344 Percy Wells Bidwell 



issued. An examination of the early membership of these societies 

 shows that they were composed of men in whose lives agriculture 

 was only one of many interests, and often the least important of all. 

 There were in the Massachusetts society men of legal education, who 

 had become prominent in political life, such as Samuel Adams, 

 James Sullivan, then attorney-general of the state and later governor. 

 General Joseph Lincoln, then Collector of the port of Boston, Chris- 

 topher Gore, John Lowell and Jonathan Mason, all lawyers and 

 active in politics and government. Besides these there were mer- 

 chants, such as Stephen Higginson, Charles Vaughan and Azor Ome. 

 We find also representatives of the other two professions, ministers 

 and doctors, who, blessed with an outlook on the affairs of the com- 

 munity beyond their immediate duties, turned their attention to 

 improvements in agriculture.^ The interest of such men as these 

 in agriculture, although no doubt genuine, was nevertheless far 

 different in nature and in intensity from that of the inland farmer 

 who was toiling day in and day out on his 100 acres, endeavoring 

 to make a living for himself and his family. The contrast in point 

 of view which must have existed between the * 'literary "and the prac- 

 tical agriculturists is evident from such a statement as that of Gen- 

 eral Warren, in the American Museum. He gives his reasons for 

 being interested in agriculture in the following words: "Agriculture 

 has long been a favourite object with me. In a philosophic view, 

 it is great and extensive; in a political view, it is important, and 

 perhaps the only firm and stable foundation of greatness. As a 

 profession, it strengthens the mind, without enervating the body. 

 In morals, it tends to increase virtue, without introducing vice. 

 In religion, it naturally inspires piety, devotion, and a dependence 

 on providence, without a tincture of infidelity. It is a rational and 

 agreeable amusement to a man of leisure, and a boundless source 

 of contemplation and activity to the industrious. "^ 



The influence of these societies on the progress of agriculture in 

 this period, on the methods employed by the farmers in rural com- 



' Such were the Rev. Manasseh Cutler and Cotton Tufts, the physician. The 

 Philadelphia society included such famous persons as John Dickinson, the pres- 

 ident of the state, Tench Coxe, merchant and publicist, and Hugh Brackenridge, 

 lawyer and editor. It is interesting to note in this connection that the two most 

 important treatises on agriculture published before 1800 in New England were the 

 work of clergymen, Rev. Jared Eliot, of Killingworth, Connecticut, and Rev. 

 Samuel Deane, of Portland, Maine. See Appendix C. 



2 Op. cit., II. 344. 



