140 



NEW ENGLAND FvVRMER. 



Extracts from an Address delivered before the ^'■So- 

 ciety of Middlesex Hnsbandinen and Manufac- 

 turers,''^ on their anniversary at Concord, Mass. 

 October 2, 1823. By Jos, ah Ad.ims, Esq. 

 " Permit me, my brethren of the Society, to 

 congr;itiilate yon that, in our meetings here 

 from year to yenr, we ar^ cheered witli the 

 smiles of the public. — All classes seem to have 

 united in patronizing the first, and the noblest 

 of the arts. The learned, and the unlearned, 

 have combined for mutual benefit, and those 

 jealousies, which, m other concerns, arrest the 

 progress of improvement, are not known among 

 us — scientific speculations, adapted to practical 

 purposes, are read with avidity, and weighed 

 with candor. The great change, in this re- 

 spect, which has taken place in the public 

 mind, must be particularly refreshing to the ear- 

 ly members of this Society, who beg'an and con- 

 tinued their useful exertions, against the blasts 

 of ridicule, and the tide of popular prejudice. 

 " In regard to the propriety and utility of 

 Cattle Shows, there wns formerly much differ- 

 ence of opinion. The objects of them were 

 not understood, and they were opposed, even by 

 men of good sense, as causing a waste of mo- 

 ney, and as having no tendency whatever to ad- 

 vance the agricultural interest. They were 

 considered an addition to the number of idle ho- 

 lidays, and great vice and immorality were [)re- 

 dicted as their certain attendants. And though 

 Derry Fair and Concord Courts were going fast 

 out of fashion, a Cattle Show was worst of all ! 

 — and the poor, innocent liltie town of Brigh- 

 ton, was viewed like the great city of Nineveh, 

 in which were ^'■four score thousand souls, thai 

 knc-jn not their right hand from their left, and also 

 ■much cuttle ;" and whoso refused to preach against 

 it, was devoured by the great land m/in/e ol pub- 

 lic opinion. In short, men would strain at u 

 d.oVGHiNG MATCH, and sxcuHoos a horse race ! 



" But such prejudices are now extremely rare. 

 Great decorum has prevailed ; authority has 

 been given by law to preserve order, and, on 

 these occasions, we have the satisfaction of 

 meeting our most useful and respectable citi- 

 zens — our most considerate and in<lustrious far- 

 mers. Indeed it seems now to be generally ad- 

 mitted, that to those meetings, and to the ex- 

 ertions connected with them, we are principal- 

 ly indebted for the wonderful improvements 

 which have been made in husbandry. A com- 

 parison and interchange of opinions and views 

 have been effected — a unity of feeling and ac- 

 tion — a spirit of emulation and a just self-re- 

 spect have been created, which have greatly 

 improved the situation, and multiplied the en- 

 joyments of the farmer— have given him new 

 views of his condition new motives to exertion, 

 and opened upon him bright prospects of com- 

 fort and usefulness, which he had supposed coii- 

 fined to other classes of society. 



"■ The power of habit, and the charm of here- 

 ditary custom, have been gradually subdued. 

 Men have learned to think, as well as to labor 

 — and not only lo think, but to listen to the sug- 

 gestions and speculations of others. Men of 

 leisure, of property, and of talents, have aspired 

 to become acquainted with the principles of 

 good husbandry, and, by their valuable specu- 

 lations and exi>eriments. have very much assist- 

 etl practical men in their efforts to improve.* 



* Tlie pecuniary means of most men are inadequate 



It is much to the honor of the yeomanry of 

 iVew-England, that it is growing less and less 

 fashionable to undervalue philosophical disqui- 

 sitions and experiments. Men read and think 

 on the philosophy of agriculture, as they do on 

 all other subjects. The farmer, whose educa- 

 tion does not always enable him to see the con- 

 nexion between cause and effect, does not feel 

 bound, by the fashion of the times, to disbelieve 

 the existence of such connexion; and this is but 

 applying that common sense to the management 

 of his farm, which he is accuslomed to use on 

 all other occasions. Most men are necessarily 

 ignorant of the process of the astronomer in cal- 

 culating an eclipse — in determining the moment 

 of the sun's rising and setting — and the exact 

 limes in which the planets perf rm their revo- 

 lutions; but they do not therefore question the 

 truth of his predictions ; and the man, who 

 should avow a disbelief of the Almanac, would 

 be accounted the greatest of all infulels ! Im- 

 pllci( faith is not, and indeed should not, be yield- 

 ed to every theory, which finds its way lo the 

 public through the press — some caution is un- 

 doubtedly necessary in adopting new methods of 

 cultivation — particularly those, vvhicli have not 

 been fully proved by experiment; and even 

 those methods, which have been found profita- 

 ble under certain circumstances, may be useless, 

 and perhaps very detrimental, in all other ca»es. 

 A great variety of things are to be considered — 

 the difference of climate and of soil--lhe facili- 

 ty of obtaining manure~lhe price of labor — the 

 distance from the market — and a muliitiide of 

 other incidents, which will readily occur to a 

 thinking and discreet mind. A man of such a 

 mind will not be deterred from making improve- 

 ment, by any seeming difiiculty in determining 

 what may be profilable. He will see that hus- 

 bamlry is indeed an art of a very superior order. 

 Not like some of the mechanical arls, which 

 are little else than mere haliit-', which, being 

 once acquired, are jjursued with little or no men- 

 tal exertion. He will perceive that his pro- 

 gress depends not so much on the labor of his 

 hands, as in assigning to those hands their proper 

 employment. And, by thus dividing his task be- 

 tween the body and the mind, he lessens his toil 

 — increases his gains — and procures a new 

 source of mental enjoyment. 



"The attention which is paid in New Eng- 

 land to the subject of Education, has given to all 

 classes a source of happiness, which is enjoyed 

 in no other country ; and some, at least, of our 

 practical farmers are capafle of considering ag- 

 ricullure in its connexion with the sciences. Its 

 dependence on the science of chemistry in par- 

 ticular has given to our subject an interest and 

 imjxjrtance among the learned, wiiich has 

 proved of great public utility. Chemistry 

 leaches the simple substances of which the ma- 

 t'Jrial world is composed — the different com- 

 pour>J? which nature is continually forming in 

 the anim;;l, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, 

 and the decoT!>Dositions, which consequently 

 take place ; togethv'!' with the manner of pro- 

 ducing the same effects, by the assistance of art. 

 And, by showing what simple substances are 

 necessary to the formation of certain com- 

 pounds, it informs us what kinds of soil, and 



to the (rial of uncertain experiments. — The community 

 are thenlore mucli indebted to thosa who have so 

 readily met the necessary expenses. 



what manures, and other substances, are to bi 

 united, to bring forth the various products of th< 

 farm. It teaches us that two substances, whici 

 singly are of no value, if united in certain pro 

 portions, will forma valuable soil ; and that th< 

 adilition of a third, which may be, in itself, per 

 fectly harmless, may render the comjiound use 

 less and barren. We ascertain, for instance 

 the proportions in which clay and sand shouh 

 be mixed, and when, and in what proportions 

 lime, ash.es, ot vegetable substances should b« 

 added to the composition, and this, with as 

 much certainty as attend experiments in othei 

 branches of science. Agricultural chemistry ii 

 essential lo good husbandry, and every farmer 

 should he acquainted with its general principles. 



"■ There is no idea more unfounded," says 

 Sir Humphrey Davy, in the introduction to hif 

 lectures on agricultural chemistry, " than thai 

 a great devotion of time, and minute know 

 ledge of general chemistry are necessary foii 

 pursuing experiments on the nature of soil, on 

 the properties of manures. Nothing can ba 

 more easy, than to discover whether a soil eP 

 fervesccs, or changes color, by the action of an- 

 acid — or whether it burns when heated, ot< 

 wiiat weight it loses by heat. And yet thesw 

 simple indications may be of great importancd" 

 in a system of cultivation. The expense, con* 

 nected with chemical enquiries, is very trifling! 

 A small closet is sufficient for containing all the 

 materials that are required. The most impor- '" 

 tant experiments may be made by means of a* 

 small portable apparatus — A few phials, a few" 

 acids, a lamp, and crucible are all that are ne- ^. 

 cessary." 



" Next in importance to the great busincM? of 

 preparing lor a better world, is to know hovv to 

 live comfortably in this ; and the goodness of 

 the CURATOR appears in nothing more conspicu- ' 

 ous, than in having made the support of our- ' 

 selves am! families an essential part of religiom 

 [ duty. " Remember the sabbath doy to keep it ho- 

 ly,''' is an iiuunction of no greater authority, [ 

 and BO more intended to form our moral and re- I 

 ligious character, than the command, '■'■six dayi 

 .••halt thou labor and do all thy work f and, since 

 " he that provideth not for his ozan house is Zi'urse 

 than an infidel,'' it is therefore a religious duty 

 to improve ourselves, and each other, in a 

 knowledge of the arts, by which |)roporly i» 

 acquired — and as no one of inese can rank in 

 importance with tl«r'art of agriculture, wd 

 have reason to feel much satisfaction in iin.din"'- 

 ourselves again assembled, lor such exccllen'^ 

 and noble purposes. And, to strengthen our ex-' 

 ertions, allow me to conclude with a pas-riin-e 

 from the author before cited 



" Many of the sciences are ardently pursued, 

 and considered proper objects of stiidy fui all 

 refined minds, merely on account of the intel- 

 lectual pleasure ttiey afl'ord ; merely because 

 they enlarge our views of nature, and enable us 

 to think more correctly with respect to the be- 

 ings and objects which surround us. How much 

 more then is this department of enquiry wor^ 

 thy of our attention, in which the pleasure re- 

 sulting from the love of truth and knoivlcdge, is 

 as great as in any other branch of philosophy, 

 and, in which it is likewise connected with much 

 greater benefits and advantages" — J'\'"ihil est me' 

 lius, nihil ubcrius, nihil hoinine libera di<rnius. 



" Discoveries made in the cultivation of the- 

 [earth are not merely for the time, and country, 



