274 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



" These are thy blessings, industry ? rough power I 



WhoQi labor still attends, and toil and pain ; 



Yet tliB Viiid source of every gentle art. 



And all the soft civility of life." 

 Agricultural {)ursuils are eminently friendly 

 to intellectual attainment, to learning and sci- 

 ence. The state itself is favorable for the cul- 

 tivation of letters. No improvement of the 

 mind has ever been found where the cultivation 

 of the earth is neglected. Poetry and the arts 

 have ever been connected with pastoral life, 

 and always begins to flourish in rural scenes. — 

 A savage state where subsistence depends upon 

 the precarious supply which the water or the 

 hunting ground furnish, is absolutely hostile to 

 intellectual culture, to the arts and sciences. — 

 The elegance of the mind — commerce, litera- 

 ture, and even liberty itself, are the fruits of 

 agricultural skill, industry and success. They 

 are supported by them and depend upon them. 

 When they cease, the others are destroyed. — 

 When more is raised than the cultivator con- 

 sumes, the surplus supports the merchant, the 

 manufacturer, the artis'. and those engaged in 

 professional pursuits. The farmer, alone, is 

 truly independent, and if he is wise, he will by 

 his own industry and economy, preserve in his 

 own hands the very elements of liberty, and 

 have no wants that his own farm cannot supply. 



The progress of luxury will benefit him, if 

 he does not suffer it to invade his own precincts. 

 In proportion to the real or artificial wants of 

 others, the value of his labor rises. It is only 

 when he himself becomes the victim of fashion 

 and s/i//e, that he loses his dignified indepen 

 dence in idle wants and preposterous ambition. 

 If he emulates the extravagance of the city in 

 his dwellixg, his equipage and his dress; if he 

 iissumes the style of the efleminate victims ol 

 pleasure, he will enjoy the ridicule of the wise 

 and sink to utter insignificance and unpitied ru- 

 in. And why should you not be content with 

 the abundant blessings which a most beneficent 

 father has given you. You have within your 

 selves every thing really necessary, every thing 

 coiiifortable, every thing that can promote the 

 most dignified enjoyment of a rational being. — 

 Look around you, you have the most favorable 



er and increasing benefits. Farmers and do- 

 mestic manufacturers enjoy many advantages in 

 this county. No other society is able to offer 

 so many valuable premiums. The truely noble 

 appropriation of the President,* at once the ev- 

 idence of the wisdom and benevolence which 

 he has ever devoted to the service of improve- 

 ment and humanity, together with the bounty 

 of the state and the contribution of the mem- 

 bers, make the motives to a generous emulation 

 to excel, peculiarly attractive. 



While there is much to praise, and much to 

 excite hope, it is not to be disguised that there 

 is still a want of attention to some of the inte- 

 resting parts of good husbandry. So much has 

 been well said on former occasions, so much has 

 been written to which all have access, that I, 

 wilt not venture into details which have been/ 

 amply discussed and appreciated. I would 

 rather confine myself to those things which re- 

 late more particularly to your personal honor 

 and comfort, and the convenience and enjoyment 

 of those who depend upon your skill and indus- 

 try, or if I may use the expression to the " Mo- 

 rality of Agricullure." 



It is not to be concealed that there is too 

 much neglect of domestic manufactories and 

 good gardening. 



It is true economy and independence to make 

 as many of the fabrics you use, as possible. — 

 This is the peculiar province of the women, to 

 which they will do honor, if you will encour- 

 age them. It requires no law of Congress to 

 aid household industry. You can make your 

 oxen laxji's by your own f re sides, and your wives 

 and daughters will discuss all the questions con- 

 nected with the subject, with good sense, and 

 with a brevity worthy of imitation. Solomon 

 has given us the description of a woman, that 

 agricultural societies ivould do well to honor. — 

 Many such may be found in our county. The 

 last chapter in Proverbs, contains her full pic- 

 ture. I can only exhibit a small part of it on 

 this occasion. " The heart of her husband 

 doth safely trustin her. She will do him good 

 and not evil all the days of her life. She seek- 

 eth wool and flax and worketh diligently with 

 her hands. She layeth her hands to the spin- 



opportunity to enjoy liberty, to gain information | die, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretch 

 and happiness. The means of support are am- eth forth her hands to the poor. She is not 

 pie, and many luxuries are within your reach. Ufraid of snow for her household are clothed — 

 You have a most favorable location— the soil is Her husband is known in the gates. She mak- 

 sufficiently fertile— you are near market— you ' gth fine linen. She openeth her mouth with 

 can with great ease exchange all your surplus wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kind- 

 produce into money. ness. She looketh well to the ways of her 

 It appears to me to be a mistake to consider household and eateth not the bread of idleness. 

 this county as inferior, m point of situation and Favor is deceitful and beauty vain, but a wo- 

 soil, to the best agricultural districts in this man that feareth the Lord she shall be praised." 



state. With proper culture, almost the whole 

 of it may be changed into a garden ; some parts 

 of it are peculiarly beautiful and fertile. The 

 farms on the Norman's kill, on the Black creek 

 — very many at the foot of the beautiful moun- 

 tain which ornaments the county, many upon it 

 and over it— those that stretch along the Hud- 

 son, north of this city, may compare with any 

 for richness, fertility and profit. Those, not 

 distinguished as grain farms, are uncommonly 

 fine for grazing and the Jairy, and nothing is 

 wanting but skilful industry, to find a rich re- 

 ward in any portion of this favored region. 



In contemplating the recent valuable improve- 

 ments in this county, since the organization of 

 this society, we may confidently anticipate great- 



There is nothing more conducive to the 

 health and comfort of a family, than a good gar- 

 den well stocked with fruit and vegetables. Un- 

 happily, many respectable farmers have con- 

 sidered the subject unworthy their attention, as 

 of too little importance to occupy their care or 

 employ their labor. They have undoubtedly 

 mistaken the true economy as well as the true 

 enjoyment. 



With little pains or expense, every fiirm 

 house might be surrounded with cherries, 

 peaches, pears, plums and grapes in all their va- 

 rieties and perfection. The whole season 

 might be filled with the best of fruit, and health 

 would be promoted and established by its free 



* Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, 



use, and the appetite innocently gratified. I 

 side if fruit were more abundant, the use of 

 dent spirits, which are worse to a farm than! 

 "mildew" and the " east wind," would be I * 

 sened, the fashionable dyspepsia would be c 

 fined to the cities, and the curse ofintemperai 

 would be driven from the land. No < 

 would be more profitable, for nothing is so 

 gerly purchased, at a price far above its inti 

 sic value, as fruit. This county, in many pSil" 

 is favorable to the growth of peaches. "Dup! 

 the past season, one farmer from a single 

 chard, has sold more than two hundred and' 

 ty bushels, at a clear profit of ^300. Our-! 

 pie orchards might be rendered much morepi 

 ductive and valuable, by attention to the set * 

 tion and in grafting the fruit. Every boy ofi M 

 years of age, should perfectly understand i 

 simple art of engrafting, if tiiis state is not' 

 sociated with early habit, it will never be ao* 

 ciently powerful to produce vigorous exert 

 in maturer life. 



This subject is worthy of the attention ofi 

 young farmer. Ifyou begin to plant fruit tp 

 in early life, you will soon enjoy their beni 

 You may shelter your old age under thi: 

 branches, and behold your children reaping -t 

 comfort of your providence and care. .• u 



The attention to horticulture is important m 

 health, convenience and comfort. The suU I'ii 

 is too extensive for minute discussion andi' In 

 mention it rather to excite attention, thaw ' i 

 give advice — but if every farmer would d 

 tice to his garden, be careful in the sel 

 of his seeds, and raise all the varieties 

 the climate would produce, his table migl 

 the envy of an epicure, though it conti 

 nothing that was not gathered by his own 

 His granary, cellar, orchard and garden, 

 supply a daily feast which no foreign tnai^lSM 

 could rival. The tropics cannot yield elW i" 

 fruit, or vegetables that will on the whole, cjIi" 

 pare with ours. I have sometimes thougil »f( 

 we were more anxious to imitate the garJti "'i 

 Eden, we might enjoy more of its innocenegt 'a 



It is not unworthy of the farmer to pay «i ilii 

 attention to the cultivation of flowers. NjS4'f 

 has made them " beauty to the eye," pair 

 and loaded them with fragrance for our pleasi 

 From these the busy bee, "patroness ofiDt 

 try," collects her richest sweets, and laboB 

 your gratification and support. Let not the 

 mer grudge a little spot to his daughter, 

 their culture. A taste for them springs froifi 

 ture, and is wise and grateful; when it iSB 

 perly regulated, it is generally attended ] 

 thrifty neatness, almost allied to virtuf* 

 when attended with such a knowledge of 

 ny, as may easily be obtained, it is highly! 

 ficial to rural economy. A nosegay is the 

 priate ornament of the female of the fan 

 is much more becoming than lace and Jf 

 The rose tree may well supplant the idle 

 and romantic'plants displace the unsightly #( 

 No man is poorer for an ornamented courtj* 

 Simple beauties have a tendency to refinie, s 

 absolutely contribute to thrift and enjoyme 

 Human happiness depends upon little thinfi, 

 far as outward circumstances are concerneji 

 wise and dutiful to diminish all we can of e?ll,' 

 increase all we can of good, the more we culfl? 

 of innocent taste the more we may enjoy— lies 

 For not a beauty blows 



And not an opening blossom breathes in vaioS 



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