1853. 



i\EW ENGLAND FARMER. 



193 



whether it bo milk or cream, to be churned. The 

 scientific dairyman will understand tliis. The re- 

 sult is an increase of the rRODUcT, while the pecu- 

 liar action of the churn, in bringing all of the fluid 

 within the resistance of the dash or cross bar, adds 

 at least one pound in twenty to the quantity of 

 good marketable butter. 



BENEFITS OF ASSOCIATED EFFORT. 



[RemMks of the lion. J. W. Pboctor at the Agricultural Mass 

 Meeting Hi ConconI, March 10, 1853. 



The notice of the meeting of farmers of Middle- 

 sex to be holden al Um time, at this place, awtikened 

 in my breast the liveliest desire to be present, and 

 to be instructeJ thereby. Where the ball of free- 



dom received its first impulse, eighty-seven years 



gone by, seemed to me a place peculiarly appro- onlyto be exposed', to be scouted and despised. 

 priate to start anew in the march of agricultural r^Q illustrate the benefits that may accrue fron 



not. Who does not remember, when the drift of 

 snow used to form across the way, when he was a 

 boy, on his route to school ; let him go there now, 

 after a drifting northeaster, he will find the same 

 position, blocked in the same manner. So in the 

 vegetable economy, the laws of origin and pro- 

 gress are alike unchangeable. A careful observa- 

 tion of these, will guard against many a mistake. 

 The farmer needs "line upon hne, and precept up- 

 on precept." For this purpose, farmers should 

 come together and compare their notions. The 

 interchange of views, rules asperities, and corrects 

 absurdities. Let a person be once put down, in 

 inculcating false notions, and he will ever after- 

 wards be more careful in his remarks— or if not 

 they will soon cease to command attention. There 

 are many notions abroad in the world, which need 



prii 



improvements. It is fit, that Middlesex, the first 

 born of the Massachusetts family, fourteen in num- 

 ber, should call this family meeting, to greet each 

 other, and consult for the common good. There 

 are no jealousies or bickerings to disturb our har- 

 mony. There is no occasion for any one, to crowd 

 upon any other. Th.e field is broad enough for all, 

 and the crop is ready for the harvest. All have 

 the same purpose in view. It is meet therefore, 

 to consult together, how this purpose can best be 

 accomplished. 



While we the children are looking about to see 

 what is the duty incumbent upon us, we must not 

 forget the mother of us all — the Massachusetts So- 

 ciety for promoting Agriculture — who although 

 stricken in years, still gives evidence that the vig- 

 or of youth fl.ows in her veins. In the annals of 

 this society, will be found much wisdom. When 

 perusing thefwjgos put forth by Lowell, Pickering, 

 and their associates, I have often doubted whether 

 we were advancing in improvement so rapidly as 

 we profess to be. Fortunate will be the man who 

 can write better essays, or make better speeches, 

 than those men made fifty years ago. I htive had 

 communication with many farmers, and many men, 

 who professed to have knowledge of agricultural 

 science, but I frankly admit, that I never met the 

 man, who so clearly comprehended the reason for 

 what he knew about the cultivation of the earth, 

 as Timothy Pickering. 



Who does not remember the hints that appeared 

 every spring, on the pages of the Columbian Cen- 

 tinel, from the pen of the Roxbury farmer. Plain 

 and simple in their character, but still of great 

 value in their consequences. These were among 

 the first lessons in agriculture I ever learned. I 

 remember with what interest 1 used to look for 

 them, and how my father used to read them, and 

 compare them witii his own experience and obser- 

 vations. Instance the time of flowering of fruit 

 trees ; the temperature about that time ; the pre- 

 vailing winds ; and many other accompanying cir- 

 cumstances ; and hence, an inference was drawn, 

 as to the prospects of the coming season. By such 

 habits of observing and recording, the experience 

 of many years is concentrated in one, and useful 

 lessons of instructions are accumulated. In f\xct, 

 the difierence between a wise man, and one not 

 vvise, consists in the accumulation and concentra- 

 tion of small facts. "Many a little makes amickle," 

 as is the proverb ; — which expresses more truth 

 than elegance. The laws of the seasons chano-e 



ay accrue from the 

 meeting of farmers, and familiar interchange^ of 

 ideas, allow me to refer to a farmer's association 

 formed in my own town, befoi-e agricultural soci- 

 eties had much come into being, in 1S09 or 10, I 

 think. A series of questions was propounded to 

 them by the State Society, such as were forward- 

 ed to many other towns of the commonwealth, and 

 each member was required to bring in his own ex- 

 perience, that correct answers might be returned. 

 At this time, being a boy, and ready in the use of 

 the pen, I remember to have been employed by 

 my father, himself an observing farmer, to arrange 

 and copy these answers, to be returned to Boston. 

 I felt honored by the commission. I cannot doubt 

 that the impressions then taken gave an impulse 

 to my mind in favor of the employment of the 

 farmer. I have only to regret that it had not been 

 sprung to such a degree as never to have been di- 

 verted. For after more than forty years observa- 

 tion of men and things, I am free to say, that the 

 man who starts in life with a determination con- 

 tentedly to devote his energies to tlie culture of 

 the soil, free of ambition, of official distinctions of 

 every kind, takes the wisest course. In this free 

 country, where every man can readily acquire a 

 title to the soil he tills, such employment will 

 surely succeed ; provided he has the discretion to 

 graduate his expenses according to his income. 

 And no employment will succeed, without this lim- 

 itation. Thus managing, at the age o^ fifty, he 

 will be found comfortably situated on his own 

 farm, with a lovely family around him ; made vig- 

 orous and happy by the same labor that has af- 

 forded the means of living. What position can 

 be more desirable^ Well did the Roman poet ex- 

 claim — "O, too happy farmer ! did you but know 

 the enjoyments at your command." 



A few years since, Simeon L. AVilson, of Methu- 

 en, (I believe he is not living now,) sent in his 

 statement to the committee on farms of the Es- 

 sex Society ; which, when the facts came to be 

 known, awakened much interest. It appeared, 

 that this cultivator of the soil had been a cripple 

 from his youth, with no command of his lower ex- 

 tremities whatever, and only able to move from 

 place to place, as moved by others, or in the little 

 go-gig that his ingenuity had constructed. He had 

 come into possession of about an acre, of what was 

 deemed a worthless bog, situated by the side of the 

 way — for years claimed by no one, — and liad con- 

 trived to drain it, and cover it from the adjoining 

 knolls, so that he grew thereon, a nursery of more 



