INEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



1'UBI.ISHEU BY WILLIAM MCIIOLS, HOGKH^' luTiloiNGb, CCi\Glvi;sy Sllil.hr, (I'DUinii IJOUIl HiOM^^TK 



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BOSTON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, UJ23. 



No. la 



I'ln oiirsclws truly Cortniiatf in luiviiig; :in 

 unity to present to our readers the folloHing- ve- 

 uablf proLluction. It coiiiuiunicates the results of 

 t scit iicc, sound sense, and much experience, 

 • which is plain, perspicuous, and happily 

 ed to the subjects it discusses, 

 author's medical experience has given him the 

 to interweave with his agricultural observations 

 useful remarks respecting the care of children ; 

 le means of preventing, some of their common 



rous diseases, 

 hope that the length of the Address will deter 

 r the Cultivator nor his Consort from reading it 

 h and through, again and again, till its maxims 

 easiired in the store house of memory, ready 

 produced, whenever occasion may call for their 

 ation. 



ADDRESS 

 era) before the " Worcester Jlgricnlturul So- 

 i/," Octrber 8, 18'J3, being their Anniversary 

 tie Shox» and Exhibition of Manvfactures. 

 Hon. Oliver Fiske. 



ere is no instance in (he natural world, 

 ; the benevolence of (he Deitv is more 

 ent, than in his accomodalinsr the tempera- 

 nd fertility of every climate tc the orig-i- 

 cessitie? of i(s inhabitants. Nor is his 

 ess less conspicuous, in his forming; man 

 ocal pre indices and terrilnrial attachment';. 

 '. plant him a garden of Edf n, as prolific 

 wants in the dreary wilds of Kanischalka, 

 he mild and Jalubrious regions of a (em- 

 cliroe. The Iloitenlot, in the indulgence 

 peculiar rites and customs of his country, 

 ;rateful to his bounteous JM'nefactor fi i 

 ittinguifhing favors ; and. in tlie fervor a( 

 titude, commiserates the lot of man ii; 

 ed life. Although civilization does not es- 

 ly alter this innate principle <>f man. 

 litates the means of his subsistence, ant; 

 s him to supply the wants that multiply 

 advances from a state of nature. In Ag- 

 rire, his first and simplest employment, as 

 imore complicated business, science is the 

 ' art. 



: earth is emphatically our mother. From 

 9 first originated; and from her we de- 

 ur support. The science of Agriculture 

 s us to obtain this support with the least 

 ent to this our parent, and with the least 

 to ourselves. With this view, the priraa- 

 ;ct with every Farmer should be, to as- 

 1 what is the most proper food for plants, 

 B best method of obtaining it. The tirst 

 «D seems to be settled. Philosophy and 

 e may shew the analogy between the 

 re of plants, and the animal frame ; nnd 

 stry may unfold the elements of food es- 

 to both : but, with all their investigations, 

 sts and Philosophers may not make the 

 rmers. Common sense, with experience, 

 scover the tacts most important to the 

 iidman ; and he need not trouble himsell 

 linute enquiries respecting the cause that 

 ed them, and the laws by which they exist. 

 ncy in knowledge is not imputable to the 

 rso much as his remissness in npplyin"it. 

 dicious farmer will fertilize his ground 



witii substances which either actually contain 

 putrid matter, or which are in tlieir nature pro- 

 moters of i)utrefiction. In whatever manner 

 these can be most pcjfectly and in due quantity 

 mixed with the soil, the greatest crops may be 

 expected. When the vego'ative or made earth 

 lis exhausted by cultivation, it must be restored 

 [by again adding the substances that first made it 

 productive. A farmer, deprived ol' his food, 

 may with as much reason exjiect that his body 

 lipiay be renovated by ardent spirit or sleep, as 

 that his land will acipiire new fertility by fal- 

 lowing, rest, or stimulants. Land, naturally bar- 

 ren, may be benefitted by stimulants, which ex- 

 cite to fermenthlion, and, of course, to a putre- 

 faction of the various substances contained in it; 

 but that which is liairen by being exhausted of 

 its nutriment, requires food rather than stimulus. 

 Lime, ashes, marl, and gypsum, in such a case, 

 are improper. They are not food but serve on- 

 ly as digestives. They "render land more fer 

 lile, not by adding vegetative matter, but by 

 prejiaring and digesting what it already contains. 

 When all is digested, the land must be exhaust- 

 ed. A minute pulverizing and mixing of the 

 soil. It must be remembered, is the agent of its 

 fertility. 



By attending to the cause of the poverty of 

 land, the farmer can judge with certainty in 

 ivhat -ases stimulants are to be used, and when 

 manure is required. The mere poverty of (he 

 soil is not a criterion : he must consider what 

 has ma<le if poor. The conclusion to be drawn 

 from this theory is, that there is a certain lim- 

 it in the fertility of the earth, both as to dura- 

 lion and degree ; but, that there are no means 

 of keeping it in any profitable productive state, 

 without the constant and liberal use of manure. 

 Stimulating dressings may conduce to large 

 crops, tor a time ; but the more they increase 

 the ferlility, the sooner will they exhaust the 

 soil — \fhile the regular and plentiful manuring 

 it, will constantly keep it productive.* The 

 means of procuring manure are generally in 

 proportion to the quantity of land the farmer 

 keeps imdergood cullivalion. The reciprocity 

 of benefits between his farm and his slock. 



* Some of the foregoing sentiments on fertilizing land, 

 and the use of gypsum, &c. I have taken from a manu- 

 script on the subject, prepared nearly twenty years 

 since. Whether they were then borrowed, or were 

 the result of my own reflections, I have not now the 

 means of ascertaining. Should the reader find them 

 elsewhere, he will have the candor to exonerate me 

 from the charge of intentional plagiarism. 



I am not insensible that more modern theory has as- 

 cribed to gypsum and its kindred substances a dlfTerenl 

 agency; still I apprehend that the manner of their 

 causing fertility is not conclusively settled. Until it 

 be, a prudent farmer will keep the body of his soil in 

 vigor by more certain means, and leave it to philoso- 

 phers to determine whether these substances, which he 

 will do well to add, increase its fertility, by preparing 

 nourishment for the plant, to be imbibed from the earth 

 by its rooU, or from the atmosphere by its leaves or 

 both. ' 



Some farmers have abandoned the nse of gypsum, 

 from its having ceased to conduce to fertility. The 

 reason of this probably is, that they have relied too 

 much on this substance, and neglected other means ol 

 keeping their land in good condition. 



will) the addition of every thing he can collect, 

 which can be decomposed and is valuable forno 

 other use, if well preserved and judiciou?l3 ^^- 

 pended, will be au abundant sup|ily. Our mod- 

 ern theories ct-mport so well with philosophy, 

 and are so readily confirmed by experience, that 

 we are led to wonder that the science of hus- 

 bandry should not liave made a more visible 

 progress. The re.-.son, however, is obvious. — 

 Agriculture, from ils nature, has peculiar ob- 

 stacles to encounter. So v;irious and so compli- 

 cated are our pur.-uil<, that the time allotted to 

 man, since the antediluvian age, is scarcely suffi- 

 cient to enable him lo make any considerable 

 proficiency in any art or science. This remark 

 applies with peculiar force to Husbandry. One 

 year of our scanty number is necessary for an 

 experiment ; and many years are sometimes re- 

 quired to test its utility. Another difficulty 

 arises from the mediocrity in the circumstances 

 of the generality of our farmers. From tliia 

 cause, they are induced to prefer the moral ctr- 

 taivty of success, in their accustomed mode of 

 cultivation, to the prccariovs chance of an untri- 

 ed ex]>eriment — especially as it requires more 

 knowledge in the philosophy of nature than 

 they usually possess, to trace the connexion be- 

 tween cause and effect, by which their faith in 

 any new theory m'ght bo established. A fur- 

 ther and more formidable embarrassment at- 

 tends It. .\s individuals, so sanguine are we in 

 Ihe infallibilily of onr favorite theories, and so 

 vain of our fancied merit in having investigat- 

 ed thorn, that wilhout Ihe sanction efsome con- 

 stituted body which has tested them, the public 

 are often deceived and injured, and farmers are 

 discouraged from making innovations on their 

 modes of practice. The want ui' accuracy in ex- 

 periments is often a? fatal to the result as the 

 proceeding upon false data. To what other 

 cause can we impute the various and contradic- 

 tory opinions derived from our experiments? — 

 Take the Potatoe and Indian Corn as illustra- 

 tions. Some have asserted that the Potatoe will 

 yield best by planting only the sprov.ts ; some, 

 that the eyes, with a small portion of (he sub- 

 stance, yield most; seme, that th^ :-inall and re- 

 I'use are equally productive ; v\hile others very 

 rationally and truly contend that the largest 

 and bes( produce the greatest crop. There is, 

 also, the same diversitj' of opinion respecting 

 the soil and season, and the manner of their 

 cultivation. And all this, we arc confidently 

 fold, is tlie result of expeiinient. There is the 

 same discordance of sentiment respecting the 

 culture of Indian Corn. While on the .subject 

 of (he Potatoe, it may be worthy of remark, 

 that it possesses one peculiarity distinct from 

 any olber germinating vegetable. It is not svs- 

 ceptibte of vegetation vntil the season sticcecding 

 its gnnelh. From this fact it seems obvious, that 

 nature has not accomplished its maturation at 

 the period when the vines decay, and the far- 

 mer believes it to be ripe. It seems probable 

 (bat the earth, by some unknown process, per- 

 fects its qualities, after it has attained its growth. 

 That potatoes, \vhich have remained the whole 

 senson in the earth, are more farinaceous and 

 pleasant has been ascertained. A fainier, in this 



