202 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DKC. 27, 1841 



EXTRACTS FROM Mr HUDSON'S ADDRESS 

 Before the ll'orcesUr Jigricullurnl Society. 

 We have beforn given this address its merited 

 nieed of praise, and a farther perusal of it has in- 

 creased our admiration of its merits. It is so ex- 

 cellent throughout, ihnt we are reluctant to detach 

 one portion from another, but our space will hardly 

 permit of our presentinnr it in our readers entire, 

 and we must therefore content ourselves with cx- 

 Iractincr some of its well-expressed truths and 

 sound opinions : — 



Connection between ^Agriculture and other Interests. 

 " AlthoU};h agriculture is one of the earliest 

 employments, and an essential ingredient in civili- 

 zation, It is by no means an independent callinif. 

 Every human pursuit, like man himsplf, is depen- 

 dent upon its fellow. Agricultiire, manufactures, 

 and commerce, the three great pursuits of man- 

 kind, are equally honorable employments, all condu- 

 cive to the public good, and each essential to 

 the pro.-perity of the other. Commerce could not 

 exist without agriculture and manufactures. Un- 

 less the sails, the cordage, the anchor, the ship it- 

 self, were manufactured, how could the ocean be 

 traversed? Without agriculture, how could the 

 hemp be grown, the ship provisioned ? And what 

 is the cargo of the merchant but the products of 

 the soil, or the fabrics of the workshop? Com- 

 merce is entirely dependent upon agriculture and 

 manufactures. The ship could not be built with- 

 out the mechanic ; the canvass could not float 

 without the assistance of the plow. 



There is also an immediate and inseparable 

 connection between agriculture and manufactures. 

 The mechanic must furnish the tools — must manu- 

 facture the iii.pleuients of husbandry, or the labors 

 of the husbandman will fail. 'Ihe plow must be 

 constructed before the furrow can be turned ; the 

 scythe must be manufactured before the grass of 

 the meadow can be laid low. But what calls for 

 the construction of the plow, the scythe, or the 

 sickle, but the wants of the husbandman ? And 

 what sustains the mechanic while constructing 

 these implements, but the products of the soil ? 

 The mechanic or manufacturer could not subsist 

 without the produce of the farmer ; the farmer 

 must huve the tools, the clothing, the shelter, fur- 

 nished by the manufacturer or mechanic. Agri- 

 culture and manufactures are intimately connected, 

 and whenever by their mutual aid and succor, they 

 rise and flourish, commerce becr)nies necessary for 

 the interchange of their commodities. The man 

 who, from undue attachment to either of these pur- 

 suits, would separate it from the others, that it 

 might stand ' alone in its glory,' would show no 

 more wisdom than he, who, from partiality to one 

 member of the human system, would separate it 

 from the body, by which it is nourished and sus- 

 tained." 



ff'hich should be the most numerous clnss, Jjgricultu- 

 rists or Manu/acinrers \' 

 "But although these great callings are impor- 

 tant to the country, and uiutually beneticial to each 

 other, to be productive of the greatest good there 

 should be a duo proportion between them. Agri- 

 culture may be regarded as the parent calling. 

 Upon the earth, as a nursing mother, the human 

 family must mainly depend for sustenance. The 

 agriculturists, therefore, should be the most nume- 

 rous class. They are the foundation upon which 

 all other laborers must rest. 



It has sometimes been a matter of complaint by j rng inll^^^*^"";]'.)'' and the yield will^ not proba 

 the farmers, that so many of our young men aban- 

 don agriculture, and engage in other employments. 

 It may be truly a matter of regret, so far as the 

 welfare of the young men is concerned, but the in- 

 terests of agriculture are not impaired by this 

 course. The profits of farming must depend main- 

 ly upon the price of produce, and this price will 

 be regulated by the demand. Every one, there- 

 fore, who leaves agriculture for some other employ- 

 ment, by ceasing to be a producer, and becoming 

 a consumer, increases the demand for agricultural 

 products, which tends to enhance the price. How 

 then is the farmer injured ? He sustains no pecu- 

 niary loss whatever. The injury, if any is sus- 

 tained, is done to the calling into which they en- 

 ter ; for a surplus is there created, which, to that They^would so-^n see that the rugged soil of I 

 calling, may prove detrimental." England', under skilful culture, is, when take 



connection with New England comfort, ^cw ] 

 Importance of a Market to the Farmer. 



''The great object with the farmer is, to find a 

 market tor his produce. It is to no purpose that 

 he raises more than he consumes, unless he can 

 dispose of the surplus. And who are his purcha- 



cxceed 1500 of hay to the acre. And ihree-foui; 

 of this land is capable of yielding two tons to 

 acre. Let the farmers reduce the quantity 

 their grass land two-thirds, and they will find tl 

 with skilful cultivatiim, they save one-half of 

 labor, and still obtain their usual quantity of I 

 * * Let the farmers of the county reduce 

 amount of their cultivated lands, take special ( 

 to increase the quantity and quality of their 

 nure, and adopt a wise rotation of crops, and t 

 will soon find that lands which now 'mock t 

 scant manuring,' would soon yield a plentiful 

 vest, and richly repay their toil. Let them ai 

 the best system of husbandry, and this would 

 vent the emigration of our fanners to the VV 



with himself: they have generally enough and to 

 spare. His purchasers must be found aruong the 

 manufacturers and mechanics, the merchants and 

 traders, and those engaged in other callings than 

 agriculture. * * Every thing which increases 

 population, enhances th'i value of the soil, and pro- 

 motes ihe interest of those who cultivate it. The 

 price of land depends materially upon its proximity 

 to a market. Go through the country, and you 

 will see lands of the same intrinsic value, selling 

 for agricultural purposes, at prices ranging from 

 two dollars to two hundred dollars per acre, when 

 the main consideration which aflTects the price is, 

 their situation with reference to a market. Wher- 

 ever or whenever a village springs up from manu- 

 facturing or any other cause, the price of land is 

 increased for miles around. Not only do the great to some other calling. The natural tenden 



connection with Nev 



land institutions, and a New England market,! 

 preferred to the more fruitful prairies of the V 

 where the productiveness of the soil contras 

 fearfully with the domestic comfort of the inl 

 tants, and the worth of their literary and relig 

 institutions. Who, that reflects upon the sub 

 would be willing to exchange the ciimforts 

 New England farm-house, and the refiiiemen 

 New England society, for the privations of a 

 hut in the wilderness? Who would not eix 

 the summer's heiit and winter's cold comnm 

 our climate, rather than the burn and chill oi 

 ague-fever ?" 



False Estimation of Jlgricullure.. 

 " The fir:jt obstacle in the way of agricu! 

 improvement, which I shall mention, is the lo' 

 tiinate which has been put upon this calling 

 has too often been regarded as an employmenl 

 requires nothing but physical power — mere 

 force ; and consequently, if a young man e.^chi 

 any considerable degree of talent, he must b 



staples of agriculture increase in value by the 

 proximity of a market, but a thousand little name- 

 less articles assume a value unlniown before. Gard- 

 ening is introduced, milk is disposed of at great 

 profit, the summer and fall fruit, before nearly use- 

 less, now command a good price, wood is quadru- 

 pled in value, and even the stones arc converted 

 into bread." 



this has been, to dcgr.ido agricultural labor, a 

 impress upon those who had any aspirations 

 distinction, the impolicy of groveling in the 

 as cultivating the soil has sometimes been re 

 ed. The efl'ect of this has been to draw 1, 

 away from agriculture, and to create an impra 

 that the calling was not as respectable as 

 others. Many a young man has been driven 

 agriculture, and brought to ruin by this < 

 And if it were not ungallant, I would sa 



w 



Attempting Ihe Cultivation of too much Land. 



"The farmers generally attempt to cultivate too some of our young women, faultless in every 

 much land. The disadvantages arising from this j else, huve been so far deceived as to prefer i 

 cause, are many and obvious. It is no exaggera- I band employed in other pursuits than agrici 

 lion to say, that the lands cultivated in the county 1 But the reverses which have attended othe 

 are capable, under a high stale of cultivation, of i suits, will, I trust, soon teach them, that th 

 producing twice as much as they now produce, i manent iiouie of the farmer's wife is greatly 

 This applies, we will suppose, not to the pasturing, J preferred to the changing' abode and variab.^ 

 but to the arable land alone. The farmer, then, tune of many other classes of our citizens, 

 in the purchase of his land, might save, say, one- 

 sixth of his original outlay in the reduced quantity 

 of his arable land. The sum thus saved, would 

 enable him, in the first instance, put his land in 

 such a state of cullivation, as would in a few 

 years double his crops per acre. Nor would the 

 annual cost of cultivating an acre of land lu this 

 highly improved state, be materially increased. 

 The cost of plowing, planting and hoeing an acre 

 of ground capable of producing fifty bushels of 

 corn, would be no more than though the land were 

 only capable of producing twentyfive bushels. 

 * * Take the average of all the upland mow- 



Agriculture is no mean employment. It 

 first into which our race entered, and it 

 which can be abandoned. It has comiuandil 

 atlentinn of some of the wisest and best men ; 

 cient and modern times. Cincinnatus, renii 

 in war, was not ashamed to follow the plow I 

 the estimate which posterity has put up(i 

 ivorth is such, that the farmer has tlirov 

 general into the shade. And in our own cc 

 to mention but one example, the Farmer of 

 Vernon was ihe Father of his Country, 

 then. Would disdain a calling pursued by th' 

 and the good — a calling essential to the well 



