

NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



APR?!^ 19. IS r. 



the same labor would, if expeinled upon the wes^t- 

 erii soi', produce, upon an average, ilonlile the 

 amount of tiiat at tlje east. Thrre has bi;eu, here- 

 tnfoi-e, a counterbdlanring advantage in favnr of 

 the eiislein fai-mer in the greati.'r price of his pro- 

 ducts. But this we believe liocK not now hold 

 good. The increasitu; emitfrnlion to the west, and 

 the too general neglect tliore of sgricu'ture, eau- 

 sps an excess of ))opulaiion ever the products of 

 the earth, while tlie market at the east is making 

 greater dejiiands on account of the emigration 

 from abroad; and this tends vastly to increase the 

 valus of these products, [t is a fact within our 

 immediate know ledge, that t!ia farmers of !\!ichi- 

 gan, even in the interior, have a ready market foi 

 all they ran produce, at their own Hoor<, as the 

 emigrants to that country must be maintained by 

 the produce raised by o^^isrs, until they can clear 

 ;ind bring under cultivation their own lautl. 1 he 

 establisliment of internal iuj|)rovemeuts, by facili- 

 tating the means ofcfL-iimunication, has enhanced 

 the price of western productions. It is known to 

 every farmer of the west, that within a few years 

 corn was sold in the interior of Ohio at about six 

 cents per bushel, and that it is now more than 

 doubled in price. It is hardly to be imagined, 

 iherefore, that vi;ry rapid advan^'es will ^e made 

 in the science of husl)andry while so mtich good 

 land can be procured at so small a price, and 

 where its [iroducts can be obtained with compar- 

 atively liltis toil. iMen here require nature to do 

 what in other countries is effected only by labo- 

 rious art. Wrien, however, the country bi'comes 

 so densely populated as to require econonjy <tt 

 sp.iee, art will cnnto in to supply the deficiences 

 of nature, ami husbandry will be greatly advan- 

 ced. 



Another cause of had husbandry in this coun- 

 Xry, is that spiiit of speculation, the auri sacra 

 fames, which is abroad. All classna, and among 

 them the farmers, are indiu-ed to neglect straight 

 forward imiustry, and to embark iii extraordinary 

 and hazardous enterprize.s, and tlits produces an 

 nnnaiuTal stale of things. There is, doubtless, in 

 the rapid advancement of the Union, a wide field 

 for the mere accmnulation of wealth by specula- 

 tion, but it impedes the .solid prosperity of the 

 country. Although the price T>f agricultural pro- 

 duce is high 'It the west, the farmers of that cotih- 

 try are nnwilliug to engage in -the arduous labor 

 of tilling the soil, when there may be secured 

 such immense advances in the value of property 

 by judicious investments, and accordinglv we flnil 

 them a race of consumers, and not of producers. 

 The exorbitant prices which are now allixed to 

 a great proportion of the western lands bv indi- 

 viduals, outrun the sober calculati ins of comnmn 

 sense, and nnist retrograde. The growth of a 

 country generally follows and not precedes the 

 cultivation of the soil. Imaginary valuations may 

 feed the midnight visions of the greedy specula- 

 tor ; but they will noi ll-ed the body, it is to tlij 

 facts which we have ment oned, conjoined with 

 the scanty harvests of the last year, and perhaps, 

 in some measure, to the accumulation of market- 

 able products by specnlattn-s, that we may allrib- 

 litc the high price of jiroduce at the present time. 

 Let the farmers return to their ploughs, and tliev 

 will not subject themselves to the bitter -iisa'- 

 pointments which must always follow in the path 

 of visionary S;ieculution. Let them reclaim the 

 wilderness and the exhausted fields, and scalter 

 over their broad surface the waving harvests and 



bleating flocks, and their gaiii.x, if less rapid, v\ill 

 be more solid. To this important class of our cit- 

 izens, both at the cast and the west, we would 

 quoie the senlinicnt of the Koinan poet : 



" O fortunatus nimiuni etia si bona norint 

 .^gricolns t m " 



Let them recollect that Washington was a hus- 

 bandman, and n turned to his farm after he had 

 worked out the salvation of hiscountry ; that it is 

 an honorable and virtuon.s employment ; that it 

 was the faruiers of the revolution, who, grasping 

 their muskets from the hotdts of their cottages, 

 were the most im-iortant instruments in accom- 

 plishing our independence, and that they, as a 

 class, have ever been regarded as the bone and 

 muscle of the republic. 



To the neglect of agricidlural industry in this 

 country, and also the amount of foreign emigra- 

 tion which is daily pouring in upon us, niav be 

 attributed the fait, that whf at and other .staples 

 are im[)orted into the United States at the present 

 time from abroail. There may be partial excej)- 

 tions to this neglect of agriculture in som.e of the 

 states, among which we might designate Massa- 

 chusetts, Pennsylvania and New York. The for- 

 mer, as is well known, possesses a cemparativtdy 

 barren soil, but by considerable effort it is bj-ought, 

 probably, into a better stote of crillivation than 

 any otlier section of New England. Good hus- 

 bandry prevails also in son:e portions of the state 

 of New York, j articul.-irly about the Genessee 

 country, one of the most beautiful agricultural re- 

 gions in the Utiited Slates. Perjn.«yltania, al.so, 

 with her immense resomccs of coal and iron is 

 in the main under the influence of as (productive 

 tillage as any other state in the Union, and pos- 

 sesses probably a belter market. Tliis is owing, 

 in a great measure, to the existence of a hard- 

 working German [lopulalion, and the general es- 

 tablishmcit of internal improvements throughout 

 the state, which furnish a ready market for agri- 

 cultural products. Although cjnsidfrahle atten- 

 tion has been paiil to the subject of agriculture at 

 the south, by the institution of societies, and ex- 

 hibilims of demcstic jrodiicls, it is believed that 

 the planters make too large drafts upon the soil, 

 and as they do not expend much lai;or in manur- 

 ing, it becomes soon exhausted by improvident 

 culture. We trust that the farmers of the country 

 will return to the soi!,rmd thai agriculture, which 

 is now so grossly neglected in comparison with 

 other pursuits, will receive that attention which it 

 richly deserves. 



An agrir-ultmal convention has been recently 

 held at Albany, in which certain resolutions were 

 passed in favor of memorializing the legislature of 

 the Slate for the establishment of a school for the 

 teaching of scientific and | ractical agriculture ; 

 lor the appropriation of money by government .-js 

 rewards for useful inventions in husbandry ; and 

 a'so for the introduction of agricultural and horti- 

 (Miitnral books into the common schools, all of 

 which we hope will prevail. 



In order to show that the .American mind has 

 not been inactive upon the theoretic pait of hus- 

 bandry, we shall embody a list which was made 

 in 1833, of the most prominent agricultural re- 

 I orts, volumes ami journals, which have been pub- 

 lished in the United States. '1 he .first vrork ol 

 that class published in this country, was Es.says 

 on Field Husbandiy, by Jared Elliot, Connecti- 

 cut ; issued in ]5oston in 17GU. The iMassachnsetts 



Agricultural Society was iiicorp(Maikd in 1702, 

 .and llieir first work, entitled Laws and Rigu'a- 

 tions of the Massachusetts Agricultnra! Society, 

 with some interesting extracts from ibrcign and 

 flomcstic publications, was issued in 1793. They 

 subsequently jmblished n colleetion of jiajicrs on 

 agriciilture, and finally, a voluminous woik under 

 the title of the J'assachnsi tis Agriri:l;inul Iie| os- 

 itory. 1 he Philadelphia Society for [romotiiig 

 Agriiuliure, was "nslituted in 178ft, and they ha\e 

 published five volumes of memoirs, the ja.st in 



1526. The Pennsylvania Agriciillurai S. ciet/, 

 niuler the auspices of John liare Powell, Esq.,* 

 have published two octavo vohime.s, the first in 

 1821, and cnliili'd Memoirs, and ihe second, Hints 

 to American Husbandmen, which appeared in 



1527. Tlie Society in the state of New Ycrk, for 

 the promotion of agriculture, arts and nianufac- 

 lure, issued — under the ans])ices of certain gen- 

 tlemen, among whom was Chancelhn- Livings- 

 ton — four quarto volumes of Transactions, tie 

 first in 1792, and the second in 1709. The F.oard 

 of Agriculture in the state of New York | idilished 

 three octavo volumes of 'lemoirs, which were 

 printed and distributed at the expense' of ihe state. 

 The first of these volumes appeared in 1S21, and 

 the third in 1824. The Albany Coiiniy Society 

 of New York, have likewise publi.shed several ag- 

 ricultural tracts ; and the Efsex .Agricultural So- 

 ciety liave published ihirteen ectavo pamphlets, 

 the first in 1818, and the last in 1834. This list 

 comprises the most | rominent agricultural reports, 

 not including addresses, v.hich have been given 

 to the public ]M-cvioiis to 1835. We subjoin the 

 titles of the most important agricultural works 

 which have been published in the U. States, in 

 chronological oider. 



Elliot's Essays ; Boston, 1760. The New Eng- 

 land Farmer or Georgical Biciionary, by Samuel 

 Deane, D. D.; 1797. The Experienced Farmer, 

 by Richard Parkinson, Doncasler, Etig.; riiiladel- 

 phia, 1799. The Kural Socrates, or the liistcry 

 of Kliyogg, a celebrated philosophical Swi.ss far- 

 mer ; republished, Hallowell, Maine, IbGO. Es- 

 says and Notes on Husbandi-y and Kural AlTaiis, 

 by J. B. Cordley; 1801. "he Pennsylvania Far- 

 mer, by Job Roberts ; Philadelphia, 181^4. The 

 Anierican Gardener's Calendar, by Bernard Mo 

 Mahon ; Philadelphia, 1S06. Forsyth on Fruit 

 Trees; republished at the same time. A com- 

 plete Treatise on Merino.*, by Mr Tessicr ; 1811. 

 Fivery Man his own Cattle Doctor, liy Fifincis 

 Claler ; Philadeljdiia, 1815. Elements of Agri- 

 cultural Chemistry, by Sir Hunqdney Davy ; re- 

 published in Boston, 1815- The Code of Agri- 

 culture, by Sir John Sinclair; republislnd, Hart- 

 ford, 1818. Ar«tor, a Series of Agrieu'lmal Es- 

 says ; Petersburg, Va., ISCO. 'ihe Farmer'rt A.s- 

 sistant, by John Nichoison ; Lancaster, Penn., 

 1820. Treatise en Agricidlure, by a Practical 

 Farmer; Albany, 1820. Husbandman and House- 

 wife, by Thoiiias G. Fessenden ; Bi Hows Falls, 

 Vt., 1820. The Fanner's Manual, by l''iederiik 

 Butler : Wciheisfield, Conn., 1S20.' Willich'b 

 Ltoii'estic Eticyeloptdia ; republislud, 1821. 'ihe 

 Anierican Orchadist, by James I hacln r, M. D.; 

 l>o.-.t(m, 1822. Letters of Agricola, by John ^'onng, 

 1822. Nature and Reason Harmonized in the 

 Practice of Husbandry, by the late John Lorain ; 



"To the enterprise of this gentleniiin, more than to 

 any i llier indiviiJual in the L'nilci] t^tali:^ nic we in- 

 debted for imprtrvemynls in slock liusbuadry, by tiio 

 unjiortation of llie best Cattle from abroiid. 



