112 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



crop^ nertain am T, when land is thus plowed, 

 and properly manured, it is better prepared to en- 

 counter the drought of August and .September, 

 than in any other way. My particular oljject in 

 taking pen in hand, was to commend tlie neat ap- 

 pearance of this pampldet ; compared with many 

 others I Jiave seen, it is much their superior. 

 Feb. 4th, 1853. ?■ 



COUNTY AGRICULTURAL. TRANSAC- 

 TIONS. 



Plvmoutii County Society. — A neat volume of 

 6^ pages ; the Address was by CoL Pase^ of New 

 Bedford. 



Bristol Co. Society. — Address by Robert C. 

 AViNTHROP, Boston. Printed elegantly and contains 

 71 pages. 



Worcester Co. Society. — In addition to the 

 usual transactions, this volaine contains the re- 

 port of the committee on feeding stock, which we 

 published at length in the Farimr last year. Ad- 

 dress by Prof. Mapes, of New Jersey. 



We thank the donors, respectively, for these 

 pamphlets, and hope to receive them from each 

 county in the Sfcat-3, as they are valuable books of 

 reference for us tlirough the year. We had re- 

 ceived them from N'urfikand Essex, but they have 

 been taken from oar table. 



HiLiSBORo', N. H., StK'iETY. — Through the po- 

 liteness of Brooks Shattuck, Esq., we have the 

 Address of Gov. Boutwem^ before this Society on 

 September last. We give a few extracts, all we 

 can find room for at proaeut. Every line of it 

 ought to be spre id broad-cast before the people. 

 We hope to refer to it again. 



Agriculture is a labori nia occupation, yet it 

 tempts men of alt ages and conditions from marts 

 o-f business, closets of study and palaces of wealth 

 and luxuriance, to its quiet and ennobling paths 

 and pursuits. If your State has not made so rap- 

 id progress in wealtli and ntuiil>ers as some other 

 members of the confederacy, the disparity may 

 well bo setoff by the advantages of an agricultural 

 and mechanical p )pulatiin whose liahitsand phys- 

 ic.d systems eoiTcspond m.ire nearly with the 

 frugality and hardihood of earlier times. Civil- 

 ization is not any where an unmixed good, and 

 though the wealth of cities may encourage a taste 

 for literature and the fine arts, the chief depend- 

 ence must stiil be upon the coasts of tlie ocean and 

 the agricult,uv:il distrirts fir our groat men. Your 

 state it> to Xcv Rnglanl, what Sparta was to 

 Gree.-e. » * *• * 



Men ar.; u -t r. unpens iti'd so much for the phys- 

 ical streagtii (>f t'leir ar.ii,^, as for the genius and 

 power of t'leir heads. In no country has the igno- 

 rant 1 lb Ter ev<!r been a will paid lal> .rer, and 

 wit'i a reasonable appr isiiaation to trutli it may 

 be said that in no country has the well educated, 

 industrious man ever been without the means of 

 subsistence. And wherever the mass of lalx)rers 

 aro ignorant, the failure of one branch of bushiess 

 or the loss of a particular crop, is sure to be fol- 



lowed by distress and famine. But in an intelli- 

 gent community such a calamity is only partial, 

 temporary, and befjre the frosted leaf decays in- 

 dustry and competency return. There is a vitality 

 and confidence and intelligence which enables its 

 posses-sor to rise above tlie ordinary ills of life, 

 ralont and genius are every where appreciated. 

 [n Ireland, a man suited to take charge of a man- 

 ufacturing establishment will command as great 

 wages as in England. But a country can only be 

 truly prosperous v.hen its entire laboring popula- 

 tion is well educated, for there is no employment 

 for which an ignorant man is so well fitted as an 

 intelligent man. It no doubt ha.s happened that 

 the education of the schools, and more especially 

 the education of society, has tainted the public 

 mind with the idea that labor is discreditable. 

 Labor is JionaraMe. It slionld ha so regarded and 

 taught everywhere. Not this labor or that only, 

 but every form and variety which adds to the 

 wealth, or promotes the comfort of society. He 

 only is discredited whom a false pyide has raised 

 above honest industry, or he who is not qualified 

 for the sphere he has cliosen. Parents sometimes 

 express the hope that their children may live with- 

 out work. Hope so no longer, — but hope only 

 that your children may live by work. * * * 

 111 view of the progress which the human mind 

 has made we may say that there is no limit to its 

 cap.^city. It has not numbered the hairs of the 

 head, but worlds it has Aveighed as in a balance 

 The powers of nature, fiir from being exhausted, 

 are not even known. Nothing is created in vain. 

 Everything we behold in some way will minister 

 to the wants of men. The work of creation goes 

 on. The mountains of rock and the deserts of 

 sand shall yet develope their wealth. The gene- 

 rations and races of men succeed each other, but 

 the earth's capacity is not diminished by their 

 existence. And Avhat a beautiful provision of 

 nature is this, that the intelligent cultivation of 

 the land does not exhaust but enriches it ! Thus 

 a farmer for fifty years may sow and reap and 

 gather into barns, his products annually increasing 

 and nature freely and continually giving nev? 

 pledges for the bounties of the future. • It is only 

 the indolent or ignorant man who exhausts nature. 

 But the farmer as well as the mechanic needs to 

 be educated. 



TO CORRESPONDBNTS. 



During the winter season we usually receive lib- 

 eral contributions from our intelligent correspond- 

 ents. Such is the case at present. We are thank- 

 ful for their attentions, and will publish as fast as 

 our space will permit, exercising our judgment as 

 to the most appropriate time for each. Many of 

 you will still find opportunity, during the bluster- 

 ing March, to add to the store for summer use! 



• 'l"o J. D., Ontario, Ohio. We have known par- 

 tially decayed potatoes fed to cows, without inju- 

 ry, a few at each feed. You can ascertain their 

 value by using them for a time with one or two of 

 your cows. If they are generally decayed, they 

 cannot be of service, and might be injurious. Tast- 

 ing the milk Avill detect an unusual flavor if there 

 is any ; if the milk has it, of course it would be 

 imparted to the butter. 



