1837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



619 



an Eno-lish farmer? Who but the American 

 himself, when he says he cares not Hir ;he science 

 or tlie study of ayricullure, and thtit he spurns 

 such learned words ? , He who adheres to oki cus- 

 toms, while every body about him is adopting 

 newer and better, will fall far behind the age. 

 And that farmer who continues to (iirm as did his 

 ancestors, who entertains a sovereign contempt 

 for scientific cultivation, will find himself every 

 day growing poorer, because his more enlightened 

 neighbors are every day growing richer and rich- 

 er. I know that to treat farming as a science, to 

 adopt the late improvements, or at least many of 

 them, calls lor a considerable outlay of money. But 

 the investment is sure : the returns must be enor- 

 mous lor the amount expended : and they will 

 themselves furnish the means of further improve- 

 ment. There are multitudes of examples of what 

 may be done in this way. Mr Coke of Norlolk, 

 England, furnishes the most illustrious instance. 

 Some Ibrty years ago, he inherited a vast landed 

 estate, the increase of which was then, .$8000 per 

 annum. Being an active and intelligent man, he 

 introduced the Tullian system, wliich consists in a 

 fi'equent rotation of crops, and in sowing in drills, 

 and in his Ills time, by the plough and a proper 

 succession of plants alone, he increased the in- 

 come of his estate to .9200,000 ; or, in other words 

 he increased its value 24 times. Of him it was 

 said, that "he disdained to hide Ifis head beneath 

 a coronet." Somethiuij like this every man may 

 do. If we have not thousands to double every 

 few years, we have hundreds or tens ; and the 

 smaller the sum, the the more the need of this re- 

 sult. The means are in every man's hands. 

 There is no necromancy in the case ; no peculi^ir 

 skill is needed. Diligently use the faculties God 

 has given us, and the advantages which our in- 

 stitutions secure, and the whole is accomplished. 



We in New England have already done much. 

 Our hills are rough and rocky and steril ; our win- 

 ters are long and terjnpestuous ; our climate is in- 

 clement and unfavorable ; but our arms have been 

 nervous aud our hearts strong, and the rough sie- 

 ril fields have become gardens. The Imes fell in 

 rough spots to our fathers, but they have been 

 made very pleasant homes. 'I'he founders of New 

 England had dilficidties to contend against, but 

 they have been overcome. Just two hundred 

 years atjo, in 1638, a gentleman writing to Eng- 

 land of the soil of this country says, "after five 

 or six years it grows barren beyond belief; and 

 whereas after, the land in Enirland proves fertile 

 for grass, this yields none at all, but like the land 

 about Dimstable, puts on the face of winter in the 

 time of summer." # # * " Por the present 

 we make a shift to live. — but hereafter, when our 

 numbers do increase, and the fertility of the soil 

 doth decrease, if God discovers not means to en- 

 rich the land, what shall become of us, f will net 

 determine — but it is probable we must either dis- 

 band ourselves, like beasts straitened in their pas- 

 ture, and so be liable to destruction from the na- 

 tives (! mean the Pequods,) or else continuing to- 

 gether, be made the subject of some fearful famine 

 and the misery that accompanieth if." How 

 great the change ! Two hundred years ago, the 

 10,000 inhabitants of New England feared a 

 famine ! Now more than two and a half millions 

 are supported in the same country, and the ener- 

 gies of the land are not dev^eloped to the hun- 



dredth part! We apprehend no fliminenow: we 

 fear not the sterility of the soil : we war not with 

 the Pequods: our midnight slumbers are not dis- 

 turbed by the bowlings of ravenous wild-beasts. 

 Peace, prosperity, and plenty is in our land. The 

 little handful has grown to a mighty host. Our 

 efforts have been prospered, and the earth has 

 smiled. And now instead of fear (or the issue, 

 and prayers for succor, we confidently anticipate 

 the lime when in agriculture, as in everything 

 else, we shall stand pre-eminent belore the whole 

 world. Truly may we say there has been a 

 change! And shall it stop? or shall it goon? 

 Shall we rest satisfied with what has been done, 

 now that our energies are just beginning to be de- 

 veloped, and now that we have inducements 

 greater than ever to press onward ? By you, 

 Gentlemen, and such asj'ou, is the question to be 

 solved. By directing to the science the same 

 mental power, that you devote to anything else, 

 and the same unwearied diligence, everything de- 

 sirable will be attained. True, we have not the 

 •rreat staples, the sunii}^ clime, the fertile soil of 

 the south : but we have not slavery. True, we 

 have not the luxuriant prairies and mighty rivers 

 of the west : but we have what is wanting in 

 those places, the good old fashioned New Eng 

 land liabits of economy and industry. We have 

 not the blessings of many other lands ; but at 

 the same time we have no* the curses that are 

 entailed upon them. We have everything that 

 is needed to induce our surpassing all other lands 

 in this science ; and it rests with you, gentlemen, 

 and your fellow workers in this cause, to say 

 whether or not these results shall be atttained. 



From the Historical Magazine. 



EARLY SILK MAXUXACTURE IN THIS COUN- 

 TRY. 



The introduction of a new branch of profitable 

 industry into a country, must necessarily attract 

 much public interest, as being iuuiiediately con- 

 nected with t!ie prosperity and happiness of all its 

 inhabitants. Recently much attention has been 

 I awakened, by etTorts to promote on an extensive 

 I scale, by means of societies and incorporated com- 

 I panics, the culture of the mulberry tree, with an 

 j ullima'e view to the production of silk, either for 

 1 exportation in a raw state, or for domestic manu- 

 j facture. The legislature of several stales, have 

 I favored these efibrts by liberal and valuable char- 

 j ters, and consress has considered the maiter of so 

 much importance as to make if, through its coni- 

 I mittees, (selected with o-reat care,) the subject of 

 i minute and expensive investigation. Duriuij the 

 j pro<rressof leirislative action, which has at different 

 ] times, within a few years past, been had on this 

 subject, various statements have been made, both 

 I in memorials of petitioners, and in re|)orts of com- 

 j mittees, that are not only deficient in the present- 

 i ment of many particulars of interest, but exceed- 

 ! ing erroneous in those that are given. Our object 

 i in alluding to this matter, is not to shed any new 

 liaht on the processes of producing raw silk, or its 

 manufacture afterwards. We profess no knowledge 

 on the subject derived from practical experience, 

 nor have we any specious or learned theory to pre- 

 sent. But our only object at present, is to preserve 

 some facts connected with the early history of the 



