84 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



The Ayrshires are hardy, and many do well with 

 a cross, but, the pure breed do not give a large 

 quantity of milk. He preferred the North Devon 

 breed; as he can get as much milk from them as 

 from the Durham or Ayrshire. 



Colonel Newell, of West Newbury, said that 

 at Lexington the Ayrshires gave more milk than 

 the Devons. The reason that English stocks fails 

 in this country, is, that we do not give them good 

 feed. The bull imported by Admiral Coffin, had 

 made a great improvement in our stock. He had 

 raised good cows by a cross of the Ayrshires with 

 the natives. The Ayrshires give better milk than 

 the Durhams. In his section were a cross of the 

 Aldenny; six quarts of the milk would make a 

 pound of butter. 



Mr. Brooks, of Boston, was pleased to hear the 

 quality of the milk of the Ayrshires spoken of. 

 They do not give a large mess, but it is rich. 

 Cows that give much do not give rich milk. — 

 Cattle should be adapted to the climate; tliey may 

 be brought from Devonshire, Eng., where they 

 graze the year round, to our cold climate, and fail 

 for want of hardiness. 



The chairman remarked that the Polled or Horn- 

 less race of cows were superior, twenty years ago; 

 some were brought to Dan vers from New Hamp- 

 shire, and they are among the best cows. 



Hon. Dr. Gardner, spoke in favor of the hornless 

 cows, as he had found them to be superior. He 

 presented a letter from a gentleman of North Car- 

 olina, ordering some of this breed, as he did not 

 consider others worth a transfer. He considered 

 them the best of all cows. He spoke of their be- 

 ing free from the barbaric appendage called horns; 

 and Dr. Gardner named this as an advantage. Mr. 

 Brooks said that it was an easy affair to have 

 hornless cattle, by shaving off the horns when 

 they were calves. 



Dr. C. T. Jackson, will preside and address the 

 next meeting. Subject for discussion — "The cul- 

 tivation of Corn and other Cereal Grains, and the 

 most successful method of protecting them against 

 the depredations of noxious Birds." 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE ELEVATION OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Cole: — Every middle-aged man must have 

 observed, that within the last twenty or thirty 

 yeais, farming — in this country, and perhaps in the 

 whole civilized world — has made more rapid ad- 

 vances towards tlie goal of perfection, than in any 

 other equal length of time. Farming has become 

 elevated in every sense. In fact, it has outstripped 

 many other professions; and if ever it deserved the 

 name of "drudgery," such an appellation would 

 now be slanderous. Professions have the power 

 of elevation and advancement in proportion as they 

 demand thought; for thought is elevating and will 

 always command respect. Divinity, Law and 

 Physic — the three learned ])rofessions, as they are 

 called — rank high because their successful prose- 



cution requires unremitted and profound thought. 

 Callings which do not require rigid application of 

 the mind, will not, in the nature of things, rank 

 high unless they are lucrative, which is not gener- 

 ally the case. In a word, wealth and intelligence 

 command respect, and always will, till some new 

 principle holds sway among men — of which they 

 have never yet had a glimpse. 



The field of chemical investigation is as broad 

 as the universe, and only partially and imper- 

 fectly explored. Although chemistry is the most 

 abstruse and extensive of the sciences, the curious 

 and useful facts which it develops will always make 

 it an inviting study. Since agricultural chemistry 

 has become generally to be applied to the cultiva- 

 tion of the soil, farming has made a great advance, 

 not only in its power of augmenting the public 

 good, but necessarily in the estimation of all sensi- 

 ble people. Farmers have become more thinking 

 men than formerly; they seem to take more pride 

 and interest in their faims — as what they study in 

 theory they naturally feel a desire to put in prac- 

 tice. Indeed, the study of natural history gives 

 life and interest to every object around us. Not on- 

 ly have farmers grown wiser and improved their 

 vocation, but scientific men have engaged in the 

 calling, and by a united effort, agriculture has been 

 raised from its former humble position, and digni- 

 fied by a place among the sciences. Agriculture, 

 which may command the highest thought, will 

 any one call drudgery, who would not make a 

 drudgery of everything? True, there are many 

 unpleasant and laborious duties to perform, but 

 cannot the same be said of most other callings? I 

 speak from experience, when I say that farming 

 is generally unpleasant to country-bred young men, 

 as they are naturally thoughtless of their true inter- 

 est till years give them wisdom. Hence they flee 

 to the city in their youth, but at a more thoughtful 

 age a farm is a pleasant ol)ject of attention. 



In still another sense besides skill, is farming 

 vastly dilTerent from what it was in the days of our 

 forefathers. The farmers, less than a century ago, 

 only had to feed and clothe themselves; now they 

 feed others while others clothe them. In this re- 

 spect a great revolution has taken place, which has 

 tended to elevate agriculture. While the ancient 

 farmers sought only a livelihood by it, many of the 

 present have engaged in it with an additional view 

 of making money. Hence it is more inviting. 

 Cities and large manufacturing villagers have 

 sprung up v;ith the rapid increase of population, 

 and great demands for the product of agriculture 

 have been made. These demands have been profit- 

 ably met, and those who lived remote from a good 

 market, have been brought near by the extensive 

 system of railroads, which have pushed them into 

 every part of the country. 



The fostering care of government tends greatly 

 to elevate and improve not only agriculture, but all 

 other branches of industry; and if "agriculture is 

 the nursing father of the State," as Yattel asserts 

 it to be, how important is it that this great interest 

 of a country should be attended to ! It has been 

 said of Spain, that it is the most fertile and the 

 worst cultivated country in Europe — owing to the 

 many restrictions and taxations which there dis- 

 courage the husbandman. 



With a paragraph from Vattel's Laws of Na- 

 tions, written nearly a century ago, I close the sub- 

 ject without further comment. 



