was so kindly and politely 

 urged, that I could not find it in my heart 

 to decline the invitation, although fully con- 

 scious that I am not the person to satisfy 

 the just demands of the occasion, nor to 

 meet the expectations of those by whom I 

 have been thus honoured. Incompetent as 

 I felt myself to be, I thought it would ill 

 become one, whose earliest employment 

 was agriculture, and who has ever been a 

 sincere admirer of that first and noblest of 

 humisn pursuits, to refuse his co-operation, 

 or churlishly to withhold his mite, however 

 humble, when all around him were gene- 

 rously contributing to the treasury of useful 

 knowledge. But I am met, at the thresh- 

 hold, with the embarrassing inquiry, "What 

 have / to communicate to the intelligent 

 farmers of this district, which can either in- 

 terest them by its utility, or entertain them 

 by its novelty !" To come here, and repeat 

 the trite ma.xims of practical agriculture — 

 to undertake to bring before this Society, a 

 knowledge of the most approved methods 

 of farming — would not exactly, indeed, be 

 "carrying coals to Newcastle;" but it would 

 certainly be a preposterous attempt to intro- 

 duce a commodity, which the county of 

 Newcastle can at any time furnish to tlie 

 most accomplished of her sister communi- 

 ties. I shall, therefore, not presume to en- 

 ' . ter upon details, with which every farmer 

 t, around me is probably better acquainted 

 '•'■' than I can pretend to be. Although I come 

 from a district where the cultivators of the 

 soil do, generally, understand their business, 

 and prosecute it with a commendable ambi- 

 tion — where the farms are neatly trimmed, 

 and every field in its turn, becomes a luxu- 

 riant meadow: — yet, I have not now to learn, 

 that this community is no less distinguished 

 for its zeal in the cause, — and for the practi- 

 cal skill with which the processes of agri- 

 culture are conducted, I should deem it en- 

 tirely a work of supererogation, to speak 

 to this audience of the various modes of cul- 

 ture — or of the proper management of a 

 farm : to dwell upon the advantages of a ro- 

 tation of crops, — of selecting the best breeds 

 of domestic animals, and, in order to keep 

 them such, guarding against the error of 

 overstocking: to urge the value of a judi- 

 cious application of lime : or to insist upon 

 the importance of ploughing no more land 

 than can be well manured. These are fun- 



damental principles in agriculture — abun- 

 dantly established by experience — and now 

 generally received as such, by all successful 

 Farmers.* Under the old system, of exces- 

 sive cropping and redundant stock, the 

 abused soil soon demonstrated the error; the 

 labours of the husbandman rather increased, 

 while his animals dwindled, his harvests di- 

 minished, and all his possessions deterio- 

 rated : but now, it is held as an unquestion- 

 able maxim in agriculture, that the land 

 which is not left in a better condition at the 

 close of a routine of crops, than it was at 

 the commencement, has been injudiciously 

 managed. These important practical truths 

 being well understood, I shall not trespass 

 on your patience by detailing processes, and 

 urging considerations, so familiar to all good 

 farmers. 1 propose, instead, to invite your 

 attention, for a few moments, to a branch of 

 tlie profession which has been hitherto ne- 

 glected and undervalued, by many practical 

 men ; but which I cannot help regarding 

 both as useful in itself, and as a highly ap- 

 propriate accomplishment in every intelli- 

 gent agriculturist. I mean that department 

 of our science which consists in an accurate 

 knoroledge of the distinctive characters, the 

 economical properties, and a precise no- 

 menclature of those natural objects tvhich 

 immediately interest the cultivator of the 

 soil. 1 have, on various occasions, endea- 

 voured to impress this view of the subject 

 upon our youthful farmers, because I was 

 desirous to see agriculture assume its just 

 rank in the scale of human pursuits: and I 

 thought I miglit venture to throw myself 

 upon the indulgence of this Society, while 1 

 made another effort to persuade the farmer, 

 that his business really involves the disci- 

 pline of intellect, no less than the exertion 

 of muscle ; — that it is both his interest and 

 his duty, to cultivate his mind as carefully 

 as he does his acres. The profession of 

 agriculture, when rightly considered, is, in 

 truth, neither more nor less than a practical 

 system of Natural Science. Its operations 

 embrace the most valuable and interesting 

 portions of the three great kingdoms in na- 

 ture ; and he who has acquired the most ex- 

 tensive and accurate knowledge of those 

 kingdoms, and of the laws which govern 

 them, must necessarily be the best qualified 

 to unfold the blessings and reap tlie rewards 

 which a bountiful Providence thus offers to 



* In reference to the use of lime, I would here re- 

 mark, that some of the best farmers in Chester county 

 are now of the opinion — in which I coincide — that 

 this valuable fertilizing agent is most advantageously 

 employed as a top-drcssbtg. — when the land is to re- 

 main a few years as a meadow and pasture. 



