186 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DECEMBER 19, 1S3S. 



13, the more obstinately is he lt^de^%Jihis own a man's improving in the business to whicli he has sort of universal agricultural society, which c 

 notions and ways — the more ready to sColT.oi and been brought up, and his succeeding in a new one, ' ■ ■ - . » .. ,-^ 



oppose everytliing tiiat is new. Self-conceit and 

 prejudice, tlie greatest foes to improvement, are the 

 legitimate olfspring of ignorance. And in propor- 

 tion to the degree of ignorance, in a community, 

 will be the hostility to improvement, and the de- 

 rision, and even persecution, at which all attempts 



of whicli lie knows little or nothing. In the one 

 case he has a capital in his experience ; in the 

 other, he enters into competition, without this cap- 

 ital, with those who are far his seniors in skill and 

 in practice. A farmer may improve in hisoW busi- 

 ness, at much less risk, and with less trouble, than 



at innovation and reform will be mot. The spirit j he can lean> a new one. lie mistakes equally his 

 of improvement is thus cowed, and even smothered, interests and his ha])piness, tliereforc, who quits 



And if occasionally, a bold genius struggles into 

 r.fe, and exhibits his inventive ))owers, he hazards 

 his peace — sometimes even his life. When Har- 

 grave, less than a century ago, attempted to intro- 

 duce the spinning-jenny, which he liad invented, 

 into the cotton manufacture, he was obliged to fly 

 from Lancashire in England, where he lived, at the 

 risk^of liis life. The first saw-mill ever erected in 

 England was destroyed by a mob, because they 

 thouglit it would take bread from the families of 

 the sawyers." Fortunately in our day and country, 

 acts of violence towards innovators \ipon old modes 

 of farming are not to be appreliended. We can 

 only complain of a listless indifterence to improve- 

 ment, and of a conceited ignorance, which rejects 

 tlie useful, because it is new. 



If our neighbor discovers on liis farm a valuable 

 mineral, and works it to great profit — we commend 

 him for his good 'frtune. If the like mineral 

 abounds on our own farms, and we can vork it to 

 equal advantage, what course, as prudent men, 

 ought we to pursue ? Should we not deem the 

 man highly reprehensible, who neglected such an 

 opportunity of adding to his wealth, by adopting 

 the e.xample of his fortunate neighbor ? Now what 

 are our farms but mines of wealth, if rightly im- 

 proved ? They are certainly so to. many cultiva- 

 tors ; and if we will follow tiieir example in work- 

 ing the mine, and in husbanding the wealth which 

 it yields, our fanus will be sucli-to us. If we lack 

 the knowledge which precedes improvement, let us 

 seek for it, by observation, by study, and a mutual 

 interchange of opinions and information, with our 

 brother farmers in associations like the one I am 

 addressing. We shall see and hear, at these meet- 

 ings, much that is new, — mucli that is instructing 

 and useful, and much to stimulate us to now exer- 

 tions in our business. 



Again — if a man embarks in a speculating bus- 

 iness, and prospers in it, how ready are his neigh- 

 bors to become his rivals and competitors ? Good 

 farming is a speculation — with almost a certainty 

 of gain — without the probability of loss. In ag- 

 riculture, besides, competition excites no unkind 

 feelings, as it is apt to do in other employments, or 

 should not, for the improvements of every compet- 

 itor may prove beneficial to all. What one makes 

 does not lessen his neighbors' profits ; but on the 

 contrary, has a tendency to better the condition of 

 all around him. There is no monopoly in good 

 farming. 



The propensity which has too much prevailed of 

 late years, to quit farming for a more lucrative, a 

 more genteel, or a less laborious employment, has 

 been a great obstacle to agricultural improvement, 

 and has tended nmcli to lower tlie respectability of 

 our yeomanry in the public estimation. How many 

 farmers have we seen, who were doing well upon 

 tlieir farms, allured by a weak ambition, into some 

 untried business, in which they liad everything to 

 learn — how many such, I say, have we seen bank- 

 rupted in fortune, and not unfrequently in reputa- 

 tion. There is a vast difference in the chance of 



lis farm, or neglects to improve it, upon the untried 

 experiment of doing better elsewhere. There is 

 no employment, which promises a greater portion 

 of liealth and independence, the main sources of 

 our enjoyment, than that of agriculture ; while the 

 return it makes, to skill and industry, is as bounti- 

 ful, probably, as is useful to ourselves, our families, 

 or our country. 



The first step to improvement, is to acquire bet- 

 ter knowledge in our business ; — the second, to ap- 

 ply this knowledge to the management of our 

 farms. He that- is conscious he fan improve, and 

 resolves that he will improve, will most surely suc- 

 ceed — and tiie means of improving will readily 

 present themselves to his mind. Agricultural jour- 

 nals will aftbrd him a ready and cheap means of 

 instruction. They chronicle and bring to him, 

 periodically, at trifling expense, the improvements 

 that are continually being made in the business by 

 which he lives, and expects to acquire wealth for 

 himself and his cliildrcn. They convey to him all 

 the discoveries in the science, and improvements 

 in the art of agriculture, which are made in Europe 

 or America, and that are calculated to improve him 

 in his business, and advance his condition in life. 

 They explain to him the principles upon which the 

 new system of husbandry is more productive, more 

 certain, and more profitable than the old system ; 

 and they demonstrate llie correctness of these 

 principles by the successful results they give in 

 practice. They explain to him the operation of 

 manures — as essential to the growth and perfection 

 of his crops, as hay, grain and pasture are to the 

 growth and productiveness of his cattle — and en- 

 lighten him in tlie means of augmenting, and of 

 applying them in the most economical manner. 

 They bring to his knowledge every improvement 

 and invention in the labor saving implements of 

 the farm. They instruct him in the principles and 

 most approved modes of draining — and of render- 

 ing salubrious and productive, those portions of his 

 farm which have hitherto, perhaps been a prolific 

 source of disease and death to his family, and 

 neighborhood — a highly useful branch of modern 

 improvement in husbandry, which we have yet to 

 learn. They demonstrate to him, in principle, and 

 by numerous illustrations in practice, the utility of 

 alternating crops, and instruct him in the economy 

 and management of root culture. They treat of 

 the comparative value of different breeds of farm 

 stock, and furnish the best examples of profitable 

 management. They teach useful lessons in garden- 

 ing and orcharding, and designate the fruits, roots 

 and garden productions most useful to the family, 

 and most profitable for market. They abound in 

 instructions in household economy, and show, tliat 

 under judicious management, the garden and the 

 farm may be made to produce most of the necessa- 

 ries, and many of the elegancies and luxuries of 

 life. They are in fact a sort of agricultural muse- 

 um, in which all that is new — all that is useful in 

 farming — may be found, and applied to the individ- 

 ual benefit of the reader. TliQy are, in effect, a 



lects into a focus, and from tlience diffuses ov 

 the land, a knowledge of all that is useful in t 

 improvement of the soil. But independent of thei 

 and other advantages I might particularize, agric 

 tural journals are worth thrice their cost to t 

 children of the family, in inducing in them a tai 

 for useful knowledge, and a desire to improve th 

 minds, their manners and their morals. The gc 

 seed, sown in the spring time of life, will prodt 

 its fifty and its hundred fold, in the summer 

 manhood. 



Another and very important means of impro- 

 ment is agricultural societies or associatio 

 Although these have been of long standing 

 Europe, and have contributed largely to agricul 

 nd improvement there, more new ones have b( 

 formed in the United States, in the last five or 

 years, than ever existed with us before. T) 

 afford a strong indication that the important bi 

 ness of husbandry is commanding, as it ought, 

 particular attention of the American people : i 

 that the benefits resulting from these associati 

 have become palpable and important. Agriculti 

 societies tend to bring under the eye, or to the 

 derstanding, of each member, and in a great deg 

 to the public at large, the best household and f; 

 products, and the best agricultural practices, 

 the coujitry or district in which they are establisl 

 and thus enable each individual to appropriati 

 his own use, the experience and the improvem( 

 of his neighbors. The example of every g 

 farmer produces a beneficial influence upon th 

 around him ; who seeing his approved modes 

 management, and the advantages resulting f 

 them, will not fail ultimately to adopt them. He 

 the more good farmers there are, the greater 

 bo the ratio of general improvement, and co! 

 quently of public benefit — for it is the earrii 

 and ptoducts of agricultural labor, that mainly i 

 tributes to the prosperity of the other classes 

 society, and to augment the aggregation of 

 national wealth. When the liarvest is short, ei 

 department of business feels the electric sh 

 When it is abundant, a new and happy impuls 

 given to every sort of business. Tliese consi 

 ations show, that it is the interest alike of all 

 patronize and encourage every effort that is n 

 to increase the products of tlie soil. One of 

 oldest societies in our country is that in Berks) 

 in Massachusetts. I have occasionally atter 

 their exhibitions, traversed the county, and ma; 

 its improvements in husbandry, during the 

 twenty years ; and I feel a perfect convictioi 

 my mind, that the county has been bene 

 tweny dollars for every dollar expended in pn 

 urns, in a pecuniary ])oint of view. But it is 

 tlio rapid improvement of the soil alone which 

 resulted from the establishment of her agricull 

 society — the improvements of the mind have 

 pace with, or rather preceded, the improvemen 

 her husbandry. -That county has probably the 

 schools in the country ; and the general intellig- 

 of her population ranks high. 



Among other benefits likely to result from 

 establishment of agricultural societies, JJr Ar 

 son, in a late address, before the society, at 1 

 ville, Ky, enumerates the following. 



" They will elevate the character of tlie fan^ 

 'and agricultural class of society. They wil n 

 crease their general intelligence, their aggrciH 

 wealth, and give them, os they deserve to ha , ! 

 control over the morals and politics of society 



