THE CULTIVATOR. 
179 
want. Capital no where makes a more sure, and not 
often a more liberal return, in the end, than when judi¬ 
ciously applied to agricultural improvement. It is like 
the seed we commit to the earth. If there is no seed 
there can be no crop. If there is no outlay, there can 
be no return. And when there is not both seed and 
outlay, the product must be small indeed. 
It remains for me, gentlemen, to suggest some of the 
means which present, for giving efficiency to your efforts, 
to improve the agriculture of your State, and, with it, 
the moral and intellectual condition of its population; 
for I consider the culture of the soil and the culture oi 
the mind reciprocally acting upon and benefitting each 
other. The mind must be enlightened before the soil 
can be greatly improved; while the impi ovement of the 
soil will afford the best facilities for improving the mind, 
and the strongest inducements for the formation of mo¬ 
ral habits. 
I have said that the members of this Society can do 
much towards effecting these great objects of improve¬ 
ment ; and they can do so both in their associate and in¬ 
dividual capacities—if they will persevere in their in¬ 
tention to do a public good. And this, after all, to a 
greater extent than is generally imagined, is the best 
way to promote, if not one’s individual gain, at least his 
personal happiness. There is a pleasure in the con¬ 
sciousness of having contributed to the prosperity of 
those around us—of having fulfilled, if only in part, 
this great duty of life: which neither wealth nor dis¬ 
tinction, without it, can ever impart. A man who is 
surrounded by idleness and poverty, and by their usual 
concomitant, vice, be his business what it may, has, to 
say the least, but a bad set of customers, and enjoys but 
few of the pleasures of social intercourse; but, if sur¬ 
rounded by an intelligent, industrious, thriving, agricul¬ 
tural, population, he derives a profit, directly or indi¬ 
rectly, and a pleasure, from them all; and if he has 
been particularly instrumental in producing or maintain¬ 
ing this happy state of society, I don’t know what high¬ 
er pleasure he can expect or desire in his social rela¬ 
tions of life. 
The members of this Society may do a public good 
in either or all of the following ways:— 
1. By the stimuli of personal example —of doing them¬ 
selves what they would commend in others—in the fa 
mily, on the farm, and in society. Mere theory is but 
speculation. In agriculture, it involves expense and 
uncertainty. But theory, confirmed and illustrated by 
practice, if it has merits, is a treasure, which all who 
see can appreciate, and which few who do see, will fail 
to profit by. A good farmer, therefore, is a help, and a 
wholesome stimulus, to all around him. 
2. By the stimuli of competition, to be excited by the 
hope of distinction and reward. Competition in agri¬ 
culture calls into exercise our best powers; which, when 
once successfully put into action, seldom flag, or fail to 
lead to the best results. Improvements are progressive; 
and where we have made one improvement, we have 
learnt an important lesson, viz : that we can improve. 
This fact once impressed upon our minds, both ambition 
and interest impel us forward. Had we not been sti¬ 
mulated by competition, to make the first effort, we 
should never have made a second, ora third, and should 
have believed, as thousands now do, that because we 
were brought up on a farm, there is nothing further for 
us to learn. Revolutions in agricultural improvements, 
as is said in political matters, never go backwards.— 
The great object is to give the first impulse. This the 
hope of distinction and reward are admirably calcula¬ 
ted to effect. 
3. By the diffusion of agricultural knoivledge. There 
is no intelligent farmer, who will fail to profit by the ; was the state of Scotland, with but little appearance 
better practices of his neighbours. Agricultural jour-' amendment, up to 1792.” 
nals extend his neighbourhood, in this respect, over the 
legislative councils to foster and promote, than another, 
it is agriculture. This branch of labor gives employ¬ 
ment to a great majority of your population; it supplies 
the necessaries of life, and is the good source of public 
and private wealth and happiness. But government 
alone, be it ever so minded, can do but little to advance 
agricultural improvement, without the active co-opera¬ 
tion of the people. We must put our own shoulders to 
the wheels before we call upon Hercules for help. And 
it is matter of history, highly creditable to the learned 
professions, as they are denominated, that they have 
always been among the most active and efficient in pro¬ 
moting agricultural improvement, from the circumstance 
perhaps, of their better appreciating its public advan¬ 
tages : and, also, that they go to work without the pre¬ 
judice and conceits, which are apt to hang, like the night¬ 
mare, about those who have been farmer bred, and 
which prevents their going ahead in improvement. The 
founder of the Highland Society, of which I shall speak 
further, was a lawyer, by the name of McDonald. Most 
of the agricultural works which have issued from the 
British press, and which have eminently contributed to 
advance that nation, as well as ourselves, in agricultu¬ 
ral improvement, have been written by clergymen, phy¬ 
sicians, and lawyers, who were practically engaged in 
the business of farming. And in our own country, the 
greatest stimulants to improvement, and some of the 
best practical lessons in husbandry, have been given by 
men of enlarged views, and liberal minds, who have 
been brought up to other pursuits, but who have taken 
up farming, as a source of pleasure, or of profit, at a 
maturer period of life. Enlist, therefore, by all means, 
men of all classes, and particularly those of enterprise, 
wealth and influence, in your laudable undertaking. 
For your encouragement and example, gentlemen, in 
the work you have resolved upon, I beg to direct your 
attention, for a few moments, in conclusion to what I 
have to offer to Scotland, and to her agricultural socie¬ 
ty ; to Scotland as she was, and to Scotland as she is, in 
her agriculture; and to the small beginning of her so¬ 
ciety, to the measures it has pursued, and to the splen¬ 
did and happy results that have crowned its labors. 
And first, to show what Scottish husbandry was, I will 
quote from the Edinburgh Quarterly Agricultural Jour¬ 
nal, the best periodical of the kind, perhaps, now, or 
ever published. 
“ To say what was the state of agriculture 
in 
Scot¬ 
land, at the date of the formation of the Highland So¬ 
ciety,” says this journal, “would, to treat of it minute¬ 
ly, require greater scope than the limits of a periodical 
would admit. * * * But, to take one sweep over hill 
and dale, over corn field and meadow, we may at once 
pronounce the agriculture of Scotland, at that period, to 
have been wretched—execrably bad in all its localities! 
—Hardly any wheat was attempted to be grown ; oats, 
full of thistles, was the standard crops, and this was re¬ 
peated on the greater part of the arable land, while it 
would produce twice the seed thrown into it; turnips, 
as part of the rotation of crops, were unknown, few po¬ 
tatoes were raised, and no grass seeds or clover were 
sown. The whole manure of the farm being put on a 
little bit of the best ground, near the farmstead, where 
they grew some barley of the coarse sort, termed ‘ bere,’ 
wherewith to make bannocks, or small beer, or perad- 
venture, if the farm lay at the foot of the Grampians, 
to brew a portion of ‘Mountain-dew.’ Since the wri¬ 
ter can recollect, a great part of the summer was em¬ 
ployed in the now fertile shire of Fife, in pulling this¬ 
tles out of the oats, and in bringing them home for the 
horses, or mowing the rushes or other aquatic plants, 
that grew on the bogs, around the homestead. Such 
of 
In 1815, the scene had greatly changed. In the low 
country, “ beautiful fields of wheat were to be seen— 
drilled green crops, and clean fallows every where 
abounded,—the bogs had disappeared,—the thistles no 
longer existed. Soon after this the farmer could grow 
Union, and, in truth, over Great Britain also. Every 
important improvement, and successful practice in hus¬ 
bandry, will be found recorded in these journals; and 
although they may contain much speculative matter, 
there is always enough that is useful, sound, and avail- turnips to any extent, and the bare fallow was exploded. 
The Deanston system of draining, and deep ploughing 
were introduced ; ‘ wet lands were made dry, poor weep 
ing clays were converted into turnip soil,’ whole parish¬ 
es were transformed from the unsightly marshes, into 
beautiful and rich wheat-fields; and where the plough 
could scarcely be driven for slush and water, were to be 
seen heavy crops per acre, and heavy weight per bushel " 
Scotch agriculture has since been progressively improv¬ 
ing, until, as I have before stated, its average products 
probably double those of this country. 
Secondly, of the Highland Society, its origin, its ope¬ 
rations, and its present extent, and means of usefulness. 
“ In 1784,” says our authority, “ a few gentlemen, full 
of zeal for their country, and it may be a little love of so¬ 
ciety, formed themselves into a hole and corner club, in 
a coffee house, called the Exchange, situated in the 
court of that name, near the ‘ market cross of Edin¬ 
burgh.’ Here, in the enjoyment of agreeable conversa¬ 
tion, and perhaps a good supper, did those worthies talk 
over plans for the amelioration of the Highlands, and 
from this nucleus arose the now widely extended and 
powerful Highland Society,” whose members now num¬ 
ber twenty-three hundred, and Avhose, premiums, for 
the current year, exceed seventeen thousand dollars. 
“ In the days of its youth and feebleness, the High¬ 
land Society, sent the leaven of turnip husbandry into 
all the glens and straths of the north, by offers of small 
prizes to certain Highland parishes, and the same may 
be said as to the growth of clover and the finer grasses. 
As it advanced in strength, as to numbers and cash, at¬ 
tention was turned to premiums for stock; then came 
l 
able, to at least thrice compensate him for the price of 
his subscription. And those, too, who profit from the \ 
communications of others, will find pleasure in communi¬ 
cating whatever may occur in their own practice which 
is likely to benefit the public, and also in promoting the 
circulation of agricultural journals among their neigh¬ 
bours and friends. 
4. By endeavoring to introduce the study of the princi¬ 
ples of agriculture into our common schools. Youth is 
the season to sow the seeds of useful knowledge—to in¬ 
stil principles which shall govern in maturer years.— 
And where these principles are timely and properly 
taught and inculcated, there is but little doubt they will 
expand into usefulness. Education gives the impress to 
manhood. It makes the professed Christian, Mahome¬ 
tan, or Pagan; it makes lawyers, doctors, or farmers; 
it makes the idler, the vagabond, the libertine, or the 
prudent, moral, industrious citizen. As the twig is bent, 
so will the tree incline. Every effort that is made to 
diffuse agricultural science, will tend to render its pur¬ 
suits more lucrative, more honorable, and desirable, and 
to benefit society in a corresponding degree. We want 
professional schools of agriculture, but, till we have 
them, common schools may be made a tolerable substi¬ 
tute for teaching the elementary principles of the art. 
And lastly, by procuring for agriculture the patronage 
of the legislature. If there is one business more impor¬ 
tant to the prosperity of the state than another, it is 
agriculture. If there is one interest that can be more 
benefitted by legislative patronage than another, or 
whose interests it would seem the bounden duty of the 
offers of reward to men of science to discover better im¬ 
plements and machines, to diminish friction, and conse¬ 
quently draught, such as in the threshing mill and other 
parts of agricultural machinery, Still advancing in the 
scale of intellect and of science, premiums were offered 
for essays to bring to light the facts connected with che¬ 
mistry and natural philosophy; and, under the auspi¬ 
ces of the society, was set up the Quarterly Journal of 
Agriculture, a work which has been the vehicle of con¬ 
veying so much useful information to the agriculturist, 
that, we humbly venture to say, it ought to appear on 
the table and book-shelf of every farmer's parlor. Af¬ 
ter this, the great stock shows were resolved upon, as 
another link between the society and the practical far¬ 
mer, at the same time throwing aside all paltry feeling, 
and making them open to stock upon both sides of the 
Tweed (English as well as Scotch.) Nor has the society 
forgotten the beauty of the country as the premiums 
offered in regard to planting trees, and the such like 
subjects testify ; and to sum up all, it may be said, the 
Highland Society has been a ‘point de appui,’ arallying 
point to which the agriculturist of Scotland, might 
look, and a fostering mother to all who, although strong 
in talent, were too weak in interest, to make it public.” 
May the spirit and wisdom which have animated, and 
guided the Highland Society of Scotland, animate and 
guide this institution; and may your success and use¬ 
fulness be as brilliant, as wide spreading, and substan¬ 
tia], as have been theirs. 
I have thus endeavored, gentlemen, to show the prac¬ 
ticability and importance of improving your agriculture, 
and have suggested some of the means by which this 
society may efficiently co-operate in the great work of 
improvement. The work is a noble one, worthy the phi¬ 
lanthropist and the patriot. Its objects are the good of 
our country, and the happiness of man. And though 
you may not reach the goal of your wishes, your labors 
will not be lost. The seed which you sow will produce 
its tens and its twenty fold, though you may not live to 
gather the harvest. The work of improvement which 
you begun, will progress, and be fraught with blessings 
to your children and your state. And you may be sure 
of a liberal reward for your exertions, at least in the 
conscious pride, which every good man feels, in hav¬ 
ing faithfully performed a high duty to society. 
CORREsSiF - 
The Tariff—Balance of Trade. 
Sing-Sing, September 23, 1839. 
Friend Buel — It appears to me that there are a 
great many vague notions entertained in the world re¬ 
specting the effects of a protecting tariff, as it is called, 
and the balance of trade. A great many specious argu¬ 
ments are made use of, to show how easily we might, 
by legislative enactments, grow rich ; although the way, 
to my mind, has never been very clearly defined. My 
views of the subject are the result of reasoning on ge¬ 
neral principles. I assume, in the first place, that the 
only real increase in the wealth of a nations consists in 
those improvements which go to increase production, or 
which are of permanent utility, such as the improvement 
of the soil in agriculture, the improvement of machinrey 
in mechanics, the construction of canals and rail-roads 
to facilitate the exchange of propertj’-, or the erection of 
buildings of good materials where there has been none 
before. These are the principal means of increasing 
the wealth of a nation, and I think they are most avail¬ 
able where trade is left unfettered. I think all must 
admit that the greatest desideratum is, that we may en- 
joy\the greatest amount of the good things of this world 
for a given amount of labor; but it does not follow that, 
that enjoyment must alone consist in eating, drinking, 
and wearing yearly the amount of a year’s labor. On 
the contrary, it consists in part in the making of such 
improvements as I have mentioned, which is as it were 
enjoymeut put at interest, that it may be increased at 
some future day. Now the question is, under what sys¬ 
tem will we advance fastest in national wealth ? Some 
say let us have a high tariff 1 , and manufacture all that 
we can for ourselves; that will enable us to make our 
exports more valuable than our imports, and the balance 
in our favor will be that much added to our national 
wealth. Well, unless we get the balance in some shape, 
we should be the losers : If we take it in goods, we gain 
nothing, as most people think, for then there would be no 
balance; if we take it in specie, it will not add to our 
real enjoyment so long as we keep it, and not until we 
exchange it with other countries for something we can 
eat, drink, wear, or use in some other way, and that 
leaves us where we begun, Here some one more keen- 
sighted than his fellows may interpose and say, let us 
take the balance in specie, and apply it to the construc¬ 
tion of works of internal improvement, instead of bor¬ 
rowing foreign capital. I answer, if we do, that puts 
the money in circulation, and this nation’s portion of the 
currency of the world is limited by the laws of trade; 
consequently it would flow out as fast as it flowed in: 
That would make our exports and imports of specie 
balance each other, and the result would be precisely 
the same as though we imported no specie and exported 
none; and that which we have supposed to be applied 
to works of internal improvement, had been borrowed 
out of money already in circulation. Therefore the idea 
of getting rich by exporting more than we import, is al¬ 
together preposterous, unless we can get foreigners to 
pay us interest on the balance; but we have more cause 
to borrow than lend. 
All classes are to be fed, clothed and provided for j 
f 
