AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUlJLISHCn BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL. XV. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 22, 1837. 



NO. 33. 



^<Sia2S<SWIg,S'W2&A!La 



AN addrg:ss 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



(Concluded ) 

 Tliere are some indications that tlie old and in- 

 discriminating liostil ty to tlie use of boolis is pas- 

 sin«f away, and that a more favorable disposition 

 to listen to them is taking its place. The general 

 principles of agriculture may certainly be learned 

 from books, and indeed many of them are to be 

 learned only from books or from instruction. — 

 Hardly any individual observation could be suffi- 

 cient to establish them. Slid there are farmers, 

 who even at this day do uot supply themselves 

 with a large amount of reading upon these sub- 

 jects. It will never be fancied that the mere read- 

 ing of books can make a farmer; although one 

 who reads books without any practice, may be as 

 well entitled to be called a farmer in any sense of 

 merit or praise, as one who is commencing culti- 

 vation, but "ever reads upon tlie subject of his la- 

 bors. If it be true that agriculture is the most 

 important of all interests; how does it happen that 

 it can rlerive no aid from the recorded lessons of 

 wisdom and the testimonies of ex|)erience .' It is 

 ea.sy to account for the firejudice which often sliuts 

 it from such aid. The [iniotice of the particular 

 neighborhood is early learneil by imitation, and as 

 niucli observation, as would serve for this pur- 

 pose, has been the whole agricultural education of 

 youth. The prevalent practices just serve for the 

 purposes of life, and it seems irrational to he call- 

 ed to the study of the theory, when one has ad'- 

 vanced beyond that, to a thorough acquaintance 

 with all the practices, in the narrow circle of his 

 information, known to exist. But the practice 

 thus learned may bo neither the easiest, cheapest, 

 or most pKpductive. A few hours' reading might 

 suggest some improvement, that would greatly 

 abridge the labor and increase its profits. Read- 

 ing should not siipjdant labor, and labor need not 

 supplant reading; they should mutually relieve 

 and enlighten each other. Agricultural books 

 should make a |)art of the property, and agricul- 

 tural reading u part of the business of the farmer. 

 It would he easy for him to give his chihlren and 

 apprentices a taste for the knowledge thus to be 

 obtained, and a sense of its importance, by point- 

 ing them occasionally lo the various modes of cul- 

 tivation described in the books, or contrasting them 

 with those practised by himself. By such a union 

 of practice and reading, this pursuit is brought 

 into a close resemblance with those deemed the 

 exclusively intellectual. The farmer in such in- 

 quiries does precisely what is done by the profes- 

 sional man. He ascertains facts, weighs testimo- 

 ny, an:ilyses the opposing statements and reasons, 

 and finally applies in practice the truth elicited 

 to the state of facts presented by his own farm.* 



*In some of the Stales, especially the Western, ag- 

 ricultural books and papers compose a part of the pre- 

 miums offered. 



The practicability of combining theoretical 

 knowledge with a practical, vigorous and success- 

 ful cultivation is not an experiment of doubtful 

 results, nor one which remains to be tested in this 

 Society. Its records furnish examples derived 

 from every town in the county, of jiersons of the 

 highest respectability, of the greatest weight in tlie 

 community, and of the best talents in the highest 

 cultivation, combined with an invigorating devo- 

 tion to the daily labors pf the field. The object 

 to be gained, is to spread the influence of such ex- 

 amples, and to impress on the whole farming com- 

 munity the truth that the same means of elevation 

 are open to every farmer, and that the use of them 

 stands inscribed high on the catalogue of his du- 

 ties. If nothing is to be gained by the study of 

 agriculture, then certainly the writing of books, 

 and the preparation of reports are quite useless ; 

 and their authors not only mi.ipend their own time 

 and labor, but they may be the occasion of a far 

 greater waste in the community. Writing and 

 printing are mere ostcnt.'ition and vanity, if the 

 matter is to end here, and here it is to end, unless 

 what has been published is to be taken u|), con- 

 sidered, reconsidered, and permitted to influence 

 and guide the practical farmei-. To what end was 

 it, that your late lame/^red Presif.'ent, the venera- 

 ble Pickering, gave liiv lost dnys nnr! the ""li!! V!;io- 

 ness of his wisdom to ^'cording for your use the 

 fruits of his long expe ience asd acute observa- 

 tion. His knowledge, while it enduaced all the 

 practical details of husbandry, comprehended also 

 the whole of its philosophy. Whether he wrote 

 upon the culture of Inilian corn, or the more ab- 

 struse theme of the food of plants, he was equally 

 clear, precise and [)ractical. His political labors 

 and honors may be forgotten, when his services 

 to agriculture shall be freshly remembered with 

 increased respect and warmer gratilude. 



In the Address delivered before you at your 

 last anniversary, it is stated to be "a great object 

 of the farmer to obtain the most valuable [irodnce, 

 with the least possible labor, and at the same time 

 to keep his farm in a state of progressive improve- 

 ment." What are the requisites to the accom- 

 plishment of this truly great object.' What pro- 

 fession requires the combination of more skill, 

 knowledge, calciiliition and perseverance ? If he 

 would obtain the most valuable produciions, he 

 must be acquainted with all productions, their 

 modes of culture, and all the improvements made 

 in those modes in ell parts of the world. But this 

 knowledge may only mislead him, unless he is al- 

 so acquainted with all the circumstances and pe- 

 culiarities of soil, climate and situation, in order 

 to understand whether ibe products or modes of 

 culture are adapted to his own farm. How much 

 knowledge, embracing how many subjects ; how 

 much skill and calculation are required in order 

 '•to obtain the largest produce with least possible 

 labor?" And all this not only without exhaust- 

 ing, but on the contrary, increasing the fertility 

 and productiveness of his farm .' 



If a farmer subjects his lands to an unvarying 



routine of crops ; if he ploughs a field merely be- 

 cause it has run out, and be knows no other means 

 of renovation ; if he layi> it down again, merely 

 because It has been ploughed and tilled just the 

 number of seasons that be jdonghs and tills all his 

 lands, without the smallest reference to varieties 

 of soil and situation, will he be likely ^'to obtain the 

 most valuable producis with the least possible la- 

 bor, and to keep his farm in a state of as great 

 progressive improvement," as would be effected 

 by a tjiore various and intelligent course of hus- 

 bandry ? If such a mode requires more labor than 

 another 4bat might be adopted, does he not lose 

 the profit and advantage that might have been de- 

 rived from that excess of labor otherwise bestow- 

 etl .' Labor is a part of the capital of the farmer, 

 and his employment of it will determine the meas- 

 ure of his prosperitj'. It is the object of a|l prac- 

 tical science, and in nil arts, to increase the pro- 

 ducts of this cafiital. Much of the business of the 

 manufacturer consists in giving to labor its utmost 

 possible effect. The wonderful results of labor- 

 saving machinery, whose ojieralion he constantly 

 witnesses,impress this principle of economy strong- 

 ly upon his mind, and to its application to his own 

 business he is always bending his care and inven- 

 tion. It is no less important to the farmer ; and 

 he who bri'igs tc the subicct the most ingenuity, 

 and gives to it the most thought, will be best able 

 to appreciate its advantages, while in the conse- 

 quent ju-osperity he will reap his ample reward. 

 Much to this end may be acc( mplished by the 

 skilful construction and arrangement of farm build- 

 ings and fences ; much by the plan, order and 

 season of labor ; much by tile mode of the per- 

 formance of the work, and much by the judicious 

 selection and adaptation of seeds, implements, ma- 

 nures and animal strength. In short every nmve- 

 ment on the farm, wlx.tlier of permament arrange- 

 ment, or of daily labor, is, in this respect, a mat- 

 ter of gain or loss. Whatever can be accom- 

 plished in this way, towards diminishing the char- 

 ges of production, is so much added to the profits 

 of the business. All such intellectual and me- 

 chanical contrivances which le.sen the aitiount 

 and expense of labor, are as necessary and as much 

 superior in point of public utility to the .«ame ini- 

 |u-ovements in nianufaclures, as the objects of their 

 production are more necessary. 



One of the first results that will spring from the 

 adoption of more scienlific views, will be greater 

 system in the management of farms. Your at- 

 tention was called on a former anniversary to the 

 deficiencies arising from a want of .system.* It 

 has been said that there is no business so made 

 up of minute details as that of the farmer, and it 

 is always mentioned as one of the inevitable dis- 

 ailvantages to which agricu>lture is subjected, that 

 it does not admit of those divisions of labor, which 

 so much facilitate manufactures. 



It is obvious that the greater is the number of 

 circumstances incideiilal to an occupation, llie 



"Address of Hon James H. Duncan, 1830 — p. 10. 



