NEW ENGL.AND FARMER, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Warehouse!.) — T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



TOL. XIII. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 15, 1835. 



NO. 40. 



MR MOSELEY'S ADDRESS 



BEFOBE THE 

 iSSEX COU.\TY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



At the Annual Cattle Show, at New Rowley, 

 September 95, 1834. 



Gentlemen — We have again assembled on 

 his joyful festival, to present the best of oin- 

 locks and heids, and the choicest productions of 

 he year: and at the same time to raise a note of 

 •raise and thanksgiving, from grateful heart,s, to 

 he Author of all our blessings, for the gooH 

 hings he has done for us. We liave not come to 

 elebrate the occasion of a splendid victory, or to 

 tiourn over a signal defeat ; we have not come to 

 lay a tribute to human greatness, or join in tlie 

 trife of party ; but in the quiet spirit of our pro- 

 ?ssion, to animate one another to greater industrv 

 nd effort, in our peaceful and happy employment. 

 Although you have been pleased to assign ii.e 

 high rank among the officers of your society, 

 et my professional engagements Iiave prevented 

 le from acquiring that practical knowledge in 

 gricultiire, which would seem to belong to my 

 tfice. It is, therefore, with unusual embarrass- 

 lent that I appear before you upon this occasion, 

 1 speak on a subject, in relation to which my own 

 iperience has been so limited. 



The ])rofes8ion in which I have been engaged, 

 ir many y('ars, has suffered under the unlTlcri^(^ 

 iproach of uncertainty, till the exclamation, "the 

 orious uncertainty of the law," has become fa- 

 liliar. It is not, however, true that there is un- 

 3rtainty in law. Law is sufficiently certain, but 

 (e error lies in those, who attempt to administer 

 !. A nnisicalinstrunient may be inade to give 

 ^rth excellent melody, but it is not every one, 

 ho makes the attempt, can get it out. 

 The art or science of agriculture, if examined, 

 ill be found to be as far removed from certainty 

 the law. That is, there is not any settled 

 )inlon as to tlie means of producing the best re- 

 Its. .'Agriculture, in its highest state of im- 

 oveinent, must be tlie result of long experience. 

 lie great utility, therefore, of agricultiu-al socie- 

 :s, is, tliat they call forth to public observation 

 e experience and practice of those, who have 

 en most successtiilly engaged. Yet it is not a 

 tie Slu-prising that agriculture, which was co- 

 istent with man, which has passed through all 

 successive ages and generations of men, 

 lich has liad the knowledge of this long expe- 

 nce reflected upon it, is yet, probably, in its iu- 

 icy, and involved in much uncertainty. 



I will illustrate this idea of its uncertainty by 

 ting the cultivation of corn. One would natur- 

 y suppose, that the long experience among us in 

 ! cultivation of corn, would have settled down 

 establishing in the minds of all men, some fix- 

 and settled rules as to every part of its cultiva- 

 1. Vet we fi: d tliat such is not the fact. I 

 ;in with the planting of corn. It is not yet 



II settled, whether the moon has an influence 

 in vegetation. Some plant without regard to 



moon, and some ai-e very careful to plant only 



in certain stages of the moon. Some recom- 

 mend soaking and even sprouting the corn before 

 it is planted, others think it does as well without. 

 Some advise planting in hills, while others think 

 a better crop is produced by planting in rows. 

 Some place the manure over the corn, some place 

 the corn over the maniue, while others spread the 

 manure over the grotmd. With respect to hoeing 

 the corn, some think the corn should be hoed 

 while very young, to destroy the weeds, yet others 

 prefer the corn should remain and the weeds grow 

 up till they get to some height. The reason as- 

 signed is, that the corn is less liable to be destroy- 

 ed by bird.s, .squirrels and worms. Some are of 

 0|)inion that no hill should be made about the 

 corn, while others deem the hilling of the corn to 

 l)e attended with much benefit. Sonio practise 

 taking the suckers trom the corn, while otliers se- 

 verely censure t!iis practice. Some are of opinion 

 that the stalks should not be cut until the corn is 

 sufficiently ripened to be gathered : others are of 

 opinion that cutting the stalks after the farina has 

 liUlen, does no injury to the corn, and affiards an 

 excellent fodder for cattle in the winter. 



Such are some of the various opinions which 

 have been advocated relative to the cultivation of 

 corn. It is not my design in mentioning them on 

 this occasion to speak discouragingly of the art of 

 agriculture. My more inunediate object is to 

 show the importance of greater exactness and 

 closer observation on the part of those, who turn 

 tlieir attention to the subject of agricultural ex- 

 periments. 



It is greatly to be desired, that our agricultural 

 brethren would be 'more particular in keeping ex- 

 act records of the cultivation of their respective 

 crops, and would connimnicate the result to some 

 agricidtural journal for the benefit of the public. 

 It woidd be like that charity which is doubly 

 blessed. It would be a useful and agreeable ex- 

 ercise to him who should make that record, and 

 it would be highly beneficial to those who should 

 receive it. It would awaken a general spirit of 

 inquiry among oiu- agricultnrists, which would 

 lead to more certainty of success in their several 

 crops. 



There is no employment, which a])pears so 

 well adapted to the health and pleasure of man, 

 as agriculture. That merciful Being who early 

 pronounced, that in the sweat of his brow, he 

 should eat bread all the days of his life, has in 

 great kindness so conformed his nature that this 

 judgment is the great source of his enjoyment. 

 Active and regular employment seems peculiarly 

 adapted to the nature of man, whether he stands 

 in the high places of civilized life, or roams 

 through the forest. It is by this continued exer- 

 cise and labor, that the body, or, as expressed by 

 the poet, " this harp of thousand strings, is kept 

 in tune so long." Observe the man of luxury 

 and wealth, who avoids labor and exercise, and 

 indulges himself in continual rest. You will 

 probably find him the victim of disease, his slug- 

 gish mind dwelling upon the pains, either real or 



imaginary, of his sluggish body. Is there a day 

 labotfer, who enjoy.s health of boily and miuil, 

 who would exchange situations with such a vo- 

 luptuary ? Would he net instinctively say, with the 

 wise man, go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider 

 her ways and be wise ? 



The improvement which has been made within 

 a few years in the art of agriculture and in agri- 

 cultural implements, must be highly gratifying to 

 every farmer. AVho, forty years ago, would have 

 thought it po.-,i,ihle to raise one hundred bushels" 

 of corn on one acre of ground ? Yet now, it is 

 no uncommon case for a farmer to raise a much 

 greater crop. This improvement must be attrib- 

 uted in a great measure to the influence of the 

 press. If we go back but half a century, I be- 

 lieve we shall find no periodical publication either 

 in Europe or America which treated exclusively on 

 the subject of agriculture. The consequence 

 was, that in those districts, where particular bran- 

 ches of husbandry were the most successfully and 

 judiciously treated, the knowledge remained with 

 them, unless, perhaps, slowly communicated 

 from one to another, as accident or opportunity 

 should oftcr. But when journals, devoted to this 

 art, began to be ptit in circulation, containing the 

 experience of intelligent, learned and practical 

 men, the improvement in particular districts be- 

 came Vfrvtjti'erally disseminated. It is true in- 

 deed, ifiat'in »;;aiiy cases thesie pc'.dicarions v/er^,', 

 coldly and reluctantly received, from a false notion 

 that book learning, especially when it contradict- 

 ed the opinion they had derived from tradition, 

 must be very visionary. The light of trutli has in a 

 great measure removed these errors, and a new 

 era h.as commenced upon the subject. The 

 knowledge wliich has been derived from science 

 and experience in one quarter of the world is 

 communicated by the press to all others, and that 

 which was claimed as private jiroperty is now 

 communicated for the benefit of all. One fact 

 will strikingly illustrate this subject.- When Mr 

 Knight, president of the London Horticultural 

 Society, sent his first ])resent of new pears in 1823 

 to Mr Lowell, his letter and the list which accom- 

 panied it, were published in the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Rej^ository. Within twelve months, 

 application was made for these fruits, and scions 

 were actually distributed from the lower part of 

 Maine to Cincinnati in Ohio. 



Among the great improvements which have 

 been made in tools and implements of husbandry, 

 the plough may be mentioned as an instance. Such 

 have been the great improvements in this article, 

 within a few years, that I am told one yoke of cattle 

 will do the woi-k, in one day, which formerly re- 

 quired two yoke, and will do the work much better. 

 Our ancestors used the flail to thresh out their grain, 

 but modern invention has produced a machine, 

 moved by horse power, and threshes out as murli 

 grain in one day, as one man could thresh in ten 

 days with a flail. 



A rake has been invented, moved by horse 

 power. It is said that by this horae-rake one man 



