1846. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
379 
gravitation in the clearest manner, without perceiving 
its application to the formation of a tear, or the flow of 
a river, or he may comprehend the law of capillary at¬ 
traction as it exists in a glass tube, without perceiving 
its relation to the ascent of the sap in the minute ves¬ 
sels of a vegetable. 
“Works of the second class fail to be useful because 
they leave out of view the general principles on which 
successful practices are based, and therefore can lead to 
nothing but disappointment when any one of the condi¬ 
tions are omitted on which these practices depend. 
“ But it by no means follows, that because the true 
laws of agricultural science have never yet been fully 
developed, that they are incapable of being understood. 
Thunder and lightning are phenomena which were fa¬ 
miliar to the i world’s grey fathers, 5 as well as to our¬ 
selves, but the innumerable company of gifted intellects 
who during all intermediate times have observed them 
with wonder and awe, were incapable of penetrating 
the mystery which shrouded their production until 
Franklin pierced the veil, nor was their adaptation to 
the rapid transmission of intelligence suspected, until 
Morse pointed out the mode. 
l( The rays of light were as well adapted to painting 
the images of those objects from which they reflected 
at the time when the morning stars first sang together 
as they have been since, but it was reserved for the 
present generation to avail themselves of this curious 
property. 
“ The heavenly host have been the objects of the most 
intense contemplation by the most gifted minds for 
ages, yet no clue to their mysteries, no solution of their 
anomalies was attained till the days of Newton and La¬ 
place. Encouraged by these and other similar exam¬ 
ples, let us hope that there is yet a ‘ good time coming, 5 
when all the dark spots that now obscure the science of 
agriculture shall be succeeded by a glorious light which 
will enable us to predict with certainty the result of 
every process, and finally enable us to attain to the very 
highest pinnacle of agricultural perfection. 55 
PLOWING-MATGH. 
[A plowing-match took place in Montgomery, Orange 
county, on the 28th of October, at which $50, a sum 
which had been contributed for the occasion, was 
awarded in premiums. A correspondent who was pre¬ 
sent at the trial, furnishes us with the following ac¬ 
count :] . 
The day was fine, and the attendance large. The 
competitors numbered 16; the ground was very smooth, 
and in excellent order, and some of the work was most 
admirably done. Capt. Robinson, of Newburgh, was 
here with a highly finished plow of Minor & Horton’s, 
No. 22. His team, (horses,) were well trained to the 
work, and the plowman understood his business. He 
plowed his land, | aere, in 34 minutes, and in a style 
that no connoisseur of plowing eould find fault with. 
From beginning until the last, each and every furrow 
was as straight as a drawn line, and turned handsome¬ 
ly over. Our friend, Capt. R., takes great interest in 
plowing, and offers to make a large bet at considerable 
odds, that he can beat any one in the county,—the 
judges to come from a distance. John Wait held a plow 
that was got up in beautiful style by Minor & Horton, 
(No. 21,) for the occasion. The team was horses, a 
pair of poor, jaded hacks; but the plow was of such 
light draft that it required but little exertion for the 
team, and scarcely an effort for Mr. W. to hold it, so 
level and even did it run. The furrow-slice was not as 
wide as Capt. R.’s, and was cut and turned with the 
utmost neatness and precision—not the least shadow of 
any deviation from a straight line could be perceived. 
There was a plow from the shop of Speer & Wilson, 
Newburgh, held by Edward Wait. This plow, but 
little known, even in this county, made excellent 
work, and by many spectators was thought to be equal 
to any in the field. There were some four or five 
others that made very good work; and all the competi¬ 
tors, I think, plowed their one-fourth acre within the 
hour. 
Everything passed off satisfactorily until the report 
of the judges was read, when much disapprobation was 
shown; not so much by the competitors as by thesneo- 
tators. The judges were selected in the morning, just 
before the plowing began, and are generally good prao- 
tical farmers, and well-meaning men; but their views 
of what constitutes good plowing are sadly at variance 
with what we have been learning through the columns 
of the Cultivator, and other works on agriculture. We 
have been taught that good plowing consists in turning 
a straight furrow, with great exactness of width and 
depth, either flat, or Slightly lapped. But our friends, 
the judges, at the grand match, would have us believe 
this is all wrong; that the right plowing is that which 
leaves the furrow on the edge, or in as rough a state 
as possible. They say that this is the best way “ to 
plow for a crop. 55 Now, if this is so, if the rough, 
broken furrow is the best plowing, we shall have to 
discard fihe so-called improved plows, and return to the 
old-fashioned “hog-plow;” and as to having plowing- 
matches, they would be a great farce; for who wants 
to witness a thing where neither skill nor judgment are 
called into exercise. Samuel Wait, Jr. 
Montgomery , Oct. 29, 1846. 
ADDRESS 
Delivered before the Greene County Agricultural So¬ 
ciety, by Hon. Zadock Pratt, President. 
At the annual meeting of “ The Greene County Agri¬ 
cultural Society,” held at Cairo, it was 
Resolved, “ That the thanks of this Society be pre¬ 
sented to the Honorable Z. Pratt, for his excellent 
and appropriate address, and that the same, be published 
in the County papers, and in the Cultivator and Farmer^ 
Library.” H. D. H. SNYDER, Sec’y. 
Members of the Greene Co. Ag. Association : 
Gentlemen —You have chosen for your president, one 
who does not boast the graces of eloquence, and you 
cannot, and do not expect from him, on this occasion, 
a display of fine words and happy fancies; but rather a 
plain statement of true and practical ideas. You are 
working men, and you have chosen a working man, 
and it is on this account that your choice confers honor 
upon me. It was in Congress, where my strength has 
always been given to the protection and advancement 
of American labor, that I heard of this new evidence of 
your kindness and confidence; and I thank you for it, 
and for thus affording me another opportunity, and a 
more honorable place than the halls of legislation, to 
express my high sense of the dignity of those occupa¬ 
tions, the interests of which, this society is so happily 
designed to promote. I need not say to those who 
know me, that through life I have practiced and en¬ 
couraged industry, and exerted my influence in every 
sphere (according to my ability,) in promoting the 
true welfare of my fellow men. I have acted upon the 
principle, and so have you, that it is not mere physical 
or mental structure that makes the man, in the best 
sense of the word, but the mode of life. It is not to 
have a head-—a heart—an arm—a human body and soul, 
that makes one worthy of so noble a name; but to give 
the wisdom of that head—the strength of that arm the 
combined energy of all the powers to constant and use¬ 
ful industry. The hard working farmers and mechan¬ 
ics of our country are its glory and strength; their la¬ 
bors have produced wealth; their honesty, their patri¬ 
otism, and its faithfulness to the institutions of liberty, 
have given it its standing among nations; and in times 
of danger, their strong arms and firm hearts are its safe¬ 
guard. He is not the lord of the soil who calls so many 
acres his own, yet has no power to use them; but he, 
rather, who plows and sows, and reaps and scatters 
abroad over the country, the products of the glorious 
harvest, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. He 
is not master over earth’s treasures who has the bare 
