NEW EJ^GtAJ^D FAMMESS, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Warkhousk.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



voii. mv. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 25, 1S3.5. 



NO. 2». 



At a meeting of the Trustees of the Worcester 

 Agricuhiiral Society, Voted, That Stephen Salis- 

 bury, Esq. be requested to fnrnii li the Correspond- 

 ing Secretary with a copy of his interesting and 

 valuable address, for publication in the N. E. Far- 

 mer. Attest, O. FiSKE, Cor. Sec'y. 



ADDRESS 



Before the Worcester County As^ricultxiral Society, 

 by Stepheji Salisbury, Oct. 7, 1835. 



Mr President and Gentlemen of the Agricultu- 

 ral Society : — I cannot give you a learned dis- 

 course on the practice of Agriculture or the 

 mechanic arts. If knowledge were not deficient, 

 the brief time allowed to this address would for- 

 bid the attempt. Happily the task is not demand- 

 ed. The most valued lessons that are expected 

 on this day, have been eloquently given by the 

 labors of yonder field ; they are repeated by the 

 goodly array of flocks and herds which fills the 

 plain ; and they are reiterated, though I regret to 

 say with a feeble voice, by the exhibitions of the 

 Hall of the Society. And there is jet another 

 exhibition, more unequivocal and more noble, 

 which displays the success, the intelligence, and 

 the happiness of our farmers and manufacturers. 

 Look around you, and acknowledge all this, in 

 the assetnbly which I have the honor to address, 

 frnd in the buny, joyous crowd which surrounds 

 this house and throngs the streets of this town. 

 Such are the more important pages of the instruc- 

 tions of this day. It is your province, by the free 

 comniu'iication of the fruits of observation and 

 experience, and by the cultivation of mutual 

 respect and good will and more extended know- 

 ledge of each other, to form the useful and inter- 

 esting commentary. 



I have thought it not unworthy of the occasion 

 to bring to view some of the local advantages of 

 the county of Worcester. And I shall consider 

 tliese chiefly in their influence on the character, 

 condition and prospects of the farmer ; though it 

 will be perceived that these advantages affect our 

 citizens in every |.ursuit and profession, by the 

 indirect benefit which they confer, and by the 

 prevailing tendencies which result from them, to 

 which every individual in the community ^ sub- 

 jected. Moreover, we all are, or have been, or 

 hope to be, immediately concerned in Agriculture. 



In' treating the subject which I have chosen, I 

 must, of necessity, tell you only " what you 

 yourselves do know," yet 1 beg that you will hear 

 familiar truths with patience, for it is well some- 

 times to be reminded of our ordinary blessings, 

 since the improvement and the happiness of man 

 are prevented, not only by ignorance and crime, 

 but equally by blind forgetfulness and discontent, 

 far more often than by the denial of the bounties 

 of Providence. 



We are highly blest in the character of our cli- 

 mate atid soil. I am aware that this proposition 

 will appear paradoxical to some, who will be as 

 little disposed to assent to it as to sympathize in 

 the happiness of the Spaniard who rejoiced that 



his wife was not too handsome. The Spaniard 

 had in view the temptations of vanity and the 

 tenth commandment. But it is not because we 

 can have no better, nor because we are in no dan- 

 ger of exciting envy or covetousness in our neigh- 

 bors, that we may highly prize our own situation. 

 The climate and soil of our country and of New 

 England generally are such, that without miud 

 and forethought and eflTart, without being " some- 

 thing of a man," a farmer cannot earn his sub- 

 sistence by his appropriate business, while, with 

 the labor and skill which necessity requires, he 

 may have as ample provision of the comforts and 

 of the true luxuries of life as can be obtained in 

 any region of the earth. Unlimited fertility of 

 soil and unvaried mildness of climate are less 

 desirable than they are commonly considered, and 

 it will be found that countrieSj which seem to 

 have the most liberal share of the gifts of nature, 

 are distinguished by inferiority in agriculture and 

 other useful arts, and in the moral, intellectual, 

 and social impcovement, and consequently in the 

 happiness of man. A remarkable illustration of 

 this truth is furnished by the accounts given of 

 the fertile vallies of Crim-Tartary, on the borders 

 of the Black Sea. They are described as a ter- 

 restrial paradise. " Protected by encircling moun- 

 tains from every cold and blighting wind, and 

 open only to the breezes which are watled from 

 the south, the inhabitants enjoy every advantage 

 of climate and situation. Continual streams of 

 chrystal water flow down from the mountains 

 upon their gardens, where every species of fruit 

 known in Europe attains " (or it would perhaps 

 be said more truly, may attain) "the highest per- 

 fection. Neither unwholesome exhalations, nor 

 chilly winds, nor venomous insects, nor hostile 

 neighbors, infest this blissful territory. The life 

 of its inhabitants resembles the golden age. The 

 soil, like a hot-bed, rapidly puts forth such a vari- 

 ety of spontaneous produce, that labor becomes 

 merely an amusing exercise. Peace and plenty 

 crown their board, while the re|:ose they so much 

 admire is on!y interrupted by harmless thunder 

 reverberating in the rocks above them, or by the 

 murmur of the waves on the beach below." Such 

 is the beautiful description given by Dr Clarke, 

 the traveller ; that it is at least highly colored 

 will appear when we look at the state of agricul- 

 tm-e and the arts in those fertile vallies. We are 

 told, that when an unavoidable necessity for the 

 exertion of digging becomes apparent to the mind 

 of a Tartar, he deliberately proceeds to lake a seat 

 on the ground, and goes through the job in that 

 commodious position. From this specimen of 

 their activity, an idea may be formed of their 

 (pialifications for agricultural pursuits ; concern- 

 ing their proficiency in which many characteristic 

 details are given. Winter wheat of a bad quality, 

 rye, barley, and a few oats, and a small quantity 

 of hemi>, flax and millet, are, for the most part, 

 the sole articles of I'artar cultivation. Their mi:ls 

 are so bad that no fine flour can be found among 

 them which has not travelled from Moscow, a 



distance of more than nine hundred miles. Their 

 agricultural implements, and their manner rf ■ 

 using them, are alike clumsy and- incfllcient. 

 Their ploughs are made of wood, and so ill adapt- 

 ed to their purpose, that seven pairs of oxen tire 

 often required in breaking up old grass land In 

 that soft and yielding soil. 



The joys of this paradise are suited to the chaB- 

 acttjr and capacity of the inhabitants. They deem 

 it their greatest happiness to sit still and smok*,, 

 or to sleep, having nothingto think of and as littUt 

 as possible to do. These joys would give no 

 degree of pleasure to men who have such views 

 of the nature and destiny of man and of the ob- 

 jects of life as we delight to contemjilate. 



Such are the enervating eflVxts of perpetual 

 summer, and unmeasured fertility of soil, on the 

 descendants of the enterprising, hardy, ferocioug 

 Tartars, who, under Tamerlane, conquered Rus- 

 sia, aud established one of the most extensive 

 empires that has existed, and awed Europe and 

 .■\sia with the terror of their arms. 



As it may be thought that I have presented an 

 extreme case, I will ask you to com] are the agri- 

 culture of England, as it exists on a hard soil, 

 under a moist and cloudy climate, with the culti- 

 vation of the fertile and sunny fields of France. 

 For most of their crops the inhabitants of France 

 are not compelled to devise laborious methods for 

 improving their soil, and a serene climate demands 

 no anxious and troublesome provisions against 

 the uncertainty of the seasons and the inclemency 

 of the weather. They rely on the bounty of Na- 

 ture, vvhich provides every thing except motives 

 and excitements to the exercise of care, fore- 

 thought aud iudustry. It is to the anxiety which 

 a less prolific soil and a less cheering sun create 

 in the miiuls of Englishmen, that we must attri- 

 bute the general diffusion of agricultural knovr- 

 ledge among them, and the superiority and greater 

 abundance of their agricultural products. The 

 surface of the islands of Great Britain, being sixty 

 four and a half millions of acres, is less than half 

 the territory of France, which is one hundred and 

 thirty millions of acres, and there is a greater 

 proportion of uncultivated land in the United 

 Kingdom than in France, yet it is stated that the 

 quantity of agricultural produce is ten per cent 

 greater in Great Britain than in France. The 

 crops of grain in England are even, heavy, and 

 free from weeds. In France, :he same crops are 

 seen growing with equal luxuriance, but uneven, 

 and shamelessly gay with the poppy and other 

 weeds. 



The exceptions to this description of agricul- 

 ture in France prove the truth of my proposition, 

 for they are seen in the culture of the vine, — the 

 only department of agriculture in which France 

 excels the rest of the world, — and this results 

 from the fact that the vine requires in that coun- 

 try an exercise of labor, care and skill which is 

 not there necessary for other crojis. And it is 

 worthy of remark, that with this attention, the 

 French produce wines superior to those of Italy 



