146 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



NOVKMBER 16. 183<'.- 



introiiuce the turiii|) and clover culture, and a ro- 

 tation of crops ; and thus, by the aid of a little 

 science, doulile his produce and the value of his 

 land at the same time ? Shall li.^ • mtinue to cul- 

 tivate certain articles without any regard to their 

 adaptation to his soil, or shall he study the na 

 ture of the soil somewhat? Can there be a doubt 

 as to what should be done ? Our farmers work 

 with their eyes wide open, I allow. They adopt 

 improvements as fast as they are made in their 

 neif,'hborhood so that they cau see them: but they 

 adopt only when they ean see them. New modes 

 of cultivation, and new articles of culture, are in 

 this way gradually introduced. But they are in- 

 troduced too slowly. The work does n ot go on 

 fast enough. They do not keep up with the im- 

 provements of the age. There is much hesitation 

 and doubt, after the time for liesitation and doubt 

 has passed. The good old way, with all its im- 

 perfections, is adhered to in preference to a newer 

 and better, merely because the one is old, and the 

 other new. Our farmers have a thorough con- 

 tempt for new things, and especially if pronuil- 

 gated by a book farmer, and in this way lose great 

 adv.intages. Illustrations of this fact are abund- 

 ant. How much writing, and argument, and per- 

 .'-uiision, it has cost to obtain for the cullivalion of 

 Ilie mulberry,and the making of silk, theii present, 

 partial, and limited confidence. How slowly has 

 the cultivation of Ruta Baga been progressing : 

 and how much more slowly the raising of Lucerne. 

 Mow hard it is for people to give up keeping a 

 little mountain of soil around each hill of corn : 

 how hard to use the roller and cultivator : how 

 hard to give up cross ploughing ! or to illustrate 

 this same feeling in a different way, it was forty 

 years after Spinach was introduced into the gar- 

 dens of the opident, before it could be bought iu 

 Boston market : and I doubt not but that there are 

 those present who now hear its name for the first 

 time. The Rhubarb was twenty years in coming 

 into favor: the Tomato, the best of all summer 

 vegetables, nearly as long : and the Salsify is now 

 hardly a regular marketable vegetable. While 

 the Sea Kale of Great Britain has not been able 

 to tempt a single cultivator. Head Lettuce as well 

 known as it is, is seldom raised iu the country, and 

 the cauliflower more seldom still. " But the dis- 

 grace of being slow to receive valuable novelties, 

 is not confined to our farmers and gardeners alone. 

 The Medical Faculty of Paris, proscribed as poi- 

 sonous the potato, one hundred years after that 

 plant liad raised millioi'.s of vigorous troops who 

 under Marlborough had again and agaiu beaten 

 the finest armies of France. 



I know that prejudices may arise: that tnany 

 false speculations will be indulged, and false the- 

 ories promulgated. But these are evils which are 

 incident to a free examination of this or any sub- 

 ject. Certainly this can be no reason for our re- 

 jecting the aid of science altogether, or for aban- 

 doning all inquiry. We are not to take everything 

 we may find in a book which pretends to treat of 

 any matter scientifically, as entirely true. We 

 must investigate and we must study. Practical 

 skill alone may be sufficient for the ordinary bu- 

 siness of the farmer : but it is not sufficient to en- 

 able him to avail himself of all the advantages 

 which his situation may present. To enable him 

 to rise above every obstacle which chance may 

 throw in his way, and to prepare him for untried 

 difficulties, experience and speculation must be 

 considered. Every important fact cannot be dis- 



covered by experience alone. Many important 

 facts lie hidden and concealed, and require the 

 aid of science to detect them. There are certain 

 things easily discovered ; certain axioms that ev- 

 ery one knows. The light of science is not wanted 

 to tell us of common things: that our land must 

 be kept rich, and free from noxious weeds, and 

 that men do not gather grapes from thorns or figs 

 from thistles. But the difTereut qualities of soils 

 — the difTerent qualities of manures, the advan- 

 tages and disadvantages of different crops, and dif- 

 ferent modes of cultivations, the-e cannot be per- 

 fectly understood, save by the light of science: 

 save by study; and by acquainting ourselves with 

 all the improvements that are made, and making. 

 To say that our farmers are o[)posed to|a regular 

 study of tiie science of agriculture, because they 

 dislike mental labor, would be libellous. Their 

 whole course of life disproves such an assertion. 

 Everything but this they study, and with their 

 whole soul nnd .strength. This subject alone, 

 anomalous as it may seem, they do not study : 

 they are content to trudge on in the limeworn foot- 

 steps of their ancestors in corapaiative ignorance of 

 the very matter which most concerns them. One 

 woidd think that a man who earns his bread by 

 tilling the soil, would wish to know something of 

 that soil. Dependent on the produce of the earth 

 one would think that he would wish to know 

 how to get the most of it, and would institute ex- 

 periments to that end. One would think -that in 

 these d.nys when the farmer is asking the 

 use and nature and philosophy of everything 

 above, and on, and below the earth, he would 

 sometimes ask the nature and use and philosophy 

 of the earth itself. But is this the case to any 

 considerable degree ? Put this man into any other 

 business, and he will immediately seize his books, 

 and try to make himself acquainted with all that 

 has been written on that subject. Attention has 

 been excited as to this matter, 1 know. Im|)rove- 

 uicnts have been made, and are making. The 

 sludy has been commenced, as is evidenced by the 

 institutions like this, the anniversary of which we 

 are now celebrating, and by the improved appear- 

 ance of our farms. But the objection is, that the 

 study is not general; that improvements do not go 

 on fast enough. How few farmers there are that 

 actually study the nature of soils and manures, 

 and crops.' How few make any improvements 

 save those they see instituted by their nearest cir- 

 cle of neighbors ? All such they are willing to 

 make. Now I ask, and the question contains the 

 gist of the whole matter, why a man may not as 

 well learn from the results of his neighbors' ex- 

 periments and science when staled in a book, as 

 when seen on a farm ? Extend this same priuci- 

 ple. Great men, practical men, in every part of 

 the world, and for many years, have investigat- 

 ed the subject of agriculture, and have written on 

 it : their ])lans and experiments, as well success- 

 ful as otherwise, have been noted: experiments 

 have been properly instituted. Now if a farmer 

 may learn from a book written by his neighbor, 

 may he not much more learn from this collected 

 wisdom of the whole world ? Do not men learn in 

 this way ? Is it not a fact, and may we not point to 

 shining examples from the members of this socie- 

 ty, that those who have studied hooks, and become 

 book farmers, are the best farmers, and liave the 

 best and most productive farms ? Being willing 

 to learn from those men, as we all are, and thus 

 from books second hand, and why are we not 



willing to go ourselves to the fountain head, and 

 thus become pioneers in the cause ? 



I have assumed that great advantage and profit 

 would arise from the sludy of agi iculture as a sci- 

 ence, and I think no one can doubt it who beholds 

 what has been done, and what is now doing in 

 this matter, and if he brings in review but a few 

 of those improvements that have sprung from such 

 a study. 



Amongst the most important of these, the intro- 

 duction of green crops instead of fallows, may be 

 reckoned the most splendid. Fallow crops were 

 useful: they did much towards renovating land 

 which had been worn out by too long tillage : 

 they materially assisted in increasing the amount 

 of produce. But green crops are still better : they 

 increase the jiroductiveness of the land in a great- 

 er degree, and they never let the land lie at rest, 

 but are constantly producing. There is no mis- 

 take about the matter: the land not only never lies 

 at rest, but constancy grows richer. Besides, it is 

 not only land already productive that is thus en- 

 riched, but sandy jilains, literally sandy plains, 

 have been converted into highly productive arable 

 land by the aid of a preper succession of green 

 crops. In this way these plains have been made 

 to produce luxuriant crops of wheat, rye, and bar- 

 ley : while in light loamy soils the crops of corn 

 have been more than trebled. A vast sup|)ly of 

 the most valuable manure is likewise produced, as 

 well as increased quantities of green fodder for the 

 feeding of cattle and sheep. It has been truly 

 said, that the introduction of this system lias done 

 for agriculture, what has been done for manufac- 

 tures by the steam engine and spinning frail. 



The old system of cropping, however, is still 

 retained, notwithstanding the immense advantages 

 of this new method. We go on working very 

 hard, and cultivating a great deal of land, to pro- 

 vide fodder for our stock during a long and drea- 

 ry winter. The old way is to raise clover, herds 

 grass, and red top : these three, the greatest of 

 which is clover. As a general rule in this part of 

 the country, our farmers are satisfied if they can 

 raise, on an average, two tons of hay to the acre. 

 Sometimes we get more, but very frequently less. 

 Now this is far from being the full amount a prop- 

 erly cultivated acre is capable of producing, even of 

 hay; and if planted with some kinds of vegetables, 

 hardly an iota of what may be obtained. Fifly 

 tons of Ruta Baga have frequently been raised 

 from a single acre. Considering this an extra 

 crop, aiu! t:.king 25 tons as a medium result, we 

 have about 800 bushels of food from an acre which 

 would not have produced more than three tons 

 of clover hay at the very best. Cattle of all kinds 

 like this food in winter : it is very nutritious : it 

 is green, succulent, and supplies the want of green 

 grass and green herbage. It is heavy, distends 

 the ttomach, keeps the stock in good health, and 

 saves a great amount of hay. Yet with all these 

 advantages attending its culture, how few persons 

 enter upon it with any spirit, or with a system 

 based upon calculation I The Cabbage, likewise, 

 although not so nutritious as the Ruta Baga, is 

 eaten with great avidity by cattle and yields a 

 great amount. According to the Editor of the 

 Baltimore Farmer and Gardener, 10,000 heads 

 will stand upon a single acre, yielding in weight 

 40 tons. There is a chance of obtaining this 

 a:nount of excellent fodder from one acre, and yet 

 who ever tries forlthis chance .' A man who, in the 

 country should put in cultivation with cabbages 



