284 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ADDRESS 



OP THR HON. S. HALF, DELIVERED BEFORE THE 

 CHESHIRE (n. H.) AGRICULTURAL SOCltTV, OCTO- 

 BER, 1822. 



It was not without reluctance, my felloiv citi- 

 zens, tliat I consented to undcrtako the (hity of 

 addressing- you on this occasion. Althoug^h the 

 first days of my existence — the days lo which 1 

 look back with most pleasure — were employed 

 in the cultivation of the earth, yet for many 

 years other pursuits have occupied tlic great- 

 est portion of my thoughts and my time. I 

 could not, therefore, 1 was sensible, communi- 

 cate to you information derived from my own 

 experience; but tiie reflection that you would 

 doubtless have the candor to excuse my defi- 

 ciencies, diminished my reluctance to perform 

 the duty assigned mc. 



But however unacquainted I may be with the 

 art of .Agriculture, I have ever felt for the cul- 

 tivators of the so^ the respect which is justly 

 dlie to that profplion which supports all others. 

 When the^efo^a^#Agric^ltu^al Societies were 

 first organized iijNew England — when the far- 



"'■mers instituted H^ir peculiar and .np[)ropriate 

 holidays, in c^^on with others, 1 indulged 

 wit^ pleasure tnfc expectation, that by means of 

 tfiese their prosperity would be increased, and 

 the profession attain to higher estimation in so- 

 ciety. This expectation was strengthened by a 

 recollection of the conduct of the other pro- 

 fessions. The clergy have tiieir associations; 

 the lawyers hold bar meetings; the physi- 

 jfians ha,ve their medical societies, and occa- 

 sionally assemble to communicate to each oth- 

 er the discoveries and improvements they have 

 made. If to all these professions this practice 

 had been found advantageous, it was but natural 



i* to believe that farmers would derive equal ben- 

 efit from a similar practice. 



Permit me to express my sincere regret that 

 these Societies are now regarded with less fa- 

 vor than formerly ; and my astonishment that 

 their warmest opposers are found among those 

 whom they are calculated most to benefit. And 

 what are the objections against them ? It has 

 been said that the premiums are often injudi- 

 eiously and unjustly bestowed. Instances, no 

 doubt, have occurred where the most worthy 

 claimants have failed to obtain them. But the 

 instances are few, ' and much fewer than they 

 are supposed to be. Greater confidence ought 

 certainly to be placed in the decisions of award- 

 ing committees who are selected for their skill 

 and act under a sense of responsibility, than in 

 the opinions of casual observers and disappoint- 

 ed competitors. But it cannot be pretended 

 that in any instance a premium has been ob- 

 tained without some degree of merit in the re- 

 ceiver. If granted to a degree inferior only to 

 the highest, it has certainly answered a valua- 

 ble, if not the 7twst valuable purpose. It has 

 rewarded industry and skill, and its etfecl to 

 stimulate others to exertion is diminished in a 

 slight degree, if diminished at all. 



It is another objection, that by the offer of a 

 premium for the fattest steer or ox, and for the 

 most abundant crop, the farmer is enticed to be- 

 stow all his care upon one animal or upon one 

 acre, to the neglect of all the rest. The reply 

 to this objection is, that it is not for the fattest 

 animal that the premium is ofl'ered, but the one 

 having the most points of excellence ; and to 

 raise one possessing these does not require that 



the others should be neglected. It requires 

 only a good judgment, improved by careful ob 

 servation of the dilTerent breeds and a due de 

 gree of care and attention. As to crops, it is 

 by no means clear, that the neglect of a part of 

 the land will render them less abundant. In- 

 deed it hardly admits of doubt, that the quanti 

 ty of manure usually applied to two acres 

 would, if applied to but one, yield, in most ca 

 ses, the same profit to the farmer. Any expe- 

 dient, therefore, which can entice him to till 

 fewer acres, or to make a greater quantity of 

 manure, must be beneficial to him and to the 

 country. It certainly is not useless wisdom to 

 know what is the utmost power of the soil and 

 what the utmost efficacy of manure ; nor can 

 there be danger that the farmers of this coun- 

 try can be very soon induced to depart too far 

 from the very prevalent error of bestowing 

 their labor and spreading their manure upon too 

 large a surface. 



It has often been objected that the expenses 

 necessary to be incurred lo obtain a premium 

 are generally greater than the amount of it, and 

 the inference is deduced that the offer of it 

 produces more injury than benefit. The /ac< is 

 seldom so ; but were il often so, the inference 

 would be incorrect and unwarranted. Does no 

 permanent benefit result from the experiment 

 made and the knowledge acquired ? Has not the 

 successful competitor, and not he alone, but all 

 the competitors, ascertained some new principle 

 which they can afterwards apply with greater 

 skill, or discovered some new method which 

 they can afterwards simplify and extend ? Let 

 me illustrate my meaning by a reference to the 

 mechanic arts. Suppose a premium of one 

 thousand dollars had been offered to the person 

 who should invent the best machine to separate 

 cotton from the seed. This premium although 

 large, would not perhaps have been a sufficient 

 recompense to the illustrious Whitney, for the 

 machine he first contrived and completed. But 

 in making the first, he might have ascertained 

 what was possible to be etTected ; and in mak- 

 ing the second and the third have learned how 

 to simplify the structure in such a manner that 

 he could afterwards erect a machine at even 

 less expense than the cultivator of cotton could 

 well afford to pay. Such is precisely the case 

 in Agriculture. The farmer who has ascertain- 

 ed by an experiment, which the offer of a pre- 

 mium may have encouraged him to make, that 

 an acre of land can be made to produce eighty 

 or a hundred bushels of corn, may, at succes- 

 sive trials, arrive at the same result in a more 

 simple manner. He may ascertain that some 

 parts of the process may be omitted without 

 detriment, and that others may be executed at 

 much less expense than at first. And this will 

 be but a small portion of the benefit that will 

 accrue. Others besides the competitors will be 

 induced to make a trial. Inquiry will be awak- 

 ened as to the means which were used to ob- 

 tain such astonishing success. A knowledge of 

 the best mode of cultivation will be extensive- 

 ly diffused. The reputation and price of our 

 lands will be raised; and fewer enterprising 

 young men will leave the home of their fathers 

 to bury themselves in the western wilderness. 

 Ambition will be excited ; higher aims will be 

 entertained ; a whole country will feel the in- 

 vigorating influence, and advance a step for- 

 ward lu the progress of improvment. 



It has moreover been observed, that as th f 

 poor arc unable to incur the necessary experT 

 SOS, the premiums are gained principally by th'l 

 rich. If the poor cannot, and do not, incur th I 

 expense of making an experiment, the obje( 

 tion just considered loses all its force. If th'lf 

 rich make expensive experiments, the mode' 

 and results of which will -be known to all, an 

 will contribute to the benefit of all, it is en 

 tainly not unjust that they should receive frn 

 a fund to which they largely contribute, a p 

 tial, if not entire, remuneration. The farn. 

 who considers himself poor ought indeed to r. 

 joice that the rich can bo induced, partly !> 

 the prospect of recompense, and partly by tli 

 love of distinction, to make experiments in A. 

 riculture, from which, if unsuccessful, 11, 

 alone will sustain injury, but from which, if si, 

 ces^ful, not only they, but he and his counti 

 will derive essential advantage. 



They who make these objections take i 

 narrow a view of the operation and eO'ecl 

 these societies. They look at them only in i 

 act of awarding premiums. They suppose tii 

 their influence is felt by the competitors onl 

 and that it ceases the moment the premium 

 paid. Such a view is indeed quite too narro 

 and circumscribed. Far more powerful and e 

 tensive is their influence. It is felt by ma; 

 who are not conscious of it; and by many wl 

 regard with indifference, if not hostility, II 

 cause oftheir own improvement. They rouse tin 

 attention of farmers; they elicit facts, stat '' 

 ments and theories ; they collect and aga 

 spread information ; they elevate the agricult 

 ral profession, by bringing the members of 

 together, by making them acquainted with eai 

 other, and by shewing them their collecti- 

 strength. The emulation they excite aniraat 

 every farmer to greater and more constant e *''< 

 ertion. If one person raises a crop unusual B^ 

 large, his neighbors, ashamed to be left far b Vs^ 

 hind, will be stimulated by pride as well as I fiz 

 interest, to strive to approach as near to him |« 

 possible. " ' 



But our experience, my fellow citizer 

 proves the beneficial effects of these societii 

 The appearance of our country has greatly ir 

 proved since their first institution. This r. 

 mark is supported by the testimony of almo' 

 every traveller. And they who have constan 

 ly attended our cattle shows, assert that at c 

 ery recent exhibition the stock offered has €■ 

 celled that which was offered at the precedii 

 one ; that the young cattle have uniformly su j'- 

 passed the old; and that the improvement h, ■ 

 been plainly visible, and by no means trifling 

 degree. Will any one say that this effect m 

 be attributed to some other cause ? Let hii 

 then point out that cause, and by comparing 

 with the one to which I refer it, demonstrate i 

 superior efficacy. . 



Not to our own experience only would I aij'il 

 peal. That of England fully and powerfulU'! 

 corroborates ours. In that country, Agricu 

 tural Societies have been long established ; an 

 since that establishment- -I repeat now the r< 

 mark of accurate and critical observers — th 

 art of husbandry has been constantly advancing 

 and to them this advancement has been genei 

 ally attributed. No example or testimony ca 

 be more respectable than that of English hu' 

 bandmen who cultivate their own farms. The 

 live in that happy medium between luxury an U 



