I'RACTICAL FARMER. 



151 



ADDRESS 



Before the Massachusetts Society for Pmmotinf^ .flg- 



ricuUure. 



BV HENRY A. S. DKA^^BOK^^ 

 (Concliidod from niir Lnst.) 



There are l\V(j chief iriodns, in wliich iuiin-ove- 

 meiits are efteeted in agriculture : one, tlie iiitro, 

 diiction of new or va!naliIo species, or varieties of 

 tlie vegetable and animal king(h)tiis, and the other 

 a more |)erfect theory in the science and a better 

 application of iaiior to tfie art in all their diversi- 

 fied compartments. The latter includes the re- 

 quisite implements, as well as the manner in 

 which every kind of cultivation is to be conducted, 

 and the great object of both is to obtain the largest 

 amount of products, which the earth is capable of 

 being made to yield, by the most approved man- 

 agement, and at the lowest possible e.x|)ense. 



So simple and coimnon are these positions, so 

 self-evident and familiar are they, that it may 

 seem irrelevant as the utterance of truisms to 

 repeat them. They were early proclaimed by 

 Bacon, Tull and Evelyn, and have been emphati- 

 cally illustrated by Coke, Youivg, Bakewell and 

 Sinclair — names which will ever be illustrious 

 in the anna's of agriculture. Yet how little have 

 they been regarded here, and how few among all 

 those, who havc^ spent their lives in cultivating 

 the earth, can say, that they have attem|)ted the 

 fulfilment of the requisitions implied, although so 

 indisj)ensable to their own advancement. Rou- 

 tine has been more influential than precept, and 

 custom has domineered over truth and reason. 

 We have beiui quiescent pupils in the observance 

 of what has been, rather than anxious inquirers of 

 what should and can be done. The mind has 

 been slavishly restrained by i)rejudice, erroneous 

 example, and that dread of change, which has 

 been so universal and so fatal to the im|:rovement, 

 rights, dignity and hai)piness of man. Something 

 more, tlien, is recpiired, than a mere knowledge 

 of principles, to insure their salutary influence, 

 and of duty, that it be well performed. There 

 must be independence of thought, and freedom of 

 action, with an energy of disposition which con- 

 stantly aims at improvement and is never satisfied 

 until it is reached. And where are we to look for 

 the greatest display of these qualifications ? where 

 are they most certainly induced ? Is it not in 

 those cliiriates which are embraced between the 

 southern»and northern extremes of the temperate 

 zones, and in those localities too, where tiie soil 

 is not naturally the most remarkable for its fertili- 

 ty, or the i)hysical conformation of its area, the 

 most favorable to the efi'orts of tillage ;. for there 

 the greatest intelligence, genius, skiil and industry 

 are required to ])ro<iuce the desired effects ; and 



it is most common, that in countries where these 

 difficulties are to be encountered, the best farmers 

 are to be found, and the most instructive, as well 

 as valuable results are obtained. This arises from 

 the constant demand of e\|)edients, to surmount 

 the numerous obstacles to complete success, which 

 the asi)erities of the soil, the rigor of the climate, 

 and the labor of fertilization, present; as impedi- 

 ments in this, as in all other pursuits, have a direct 

 tendency to challenge enterprise, and create the 

 means for overcoming them. Activity is thereby 

 given to talents, ingenuity is roused, and that de- 

 termination of character formed, which neither 

 admits of impossibilities, yields to adverse circum- 

 stances, or halts in its coiu'se, until the object 

 sought is attained. 



IJut there never has been any thing great 

 achieved where there were not difficulties to be 

 encountered. It is thus that the noblest faculties 

 of the niind have been wrought up to the exercise 

 of their highest powers, and min' to the dis[)lay 

 of his immeasurable resources. Every concep- 

 tion of an imfiortant truth is accompanied by the 

 cheering belief ol' witnessing its verrfication ; and 

 the triumph over obstructions in its developement 

 is as exhilarating to the philosopher and artist, as 

 victory to the warrior. It matters not what is the 

 exaggerated magnitude, or apparent insignificance 

 of the inquiry, it cannot be piosecnted with any 

 jirospect of success, unless there is an ardent dis-' 

 position, accom[)anied by that indomitable spirit 

 of perseverance, which puts at defiance all hazards 

 and all odds. Wliether the object of accornjilish- 

 ment or investigation be the construction of a 

 Roman aqueduct or the strhiging of a lute, the 

 geology of the globe or the anatomy of a beetle, 

 the discovery of a new world or a new plant, 

 there must be brought into vigorous action the 

 highest powers of intellect and the most zealous 

 dctcrminatioji of purpose. Tiiere is nothing val- 

 uable to man, or honorable to nations — not an 

 addition has been made to the fund of intelligence 

 — not a step taken in the progress of civilization, 

 which has not been the result of intense thought 

 and infinite research. It is one of the conditions 

 of our existence — the fiat of Omnipotence — 

 that to attain excellence in even the humblest vo- 

 cation, there must be untiring industry, sanguine 

 hopes, and great labor. What, indeed, were we 

 but for that unquenchable thrist of knowledge 

 whijh no acquisitions can abate — that restless 

 demand for action, which is but increased by fru- 

 ition, and that aspiring reach of imagination, which 

 finding no terrestrial bounds, ranges from the far- 

 thest constellation in the zodiac to the realms be- 

 yonil the skies — to an existence as illimitable as 

 eternity, and an elevation transcendant as the 

 archangels. Were we not thus created, and so 

 endowed with an intuitive credence in the inimor- 



