16 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
spirited exertions of a few distinguished individuals, such as Young, 
Sinclair, Davy, Chaptal, Bakewell, and others of minor note, though 
probably not less efficient; by the application of science to husband¬ 
ry, and the co-operation of societies formed to promote its improve¬ 
ment. Among the leading features of the great practical agricultural 
improvement which has so recently taken place in Britain, Loudon 
places at the head—the introduction of a better system of rotation— 
the drill system of growing turnips, about 1765; the improvement of 
live stock, by Bakewell, about 1770; the use of lime in agriculture, 
and the system of convertible husbandry, which commenced about 1765; 
the improved plough, by Small, about 1790, and the thrashing ma¬ 
chine, by Merkle, about 1795; the system of draining, or tapping 
springs, discovered by Anderson from principle, and by Elkinton, by 
accident, about 1765; the revival of the art of irrigation, by Boswell, 
in 1780; the field culture of the potato about 1750; the introduction 
of the Swedish turnip about 1790, of spring wheat about 1795, and of 
mangold wurzel at a still later period. The British Board of Agricul¬ 
ture, and the Highland Society of Scotland, have effected much to¬ 
wards improvement; and perhaps no country in the world has made 
greater strides, at any period, in bettering the condition of her hus¬ 
bandry, than Scotland has, during the last half century, under the 
fostering auspices of the last named society, and which is dispensing 
its labors of usefulness, with untiring patience and unabating energy. 
Although it is difficult to compare the average crops of different 
countries with any degree of accuracy, I will nevertheless endeavor 
to do it from the imperfect data to which I have had access, so far as 
regards some of the staple products of the soil, premising at the same 
time, that the comparison affords but an imperfect view of the relative 
amount of farm profits, the disparity in the price of labor, and the 
general economy of farm management^ not coming under notice. 
Flanders is a flat, wet, and generally sandy country, illy adapted to 
the wheat crop. Yet the average product of different districts, in this 
grain, according to Radcliff, varies from 20 i to 32 bushels the acre; 
mean average over twenty-six bushels per acre. Low gives the ave¬ 
rage product in Scotland, of wheat twenty-four, barley forty-two, and 
oats 48 bushels the acre. Loudon states the average product in Bri¬ 
tain at 24, 28 and 32 bushels; mean average 26 bushels the acre. In 
1790, Washington, in a letter to Arthur Young, computed the average 
crop in Pennsylvania, then one of our best wheat growing states, as 
follows:—wheat 15 bushels, rye 20, barley 25, oats 30, Indian corn 25, 
potatoes 75. Strickland, in a report made to the British Board of Ag¬ 
riculture, forty years ago, gave the average wheat crop of our state, 
at 12 bushels the acre, and of Dutchess, then as now, our best culti¬ 
vated county, at 16 bushels. An intelligent correspondent of the Bal 
timore Farmer, who dates Philadelphia county, expresses his doubts 
whether the average produce in Pennsylvania, with the exception of 
the potatoe crop, is as great as it was half a century ago. 1 am in¬ 
clined to believe, that in our state there has been a manifest improve¬ 
ment in that period; for although some districts have' retrograded, 
others have advanced with a good deal of celerity. Well managed 
farms may be selected in the old river counties, where improvement 
has made the greatest advances, upon which the average crops have 
been more than doubled during the last few years; where wheat has 
yielded an average crop of 25 to 30 bushels an acre, corn 70 to 80, pota¬ 
toes 300, and other crops in proportion, and where cultivated grasses 
and roots have still more added to the profits of the husbandman. The 
maximum produce of our graip crops may be stated, wheat 40 bush¬ 
els, Indian corn 100, rye 35, oats and barley 60. In. this estimate I 
leave out of view the fertile west, where nature has been profusely 
bountiful of her gifts, and where man seems to think the soil inex¬ 
haustible, and confine my remarks to the valley of the Hudson. These 
facts suffice to show, that while the condition of our husbandry is bad, 
it is susceptible of great improvement. What has been done in one 
district, or on one farm, may be done in others. And if we despair 
of the present generation, to make the desired improvements, let us 
take care at least to qualify our sons to become better managers than 
their fathers. 
From the estimate I have made, of our agricultural products, it 
would seem that they amount to about forty-three millions of dollars 
per annum. Now if this convention can be instrumental in adding 
merely ten per cent to this amount, by inducing a more profitable 
mode of culture, they will be instrumental in adding annually four 
millions, three hundred thousand dollars to the capital of the state, 
independent of the enhanced value of the lands consequent upon their 
improved culture. But if they can succeed in awakening, in our le¬ 
gislators, and in our fellow citizens at large, a spirit of hearty co-ope¬ 
ration in the work of improvement, the value of our agricultural pro¬ 
ducts maybe doubled. “ Agriculture,” says Sully, “ may be regarded as 
the breasts from which the state derives its support and nourishment.” 
The inquiry next presents itself, how are these desired ends to be 
brought about? We can make good farmers as we make good officers 
for our navy and army: Teach the pupil the science as well as the 
art; instruct the head as well as the hands, and subject him to system 
and discipline. Give us an Agricultural West-Point to begin with, 
where may be concentrated and taught, all that is useful in theory and 
excellent in practice. “ The education of the head and hands must al¬ 
ways go together, or the health, strength and efficiency of the physi¬ 
cal and mental powers of man can never be duly developed and main¬ 
tained.” Raise the standard of instruction in our common schools, 
the nurseries of statesmen as well as farmers. Infuse into the juve¬ 
nile studies of your boys, the elementary principles of physical sci¬ 
ence ; of those fixed laws of nature, which regulate and control matter, 
organic and inorganic, a knowledge of which is as beneficial to agri¬ 
culture as it is to the art of war, or the healing art. Nay, there is 
probably not a business in life which can derive higher advantages 
from some of the sciences than agriculture. “It is not the arbitrary 
laws of man that improve the condition of man; for if they did, there 
has been enough of them, such as they are, to have made him perfect 
long ago. No—they will not do; we want the development of the laws 
of nature, in agriculture, manufactures, commerce, education, know¬ 
ledge,” to improve his condition, his habits and his morals. Excite 
emulation, encourage industry and recompense useful talent and en¬ 
terprise, by pecuniary and honorary rewards. With these teachings 
and these encouragements, the work of agricultural improvement 
will be accelerated; intellectual and moral improvement will re¬ 
ceive a new impetus ; science and art will consort as twin sisters, as 
legitimately designed; industry will become more honorable and be 
more honored; agriculture will assume a higher walk and character; and, 
to borrow Sully’s simile, her paps will teem with nutriment, that shall 
fill every mouth with plenty, and every heart with joy. These things 
will lead to as benign a result here, as they have everywhere that they 
have been put in practice. They are as certain as cause and effect. 
“ Does any one think,” to quote a late writer, “ that the world is tra¬ 
velled over, so that nothing remains to be explored ? So far from it, 
the spirit of observation, when under the direction of science, labors 
with tenfold more success, and unfolds, even in the most beaten paths, 
a thousand resources of which man never dreamed. Look, for exam¬ 
ple, at the progress of horticulture. How many would have laughed 
at the idea of forming societies in reference to fruit trees, of which all 
the kinds were supposed to be familiarly known ? And yet who does 
not know, that science is creating new varieties, by following out the 
suggestions of nature? There can be no doubt, that science will be 
continually drawing out new resources from the vegetable world. 
Fruits that are now thought worthless, will be multiplied, like the 
crab apple, into rich and various kinds; roots, like the potato and 
mandioca, which were poisonous in their natural state, will be disarm¬ 
ed of their venom, and tamed, for the service of mankind.” “ The fact 
is, that every man, woman and child, has a direct interest in these 
studies. Everyman who owns a beast; every woman who lives 
where moths corrupt a garment; every child who rambles in his holi¬ 
days, and returns burning with poison from the hedge, has a direct 
and pressing interest in studies of this description.” 
On the old continent, it has ever been the fortune of the tillers of the 
soil, though constituting the mass of population, to occupy a subordi¬ 
nate and menial station in society. Though their privileges have been 
nominal, their burdens have been onerous; they have been literally 
the tax paying class. We profess to have thrown off the shackles 
from our yeomanry, and to hail them, particularly when we want 
their votes, as the enlightened sovereigns of the land ; and sovereigns 
they truly are, and must continue to be, while our country remains 
free. But are they treated as such? Are they educated as such? 
We have established and endowed schools for the special instruction 
of the minor classes—but have we established any for the special be¬ 
nefit of the major class—the working class—the farmer and mechanic; 
We spend millions to protect our commerce; and we pay other millions 
in the form of custom-house duties—for it is the consumer who ulti¬ 
mately pays—upon the foreign commodities we consume, to encour¬ 
age and sustain our manufacturing establishments. This is as it 
should be. But what direct aid do we give to our agriculture, the bu¬ 
siness that freights our commerce, and feeds our manufacturers ? We 
have no discriminating duty which protects this branch of our labor, 
nor do we ask for any. But we do ask for a more equal participation 
in the blessings of public education, and for legislative patronage, to 
enable us to develop the natural resources of our soil. 
There is another point, I think, in which justice is withheld from the 
agriculturist—I mean in the imposition of our taxes. The balance of 
our mercantile and professional, and I believe manufacturing capital, 
consists in personal estate. The law allows so much of this to be exempt 
from assessment and tax as is equal to their debts, which are too often 
enough to cover their personal estate. The property of the farmer con¬ 
sists principally of his farm—his personal effects being comparatively 
trifling, or of that description which the law exempts ; and though he 
owes to the extent of his whole farm, the assessor is not allowed to 
abate a cent of its value, in consequence, upon the tax roll. The ine- 
