MR. colman's address. 21 



you only to tlie testimony of a Mr. Phillips, of Pennsylvania. 

 He says, " I have fixed a moveable shaft upon the top of 

 my cider mill, on which is a large drum ; and with anotlier 

 small drum connected by a strap, the chaff cutter is worked 

 by one horse, the fodder is cut of any size from one quarter 

 to an inch long, and with ease from 120 to 140 bushels an hour 

 are turned out, one boy only attending the machine. Since I 

 have used fodder thus prepared, I have kept from twenty-six to 

 thirty-five head of cattle, besides horses and sheep, during the 

 winter, and have used at least ten loads of hay less than when I 

 kept only twelve. This spring (1824) my cattle were in better 

 order than usual."* 



I owe an apology to the society for detailing iiiy own expe- 

 rience and so often speaking in the first person. It would be 

 affectation in me to pretend ignorance of an art in which 1 have 

 been more or less interested and occupied for many years, and 

 with a strong feeling of its great and essential importance to hu- 

 man comfort and good morals ; but I am not unaware that I 

 stand in the presence of many of much more experience and 

 knowledge than myself; and in speaking of what I have done 

 I am prompted by a feeling of the duty of every farmer to 

 communicate to his brethren the results of his own experiments, 

 whether favorable or otherwise, as the best means of advancing 

 an art, where facts and experience are the safest instmcters. 



There were other topics upon which it was my wish to have 

 remarked ; but I fear I have already trespassed too much upon 

 your patience. Agriculture cannot be looked to as a source of 

 wealth ; but money is far from being one of the greatest goods 

 in life. Its profits under the most fa\ored circun^stances must 

 be small and can only be secured by hard labor, persevering 

 industry, and extreme frugality. Yet the situation of every 

 sober and diligent fanner in our country may always be one of 

 substantial independence. A comfortable dwelling, a sufficiency 



* Memoirs of N. Y. ^Agriculture, vol. III. p. 374. — [I have my- 

 self tried various cutting machines ; where much work is to be 

 done, I can strongly recommend the machines invented and pa- 

 tented by Jonathan Eastman of Baltimore, which are now made iu 

 Boston, as the best within my knowledge.] 



