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lected field. I may crave too that they would not disdain the 

 husbandman's humble toil, since they are not too etherial to 

 be beyond the need of its fruits ; I may say more, that love is 

 so wayward, perchance some sturdy ploughman may yet be 

 eligible to the highest honors, which they have to bestow ; but 

 let them not be unduly alarmed at an accident of this kind j 

 under his tanned skin, his rough hand and his coarse exterior, 

 there is often found as true a heart and as devoted a duty, as 

 in the the most polished beau that ever emerged from a city 

 bandbox. 



The territory, embraced under the auspices of this society, 

 comprehends a great variety of soil ; and much of the best arable 

 and meadow land in New England. Nor is there any extraordi- 

 nary discouragement here to cultivation ; labor is not more ex- 

 pensive than in other parts of the country, though it is too high 

 compared with the value of the produce j vast quantities of 

 bread stuff are imported into the country ; and whatever grain 

 is raised will for the present command a higher price in cash 

 than the same articles on the sea-board. 



There are however some serious obstacles to success. One 

 of the principal is the worn-out character of our lands. They 

 have been so long under cultivation as to become exhausted, 

 and yield small returns to the cultivator. Our crops of Indian 

 corn do not average more than thirty bushels to the acre ; of 

 rye not more than twelve ; of potatoes not more than two hun- 

 dred ; and of hay, excepting on alluvial lands annually inun- 

 dated by the river, not more than one and a half ton. These 

 crops are by no means what they might be. Now whether it 

 is owing to too severe a cropping by the repetition of the same 

 crop on the same land without intermission ; or too scanty ma- 

 nuring ; or to an injudicious cultivation, I shall not presume 

 to decide. In some cases these several causes are combined. 



Liberal manuring is the basis of all successful agriculture ; 

 and it is folly under any circumstances, excepting the virgin 

 lands of the West, where there has been for centuries an ac- 

 cumulation of untouched vegetable matter, to disregard the 



