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ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED DEFORE 
 
 THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 AT THEIR 
 
 ANNUAL EXHIBITION, AT THE RISING SUN TAVERN, 
 October 6, 1848, 
 
 y 
 
 GOUVERNEUR EMERSON, M.D. 
 
 t ■ ■■■ 
 
 ■Q " TOGETHER WITH 
 
 a 
 
 The Reports of Committees. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 JOHN C. CLARK, PRINTER, 60 DOCK STREET. 
 1849. 
 
1 
 
REPORT 
 
 COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 The Philadelphia Society for promoting Agriculture held their Annual 
 Exhibition at the Rising Sun village, on the 5th and 6th in.st. 
 
 The system adopted last year, of making a small charge for entrance 
 to the Exhibition, was pursued with beneficial etfccts on this occasion, the 
 receipts amounting to a sum that will aid the Society in increasing its pre- 
 mium list, and which exhibits the interest felt in the community for the 
 progress of the usefulness of the Society. 
 
 The weather, on both days of the Exhibition, was delightful, and an un- 
 usual number of visiters were on the ground, examining with care and ap- 
 parent satisfaction the large number of cattle of the various favourite breeds, 
 the perfectly formed sheep, and the greatly improved and highly interesting 
 display of hogs. The rich and extensive display of agricultural produce, 
 vegetables and fruits, attracted a large share of attention, and the contribu- 
 tors received as they merited, the highest commendation. The display of 
 agricultural implements added fresh laurels to the judgment and ingenuity 
 of our countrymen. 
 
 The second day of Exhibition attracted an unusual nimiber to the ground 
 to witness the skill of the ploughman, the excellence of the ploughs, and 
 to listen to the admirable address of our distinguished fellow member. Dr. 
 G. Emerson. The attention of the large number of visiters who surround- 
 ed the speaker's stand, was fully compensated by the clear and forcible 
 ideas advanced by the speaker. The Address throughout received, as it 
 merited, the united approbation of all who heard it. The Committee of 
 Arrangement recommend that the thanks of the Society be tendered to Dr. 
 G. Emerson, for his admirable, scientific and practical agricultural Address, 
 delivered before the Society on the 6th inst., and that the Society liave 
 copies published for distribution. 
 
 The members of the Society dined together on each day, and on the 
 second day were honoured by the presence of a number of gentlemen of 
 distinction, friends of agriculture. 
 
The arrangement of the grounds, and the superior accommodations af- 
 forded the Society by the proprietor, Mr. James Hammill, received the en- 
 tire approbation of the Committee of Arrangement. 
 
 The Exhibition closed, after having afforded opportimities of improve- 
 ment to the agriculturalist, and general satisfaction to all. 
 
 A full description of stock, implements of husbandry, &c. will be found 
 in the accompanying reports of the judges. 
 
 SAML. C. FORD, Chairman, 
 AARON CLEMENT, 
 JOHN S. HAINES, 
 ANTHONY T. NEVVBOLD, 
 JOHN LARDNER. 
 Philadelphia, October 20th, 1848. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 The trite saying of" knowledge is power," applies to agriculture 
 as well as to every other human pursuit. The advantages derived 
 from the discovery of new facts by means of whicli the products of 
 the soil may bo obtained at less cost than before, give to those facts 
 all the value and importance due to the invention of new mechanical 
 powers. 
 
 Two of the most essential callings of civilization, namely, agricul- 
 ture and medicine, have existed from time immemorial, with, com- 
 paratively, little aid from the exact sciences. Conducted mainly 
 upon the principles of experience and observation, they have, in 
 some countries at least, attained teas much perfection as these guides 
 to knowledge can carry them. But both pursuits stand uj)on the same 
 platform in relation to the obstacles in their way, having to deal 
 with subjects endowed with the mysterious principle of life, the 
 phenomena of which are veiled in so much obscurity. It is not dif- 
 ficult to assign reasons why agriculture and medicine have remained 
 so far in the rear, whilst other sciences have advanced so far. Those 
 suljjects which appeal most directly to the external senses, and can 
 be most readily grasped by the powers of common observation, will 
 naturally be the tirst brought to perfection. 
 
 The mechanician may well boast of the great things he has achieved 
 on the surface of the globe, and the astronomer proudly point to the 
 starry heavens and to the new worlds he has there discovered and 
 measured and weighed. But great and wonderful as have been the 
 achievements of these, the subjects with which they deal are far less 
 complex and difficult to seize by the mind than the phenomena of 
 animal and vegetable life. To obtain any thing like accurate know- 
 ledge upon these intricate matters, new powers of observation have 
 to be put forth, new agents, new instruments and modes of research 
 discovered. I make these remarks in selfdetence, well knowing 
 the slurs to which we have been exposed from those unacquainted 
 with the difficulties attending the study of the processes carried on 
 in living subjects. 
 
 Gentlemen, I have not come here to fatigue you with disquisitions 
 upon abstract science. I know that on such an occasion as the pre- 
 sent it would be greatly out of place to do so. Indeed, the time 
 allowed us will admit of little more than a mere reference to one or 
 two of the very numerous facts which science has recently sent forth, 
 bearing upon our pursuit. Some of you are perhaps already ac- 
 
6 
 
 quainted with them. If, however, 1 succeed in imparting any new 
 light to those who need it, or impressing old information with new 
 importance, I shall consider the time 1 detain you not lost. My 
 chief object is to prove that modern science has pLiced us in posses- 
 sion of knowledge which has enabled us to comprehend much in re- 
 gard to the nature and requirements of animals and vegetables form- 
 erly inexplicable. And, what is still more to our immediate purj)ose, 
 it has placed us in possession of facts which can be put to profit as 
 so much capital. If the first vievv, thai of gratifying a laudable 
 curiosity, is not sufficient to awaken your attention, I shall be dis- 
 appointed if the last fails to make a proper appeal to your con- 
 sideration. 
 
 It is to chemistry that we are recently indebted for many greatly 
 needed disclosures; for discoveries which have unfolded to us the 
 intimate composition of substances and their relations with each 
 other. Although many chemical processes may have been pre- 
 viously carried on and made subservient to various usefid j)urposes, 
 still chemistry is emj)hatically a new science, createtl within a cen- 
 tury, during the first half of which it was comparatively in a rude 
 state. Even within a very few years the number of new substances 
 it has revealed to us, the array of novel names and symbols it has 
 introduced, are so great that the student of some filteen years ago, 
 who had not kej)t himself well posted up, would be almost as much 
 puzzled to master a page of a new chemical work, as he would one 
 of the incomprehensible productions of alchemy written in the dark 
 ages. JVIodern chemical investigations have not only inade us ac- 
 quainted with the constituents of earth, air and water, in all the 
 forms presented by nature, but its explorations have furnished most 
 remarkable discoveries relative to the composition of the solids and 
 fluids composing animal and vegetable fal)rics. The com])lcteness 
 which characterizes chemical processes, the exactness with which 
 weights and proportions mnnerically expressed are made to test 
 every experiment and show every atom gained or lost in the sub- 
 stances experimented upon, have gone far to banish vague hypo- 
 theses and fortuitous results from the field of inquiry. 
 
 The researches into the nature and composition oi vital products, 
 or materials gathered together under the mysterious influence of the 
 living principle, constitute a separate department called organic 
 chonistri/. The zeal and successful labours of a few almost inspired 
 men, the chief among whom is Dr. Liebig, have, within a very short 
 time, furnished a vast amount of results in this new province of 
 knowledge, so that there scarcely remains a product of organized 
 existence which has not been separated into its primary constituents, 
 and the nature and atTniities of these with other bodies strictly de- 
 termined. By such exact researches into the composition of vegeta- 
 ble sul)stances, soils, manures, atmospheric elements and agencies 
 administering to growth and development, chemistrv has brought 
 agriculture to assume the character of a science. By similar inves- 
 tigations into the composition of the food and egcsta of animals, and 
 the changes these imdergo through processes carried on in living 
 
animal bodies, chemistry lias thrown new light upon physiology, 
 and holds out tlie fairest prospects of elevating medicine to the rank 
 of an exact science. 
 
 It is now known with much precision what plants and animals are 
 composed of, what food they require from the soil for their growth 
 and proper development, what they respire from the atmosphere. 
 With these new and most important accessions to knowledge, the 
 book farmers, a hitherto much derided class, take the field with 
 great odds in their favour, in comj)etition with those whose want of 
 information compels, or whose indisposition inclines them to adhere 
 to old usages. We do not doubt that some who desire to rank as 
 scientiiic tai-mcrs may still contrive to render tlicmselves highly 
 ridiculous. But we feel the fullest assurance that the best instructed 
 and most judicious book farmers will take the lead, as being able to 
 produce the best results of agriculture with the least expenditure. 
 
 For myself, two considerations urge me to keep up as well as I 
 can with the progress of scientific discovery. I consider it a pro- 
 fessional duty to secure all the facts turned up, capable of being made 
 available to the healing art. Having, at the same time, a few pa- 
 ternal acres in the country, it is my interest to lay hold of every 
 new discovery that can be put to profit in the improvement of agri- 
 culture. There would, indeed, seem to be a natural compatibility 
 between the callings of physician and farmer. 
 
 I trust I shall be pardoned for thus bringing to your notice the 
 capabilities of my profession to be of service to the community in 
 more ways than one. The physician is, or ought to be, a man of 
 sound education and extensive scientific knowledge, as such attain- 
 ments not only qualify him to be of most service professionally, but 
 are of incalculable use in enabling him to difluse sound information 
 among the vast numbers with whom he is placed in contact by the 
 nature of his vocation. Tlie country physician is peculiarly the ac- 
 tive missionary of useful knowledge, especially on subjects connected 
 with natural science and husbandry. The extent of valuable informa- 
 tion thus propiigated throughout the land by its thousands of phy- 
 sicians is seldom thougiit of, and too little appreciated. 
 
 Upon the subject of the availability of scientific information to 
 practical husbandry, I wish to prove to you that, in asserting its 
 claims, I am not indulging in mere fanciful conceits. In making my 
 positions good, I shall be compelled, even at the risk of appearing 
 egotistic, to place before you some account of agricultural proceed- 
 ings with which I have been some years engaged. 
 
 The acres to which I have referred, consist of alluvial lands on the 
 Delaware peninsula, too far from the sources of the ordinary bulky 
 manures aflbrded by cities and large towns, to obtain supplies at a 
 reasonable rate. The fields, like most others in the old settled parts 
 of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, have been tilled by successive 
 generations with little or no manure, except small patches here and 
 there from the scanty sujjply of the barn yard. Though highly fer- 
 tile at first, the soil, as a matter of course, became exhausted and un- 
 productive through such a long course of scourging tillage, in which 
 
8 
 
 the largest portion of the crops were either shipped off, or scattered 
 and wasted. Things grew worse, from year to year, until at length 
 the crops hardly compensated for the seed sown, and lahour applied. 
 An examination of the soil showed abundance of black mould, and 
 conveyed a fallacious idea of productiveness. Lime, the universal 
 remedy, was applied at considerable expense, but with so little ad- 
 vantage that it was evident something else was wanting. Whilst 
 considering what this something else shoidd be, the developments of 
 organic cliemistry taught me, among other interesting facts, that 
 ripened grains contained phosphate of lime, an ingredient which it 
 could only derive from the soil. 
 
 It was easy to conceive that the crops of grain sent away during 
 so many years of culture, must have carried off this essential element 
 to an extent sufficient to cause sterility. As the bones of animals 
 are chiefly made up of phosphate of lime, they furnish a ready means 
 of supplying the deficiency, and testing the accuracy of the induc- 
 tion. 1 made the experiment by giving to the soil a small quantity 
 of ground bones, and the good results far exceeded my anticipations. 
 By a moderate outlay of five or six dollars per acre, the soil was re- 
 stored to almost primitive fertility. I was too happy in thus finding 
 that my poor worn-out fields could be enriched without recourse to 
 the ordinary bulky manures, the expenses of obtaining which in suf- 
 ficient quantities put them out of the question. And all this could 
 be achieved with great despatch, moderate outlay and comparatively 
 little trouble. I went on to apply not only ground bones, but pou- 
 drette, and guano, which last abounds in the phosphate of lime com- 
 bined with various other fertilizing ingredients. The neighbours 
 came to see my fields, and were forced to acknowledge the successful 
 results of my applications. They were at first a little timid in fol- 
 lowing my exainj)le, as thirty and forty cents per bushel for ground 
 bones and poudrette, the ortlinary jjrices of oats or corn, seemed a 
 great deal to i)ay for manure, lint when it came to guano, at two 
 and three cents per pound, the timidity was not decreased. Struck, 
 however, by the very favourable results of my experiments, they 
 have been falling in very fast in the use of concentrated fertilizers. 
 They seem to recognise the fact that it matters little how expensive 
 the fertilizer may ajjpear at first sight, provided it re])ays promptly 
 the outlay, leaving the land im.provcd. The extent to which this 
 system may be carried, is only limited by the capital at command. 
 I cannot help here introducing an anecdote, showing the kind of in- 
 ferences drawn by some of the neighbouring farmers in regard to 
 my proceedings. I had been in the practice of making mixtures 
 containing as bases ground bones, poudrette and guano, and scattering 
 portions in the corn hills. An old man who cultivated a little plot 
 adjoining m\^ cornfield, and who had been following the scourging 
 system of tillage for about half a century, was struck by the luxuri- 
 ance and increased yield of the land on my side of the fence. I hap- 
 pened one day in spring to he passing b}' his field, when I observed 
 him distributing some kind of composition to his corn hills very 
 similai' to that I had been applying to mine. " What, John,'* said 
 
I, "you seem to be loUowiiig my plan; don't you know they call 
 me a book farmer, and if your nei,2;hbours see you copying after me 
 they will laugh at you." " Well," said John, in reply, "you may 
 be a book farmer, hut you seem to have luk.^' So, according to 
 honest John's view of my proceedings, I was entitled to rank with 
 those proverbial for thriving through luck. 
 
 When I found that tiie use of ground bones, poudrette and guano 
 produced such immediate benefits, paying usually for the outlay by 
 the increase of the first ci'op, and often leaving a handsome profit 
 over, I concluded that tenants who received half the produce raised 
 ought of right to pay a part of the cost of these concentrated fer- 
 tilizers. They were at little expense in hauling and distributing 
 these, for which labour they were more than repaid by the increase 
 of provender. I knew it to be customary in England for tenants to 
 pay for a part or all of the manure bought to put upon their crops, 
 and I thought if such a custom could be introduced where so many 
 farms were in the hands of tenants, a liberal course on the part of 
 landlords might tend to stop the depreciation of property in large 
 sections of country, by arresting their progress to barrenness and 
 poverty. I was but too well aware of the general indisposition 
 among tenants to incur any expense in outlays for manure. But the 
 results of experiments, tried under their eyes at my own cost, left 
 them no longer to doubt that it would be to their interest to accept 
 my proposition and pay a part of the outlay. They saw that it cost 
 little, if any more, to till rich land than poor land, and that by put- 
 ting their fields in a condition to yield double crops, they made their 
 labour doubly productive, saving half the seed, half the expense of 
 fencing and ditching, besides the gains in provender for cattle and 
 j-efuse for manure. I knew that it required extraordinary intluce- 
 ments, and even indemity in some form, to prevail upon the tenants 
 to unite in my views, especially where the leases ran from year to 
 year. So I promised them that in case they paid half the outlay for 
 manures, and removed from the farm after having had but one crop ofi 
 the manured part, I would return them one half of what they had 
 expended. I went further, and agreed, that should they have re- 
 ceived the benefit of two crops, 1 would still I'epay them one-fourth 
 of the original outlay, but nothing afterwards. With the proofs I 
 ■had placed before their eyes of the great and immediate benefits of 
 the concentrated fertilizers, I found a ready acquiescence in the terms 
 proposed. This system requires but extension, to resuscitate, and as 
 it were, revolutionize the agriculture of a very large extent of coun- 
 try lying on the waters of the Delaware and Chesapeake bays, where 
 the finest alluvial soils have been so long subjected to the scourging 
 process of farming, and worked almost to death, but still remain 
 capable, as I have shown, of being brought to a high state of produc- 
 tiveness by the outlay of a few dollars per acre, in the purchase of 
 concentrated manures, containing the elements of fertility of which 
 they have been robbed by crops sent away. Perhaps some caviller 
 may say, " It is no news' to tell us that ground bones form an excel- 
 lent manure, since they have been extensively used for this purpose 
 
 B 
 
10 
 
 in England, for many years." Should such an observation be made. 
 I would reply that I lay no claim to the discovery of the uses of 
 bone earth as a fertilizer, but am interested in showing the philosophy 
 of its action, and the necessity of its presence in the soil. 
 
 Now, having, I trust, fully demonstrated — by pointing out the 
 advantages derived from only a single fact furnished through chemi- 
 cal investigations — how scientific intelligence applied to agriculture 
 may be tnade lo pay, the true test as every one will admit, I will 
 proceed to show how the lights of modern science may be put to 
 profit in saving rnoney. 
 
 What I have just stated, as the results of actual experience with 
 ground bones, might tempt some of you who live in this vicinity 
 to purchase and apply them to your own grounds. lUit I can save 
 you from disappointment and considerable expense, by informing 
 you before hand, that you will not reap the same advantages from 
 the outlay, that have resulted in other places. It may be satisfactory 
 to have the cause of the failure of ground bones to exert their con- 
 spicuous effects in this locality explained; and this, I think, can be 
 dcme very satisfactorily through a knowledge of facts, developed by 
 scientific researches. These liave made known to us the presence 
 of phosphate of lime, or bone earth, in stable and barn yard manures, 
 with which the fields in the vicinity of Philadelphia have, for years 
 and years, been constantly dressed. The ground, therefore, has 
 never been left without a good supply of the phosphates, and the ap- 
 plication of more, although it may tend to preserve the land in high 
 condition, cannot be exioectcd to show any very striking results. 
 
 There are other substances used with great advantage in some situa- 
 tions, which would not compensate the farmers in this vicinity for the 
 expenses of purchase and ai)|)lioation. Among these, I will merely 
 mention ashes, and the green sand maid of New Jersey and Delaware, 
 both of which are so beneficially used upon the alluvial soils of those 
 and other States. The causes of this failure may be thus explained. 
 The aslies and the green sand contahi potash, one of the substances 
 most gratehil to growing plants. W ith the exception of the alluvial 
 plain, upon whicli most of the city stands, the region about Philadel- 
 phia, on the west side of the Delaware, presents what geologists call 
 the old formations, with rocks consisting of granite, and mica, or isin- 
 glass. Now, the felspar entering into the composition of granite has 
 been analysed, and found to contain a large proportion of potash. 
 The sanie may he said of mica; and the slow decomposition of these 
 minerals keeps the soil supplied with all the potash needed by vege- 
 tation. Hence, the addition of potash from other sources is quite 
 superfluous, and farmers need not throw away good money in the 
 purchase of materials already furnished them in sufficient abundance 
 by nature. 
 
 Every one at all acquainted with British husbandry, from seeing 
 or reading, must I think admit that it yields more to the arable acre 
 than our own. Of this a sufficient proof ap])ears to be furnished, by 
 the high rents English tenants are enabled to pay, namely, from $25 
 to $50 per acre, adtled to which are numerous taxes, poor rates, and 
 
11 
 
 often a part or ali the cost of the manures purchased. Thus the Bri- 
 tish tenant pays more for the use of a farm, than the average price 
 for the fee simple of improved land in our country. Among us, few 
 who purchase farms expect to pay for them by the produce of a 
 single year. But the English farmer must make more money than 
 would do this, in order to pay his annual rent of ^25 or ^50 per 
 acre, buy manures, pay taxes, and support a family. He must then 
 be able to apply capital and labour upon land to much greater advan- 
 tage than the generality of American farmers. It may be said that 
 his good home mai'ket, and the cheapness of labour, give him singu- 
 lar advantages over the American farmer. But the latter, it must be 
 remembered, is at a small expense for his land, and has very little to 
 pay in taxes. The difference in the price of produce does not appear 
 to us sufficient, to explain the reason why the British farmers are 
 able to obtain so much more from their acres than we usually get 
 from ours. We have well authenticated accounts of their raising 50, 
 GO, and 70 bushels of wheat to the acre, and the average over the 
 wiiole kingdom is more than 30 bushels. The potato crop averages 
 between 300 and 400 bushels per acre. In good faith, therefore, we 
 ought not to withhold from them the merit of superior management, 
 in the employment of capital for agricultural purposes. 
 
 The outlays incurred by English farmers in putting in their crops, 
 and defraying other farming expenses, appear to us enormous, and 
 will scarcely be credited, generally, on this side the Atlantic. In 
 I'egard to the capital required to carry on a farm, as a general rule, 
 §25 per arable acre is considered sufficient in the clialk lands of 
 Hampshire. But on some of the rich and highly cultivated soils of 
 Surry, Kent and Essex, '^50 per acre is not too much. Grazing 
 fiirms require less in proportion than arable lands. In Scotland, Pro- 
 fessor Low estimates the capital required, for the first year, on a farm 
 of 500 acres, at about ^17,500, from which §5000 being deducted 
 for produce sold within the year, leaves the net capital of §12,000, 
 or §25 per acre. Among the items of expenditure enumerated, are 
 S2,400 for implements, b 1,400 for seeds, b2,600 for manures, §7,000 
 for live stock, and S2,600 for labour.* 
 
 Tenants arc bound to maintain, and to leave, the land in a high 
 state of productiveness; and in case of neglect to do so, would be 
 liable to a suit for damages. 
 
 To carry out this system, it is customary for a new tenant to pay 
 the one removing, the expenses incurred in putting in his crops, and 
 the purchase of manures applied within a certain time. Regular ap- 
 praisers are ap])ointed for districts, whose duty it is to make a valua- 
 tion, and fix the amount which an incoming is to pay to an outgoing 
 tenant. In an appraisement of the property of a tenant, removing 
 from a farm of 310 acres in the county of Surry, held upon the 
 terms of a lease stipulating that at leaving the landlord or incoming 
 tenant shall pay for the turnips, leys, seeds sown, and crops in or on 
 the ground, ploughings, dressings, half-dressings, fallows, half-fallows, 
 
 * See JohnHou's Plainer s Eiicycloicudia. article Capital. 
 
12 
 
 and preparations of the land for manure, and underwoods, according 
 to their growth, and all other matters and things according to the 
 customs of the county. The gross amount wliich the outgoer was 
 to receive from the incomer, is set down at 38,500 ! Among the 
 numerous items of the appraisement, wc notice the following: — For 
 17 acres in Swedish turnips in the ground, J^900, or more than §50 
 per acre; for 8 acres of wheat, aftci- a clover ley (valued at {S15 per 
 acre), '§200, oi' $25 per acre, in the ground: for 14 acres laid down 
 in mixed grass seeds, and dressed with 240 loads of manure, at 75 
 cents per load, iS410, or nearly ^30 pev acre; 7 acres in potatoes are 
 estimated at 49 tons, and valued at about S600 in the groimd.* 
 
 Such statements show the courage with which English farmers 
 grapple with their difficulties, and contend successfully against the 
 enormous rents and exactions to which they are subjected. They 
 furnish lessons, calculated to stimidate our more timid farmers to 
 greater exertions, and inspire all with confidence in the success of 
 spirited and judicious agricultural operations. 
 
 I have made these comjxu'isons and concessions, with no invidious 
 feelings towards my countrymen, for I know full well their capa- 
 cities to cope with any other people under the sun in useful pursuits, 
 when they have had opportunities of gaining information. 1 could 
 name personal friends whose agricultural efforts have been crowned 
 with marvellous success, and whose farms are the ornaments of 
 neighbourhoods; I have examined with a comparative eye the agri- 
 cultural implements furnished by American ingenuity, and feel a 
 pride in declai'ing my belief in their general superiority in efficacy 
 and cheapness of construction. Our jdoughs, it is true, arc not usu- 
 ally made entirely of iron; but I have seen them do much better 
 work than those that were, and which cost eight times more than our 
 wooden-framed ploughs. Being made of a perishable material atfords 
 to ours tlie rather singular advantage of wearing out soon, so as to 
 give place to the newest improvements, sure to be at hand. 
 
 In this country, wiiere land is comparatively cheap, there would 
 seem to be a nuich g?-eater disposition to add acre to acre, than to 
 make each acre yield double or treble its ordinary produce. 
 
 It is certainly a golden ride for farmers, to till no more land than 
 they have capital to furni well. The general anxiety for large oc- 
 cupations, betrays many into the error of tending a greater fpiantity 
 of ground, than they have the means of managing to advantage. 
 Some engage with the delusive ho])e of acquiring those means by 
 future savings; others are actuated by the vanity of holding more 
 land than their neighbours. The conimon results are deficiency of 
 stock, itnperfect tillage, scanty crops, with all the consequent train 
 of rent in ai'rears, wages ill-paid, and debts unsatisfied, — distress, 
 duns, and {\\vA ruin. 
 
 Gentlemen, as members of this Society, our main object is the 
 promotion, by every means in our power, of the great interests of 
 agricultui'e within our immediate locality. As citizens of a great 
 
 * .Tofinson's Farmer's EiK'vclopa'dia, article .Ippraiscmcnt. 
 
13 
 
 State, possessing almost unlimited physical resources, we may, how- 
 ever, be permitted on an occnsion like tlie ])resent, to glance at the 
 condition of its wide extended population, and see whether any ob- 
 stacles can be discovered, calculated to clieck tiie extension of useful 
 information and its ameliorating influences. 
 
 It cannot be disguised, that among a large portion of the rural 
 population of Pennsylvania, a prejudice exists against education, so 
 that collegiate courses have not only been greatly neglected, but 
 even common schools poorly encouraged. A notion seems to have 
 prevailed, that book-learning was inimical to agricultural pursuits. 
 So, many rich fiu-mers have kept their sons at home, to i'cttd their 
 cattle, make their crops, grovel in tlie bliss of ignorance and the in- 
 dulgence of vulgar intercourse. Certainly, a young man, who by 
 some fortuitous circumstances had obtained the high privileges con- 
 ferred by ample opportunities of instruction, would be ill at ease 
 among the ignorant boors with whom he would be thrown on his 
 return from college. He would find in them no congenial asso- 
 ciates, and might, probably, in the despair of an active mind, de- 
 prived of proper resources and thirsting for excitement, be driven to 
 the tavern to obtain the means of drowning rational thought, in phy- 
 sical indulgence. 
 
 If such was to be the common fate of the sons of our farmers, no 
 wonder that prejudices should exist against education. But this un- 
 happy condition of things could only subsist whilst the instructed 
 were few and far between. Go on educating until the country shall 
 be well stocked with young men of intelligence, and these will cer- 
 tainly fraternize. Few will have recourse to the haunts of intempe- 
 rance and vice, who once become acquainted with the higher plea- 
 sures derived from intellectual sources. They will learn from the 
 teeming press what good is doing elsewhere, and be stimulated to 
 imitation. They will form clubs or other associations for the dilTu- 
 sion of information and mutual improvement, and soon prove the 
 falsehood of the notion, that in mental cultivation there is any thing 
 inimical to the practice of agricultural pursuits. They will demon- 
 strate the direct contrary — namely, that no other employment is 
 more benefitted by tiie lights of intelligence and of sound science 
 than agriculture, and that, in common parlance, science applied to 
 agriculture may be made to pay. I must again observe, that in all 
 this I am not indulging in the freedom of fancy, presenting views of 
 things that might be desired, but which cannot be. Some portions 
 of our country, I am proud to say, furnish abundant examples of the 
 happy blending of intellectual culture with rural pursuits. Yes, 
 north and south, east and west, exhibit neighbourhoods where, at 
 the present day, the scholar and practical farmer are combined to 
 form the most useful of citizens, and noblest of characters. 
 
 The extension of education and scientific intelligence is not only 
 desirable as the means of increasing the efficiency of useful exertions 
 — multiplying comforts and enjoyments, and I may even add, pro- 
 longing life. It has become a matter of absolute necessity. At the 
 present time there is a great struggle going on in the civilized world, 
 
14 
 
 and the most intelligent and active minds in all countries are at 
 work, producing wonderful results upon the affairs of men. The 
 progress of disco ver}" and improvement in the useful arts, is such as 
 to cause all who do not keep up with them to fall immeasurably be- 
 hind. Those who manufacture cheapest, or raise the necessaries of 
 life at the least cost, must come into the markets with superior ad- 
 vantages. P^ven at liome, the increased facilities of transporting to 
 our eastern ports the production of the new and rich soils opened to 
 culture in the west, are bringing against us a fearful competition. 
 We are thus driven to the necessity of finding out means to arrest 
 further exhaustion, and increase the productiveness of our lands; 
 and the aids of science, if not absolutely necessary to effect these ob- 
 jects, will, I believe, help us greatly to conduct agricultural pursuits 
 to the best advantage. 
 
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LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS