28 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



expressed by the Walden-Pondist, when he says, 

 "I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all 

 to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion. I 

 would rather ride on earth in an ox-cart, with a 

 free circulation, than to go to heaven in the fancy 

 car of an excursion train, and breathe a malaria 

 all the way." The only objection to out-door slum- 

 ber is dampness ; but it is easy to protect one's 

 self in wet weather from the unhealthy ground, by 

 boughs or India rubber blankets. — Atlantic 

 Monthly. 



AGRICDXTUBAL ADDSESS. 

 We have before us an address delivered by Lu- 

 ther H. Tucker, Esq., before the Oswego Coun- 

 ty Agricultural Society, New York, in September 

 last. Mr. T. is one of the editors and proprietors 

 of the Country Gentleman and Cultivator, pub- 

 lished at Albany, two of the best agricultural pa- 

 pers which we see. The address is an excellent 

 one, abounding in good thoughts, well expressed. 

 Its leading heads are, — "Low prices necessitate 

 better farming ;" "Are we to anticipate the con- 

 tinuance of low prices ?" "The course of our ag- 

 riculture in the past ;" "Is our farming of a pay- 

 ing or progressive kind ?" "Money-making in 

 any pursuit mainly dependent upon industry and 

 slvill." Under this head he says : 



In speaking of the profits and pleasures of farm- 

 ing, we nmst put it upon the same level as we 

 should an occupation of any other kind. Sup- 

 pose I address my neighbor, the tailor, or the shoe- 

 maker, and ask if tailoring or shoemaking pays, 

 and is an agreeable Avay of life ? Suppose I turn 

 to the merchant or the lawyer, and inquire wheth- 

 er over the counter or before the court, there is 

 money to be made and enjoyment to be won ? 

 In either of these, or in any similar case, it is easy 

 to predict the ansv,'er, when you are questioning 

 a man of industry, of a reasonable degree of econ- 

 omy, ability and skill, who has a taste for the pur- 

 suit in wliich he is engaged. Indeed, with suc- 

 cess, there almost always comes a taste for that 

 which is the source of success, if, as is not impos- 

 sible, it may not have previously existed in a very 

 prominent Avay. But go, on the other hand, to a 

 eliiftless mechanic, a careless, credit-less merchant, 

 an indolent or blundering lawyer, and you Avill be 

 sure to learn that either of these emplyments is 

 an inevitably laborious and losing one, if not also 

 intensely disgusting and disagreeable ! It is the 

 bad Avorkman quarrelling Avith his tools. There 

 are of course exceptions, here, as to other rules. 

 But in farming, as in the other established occu- 

 pations of mankind, Ave are nevertheless obliged 

 to conclude that Avlien it fails to be reasonabl)- re- 

 munerative, the fault must be in the particular in- 

 dividual or cu'cumstanccs, not in the class and 

 pursuit to Avhich they belong. 



The subjects that folloAV are, — "The deteriora- 

 tion of our soil and crops unsupported in fiict — 

 Importance of agricultural statistics ;" "The prob- 

 lem of maintaining the fertility of the soil ;" "An- 

 imal hfe becoming in timi the support of vegeta- 



l-.fc 



-o;irccs of ar.v so'l may be ex- 



hausted, or, by good management, rendered prac- 

 tically illimitable ;" "Hoav nature may co-operate 

 in maintaining and extending these resources ;" 

 "Good farming the surest and cheapest." Under 

 this head, ISh: T. says : 



Good farmuig is the surest farming, as it is also 

 the clieapest farminr/ ; for every additional bush- 

 el of gi-ain or hundred Aveight of hay Avhich is 

 grown upon an acre lessens the cost per bushel or 

 per CAvt. of all the rest — the lal)or being in propor- 

 tion to the surface cultivated, rather than to the 

 crop produced. Said a young fai-mer to me the 

 other day — "I only moAV one-half the number of 

 acres I did four or fiA-e years ago — ^liaving let a 

 part of my grass land for pasturage ; but, by great- 

 er economy of manures, my hay crop is noAV as 

 large as it Avas before, and I keep just as much 

 stock the year round." There are probal)ly simi- 

 lar instances Avithin the knowledge of you all — af- 

 fording am])le illustration of the truth 1 have been 

 endeavoring to enforce — that none of us liave as 

 yet fully tested the capabihties of our farms under 

 a proper system of management. IIoav many of 

 us, for example, in the older settled parts of the 

 coinitry, have in truth better and as yet untouched 

 farms, aAvaiting the ploAVshare and the plant-root, 

 aAvay doAvn underneath the ones aao have been so 

 long and so slialloicly cultivating on the top. 



Some of the other topics discussed are, — "Bad 

 farming at the present day less excusable than 

 ever before ;" "One Avell fed acre more profitable 

 than three poor fed acres ;" "Average crops as es- 

 timated sixty or seventy years ago," and "A pros- 

 perous agriculture the foundation of all national 

 prosperity." 



All these topics are discussed with a clearness 

 Avhich shows that the AATiter has given them much 

 thought and research. The address is an excel- 

 lent one, and cannot fail to help on the good Avork 

 Avherever it is generally read. 



For the Neto England Farmer. 

 THAITKSGIVTWG DAY. 



This day is connected with events of importance, 

 and is of great interest to the farmers Avho are more 

 directly dependent upon the object of its observance 

 than any other class of people. The NeAV England- 

 ers have observed it ever since its fu'st appoint- 

 ment by the "English fathers," as a day of thanks- 

 giAing ; and noAv almost every other State in the 

 Union have joined Avith them to celebrate its an- 

 nual return. 



Since the causes which impelled the Pilgrims to 

 resort to prayer and thanksgiving, on this day, 

 have added so much to the moral and rehgious 

 character of the people of Ncav England, a brief 

 sketch of the events of the day may not be unin- 

 teresting to the readers of the Farmer. 



It Avas in the year of 1621, that the colonists of 

 NcAV England gathered their first harvest ; and, 

 as soon as they had done this, they sent out four 

 huntsmen for fowls, and Avhen they returned, hav- 

 ing been successful, the Pilgrims, "after a special 

 manner," rejoiced together, because they had been 

 blessed Avith a bountiful harvest. That noble In- 



