No. 7. 



Agricultural Address. 



221 



countless hours of our existence, and espe- 

 cially in themornino' of life, which migjitbe 

 successfully devoted to the attaiinnent of 

 useful knowledge. Tasle is a faculty which 

 can be cultivated; and opportunities to be 

 improved, happen to all men. It is impossi- 

 ble for an intelligent observer to ramble 

 amid the works of creation without acquiring 

 some knowledge of their character; and if 

 he cultivate the habit, he will insensibly ac- 

 cumulate an amount of information, which, 

 to tlie careless, seerns to be the result of 

 long and laborious research. Some of the 

 most successful students of nature I have 

 ever known, prosecuted their inquiries un- 

 der a constant pressure of the every day 

 cares and duties of life ; and yet were re- 

 markable for the exemplary performance of 

 those duties. It will not avail, therefore, in 

 this age and nation, to plead a mere icant of 

 time, as an excuse for neglecting those at- 

 tainments, which &re due alike to the best 

 interests, and to the high character of our 

 profession. But, if the practical farmer 

 siiall still insist that it is incompatible with 

 his turn of mind and habitual employments, 

 to indulge in this kind of research, there is 

 a simple and r^ady method by which he 

 may obtain a sufficient knowledge of all the 

 plants which present themselves to his nO' 

 tice, and seem to require his attention. Let 

 him collect a fair specimen of every such 

 plant — both in flower and in fruit : let the 

 specimens be carefully pressed, and dried, 

 so as to exhibit the characters; and let each 

 species be preserved in a distinct sheet of 

 paper, accompanied with a label, designating 

 the place of growth, the date of collection, 

 and the common name, or names, by which 

 it may be known — together with any re- 

 marks that may tend to illustrate its history 

 or properties. The specimens thus prepared, 

 will then require nothing -more tlian the 

 scientific names, to determine their identity 

 when spoken of, and to render them intelli- 

 gible to all the world. These names can be 

 readily obtained from Botanical friends, who 

 always take pleasure in aftbrding such infor- 

 mation : and thus, with a very triflmg la- 

 bour, — I should rather call it an instructive 

 amusement, — and in the compass of a con- 

 venient volume, the farmer may have con- 

 stantly at hand, the means of knowing by 

 name, by sight, and by character, all the 

 plants of his vicinage, in which he has the 

 slightest interest. When memory fails, or 

 doubts arise concerning the identity of any 

 particular species, he can turn to the stand- 

 ard specimens in his little Herbarium, as 

 the scholar does to his Dictionary, in the 

 full confidence of obtaining a solution of his 

 difficulties. His knowledge will be of that 



authentic kind which results from ociilar 

 demonstration: and by employing terms 

 which convey definite ideas, he can commu- 

 nicate what he knows with clearness and 

 precision. 



Upon this simple and feasible plan, may 

 be obtained a fund of accurate information, 

 which would serve as a basis, or starting 

 point, for more extended and important at- 

 tainments. The intercourse between agri- 

 culturists would become more interesting 

 and profitable, because they would better 

 understand each other. In discussing the 

 merits, or demerits, of any given phmt, they 

 would know exactly what they were talking 

 about, and not waste their arguments, as 

 they sometimes do, under an utter miscon- 

 ception of the object in dispute. A Ken- 

 tuckian and a Pennsylvanian, for example, 

 are Hable to exchange opinions concernmg 

 the value of "^Zmp grass,'''' in their pastures, 

 without being aware that they have refer- 

 ence to entirely distinct species. Similar 

 mistakes often occur, in relation to noxious 

 weeds. I have seen an excellent farmer 

 waging war with the common wild chamo- 

 mile [Anthemis Cotvla, L.] in the belief 

 that he was contending with the Ox-eye 

 Daisy [Chrysanthemum Lucanthemiim, L.,'\ 

 a vile nuisance, which has been permitted, 

 partly by ignorance, but more by a culpable 

 negligence, to overrun a large portion of 

 our country: and in one of our Gazettes, a 

 tew years since, a series of vigorous essays 

 appeared, calling the attention of farmers to 

 the wild Teasel [Dipsacus sylvesfris, L.,] a 

 comparatively harmless biennial, and de- 

 nouncing it under the full persuasion of its 

 being that formidable pest, the Canada 

 Thistle [Cirsium arvense, Scop.] while the 

 real Canada Thistle was gradually extend- 

 ing itself, hi the immediate vicinity of the 

 essayist, unnoticed and unknown ! 



Such errors are not only prejudicial to the 

 farming interest, but absolutely disreputable 

 to the profession: and I have so much of the 

 esprit de corps about me, that I am ambi- 

 tious to see a correct knowledge of those 

 objects which immediately concern us, dif- 

 fused throughout the whole agricultural 

 community. I certainly believe it to be en- 

 tirely practicable, in the mode I have indi- 

 cated, otherwise I should not have ventured 

 to trespass upon your time and patience in 

 urging its attainment. 



I have insisted upon the necessity of stu- 

 dying the character of tveeds, as well as of 

 useful plants, because it will be found that 

 the pernicious and worthless species amount 

 to more than three-fourths of a\\ those which 

 occur on our farms in this latitude : and, I 

 may add, that nine-tenths of the most pesti- 



