ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 11 



Hon. Moses Newell was the orator at Lynn, October 1, 184G. 

 He said, "All manures mixed with earth, for top-dressing or 

 ploiighing-in, should be composted in reference to the soils to 

 which they are to be applied." A good idea, and one which 

 should not be forgotten. He said, too, " a barn cellar under 

 the stalls is the best storehouse " for manure. 



Thomas E. Payson, Esq., gave the annual address at Lynn, 

 September 29, 1847. He spoke of the value of the newspaper 

 press. " Slowly and silently, almost by stealth, without the 

 knowledge of the man himself, this mighty engine undermines 

 old prejudices, and has taught the farmer that however inde- 

 pendent he may be, he is not so much so as that tlie experience 

 of others will not profit liim. Most of us have become willing 

 to seek directions, even if they are contained in a book. We 

 are becoming more like liberal, free-born, aspiring men." 



Josiah Newhall, Esq., addressed the society at Lynn, Septem- 

 ber 28, 1848. He thought " the great stumbling-block in the 

 way of agricultural improvement has been the want of a knowl- 

 edge of the vegetable economy of the structure and growth of 

 plants. Did farmers fully realize the indispensable necessity 

 of supplying food to plants to promote their growth, that they 

 do to feed animals, we should immediately see the commence- 

 ment of an improved husbandry." 



Hon. Asa T. Newhall, the orator of the society, September 

 26, 1849, at Danvers, recommended the reclamation of "wet 

 meadows and swamps when the mud or peat is from two to 

 ten feet in depth," rather than those " where the plough would 

 run to or near the hard pan beneath." He spoke of the neces- 

 sity of curing salt hay properly ; said " the willow on low, marshy 

 land will rather improve the grass than otherwise, and afford a 

 large quantity of wood, it being of rapid growth." 



Hon. Caleb Gushing was the orator at Salem, September 26, 

 1850. He said, " In proportion as productive land is abundant, 

 and easy of acquisition by all the members of the community, 

 will society be sound on the main point, that is, the absence of 

 either serfdom or pauperism and of the criminal classes created 

 by the unequal distribution of limited national wealth," True. 



Rev. Milton P. Braman spoke before the society September 

 25, 1851, at Salem. He dwelt on " the oppressed condition of 

 many who have cultivated the soil ; " declared that " to insure 



