188 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



DECEMBER 21. 183G 



AD >RESS 



Delivered before tlie Plyinouih County Agriculuiral 

 Society, at their Anniversary, lield at Bridgewater, 

 Oct. villi, 1836, by Rev. Mr Carl!, of North Bridge- 

 water. 



(Concluded ) 



Tile art of Agriculture is daily becoming bet- 

 ter uuilerstoo(l,tlic sciences of geology and chem- 

 istry are beginning to be applied, and already do 

 wre begin to witness the benefits. The old, worn 

 out, e.xliausted lands of some of the tnaratime 

 states, are being resuscitated by the application of 

 marl, found in exhaiistless abundance in New Jer- 

 sey and Maryland, and which is now effecting 

 that which lime-stone and gypsum have effected 

 ill some other states. The legislature of some of 

 the states are awakening to the vast importance 

 of this subject ; scientific men are now making 

 geological surveys, and we may reasonably ex- 

 pect, that the earth will be called u])on to yield 

 those mineral riches, which have been hid from 

 the foundation of the world. It is possible that 

 every branch of industry will be greatly benefitted 

 by these efforts; none more than agriculture ; 

 ' there is doubtless enough in the bowels of the 

 earth, to restore the surface to its original fer- 

 tility. 



Agriculture, as a science, has therefore received 

 but llttliJ attention ; we adhere to the modes of 

 tillage practiced by our forefathers, continue to 

 plough, and sow, and reap in much the same man- 

 lier, and the last hundred years have not added 

 much to farming as a science. Improvements 

 have been made indeed!, in utensils, and labor- 

 saving machines have been invested, but the na- 

 ture of different soils, the preparation and due 

 mixture of manures, the chemical action of the 



.salts they contain, the introduction of new objects 

 of culture, and other im|iortant matters, have been 

 but little studied and understood. Were these 

 things appreciated as they deserve, this County of 

 Plymouth might be, for the most part, converted 

 into a garden, and made to blossom like the rose. 

 As an example of what the climate and soil of 

 this county and section of country are capable of 

 effecting by proper culture, turn your attention to 

 the viciiHty of the metropolis. — Look at Roxbury, 

 (a name expressive of its quality,) and see what 

 cultivation will do : it is a garden ; grass and flow- 

 ers, trees and fruits, grow, and bloom, and ripen 

 on the surface of the rocks, and decliv'it:?s of the 

 hills. 



The following extract from the "Maine Farmer" 

 edited by Dr Holmes, is fraught with good sense 

 and is to the present purpose. 



"If I may be permitted to .advance an opinion, 

 (says he) I will say, that judging from daily ob- 

 servation, it would seem that many believe the 

 exercise of mental and physical ])owcrs have no 

 connection in the business of husbandry ; that our 

 fathers and grandfathers thought all that was nec- 

 essary to think upon the subject, and that nothing 

 retnains for us to do, but work, work, work, with- 

 out even thinking that we have power to think. 

 Theiefore, if we l.ay a ' firm basis on which to 

 build up their minds in wi.sdom and knowledge ;' 



"We must iirst convince them that the course pur- 



.sued by our fathers and grandfiithers in relation 

 to husbano'i"y is by no means the best course. 



I'envince them, that in general, a small farm is 

 better tfian , 1 la''ge one. Convince them that a 



little wei'f till ed, is better than much half tilled. 



Convince li^j^m ' that two loads of manure is better 



than one, and every load judiciously applied, is 

 better than a silver dollar. Convince them that 

 three good cows are bettt-r than half a dozen poor 

 ones, and so of all other stock. Convince them 

 that raising their own bread stuff, and a little to 

 sell, is far better than " going to New York to 

 mill." Convince them that two blades of grass 

 may easily be made to grow where only one grew 

 before. Convince them that experience is the 

 mother of improvement, and improvement the true 

 source of wealth. 



Convince them of these sinijile triilhs, and in- 

 duce them to j)ractice accordingly, and the work 

 is done. 



You will then bring mind and lof?T/ to act in uni- 

 son. You will elevate the husbandman to h sriat. 

 ural sphere in the scale of existence. You will 

 jjlace him in the road to higher eminence. He 

 will think for liimself, he will be learned, be will 

 be wise, he will be wealthy and influential." 



How is this necessary science to bo obtained ? 

 by reading and study ; were this society to en- 

 gage an agent properly qualified to visit different 

 parts of the county, to deliver lectures on the science 

 of agriculture, it would awaken that spirit now 

 dormant, and would jirove a most powerful aux- 

 iliary in promoting the objects contemplated by 

 this assembly. 



There are publications on this subject, cbeap 

 and easily procui-cd by all, which should be in 

 the hands of every farmer; I allude to Chaptal's 

 Agricultural Chemistry, and Doughty's " Com- 

 plete Practical Farmer ;" the former re-published 

 in fioston,the latter published in New York. 



The direct efiectof this coui-se would be, to in- 

 crease your crops, to enhance the value of yoin- 

 farms, and to check the restless spirit of emigra- 

 tion, the desire of bettering his condition by change 

 of place, so natural to man, and which so often 

 ends in utter disappointin nt. It is by no means 

 desirable to break the ties of social life, to relin- 

 quish the advantages of a state of society, the 

 growth of ages, the benefits r 'suiting from insti- 

 tutions that have become exceedingly valuable, 

 imparting a moral influence to every class of the 

 community, the blessings of education provided 

 for our children ; and all this to be relinquished, 

 abandoned, for what ? a section of land in the 

 woods ; a log cabin with one apartment, as a shel- 

 ter from the elements : and surrounded by girdled 

 trees of enormous size, that must die, before the 

 sun can shine upon the ground ; secluded from 

 society^ subjecterl to the fevers of the country, re- 

 mote from medical aid, and frequently in want of 

 the common necessaries of life. That this is tlie 

 lot of thousands who indulge this love of change, 

 and who seek their fortunes in the "far zvest," io 

 true beyond a doubt; especially those who have 

 large families and small capital. Tlie monied 

 man may purchase improved lands, and he may do 

 so here, or any where ; not so the poor man, he 

 must make his calculation to sit down in the 

 woods, with his wife and his children, and like 

 the poet's three-legged stool, which in the course 

 of ages, and the slow progress of society, gmdual- 

 ly res'; to the elegant sofa or fashionable ottoman, 

 his log hut, may, after many a year>of toil and 

 hardship, give place to a more commodious man- 

 sion. By this time the parents will have grown 

 gray, or "will have gone the way of all the earth," 

 and their children or grand-children enter into 

 their labors. Surely, this is a great sacrifice for 

 men who can command the blessings of an order- 



ly community, who have no oppressive taxes to 

 complain of, and who, by a reasonable share o f 

 industry, ran participate in the comforts of a civ- 

 ilized life. In short, it is the extreme folly, for a 

 man for the sake of living, to deprive himself of 

 the comforts of life. 



The desirable ])ositions in the west and along 

 the thoroughfares are preoccupied ; there are two 

 lines of canal and rail-road, uniting the east and 

 west now in operation ; one through New York, 

 and the other through Pennsylvania, There are 

 others projected and in progress, intended to unite 

 Boston with the west, by the w.ay of Albany, the 

 Chesapeake with the Ohio, and Charleston with 

 Cincinnati. The desirable points in the great 

 northern route, are New York, Albany, Buffalo, 

 Detroit, Chicago and New Orleans; besides in- 

 termediate places of less note. In these points, 

 speculation has done her work; and property is up 

 to its maximum value. Misrepresentation, by in. 

 terested speculators, will indeed continne,the bub- 

 ble will continue to be blown until it bursts ; but 

 there is a jioint of value, a level, to which all jirop- 

 erty must ultimately come ; beyond which all is 

 artificial and unstable. 



By w.ny of conclusion, let us sum up the whole 

 matter, by drawing a com|)arison between the ex- 

 isting condition of the New England States, and 

 that of the west. 



Here, your winters are of longer duration, and 

 perhaps a little colder ; the north-east winds are 

 frequent and annoying, but it is an ocean breeze, 

 not loaded with pestilential vapor, but with saline 

 particles, which render the uir pure, salubrious 

 and invigorating. 



In the west, the evaporation is from fresh wa- 

 ter lakes, rivers, prairies, swamps, and inuiiense 

 forests, filling the air with a superabundance rf 

 unwholesome vapor, causing disease, and enfee- 

 bling the springs of life. 



Here, again, your 'oil is more difficult of cul- 

 ture and less abundant in products ; but it is just 

 such a soil and such a cliuLate as is calculated to 

 develojie the energies of man, and sustain a vig- 

 orous race. On the other hand a warmer clime, 

 and more spontaneous growth, has an unfavora- 

 ble influence on the human powers. In every 

 quarter of the globe, the sons of the north have 

 been bold, hardy, patient of fatigue, whilst those 

 of the south have been comparatively a feeble, 

 enervated race. 



It was the northern hordes that overturned the 

 Roman empire, and the northern Tartars that con- 

 quered the Chinese. 



Here, your land does not yield so much, but 

 the produce bears a good price, and finds a rea- 

 dy market ; there, the produce is jdentiful but 

 cheap. 



Here, you have an extensive commerce and ac- 

 cess to foreign market, the sea with all its facili- 

 ties, and idiundant sup|ilies, which the watera af- 

 fiird in greater variety of seals and shell, ani|)ly 

 compensate for any deficiency in the vegetable 

 kingdotn. 



Here, you have various manufactures skill 

 and industry, with their concomitant advantages. 



The west are almost entirely dependent on the 

 cast, for these articles, whether foreign or domes- 

 tic. 



Here, the means of education are ample, your 

 moral and religious institutions are of a high or- 

 der, your literary and scientific community second 

 to none in the country, and those arts which refine 



< 



