84 



Dr. Beeliman''s Address. 



Vol. IX. 



are periodical or occasional, and not too fre- 

 quent, produce results proportionally similar 

 to those of tlie Nile. I have seen no calcu- 

 lation made with a view to ascertain the 

 utmost amount of money, or of labour as 

 the equivalent of money, which a farmer 

 may safely expend in the irrigation of his 

 lands. I incline to the opinion that the out- 

 lay may profitably exceed the f;eneral ap- 

 prehension. The watering of the kitchen 

 garden is deemed by the horticulturist in- 

 dispensable ; the labour is generally per- 

 formed by hand and watering pot, the most 

 expensive of all modes in use; yet, I believe 

 that, on a minute calculation, it would ap- 

 pear that no equal extent of the farm yields 

 so large, or, all matters considered, returns 

 so large a per centage on the capital cm- 

 ployed. This, if true, goes far to prove that 

 small farms, well cultivated and irrigated, 

 even at considerable expense, are more pro- 

 ductive of profit than large farms without 

 the means of a thorough cultivation, and 

 depending on casual falls of rain for tlie ne- 

 cessary moisture. 



"All lands at all wortliy of cultivation, 

 contain the means of retaining them per- 

 petually in a state of continual productive- 

 ness. Ignorance or prejudice alone, would 

 permit any part of the farm to be fallow. 

 Compost is the common production of every 

 farm, and is not the least valuable resusci- 

 tator of exhausted soils; it is usefully appli- 

 cable to every soil, increasing in every in- 

 stance the quantity of the crop. IIow 

 strange that this valuable auxiliary to agri- 

 culture should be disregarded and left scat- 

 tered about the farm yard to be trodden by 

 man and beast, and thus rendered almost 

 useless." 



Dr. Rcekman's Address. 



Delivered at the Fair of the Dutchess Co. 

 Agricultural Society, at Washington 

 Hollotv, N. Y., on the \2lh ult. 



We make the following extracts from Dr Beckman's 

 Address, believing that they may be profitably ponder- 

 ed by us of the Keystone, as well as our brethren of 

 the Empire State. The average yield of wheat is said 

 to have very much lessened in .many parts of New 

 York, and though we are not prepared to say this is 

 also the case with us, there' is but one way to prevent 

 the discouraging result— that is to nurse our lands, 

 and return to them more than we deprive them of In 

 deed wheat in this vicinity has become one of our ex 

 pensive, precarious, and poorly remunerating crops. 

 With our land worth from fifty to one hundred dollars 

 an acre, though deprived of much of its virgin fertility, 

 we can scarcely compete with the cheap, yet deep rich 

 lands of the West. Nevertheless, when we do grow 



wheat, let us by good management and thorough culti- 

 vation, endeavour to make our average as near to the 

 Doctor's forty bushels as possible. — Ed. 



Dl'tchess has for many years stood high 

 as a well cultivated county. No dciubt the 

 praise is merited; but tell me where is the 

 intelligent farmer whose land is not suscep- 

 tible of being made better? Where is the 

 farm that will average forty bushels of wheat 

 to the acre, and so proportionably its other 

 products] Now can any one doubt that this 

 may be done? That it has been done else- 

 where, we have the most abundant proof. 

 Will you acknowledge that the land else- 

 where is so much better naturally than yours, 

 that you do not raise half that amount? No, 

 I know you will not make such an admis- 

 sion. To what then is it owing? There 

 can be only one answer, and that is imper- 

 fect cultivation. The time has been when 

 forty bushels of wheat to the acre,"have been 

 repeatedly raised in Dutchess; but that time 

 lias for the present gone by , whether it will 

 return or not, will depend upon your own 

 industry and intelligence. That it will re- 

 turn I have no doubt; fur I have the confi- 

 dence to believe that your desire for agri- 

 cultural distinction will induce you to adopt 

 a more systematic and intelligent course of 

 husbandry. 



When the forest was opened to the plough, 

 you had the accumulated decomposed vege- 

 table matter of centuries to enrich your soil, 

 wliich made it immensely productive: but 

 drawing too long and too often upon that 

 store house, you have in a great measure 

 emptied it of its treasures, and now you Lave 

 no resource left but to draw upon your own 

 management and skill. I have no hesitation 

 in saying that you will be equal to the occa- 

 sion, and that the lost fertility of this county 

 will in process of time be more than restored. 

 But it cannot be by farming as our fathers 

 liave done; it will be by becoming better 

 acquainted with the nature of our soils — 

 with the food most congenial to the plants 

 we wish to cultivate, and applying to tliat 

 soil whatever may be deficient to assist the 

 full developements of its capabilities. 



Depend upon it, the great defect of our 

 farming is the scanty return we make to the 

 soil that we crop so closely ; and when you 

 complain of poor returns for your labour, at 

 least in the quantity gathered, it is upon the 

 principle that you are willing to work your 

 horse but not to feed him. Until therefore 

 we feed with a more liberal hand, we sliall 

 not be more liberally rewarded. If I com- 

 pare our farming, however, with what it 

 was twenty years ago, I see a decided im- 

 provement ; better houses, better barns, bet- 

 Iter fences; better, that is cleaner fields. 



