o. 5. 



P. Morris* Address. 



157 



clracts from an Address lately delivered* 

 before the Chester and Delaware county- 

 Agricultural Society, by Paschall Mor- 

 ris, Esq., of Allerton Farm, near West 

 Chester, Pa. 



"The high honour of introducing the tur- 

 ) culture into England, belongs to Lord 

 >wnsend. His attempts were ridiculed and 

 nself made the object of derision, by being 

 r led turnip Townsend ; he, however, lived 

 lg enough to see his favorite culture ex- 

 id, and to feel himself a benefactor of his 

 untry; in half a century the turnip spread 

 er the three kingdoms, England, Scotland 

 d Ireland, and its yearly value at the pre- 

 nt day, is not inferior to the interest of 

 3 national debt, — its culture being worth 

 iny millions sterling to the single county 

 Norfolk ! 



■ The next great era in English agricul- 

 re, was the work of Jethro Tull, introduc- 

 •y to the drilling and horse-hoeing hus- 

 ndry. His idea was, that the thorough 

 lverization of the soil and the extirpation 

 weeds, were the only requisites to success- 

 : culture ; and he went so far as to assert, 

 it the only use of manure was to divide 

 s soil and render it permeable to the at- 

 >sphere ; which could be better performed 

 ploughings and stirrings; and it cannot 

 denied, that his system is to this day the 

 sis of the superiority of British agriculture, 

 hough his enthusiasm, probably carried 

 n too far in defence of his favorite theory: 

 d we have all experienced the advantages 

 repeated hoeings amongst corn, even after 

 3 weeds have been eradicated, by the ex- 

 sure of fresh surfaces of earth to the at- 

 )sphere, so as to enable them to absorb the 

 ferent gases, which by the greater poro- 

 y of the soil, are carried down to the ab- 

 rbent vessels of plants : and I have this 

 ison realized the benefits of Tull's system, 

 the cultivation of a crop of sugar beets, 

 giving the land two extra ploughings and 

 peated harrowings, before sowing; the 

 iect being the destruction of millions of 

 jeds ; and this is precisely Tull's theory. 

 ) these two men, therefore, Lord Townsend 

 d Jethro Tull, and the many other able 

 d scientific writers, who have contributed 

 spread the principles and practices which 

 3y originated, are we indebted for more 

 id happiness, than to the schemes of all 

 3 politicians that have flitted on the stage, 

 >m that day to the present ; they were the 

 al benefactors of their species, animated 

 j the noblest kind of ambition, — that of 

 ing good. 



" The same age is also strongly marked 

 other striking characteristics, such as a 



judicious rotation of crops, improved machi- 

 nery and farming utensils, the improvement 

 of live stock, the use of lime, the formation 

 of agricultural societies, and the great in- 

 crease of agricultural authors, amongst whom 

 Arthur Young and Sir John Sinclair, stand 

 conspicuous. Those who do not appreciate 

 the benefits arising from agricultural socie- 

 ties, and who ridicule agricultural publi- 

 cations, under the epithet 'book-farming/ 

 would do well to trace the causes which 

 have produced in England a system of pro- 

 ductive agriculture, which has no parallel 

 in history, and which enables her with an ex- 

 tent of territory not larger than one of our 

 states, to sustain a population greater than 

 that of our whole country. Such an exami- 

 nation would show this to be the result, first, 

 of the speculations of her scientific writers; 

 second, to the early formation of agricultural 

 societies, and thirdly, to the wise policy of 

 her government in protecting her home in- 

 dustry, and encouraging her manufactures ; 

 to afford at all times a good and certain mar- 

 ket for the produce of her farmers. The 

 unerring maxim, that the prosperity of every 

 state, is indissolubly connected with a high 

 state of agriculture, and that whatever tends 

 to uphold that interest, upholds every other, 

 has never been lost sight of by her states- 

 men ; and from her restrictive policy, except 

 in cases of extreme necessity, she has never 

 varied. 



" I know it is customary to meet every 

 attempt to introduce the practices of other 

 countries amongst us, by alluding to the 

 high price of labour, to the difference in soil, 

 climate, and other circumstances; their plans 

 are said to be too expensive ; but the true 

 question is, not whether a new system will 

 cost more than our own, but whether it will 

 pay for that cost 1 If it will, the argument 

 on the score of expense must fall to the 

 ground. And as to labour, it is the opinion 

 of those who have examined the subject, 

 that there is not so vast a difference as is 

 generally supposed, our working days being 

 more numerous, in consequence of our drier 

 climate. Then we have our long, mild au- 

 tumns; our implements are much better than 

 theirs, while our climate is natural to their 

 crops, and peculiarly adapted to the growth 

 of that king of vegetables, Indian corn, which 

 has been denominated the meal, meadow and 

 manure of the farmer. 



" It is often made a sufficient objection to 

 an innovation, that it comes from England, 

 and is, of course, unsuitable for our adoption. 

 Now, although it be true, that many of 

 her operations are impracticable here, it 

 should be recollected, that the science of 

 agriculture applies to us, as well as to them ; 



