200 SELECTIONS FROM ADDRESSES. 



his turnip-seed, he always followed the rule, of the 25th of Ju- 

 ly, wet or dry; and, on being asked what course he took, if, as 

 frequently happens, a severe drought prevailed at that time, an- 

 swered, that he ploughed the land till he raised a moisture. If 

 the stirring of cultivated ground were perseveringly followed, at 

 short intervals, in our summer droughts, the effect would be far 

 more striking, than any one, previous to such an experiment, 

 could easily imagine ; and the plough and hoe, in addition to 

 their other most valuable qualities, would prove, so to speak, no 

 ordinary watering-machines. 



The soil of Massachusetts has, certainly, for the most part, 

 no pretensions to the character of great natural fertility. Its 

 virgin richness, such as it was, has long since been exhausted. 

 But, in truth, there is no evidence that this richness was ever 

 more than moderate, and earlier writers speak of our land in 

 much the same terms as would now be employed by a discrim- 

 inating observer. It is, therefore, of the more importance, to 

 increase this natural wealth, by skilful culture and nourish- 

 ment, and, most especially, to observe the greatest care in a 

 rigid economy, and judicious application of manures. This 

 subject was treated with great ability, and with the utmost di- 

 rectness and perspicuity, by the late Col. Pickering, in his ad- 

 dress, delivered about twenty-five years since, at Brighton, and 

 published in the New England Farmer, to which I refer for full 

 information. 



The health of our domestic animals is a topic on which, from 

 its high interest, I feel compelled to detain you for a moment. 

 It is a topic on which no good farmer, I might add, no good 

 man, can well be indifferent. Our climate seems, on the whole, 

 highly favorable to the health of these animals. Still, as they 

 are, of necessity, liable to various diseases and accidents, every 

 thing relating to their physiology must be highly interesting. 

 It is a dictate, not only of economy, but humanity, that these 

 casualties should be fully understood, and nothing should be 

 left undone to remedy or to avert them. With regard to the 

 first of these, that is, the curing of diseases after they have 

 once appeared, our power, at best, is exceedingly limited. Lit- 

 tle can be done to assist nature, and, perhaps, we best discharge 



