1876.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



d3 



tliinks lie is made to worl; fnun nidniiiiff till iii^'lit, 

 with nolliine to imimive tlie iiiiiKl fur tlie teiniKirul 

 as well as the sjiiritiial welfare of the sotil ami loily, 

 sueeeeiliiifr nowhere in this enlif;ht< ned age. Fastinj; 

 his farm, you will at once notiee in every field some 

 imi'lement left in the nuid, jii.-! w 1 ere he was done 

 using it, exposed to all the ehanf;es of \v<-ather from 

 one season to another ; fences blown down, euttle al- 

 lowed to run at large in fields of waving grain ; in 

 faet, everything out of jilaee. and no |ilaie for any- 

 thing, instead of having system and orderall arounil, 

 a |ilaee for everything, and everything in its plaee. 

 1 do not wish t(i dielale to the farmers of Lancaster 

 co\inty, hut merely throw out these hints lor ex- 

 ample. I haveeiioul'li tolaUeeare of at heme to have 

 things in order and syslim in all the departments of 

 my farm, and I eoidiss that, much as I read and 

 much as I try to have things represent the appear- 

 ance of a model farm, I have plenty to do without 

 minding other fainicrs' husiniss. Hut if I am to 

 hold the position iiniong the agricullnral luiiple of 

 this county, I want fric scope to expnfs myself, an<l 

 point out to our laimcrs the miserable condition iu 

 which we find entirely too many larnis in this intelli- 

 gent county of Laniasler. 1 v\ouId here say to the 

 members oi' this society, that the very best way to 

 show the people that we mean business, is to have our 

 faims in first-class trim; I'verything in order — sys- 

 tem; treat our fellow-nien, our helping hands, so 

 that they know we love Hum ; thai we have as much 

 ret^ard for their morals an<l their pertonal heallh as 

 we have for < ur own. Let us he timijcrate in all 

 thiiiL'^s, kind towards all, poor or rich, ncighlor or 

 friend. Itisthiii, and only then,- that pcojile will 

 perceive that the Iruits of our society can be seen, 

 and that we mean to show our faith by our works. 

 On the other hand, what more do we gain by belong- 

 ing to an agricultural society, and what do we gain 

 by having these 1 roks and papers ? Why, in the fir.st 

 place, we have the satisfaction of coming in commu- 

 nication with our friends all over the county, and 

 have a day of rest for the lody, and devoting that 

 dav to the iniprovcnunt id' the mind : conse<|uently, 

 we' know better h.ow to manage o\ir works ; and there 

 is a saying with a great deal of truth in it, that pood 

 manasiemcnt is doinir half the work. But those men 

 will tell you they get the proceedings in the papers, 

 and know what we have been doing, and that they 

 save expenses of lime and money by not attending 

 meetiufis — showing that they are still interested in 

 reading the proceedings of this society, which is all 

 richt and proper. But it shows that they want us to 

 sp'end time and money, and when anything new pire- 

 scuts itself, or we make a new discovery iu grain or 

 whatever it be, they have their head open to cateh up 

 anything by whichthey can make an almighty dol- 

 lar. Fortius reason we would like more farmers to 

 join in with us and make the improvement still 

 greater. On the other hand, the advantages of 

 reading hooks and papers are equally f.ood. I would 

 here impress, in the strongest terms, the importance 

 of reading, for our young and rising farmers. Let 

 me tell you that every dollar spent for looks and 

 papers will pay tcn-(old in the future ; such practice 

 has a wonderlul tendency to improve the moral as 

 well as intellectual faculties of the young num. For 

 instance, the young man who njakes reading a study 

 will naturally be at home in the evenings— ji(k( iiJure 

 he oiiijlit to he. Every farmer, and everybody else 

 should be at home with his family. We all have an 

 example of many a young man who, instead of find- 

 ins pleasure at home in reading, has made the near- 

 est town, in the saloon or hotel, his [place for spend- 

 ing his most precious time, and the gamesthere prac- 

 ticed have led many a fine young man on the road 

 that leads from misery to destruction of both soul 

 and body, whiih were calculated by the Creator for 

 the improvement of mankind. 



Allow me to-day, through my annual address, to 

 again caution my agricultural friends throughout the 

 county, young and old, airainst the terrible risk they 

 are running, by spending their time, that should be 

 devoted to the imiirovemc nt of minil and body, in the 

 dangerous ways that lead to the deslrudion of the 

 morals of any human being, (ienthnien, please bear 

 with me ifldeviate from thelext that perhaps should 

 he kept in view for an address to an agricultural 

 society. I merely jioint out some (d' the dangers to 

 which" the young and old engaged in agriiulture sub- 

 ject themselves, which, in my ojiinion, can all be 

 avoided by simjily supplying reading and thinking 

 matter to the mind. 



Now. eomini; back to our society, we all know we 

 have not made the progress that we should have made 

 since we are in existence. On the other hand, we 

 have done more than our predecessors, as we have 

 kept alive, holding regular meetings (or the last ten 

 years ; and stand to'day upon better ground than 

 ■we have since 1 became a member. We have had a 

 little trouble in regard to a room in which to hold our 

 meetings; but by consulting our new County Com- 

 missioners, who have this day taken their seats, I have 

 .no doubt that we can have the old room, if the one 

 we now occupy does not suit. I merely suggest this. 

 [ The society must he its own judge in this nuitter. 1 

 -Bould only add, judge w ell before you act, and secure 

 some permanent place for our meetings. 



Have we not been a little to blame for not making 

 the progress we should have made ? If we would ad- 



vertise more and invite the people more generally, we 

 ctmlil perhaps secure a better attendance. I know 

 not the condition of our treasury, but it appears to 

 nie it would allow a little expense in this direction. 

 Another matter I would sugcest— that our Secretary 

 should keep an a( conn! hereafter with the nienihers 

 in regard to the amnuil fees. We are all honest 

 enoUL'h to pay up, yet an account would alwaya show 

 who has paid and w lu'U. 



The year we have just entered upon, as I said In 

 the beginning of my addrcst., w ill In- one of great im- 

 portance as the I iiilcnnial of our hiilcpendence. Si'- 

 eured by our fathers one hundred years ago, it will 

 be celebrated by an luternalional F.xhibiliou at I'hil- 

 a<leliihia, to wliich I now invite your attention. II is 

 proper that this Kuiety sliouhl take i>arl in the exhi- 

 bition, and to do so it "becomes your duly to a|ipoiut a 

 Centennial Committee to arrange upon what plan, and 

 in what form, you shall be represented at the exhl- 

 bil'on. I will leave this nuitter to your lonsideralion, 

 hopiiu;' some action will be taken at Ihcni'Xl meeting. 

 1 have been appoiuled by the Commissioner of 

 Agriculture at \Vashim;lon, to make up a collection 

 of grains <rom this ilislrict to be exhibited in the 

 museum of the .\gricnllural Department at the Ceii- 

 Icnnial KxhibiliciU. 1 will make the collccliou and 

 deliver it to Washington within the next sixty days, 

 and any meinber or farmer in the county who has 

 anything to exhibit will ]ilease hand it to me, and he 

 will rei'civc all the credit and honor for the same. 

 The cxhibilion is a mailer w hich every American citi- 

 zen friiin ocean to ocean should led proud of, and 

 give a hcljiing hand in some way or other to make it 

 a triumiihant success. I, for one, will do my whole 

 duty, ill any position I may be iilaced in. The build- 

 ings in progress (d' conslruclion at Fairmounl I'ark 

 are very extensive, and I hope that the pco[ile of 

 Pennsylvania, and this county in particular, will oc- 

 cupy some space in them. 1 would like to have this 

 society in some form represented. It is, however, for 

 you to sav how. 



I will now call your attention to a matter in which 

 you are to take some action. I refer to the resolu- 

 tions 1 jircscntcd to-day. The farmers and fruitgrow- 

 ers in particular have suffered extensively from in- 

 sects of late years. The ravages of these insects is 

 greatly owing to the fact that sportsmen are in the 

 habit of shooting partridges and other birds that feed 

 upon these insects, which have become so numerous 

 as to injure and sometimes totally destroy fruit and 

 other crops. The fanners have, time and again, 

 warned the men that Ircspass over their land with 

 hounds and guns, and the only reply they generally 

 get, was an iusultiug remark from the scoundrels, 

 who should be jiunished by law for the cruel act of 

 shooting by wholesale the harmless, nay, lieneficial 

 birds, bothto the fruit-grower and farmer. Believing 

 that this society has the influence among our ineni- 

 bers at Ilarrisburg to secure the passaire of a proper 

 game law lor Lancaster county, I |ircseiit this mailer 

 to your consideration, hoiiing we, as the reiirescnta- 

 tivcs of the aL'ricultural and horticultural intercstsof 

 this I (Hint y, will take such action as will put a stop 

 to the mailer conipUiincd of. 



Ferbaps I have now occupied too much of your 

 time, and will soon (ome to a close. I have now been 

 two years your chairman, and conducted your meet- 

 ings to the best of my kiiowlcd:;e and ability. 1 have 

 done all in mv power to encourage the farmers to 

 join with us, t"hat this society may be an honor to Lan- 

 caster county ; and not only that, but that the im-ni- 

 bers and farmers and fruit-growers might be bene- 

 fited, and the cause of aL'ricullure and horliculturebe 

 jircssed forward to a point at which it may overlook 

 all other industries with pride. 



This is the piosition that farmers should have. His- 

 tory gives evidence that the farmers have made our 

 best presidents, and we should have more farmers 

 upon the floors of Congress and in the State Legisla- 

 ture, from the faet that agricullure is the greatest of 

 all enterprises of this State and country. Let usliave 

 more representation from the farm and field, and 

 economy anil relrenclmicnt will mark conspicuously 

 the records of both State and National ICL'islation. 

 These are my principles, and I will follow them out 

 in whatever "position mv friends may see proper to 

 place me. Mav we all work hand in hand for the ad- 

 vancement of" this society. With the heli.of Cod, 

 may the Centennial year be one of health, joy and 

 happiness to us all. 



Ol'll PAST ANn Ft'TtHE rROfPERITY. 



Peteh S. Heist read the following essay : 

 Mr. Phesident— It affords me great pleasure in 

 being able to KU'iraliilate you, and the members of 

 this society, on the approaching National Centennial ; 

 that it has pleased Divine Providence to permit us to 

 enter the one huudrcdlh vear of our re|iublic. We 

 cannot be too thankful to our Heavenly Father, the 

 giver of every good and precious gift, for the privi- 

 lege of enjoyi'ng such a government as ours. 



Weareiiereat this periodofour National progress, 

 not by our own choice, nor by our own superior efl'orls 

 or good management, but by circunistaiices controlled 

 by an over-ruling jirovidence. We are enjoying piiv- 

 ifeges handed down to us by our forefathers, who 

 settled this country many years ago, under numerous 

 privations and ha"rilsliips,'liaving tied Ircpm the op- 

 pressions and persecutions of their fatherlands, to 



seek a land of freedom here. I'lider the control of a 

 foreign goveriinieiit, they endured foreign dictation 

 until the 4tli of July, 1771), then they declared Ihera- 

 selves free and Independent— that indepcnilencc nhieh 

 we now happily enjoy, and the Cenlriiiiial anniver- 

 sary of w hich we are now preparing to celebrate. 



(ircal are the changes and many are the Improve- 

 menls inhuman econoiiiies since the year 177(i. Then 

 we had no railroads, canals, reapers, steam' eni^iues, 

 threshinu' machines, and but few manufactorlcHof any 

 kinil. We could not count three hundred carrlaucs 

 atone funeral, nor live thousand — or even live hun- 

 dred persons in atteiidunee at one canip-nieellng. 

 Neither did we have so many nourishing towns ami 

 cities as now, nor so many beautiful churches witli 

 steeples and towers |>olntiiig up, heavenwanl. Our 

 school system u as in its infancy, if it hud an cxislrneo 

 at all, and our literary status was slill In Its endiryo 

 slate. The arts ami sciences were only know ii to a 

 favored few. Our I'uxmi consisteil of only thirteen 

 Stales with a |io|inlatlon of three millions. Our com- 

 merce was very small, our curreniy ami finances in a 

 state of confusion, and our territories still Inhubilcd 

 by Ihe "painted children of nature." 



Now wi' have railroads, canals, steam engines, ami 

 thousands of other lmi>rovemenls, with Ihlrly-seven 

 States ami Territories, a iMipulalion of forty millions, 

 and fmmeiise product Ion of cereals, minerals and fal>- 

 rics,and a commerce equal tot hat id" any other nation. 

 But now ciuiies a treat problem in this our Centen- 

 nial year— our long antlcipatect jubilee. Nolwlth- 

 standini; we arc loaded with a heavy weight of debt, 

 and arc pi-rhaps encumbered with some other draw- 

 backs to our iiros|)erlty, wlia' is our appreciation of 

 the benefits we d( rive from the many improvements 

 we are enjoying, and of the i>rivlleges incideiilal to an 

 advanceil stale of intellectual culture? If we appre- 

 ciate these things as weought, what will become our 

 duty to our posterity? Is there room for anymore 

 improvements? Can we expect as inaiiy Inventions 

 in Ihe next one hundred years as in the one just clos- 

 ing ? To these (lueries, so fjir as they Hill admit of It, 

 1 feel coin|>elled to give a negative response ; because 

 our forests, placed here by a far-seeing Pnivldence, 

 have been swept away most unmercifully, and are on 

 the road of deslrucliou so rapidly, that in the near 

 future our posterity will not have much left to thank 

 us for — nothing to build up as line and costly cdlfleeg 

 as those of the past. 



In a few years our fine prairies, now nnooeupied, 

 will be scltleil ujioii, so that our posterity will not 

 have the benefit of the irrisration that their predeces- 

 sors have' had, and will havetofall back upon our old 

 exhausted lands that have been long abandoned, 

 which will bring in a new era. The deslnietlon of 

 our forests is a matter which we oueht not to |)as8 

 over too lightly. Scripture tells of a people who 

 will reap where they did not sow. So we might say 

 with recard to our forests : we reap, but do not sow. 

 If any one |iers(m is more to blame than another on 

 this subject, it is the slatesman, who worked more for 

 himself— for power and iiolilical interest- than forthe 

 people, showing that much of political economy has 

 been lost. Agriculture and husbandry, to raise the 

 difTcrent products of our broad acres, are the foun- 

 tains ami foundations of national prosperity, (iood, 

 wholesome laws, carried out by the |KOide, makea 

 nation prosperous. .Suflice it, ilien, to say, that the 

 more a people are united and educated on a common 

 platform, the more prosperous they will he. The 

 profligate must become more economical, and the 

 avaricious more liberal. Indeed, It ndglit be success- 

 fully demonstrated that, in many instances, Ihe miser 

 is a greater hindrance to t he progress of anycommunity 

 or coiintrv than a spendthrift . 



The masses of the people must be taught to select 

 such statesmen and such officers, from the President 

 down to county and township otticers, as will work 

 for the interests of Ihe people, and not merely for 

 themselves or for monoiiolics and political •'cliques:" 

 for men w ho will act as men, in every sense of the. 

 word. Let this society become a shining example lo 

 societies in general. Let us work not only for the 

 benefit of ourselves, hut alsi> for our fellow beings, and 

 for our poslejily. Let us aim lo improve our seed, 

 our modes of culture, and our prcnluets of every de- 

 scription. Let us emieavor to Increase our average 

 as well as our acrcaee, so as to raise such surplus as 

 will create a balance of traile in our favor. lo pay the 

 interest we larcely owe lo foreign coiintriT-s. In ad- 

 dition lo all Ibis, "and as intimately associated with 

 it, let ns expand ami elevate our minds by Ihe eulll- 

 valion of our intellectual faenllles. Let us enlenil a 

 generous support to the agricultural lileralure of our 

 country. There fs no more reason that farmers, as a 

 class, should be illiterate, than I here is for any olher 

 class of people being so. Indeed, farmers from their 

 seclnded coialllion, and their freedom fnini night oc- 

 cupations, have opportunities of mental culture far 

 superior lo those of most mcehanlcs. 



By doing our duly to (ioil, to our iielchbors, to our 

 families, and lo ou"rselves, and e.pniinuing lo do as 

 our forid'alhcrs did, adding and Incorporating Into 

 our labors the Improvements which time has devel- 

 oped, we shall be destined to U-come one of the 

 strongest and most powerful nations U|ion the face of 

 this earih : and, altliouirh we cannot ex|M-ct to see It, 

 our second Ceiiteiuiial may find our country- 

 "Kcdccmed, regenerated and disenthralled." 



