-tOl.. XVI!. Nft. !4r- 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



211 



,s not my design to attempt to instruct you on mat- 

 ;ers pertaining to practical agriculture. I am not 

 :oinpeteHt to do this, even if it were my wish. 

 Some three years ago 1 came among you ignorant 

 of tlie details of faraiing. My boyhood was passed 

 in a crowded city, and the most- 1 then knew of 

 Agriculture was in the results which were brought 

 to tlie market place. My early manhood was spent 

 upon the ocean, and while you were familiar with 

 the use of tiie plough, the flail, and the scythe ; 

 and when before you was falling the primeval for- 

 est, and the wilderness was made " to sing" for 

 you, I was ploughing the main, familiar with the 

 duties and toils of the seafaring life. While he 

 among you who could swing most hardily the axe, 

 and could plough the straightest furrow was entitled 

 to the highest honor, I was among those who deemed 

 him the most worthy of repute who could the quick- 

 est pass the weather earing ; and who, when the 

 mighty midnight tempest was on the ship, could 

 keep he steadfast to her course. In short, you are 

 at home, on a farm, while I should be a stranger. 

 This difference in our early e.xperiencc bids me 

 venture no advice on practical farming. 



I come, tlien, to discuss this simple topic, viz ; 

 The Dignity of the Agricultural Occupa- 



On this point I may dwell with some little claim 

 upon your attention ; for to my mind there is no 

 clearer proposition, than that the Farmers of this 

 nation are a class which sustains a position in our 

 social system far higher than any of the other sec- 

 ular occupations. For many reasons tliey may be 

 justly deemed the Glory, tlie Strength, the Excel- 

 lency of Society. 



Let us cursorily notice a few things which go to 

 make up the dignity of which I speak. 



Us Xumerkal Strength, — It is a fair calculation 

 that seven-eighths of the population of civilized 

 countries belong to this class; the other eighth 

 occupying the ranks of commerce, of manufactures, 

 and of the liberal pursuits. It is estimated that 

 in this country five-si.xths of the people are agri- 

 culturists. This shows us that farmers are the 

 great strength of society ; indeed, that they are 

 society itself; holding in their hands the majority 

 of wealth, of physical power, of political and social 

 influence. It is clearly within their option to 

 mould all our institutions, as may please them, to 

 control the ballot box, and make our national and 

 state laws. No one other class of citizens can 

 compare with them in point of numbers. They are 

 tlie viass of the people, the bone and sinew, the 

 great Constituent Element of the body politic. 



The Antiquity of this occupation is another ele- 

 ment of its intrinsic dignity. 



There is a peculiar interest attached to that 

 which has come down to our time from other and 

 distant ages. This is well. We may very pro- 

 perly pay deep respect to that which is ancient. 

 Aged institutions, like aged men, claim our vene- 

 ration. We love the old clock that ticked behind 

 the door of our forefathers, and the moth-cankered 

 Bible into which they looked for the words of eter- 

 nal life. The "old oaken bucket which, hangs in 

 the well," whence the men of other days have 

 quaffed, has a sort of sacredness in our estimation 

 by reason of its age. Oh, yes ; even the venera- 

 ble oaks under which we sat in the spring time_of 

 our days, are looked upon with a feeling approach- 

 ing to awe. And, as I before said, this is well. 

 In the rage for innovation, when the cry is, " who 

 will show us any new thing?" it is no trifling 



mercy that there is in ouv natures an instinctive 

 veneration for things that are ancient. This serves 

 as a bulwark, feeble indeed though it be, against 

 the Vandal warfare which the present seems to 

 wage upon the past. 



And if any occupation has dignity on this ac- 

 count, agriculture is the one. It was instituted in 

 the very "infancy of our earth, by the Divine com- 

 mand. Eden was its home, God its great patron^ 

 The farmer of our day follows the s.ime business 

 that did some of the patriarchs. In every age of 

 the world it hath been followed. Commerce and 

 the arts are younger sisters indeed. The old- 

 est histories extant of the Chinese, Egyptians, 

 Phenicians, indeed of all nations, tell us that this 

 occupation was the chief one of the world. The 

 Egyptians believed, and believed rightly too, that 

 agriculture was of super-human invention, and 

 even worshipped the ox for his services as a co- 

 laborer. 



It is dignified because of its vsefulness to commu- 

 nity. The most of all human sustenance is drawn 

 from the bosom of mother earth. Whatever we 

 eat or wear comes thence. W ere agriculture to 

 cease its operations, by necessary consequence all 

 other occupations must at once cease. Were other 

 occupations to stop, it need not vitally affect that 

 of the husbandman. No doubt it would embarrass 

 him, and render his toil less pleasant, and his re- 

 sults less certain. But still he is measurably inde- 

 pendent of others, while others cannot be indepen- 

 dent of him. It is the great staple of national 

 prosperity, and the political economist fails not to 

 pote, that a nation's wealth is, after all best esti- 

 mated by the actual products which come from her 

 soil. The husbandman carries food to our cities 

 to sustain the millioijs of tratRckers there ; he gives 

 provisions to all engaged in our country's defence, 

 whether on shore or on sea ; the young and the 

 old, the poor and the rich, alike wait upon him for 

 supply of corn and meat. At his hands the busy 

 manufactory receives its cotton, its wool, its grain. 

 In fine, we may look abroad in every direction and 

 perceive the truth of my assertion, that, if agricul- 

 ture cease its work all other occupations must be 

 stopped. 



By common consent the producers of human good, 

 whether for the body or the mind, are the most 

 valuable portions of society. Those who do not 

 actually produce, or add something to the general 

 welfare of the human family, unless incapacitated 

 by Provi'dence, are unworthy an equal rank with 

 the producers. On this point there is no mistake. 

 The brainless goddess. Fashion, whose opinions 

 change oftener than does the wind, may assert that 

 Idlen'ess, if clothed in the fine raiment, is a worthy 

 condition ; but the universal verdict of common 

 sense gives the lie to her position. Men need not 

 actually till the soil, and yet be producers of good 

 to their fellow men. The various secular pursuits 

 advance the general welfare, by reciprocity. But, 

 afler all, the agriculturist is the main wheel of the 

 whole system ; and hence his' essential superiority. 

 (To be continued.) 



Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



Exhibition of Fruits. 



Saturday, Dec. 29, 1838. 

 Mr John Clapp of South Reading, exhibited the 

 Nonsuch and a fine red apple, one of the new 

 seedlings produced by Henry Corse, Esq. of Mont- 

 real. 



From Hon. Peter C. Brooks of Medford, Apples 

 name unknown, beautiful and good. 



Mr John M. Ives of Salem exhibited the follow- 

 ing apples: Wellington,' Michael Henry Pippen, 

 Swaar, and the Carthouse or Gilpin. For the pur- 

 pose of drawing the attention of amateurs to this 

 fruit so celebrated at the south, we make the fol- 

 lowing extract from Mr Coxe's description. 



"JVo. 92, Carthouse or Gilpin. It is highly es- 

 teemed for its excellence as a table apple late in 

 the Spring, it is a most abundant bearer, the fruit 

 is small, the color a deep red, sometimes a little 

 streaked with yellow, the skin of a polished smooth- 

 ness, the form inclines to an oblong, the flesh is 

 very firm, yellow and rich, not fit for eating until 

 midwinter, when it becomes juicy, tender and finely 

 flavored." 



Mr George Ncwhall of Dorchester exhibited the 

 Hnbbardston, and Boston Nonsuch, and two sorts 

 of apples, unnamed ; one of them a, small bright 

 red fruit, with yellow flesh, and of an extraordina- 

 ry rich and agreeable flavor. 



Mr S. Walker of Ro.xbury exhibited Boston 

 Nonsuch apples. 



Mr L. P. Grosvenor exhibited the Spitzemburg, 

 Chandler, Nonsuch, and Winter Queen apples. 



Mr E. M. Richards exhibited the following ap- 

 ples : Moore's Sweeting, Baldwin, Gardener Sweet- 

 ing, Winesap Cox No. 89, Pomme d' Api Cox No. 

 28° and another apple of a yellow color unnamed. 

 Mr Richards also exhibited Princes St Germaine, 

 Easter Beurre, and L'Schasserie Pears ; the L' 

 Echasserie is one of our best winter fruits ; it has 

 always been held in high estimation, and deserves 

 to be so, as it is often confounded with the Am- 

 brette, and in some collections still cultivated by 

 that name. The committee take this opportunity 

 to make the following remarks : The leaf of the 

 L'Echasserie is long, narrow, and the edges are 

 indented, the young shoots are weak, and bent at 

 every bud. The leaf of the Ambritte is smooth 

 at the edges, the shoots are strong, nearly straight 

 and slightly downy. By paying attention to the 

 above, cultivators will soon be able to discriminate 

 between the two trees, either by the winter's wood, 

 or summer foliage. 



For the Committee, 



ROBERT MANNING. 



Largk Ear of Corn. — Mr Charles James, has 

 sent us an ear of yellow or northern corn, mea- 

 suring 14 inches in length, and 7 inches in circum- 

 ference. It has IC rows of grain, which is well 

 formed and sound. He states that many other ears 

 may be found in his field, of equal size.— /riscon- 

 sin Culturist. 



Cabbage Molasses. — A writer in the Genesse 

 Farmer says — " This fall we succeeded in an ex- 

 periment of obtaining molasses from the stumps 

 and hearts of cabbage, in the manner following : 

 Chopped the cabbage fine, and then boiled it soft ; 

 then strained it and boiled the juice nearly a whole 

 day, and obtained good thick molasses, with the 

 exception that it had a little flavor of the cab- 

 bage." ■ , • 



The crception, we are inclined to think, is rather 

 fatal to very extensive repetition of this experiment. 

 Not that we have any aversion to the flavor of a 

 good cabbage ; but we should much prefer molasses 

 witliout that flavor. Everything in its place. Cab- 

 bage with ham and corned beef, and molasses with 

 hasty-pudding, are excellent. 



