shall, at the close of that term, be dependent on foreign resources for nearly 

 Jive millions of bushels of bread stuffs annually. 



These facts show that however productive other labor may have been, 

 agriculture has not progressed proportionably with the other arts. It 

 should, therefore, receive the special attention of Massachusetts in SELF DE- 

 FENCE ; for unless our farms can be made more productive and profitable, 

 we shall continue to be dependent on other portions of our country for a 

 large share of the necessaries of life, and her sons will look to other and 

 more fertile lands for a residence. 



Agriculture should receive our SPECIAL ATTENTION, for although we may 

 for the present purchase with our manufactures the grain and beef and 

 other products we consume, yet the time will come when the manufacturer 

 and mechanic will place himself down by the side of the producer, thus 

 saving the expense of transportation to both, and when Massachusetts will 

 be obliged to rely, more than she now does, on the products of her soil for 

 the support of her population. 



Shall we learn wisdom by this experience ? Or shall we continue the ex- 

 hausting process of perpetual cropping, without the application of science 

 to restore the productive energies of the soil? So devastating has been this 

 practice, that one thousand millions of dollars, it is estimated, would not 

 more than restore to their primitive richness and strength, the arable lands 

 of the United States, which already have been partially exhausted of their 

 fertility ; and that, should this prodigal system continue to the close of the 

 present century, the natural fertility of all the remaining American territory, 

 will, long before that period, have been abstracted. 



Is it not, then, a question of vital importance to the Commonwealth 

 whether the great interest of agriculture shall remain stationary, or whether 

 it shall move on in the line of improvement with the other departments of 

 human industry 1 It is undoubtedly wise policy to encourage and foster any 

 species of industry which is adapted to the wants and conditions of a com- 

 munity ; but just in proportion to the prosperity of the agricultural interest, 

 will ultimately be the ratio of success in all the other great industrial 

 pursuits. 



Who doubts that our lands are capable of yielding more than double their 

 present productions with little or no increase of expense? How many thou- 

 sands of acres there are in the Commonwealth, also, which produce no in- 

 come whatever, and which, in reality, are the richest portions of our soil, 

 and by the application of science may be made to produce abundantly? If, 

 therefore, we desire to retain the young farmers of our Commonwealth, 

 the bone, muscle and sinew of society, and the future pride and sup- 

 port of the State, we must place within their reach the means of 

 producing a result so desirable. 



Similar advances may be realized by the application of science in the im- 

 provement of our cattle, horses, swine, &c., and in the saving and scien- 

 tific application of manure*. 



