NEW ENGL.AND FARMER. 



PU BLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL , AT yo. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Aguiculthral \Varebouse.)-T, G. FESSENDEN, EDirORT 



VOL. IX. 



BOSTO.V, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 183 0. 



NO. 16. 



ANADDRESS I "eed not say how great are the improvements, 



Dslivored before the Jlassachusotts Society for the rromolion of which, sillCe the establishllieut of these societies 



Agriculture, October aotb, 1830. | and shovvs, have taken place in every branch of 



Bi J. c. Gkav, Escj. - Jour Ajricnitnre. To give a complete history of 



It is witli great dilfidence, my friends, that I uowj those improvements, to ih-a\v an exact parallel he- 

 address you. This duty has hitlierto been dis- ' tvveen the Agriculture of Massachusetts as it now 

 charged by men distiuguished at once as theoretical is, anl as it was previous to our last war, would 

 and as practical fartnere, able not only to display be inleed a most interesting task, but it would be 

 in impressive language the immense importance of I unsuted to the narrow limits of this occasion, and 

 Agricidture, but to convey to their audience much j is wirthy far abler hands than mine. 1 shall 

 valuable practical information. I cannot pretend thcnforenicrely state a very few facts, in relation to 

 to follow in thoir footsteps. My experience in I one. lescription of improvements, which while they 

 Agriculture is comparatively recent, and my pre- are among the most important, are also the most 



ecsions to the name of an accomplished farmer 

 !.ttremcly moderate. But I trust that I yield to 

 lone in my zeal for the best interests of this great 

 jt, and having been requested by my associates 

 0' make some remarks on topics comiected with 

 *ie business of this day, I have not felt at liberty to 

 •fuse so to do, though I can oii'er you nothing bet- 

 ;rthan a few general and desultory observations 



obvous to thegeneral observer; I mean the clian 

 whch have taken place in our Domestic Animals. 

 Tlij most striking of these, is the entire revolution 

 which las been effected in our Swine. A few 

 years ajo our state was disgraced by a tall raw 

 boned lace of these animals, who seemed formed 



mcnt, though great, was less urgent and manifest 

 in this case, than ui those montionod above. Our 

 native breed of cattle, commonly so called, is .sup- 

 posed to be derived from the Devonshire stock, 

 which is helil ev(S[ now in high estimation. The 

 individuals of this 'Species of animals brought over 

 by our forefathers, were probably among the best 

 then existing iu Great Britian. The first settlers 

 of Massachusetts Bay, were in many instances 

 men of large "property, as well as great intelli- 

 gence. I find in a history of New England writ- 

 ten as early as the year 1652, a statement of the 

 e.vpenses incurred by those settlers, for the trans- 

 portation of themselves and their effects, up to that 

 period. From this it appears that the transporta- 

 tion only(e.xclusive of the price) of their domestic 

 animals, cost then] twelve thousand pounds stea- 

 ling. It does not seem probable, that when cal- 

 led upon to incur so great an expense for the mere 



as has been observed by a great poet, of some of frei-ht of animals, they should have neglected to 

 our ovii spcjiies, merely to consume the fruits of] select those of a good quality, inasmuch as any 



You well know, my friends, that Agriculture isltheea-th. This breed bears a great resemblance 



ae most ancient of Arts, unless perhaps we should 



onsider the mechanic arts as coeval with it. 



ou are equally aware, that in our country at 



•ast, it has ever been considered one of the most 



lepectable of human avocations. • It has always 



limbered among its votaries many of our most 



Btinguished citizens. It has formed either the 



»ief business or the favorite recreation of all, or 



"most all, those whom the people of this nation 



tve elevated to the highest office in their gift, and 



ur rainds will naturally revert to a distiuguished 



;tauce within our own conmionwealth of the 



il, the steadiness, and ability, with which this 



■ -suit has been followed, amidst the successive 



M 1 pressing avocations of the Bar, the Bench and 



I Chair of State. But it is only within a short 



iod, that Agriculture has held the rank in pub- 



•estimation, and engrossed the share of public 



ntion, due to its imniense importance. While 



great interests of Commerce and Manufactures, 



e occupied at different periods, much of the 



3 and thoughts of our National and State Le- 



Btors, the improvement of our Agricidture was 



for a long time to the detached efforts of in- 



kluals. The MassachusettsAgricultural Society 



founded as early as the year 1792, but for 



tral years it stood alone in the Commonwealth ; 



iceived no patronage from our Legislature, and 



IflRirts were far less conspicuous, and less effect- 



hau in later times. Notwithstanding the num- 



and respectability of those who composed it, 



IS iu every sense of the word a private, rather 



a public association. It was not till nearly 



rears after, that a second society was incor- 



ted. The honor of introducing into this 



those important engines of Agricultural iin- 



to til) Gloucestershire breed of Great Britain, 

 whici is supposed by the best English writers ou 

 Agrl'ulture to have once prevailed throughout that 

 Islaid, and we xnay therefore infer, that the two 

 bre ds are iu fact derived from the same source. 

 Ths most unprofitable description of stock is al- 

 ratst expelled from the comiijpnwealth, and we 

 trist will soon be numbered with the things that 

 WA-c. Its place is supplied by animals of a far 

 Afferent kind, whose superiority is obvious at the 

 very first view. But though we all know that a 

 ^aaterial change has taken place, few of us may be 

 e«ually aware of the profit which it has produced 

 to our commonwealth. This was estimated by 

 the most competent judges several years ago, at 

 no; less than one hundred thousand dollars per 

 annum, and is now probably considerably larger, 

 as the change at that time was much less entire 

 thin at present. Tlie improvements which have 

 been produced of late years in our Sheep, by the 

 introductiou of the Spanish and Saxon races, will 

 appear to be of far greater consequence, especially 

 wlen we consider the immense and increasing | 

 importance of our woollen manufactures. The 

 wlole number of sheep in New England is in all 

 probability not less than 3,600,000, of which 

 nearly the whole are either of the foreign or mix- 

 ed breed. It is believed by our most intelligent 

 and experienced dealers in wool, that the value 

 added to this product, by the introduction of the 

 above mentioned races, may be safely estimated 

 on an average, at one third of a dollar per fleece. 

 Consequently New England has gained iu the in- 

 creased value of this staple nearly twelve hundred 

 thousand dollars per annum, which to avoid all 



others could hardly be '.vorih the carriage. How- 

 ever this fact may be, it is certain that we have 

 long possessed in this state a race of cattle highly 

 respectable, containing many individuals which 

 would compare advantageou^y with the finest an- 

 imals of this description in any country. Still I 

 am warranted by the opinions of the best judges 

 in asserting, that a marked and important improve- 

 ment has taken place in this, as well as in other 

 descriptions of our domestic animals, since the in. 

 troduction of agricultural societies and shows. 

 I shall not agitat<) the mVch disputed question, 

 whether this result be owing in any degree to the 

 introduction of fine cattle from abroad. It is 

 enough for my purpose, that the result itself is 

 unquestionable, and that it is the effect of an in- 

 creased care in the selection of animals for breed- 

 ing. Now let it be recollected, that a considerable 

 part of Massachusetts is essentially and uiichano-e- 

 ably a grazing country — that beef cattle constitute 

 the great staple of most of our interior districts, 

 and form a large portion of the remittances made 

 by the country to the sea coast, in exchange for 

 the articles of use and of luxury which are drawn 

 from thence. It ajipears by a statement in the 

 New England Farmer in 1828, that the value of 

 cattle sold at Brighton, principally or wholly for 

 slaughter, in a little more than two months, 

 amounted to about §5'10,000. These two mouths 

 were it is true, the busiest in the year, but after all 

 proper fillovvance for this circumstance, I think we 

 may safely estimate the value of the horned cattle 

 sold annually at Brighton, at a million and a half of 

 dollars. When we consider in addition, the im^ 

 mense importance of the products of our dairies, 

 it must be acknowledjred, that too much conse- 



ilanger of exaggeration, I put down at a million, [quence cannot easily be attached to the improve- 

 ement, Cattle Shows — and a high honor it is — |A milHon of dollars added in a few years to the j rnent to a still higher degree of our breed of 



cattle, nor too much praise awarded to those, who 

 have so faithfully, and thus far so successfully, de- 

 voted their attention to this object. There is one 

 improvement in this description of animals, 

 which I notice more particularly, because I believe 

 it to be peculiar to New England, and consider it as 

 one of her chief glories — I mean that which has 

 taken place in her working oxen, whether employ- 



igs to the County of Berkshire, where the first annual revenue of New England, by the improve. 



e Show was held in the year 1814. Thefirstjment of only one branch of her Agriculture! 



e Show held at this place was in October, I The improvements which have lately taken place 



At present, there is not a County in the in our horned cattle, may be less striking than 



without its Agricultural Society, and its those which I have aheady stated. In the first 



h Show, with the exception of the County of 

 1)lk, and of the four Counties of Suffolk, Barn- 

 r, Dukes and Nantucket, which consist, princi- 

 or wholly of maritime towns. 



place, as these are animals of much slower growth 

 than sheep or swine, a longer course of years is 

 required to render any improvements extensive or 



perceptible. Secondly, the necessity of imjirove- 1 ed in draught or in ploughing. The ox has been 



