MASS. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 515 



them the agricultural implements used in their native land, and 

 adopted here the modes of cultivation to which they had been 

 bred. These implements and practices, with some modifica- 

 tions, have descended to us. We are, to a great extent, culti- 

 vating our lands on English models. Our agricultural works 

 are mostly of English origin. 



We ought to have an American system of agriculture. We 

 are practising on principles and theories, originating in a coun- 

 try, in some respects widely different in climate, soil, products, 

 and the social condition of its laboring population. England 

 lias a moist, humid climate ^ fog and rain are daily features of 

 its scenery — it has been called the " fog-wrapped island of 

 Great Britain." We, on the contrary, are subject to severe 

 and long-continued droughts. There, the watchful farmer is 

 troubled with cloudy and dull weather, with but little clear, 

 steady sunshine. Here, he is parched by scorching suns, 

 oftener, than is supposed, destructive to our iiuits and vegeta- 

 tion. There, he has to guard against an excess of moisture ; 

 here, he has to guard against the want of it. There, land is 

 dear and labor cheap ; here, labor is dear and land is cheap. 



We need a system so modified as to be adapted to our situa- 

 tion. Practices in the cultivation of the earth are continued 

 here, originating in physical causes, which do not exist here. 

 The practice of hilling and ridging, so common in English 

 husbandry, and so useful in that climate, are pertinaciously 

 continued by New England farmers,- as if it were applicable 

 here, when, in fact, the reverse should prevail. It is an old 

 and a sound maxim in the law, that when the reason on which 

 a rule is founded, ceases, the rule itself should cease. So, in 

 agriculture, when the reason, on which a practice was founded, 

 ceases to exist, the practice itself should cease. Nearly all our 

 ideas of farming, have been drawn from English authors. In 

 order to a successful cultivation of our soil, and the permanent 

 improvement of our farms, we must create an American system 

 of agriculture. We must see v/ith our own eyes, and decide 

 with our own judgment. 



We must adapt our system of culture to the nature of our 

 soil, and the climate in which we live to the products we 



