238 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Oct. 



ADDRESS 



OF THE LATE SILAS WRIGHT, 



Read before the State Agricultcral Society, at 

 Saratoga Springs, on the 16th of September, 

 BY JOHN A. DIX. * 



Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the State Agricidtural 

 {Society : 



Had it been iny purpose to entertain you with an eu- 

 logium upon the great interests confided to your care, 

 the Agriculture of the State, I should find inyself fore- 

 stalled by the exhibition which surrounds us, and which 

 has pronounced that eulogy to the eye much more forci- 

 bly, impressively, eloquently than I could command lan- 

 guage to pronounce it to the ear of this assembly. 



Had I mistakenly proposed to address to you a dis- 

 coiurse on agricultural production, this exhibition would 

 have driven me from my purpose by the conviction that 

 I am a backward and scarcely initiated scholar, stand- 

 ing in the midst of maslers, with the least instructed and 

 experienced of whom it would be my duty to change 

 places. 



The agriculture of our state, far as it yet is from ma- 

 turity and perfection, has already become an art, a sci- 

 ence, a profession, in which he who would instruct, must 

 be first himself instructed far beyond the advancement 

 of him who now addresses you. 



The pervading character of this gi-eat and vital inter- 

 est, however — its intimate connection vith the wants, 

 comforts and interests of every man in every employ- 

 ment and calling in life, and its controlling relations to 

 the commerce, manufactures, substantial independence 

 and general health andprosperity of our whole people — 

 present abundant subjects for contemplation upon occa- 

 sions like this, without attempting to explore the dep:hs 

 or to define the principles of a science so profound, and 

 to the uninitiated, so difficult, as is that of agriculture. 



Agricultural production is the sub-stratum of the whole 

 superstructure; the great element which spreads the sail 

 and impels the car of commerce, moves the hands and 

 turns the machinery of manufacture. The earth is the 

 common mother of all, in whatever employment en 

 gaged, and the fruits gathered from its bosom are alik^ 

 the indispensable nutriment and support of all. The 

 productions of its surface and the treasures of its mines, 

 are the material upon which the agriculturist, the mer- 

 chant and the manufacturer are alike bestowed, and are 

 the prize for whi'-h all alike toil. 



The active stimulus which urges all forward, excites 

 industry, awakens ingenuity, and brings out invention, 

 is the prospect or the hope of a market tor the jiroduc- 

 tions of their labor. The farmer produces to sell — the 

 merchant purchases to sell — and the manufacturer fab- 

 ricates to sell. Self-consumption of their respective 

 goods, although an indispansable necessity of life, is a 

 mere incident in the mind impelled to acquisition. To 

 gain that wiiicli is not produced or acquired, by the sale 

 of that which is possessed, is the great struggle of labor- 

 ing man. 



Agricultural production is the first in order, the strong- 

 est in necessity, and the highest in uselulness, in this 

 whole system of acquisition. The other branches stand 

 upon it, and without it could not exist. Still it has been 

 almost uniformly, as the whole history of our state and 

 country will show, the most negleeted. Apprenticeship, 

 education, a specific course of systematic instruction, 



* Mo.st of our readers are probably already apprised of tho 

 sudden demise of Ciov. WaniHT, at hi.s residence in Canton, St. 

 Lawrence county, on the "iTth of Augast. This Address was 

 completed tlie eveniug before his death, and read at tlie Kxhibi- 

 tiou by the Hon. John A. Dix. It treats mainly on the importance 

 of a foreign market for the agricultural product.iof this country. 

 To bo complete. Ih:; author should have stated, in the same con- 

 nection, tlie advajitages of liuisliing at the earlie.st practicable 

 period, the enlargemeut of the Krie fanal, that tliis foreign mar- 

 ket may be reached at a smaller cost of transportation. Nor 

 should ho have oraittod to point out the benetits of a reliable 

 home marlvet for the fruits of American rural industrj'. We 

 sh;Ul not attempt to supply lh« ommission. 



have been, time out of mind, considered an indispensa- 

 ble pre-requisite to a creditable or successful engagemerU; 

 in commercial or mechanical pursuits; while to know 

 hov.' to wield the axe, to hold the plow, and to swing the 

 scythe, has been deemed sufficient to entitle the possessor 

 of that knowledge to the first place and the highest wa- 

 ges in agricultural employment. 



A simple principle of production and of trade, always 

 practically applied to manufactures and commerce, that 

 the best and cheapest article will command the market, 

 and prove the most profitable to the producer and the 

 seller, because more beneficial to the buyer and consu- 

 mer, is but beginning to receive its application to agri- 

 culture. The merchant, who from a more extensive ac- 

 quaintance with his occupation, a more attentive obser- 

 vation of tlie markets, belter adapted means, and a more 

 careful application of .sound judgment, untiring energy 

 and prudent industry, can buy the best and sell the 

 cheapest, has always been seen to be the earliest and 

 surest to accomplish the great object of his class, an in- 

 dependence lor himself. So the mechanic, who, from a 

 more thorough instruction in the principles and handi- 

 craft of his trade, or a more intense application of mind 

 and judgment with labor, can improve the articles he 

 fabricates, 'or the machinery and modes of their manu- 

 facture, and can thus produce the best and sell the cheap- 

 est, has always been seen to reach the same advantage 

 over his competitors, with equal readiness and certainty; 

 and that these results should follow these means and ef- 

 forts, has been considered natural and unavoidable. 



Still the agriculturist has been content tfi follow in the 

 beaten track, to pursue the course his fathers have ever 

 pursued, and to depend upon the earth, the seasons, good 

 fortune, and providence for a crop, indulging the hope 

 that high prices may compensate for diminished quan- 

 tity or interior quality. It has scarcely occurred to him 

 that the study of the prmciples of his profession had 

 anything to do with his success as a farmer, or that what 

 he had demanded from his soils should be considered in 

 connection with what he is able to do for them, and what 

 he is about to a.sk them to perform. He has almost 

 overlooked the vital fact, that his lands like his patient 

 teams require t'l be fed to enable them to perform well, 

 and especially has he neglected to consider that there is 

 a like connection between the quantity and quality of the 

 food they are to receive, and the .service to be required 

 from them. Ready, almost always, to the extent of their 

 abilitv, to make advances for the purchase of more lands, 

 how lew of our farmers, in the comparison, are willing 

 to make the necessary outlays for the profitable im- 

 provement of the lands they have 7 



These and kindred subjects, are beginning to occupy 

 the minds of our farmers, and the debt they owe to this 

 society for its efforts to awaken their attention to these 

 important facts, and to supply useful and practical infor- 

 mation in regard to them, is gradually receiving just 

 appreciation, as the assembh^ge which surrounds us, 

 and the exhibitions upon this ground most gratifyingly 

 prove. 



Many of our agriculturists are now vigorously com- 

 mending ihe study of their soils, the adaptation of their 

 measures to the .soil and the crop, the natures of the 

 plants they cultivate, the food tliey require, and th» best 

 methods of administering that food to produce health and 

 vigor and fruit ; and they are becoming convinced that 

 to understand how to plow and sow and reap, is not the 

 whole education of the farmer ; but that it is quite as 

 important to, know what land is prepared for the plow, 

 and what seed it will bring to the harvest worthy of the 

 labors of the sickle. Experience is steadily proving that, 

 by a due attention to these considerations, a better arti- 

 cle, doubled in quantity, may be produced from the same 

 acre of ground, with a small proportionate increase of 

 labor and expense, and that the farmer who pursues tliis 

 improved system of agriculture, can, like tlie merchant 

 and mechanic referred to, enter the market with a better 

 production, at a cheaper price, than his less enterprising 

 competitor. 



