ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 New York State Colleges 
 
 OF 
 
 Agriculture and Home Economics 
 
 Cornell University 
 
S 555.B45''"'"^" ""'""^'ty Library 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 92400331 61 91 
 
THE AFFTJAL EAIB 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 SELITERED BEFOBE THE 
 
 liMsdM C0. I^grkltal S^mlg, 
 
 AT LANSINGBURGH, 
 
 September 17 th, 185T. 
 
 BY K S.' S/BEMAN. 
 
 TROY, N. Y.: 
 
 R. T. WILSON, PEINTBE, 236 BITER STREET. 
 1857. 
 
^6 5' 
 B¥5 
 
 347448 
 
The following Resolution was unanimously passed at the Ankhal Faik of 
 the Kensselaer County Agricultural Society, held in Lansingburgh : 
 
 " Resolved, That the thanks of this Society he presented to the Rev. N. S. S. 
 Beman, D. D., for the very able, appropriate, and interesting Addkess. just 
 delivered to this Society, and that the Piesident be requested to appoint a 
 Committee to solicit the same for publication." 
 
 In conformity with the above resolution, Majoe-Qehkral John E. Wool, 
 John H. Willaed, Esq., and Gesekal J. J. Viele were appointed said Com- 
 mittee by the President. 
 
 REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 Troy, 7t!i November, 1857. 
 Rev. Dr. Beman, 
 My Dear Sir, 
 I have the honor to enclose herewith, a communication from Georse .Vail, 
 Esa., President of the Agricultural Association of Kensselaer County, and 
 agreeably to its requirements and assent of the members of the Committee 
 associated with me, earnestly to request for publication, your able, eloquent 
 and instructive address, delivered at the late Annual Fair and Cattle Show 
 held at Lansingburgh. 
 
 With an earnest hope, in behalf of the Committee, that you will comply 
 with their wishes, 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Very respectfully your obed't serv't, 
 JOHN E. WOOL, 
 Chairman of Cora. 
 
 REPLY. 
 
 Troy, Nov. IGth, 1857. 
 
 Major-General Johk E. Wool, 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 Your communication, in behalf of the Committee of the Rensselaer County 
 Agricultural Society, has been received, and, in reply, I would say, the Ad- 
 dress was prepared and delivered at the request of that Society, and I cheer- 
 fully consign it to the disposal of their Committee. 
 
 Permit me to say, that the same Address was read, at a subsequent date, 
 before the Rutland County Agricultural Society, Vt., and a similar request 
 has been made for its publication ; and I am informed by the Secretary, that 
 the Gentlemen of that Association would be glad to supply their members, 
 by taking part of your edition. 
 
 With sentiments of sincere respect for the Committee and their Chairman, 
 and with active co-operation with the Society, 
 
 I am yours truly, 
 
 N. S. S. BEMAN. 
 
fj^- UNION ^N 
 
 
 * SEMINAEE, 
 
 JUL 1 1924 
 
ADDEESS. 
 
 A STUDIED encomium on Agriculture, in. our day and in 
 our country, might well be deemed a work of supereroga- 
 tion, and, consequently, would be uncalled for, and out of 
 place. The common expression, " Our mother Earth," while 
 it is beautifully metaphorical, is, at the same time, highly* 
 suggestive, and contains more truth than poetry, — for she 
 is not only the source of our physical being, but is the 
 living fountain which supplies the streams of a perpetu- 
 ated corporeal existence. Creatures, constituted as we are, 
 could no more subsist without the products of the earth, 
 than they could without a supply of air and water, or ex- 
 hibit the activities of life without a material basis to stand 
 upon, and extension or space, for the exhibition of mechan- 
 ical forces. In our present organization, or mode of exist- 
 ence, the earth was made for man, and man for the earth. 
 
 In the early and ruder stages of society, — indeed before 
 society has matured into any thing higher and more refined 
 than that which marks the progress of the wandering clan, 
 men subsist on the spontaneous productions of the earth, 
 the untamed animals that roam upon its surface, and the 
 living multitudes that people the streams. This is the savage 
 life. Its supplies are precarious, — its comforts are few. 
 The cultivation of the soil marks a distinct age in the pro- 
 gress of man. It graduates the successive stages of civili- 
 zation. It is imperfect at first, but it is an era in the his- 
 tory of improvement. The chase and the fishing rod are 
 superseded by the axe and the plow, — and the former are 
 perpetuated only as~ a pastime or amusement, while the lat- 
 ter are relied upon for the substantial supplies of life. Man 
 
has now a home. It is not, as it once was, the dense forest, 
 the broad prairie, or the mountain fastness, but the rural 
 cottage or the substantial farm-house, — and a scene of cul- 
 tivated beauty and abundance, as by magic, springs into 
 life, arid smiles around him. Agriculture and civilization 
 are not only contemporaneous in their origin, but they 
 travel on, side by side, and with equal footsteps, in all their 
 future progress. There is no better test of civilization, in 
 any country, than the degree of attention bestowed upon 
 the cultivation of the soil. I intend to include culture of 
 every kind, — the useful, the ornamental, the picturesque: 
 that which strengthens the sinews of a nation not only, but 
 that also which taxes thought, and improves and gratifies 
 the taste. No country was ever covered with rich harvest 
 fields and luxuriant meadows, and the hill-sides and sum- 
 mits dotted thick with flocks and herds, and its habitations 
 surrounded by verdant lawns, interspersed and skirted 
 with ornamental trees, its gardens alive and brilliant with 
 opening flowers, and its orchards bending with various and 
 luscious fruits — where the genius of an enlightened civili- 
 zation did not, at the same time, breathe its inspirations 
 ,upon the scene. The earth furnishes no Paradise now with- 
 out human qulture. The head must contrive, and the hand 
 execute ; and, then, not only " the wilderness shall become 
 a fruitful field," but " the desert shall rejoice, and blossom 
 as the rose." The farm and the garden wiU wear the im- 
 press of intelligence and taste, and industry yield its imme- 
 diate and rich reward. " Man shall not labor in vain, nor 
 spend his strength for nought." 
 
 It may be thought by some, that too high an agency is 
 here attributed to the cultivation of the soil, when I call it 
 the great civilizer of man. Farming is associated with toil 
 and hard service, and horticulture merely with the bouquet 
 and the kitchen, — the eye and the appetite : — and what are 
 these in their influence upon the entire character of our 
 world? Commerce and Manufactures, — the ship and the 
 loom, should not be robbed of their glory. True. The 
 former equalizes the products of the earth, by rendering 
 those of each clime indigenous in every other, and, at the 
 same time, it binds nations together ; and the latter fur- 
 nishes every thing useful and ornamental for our persons 
 and habitations, abridges labor, makes the world merry 
 with the din of active life, and throws over society a new 
 and finished drapery, inimitable in its texture, and beau- 
 teous in its colors. No friend of man, or of progress, can 
 undervalue commerce and manufactures. But their highest 
 
glory is, that they are the twin daughters of agriculture, 
 and they are both dependent on their mother for existence 
 and support. Without her bounty and fostering care, not 
 a Sail would whiten the ocean, nor an anvil Would ring 
 with the hammer, nor a factory re-echo the music of the 
 shuttle, nor a waterfall or steam-engine lend its powers for 
 the wealth and glory of man. These streams flow only aS 
 the fountain is fiill. 
 
 If the culture of the soil were to cease, and the earth td 
 withhold its supplies, the pulse of industry would stand 
 still, — our busy marts would be blotted out, — our cities 
 would no more rear their princely habitations, or point 
 their spires toward heaven, or be set, as they now are, like 
 beauteous gems oh the bosom of the ocean. Man would 
 relapse into barbarism, and his highest aspirations would 
 terminate in the exploits of the chase, and the achieve- 
 ments of war. Human history might be written in one 
 laconic sentence : Existence spent in hmtting men and other 
 wild beasts. 
 
 If the positions I have now taken be correct, — if I have 
 assigned to agriculture its appropriate place in the great 
 circle of human activities,- — if it is the foundation-stone 
 which supports the wealth and beauty and power of the 
 whole fabric, then we may well felicitate one another, on 
 our present convocation. The occasion, though social and 
 joyous, embodies most substantial interests, and to give a 
 new impulse to these, we are present at this Annual Fair. 
 Accustomed to speak from a Text, I shall select mine to- 
 day from the page presented to my eye, — it is " The .Agri- 
 cultural Fair." I shall trace its influence upon those inte- 
 rests which it is designed to promote, and draw soDie prac- 
 tical lessons from the discussio'a, which may not be without 
 their future use. 
 
 "THE ANNUAL PAIR:" 
 
 Its influence upon agricultural pursuits, including all 
 you embrace in your annual exhibitions, — the products of 
 the farm and the garden, the raising of stock, articles 
 of doinestic manufacture, and useful inventions for the 
 abridgement of labor, and the promotion of social com- 
 fort, — aU these come within the circumference and scope 
 of my inquiry. What influence, then, have these yearly 
 gatherings, and the exhibitions of farm-products and of 
 stock, — of fruits and flowers, — and of other articles asso- 
 
ciated with the occasion, upon their production, and espe- 
 cially upon their improvement in quantity or quality ? 
 
 Assemblages, like the present, make their appeal to one 
 of the strongest principles of our nature, — I mean the 
 social principle. Enlist the popular mind; stir up and 
 electrify the masses, and you can accomplish almost any 
 thing. And this is especially true in a country like ours, 
 where prince and people are one because they meet and 
 blend in the same person. We govern ourselves, — ^that is 
 when we are governed at all. Make any interest popular, 
 let it gain a lodgement in the heart of the people, and it 
 can hardly fail of success. And in public assemblies, a 
 sympathy may be created which rarely visits us in soli- 
 tude. Politicians know this, — and hence it is, more confi- 
 dence is reposed in one mass meeting, than in ten printing 
 presses. This is our mass meeting ; and here the social of 
 our nature may develop itself in the kindest and most effi- 
 cient forms — for we are all on one side. We stand upon a 
 common platform. We here meet no rough antagonisms, 
 as in politics ; we have no enemies to confront and encoun- 
 ter, except ignorance and prejudice — for these alone stand 
 in the way of our success. The zeal and enthusiasm which 
 may be inspired by this meeting, may become efficient ele- 
 ments of future results. 
 
 But besides the ordinary excitements of a large social 
 meeting, there are other agencies at work here in favor of 
 our one great object. The products of labor and skill and 
 handiwork, which are here exhibited, cannot fail of ex- 
 citing a healthful competition. The premiums which are 
 offered and awarded, must secure the same end. They are 
 intended to operate, and they must operate, as a stimulus 
 to thought and study and effort, and to make practical and 
 efficient farmers. And they must do this in every case 
 where mind is not beyond the reach of ordinary motive. 
 Thought sharpens thought, and one successful experiment 
 induces others of the same character, and the results care- 
 fully recorded, form a common stock to which all may 
 have access for information. Such are the Annual Reports 
 of State and County Agricultural Societies, — such the Re- 
 ports of the U. S. Patent Office, — and such many of the 
 published Addresses delivered on such occasions as this. I 
 shall not refer to this one as a specimen — much less as a 
 model. 
 
 But in such publications as I have named, and more for- 
 mal and elaborate treatises, on agriculture and kindred pur- 
 suits, we have accumulated stores of practical knowledge 
 
which are, in various ways,, brought before the mind fit our 
 Annual Fairs— sometimes by a mere reference, and, some- 
 times more in detail — ;and information is diffused,, which is 
 needed by all. An intelligent people must feel its power. 
 This power has been felt. It is felt to-day. It will be felt 
 more and more. ^E believe in^progress. An4 why not pro- 
 gress in agriculture, as in every thing else ? All great ad- 
 vances, in our world, have been made, for the most part, 
 by steady, and almost imperceptible, stages, — but there is 
 one other signal fact not to be overlooked in this process : 
 thei;e are times when the spirit of an enterprise, whatever 
 it may be, is revived, and the enterprise itself feels the 
 new and living impulse. It is so in religion. The genius 
 of Luther awoke an unwonted train of religious thought, 
 and its pulsation was felt through the great artery of con- 
 tinental and insular Europe. That pulsation is felt still in 
 the American mind. It is so in learning. This younger 
 sister was born at the dawn of the Reformation — or, per- 
 haps, I should say, was born anew, and she joined her 
 heavenly sister, and they have walked, hand in hand, ever 
 since, among the nations. It is so in freedom. The thun- 
 ders that rocked Bunker Hill, have undying echoes. It is 
 so in Commerce. The spirit that projected and executed 
 the enterprise of giving a new continent to the civilized 
 world, has lived in its ocean-home ever since. The intelli- 
 gence and taste of modern times have given an existence 
 and vitality to manufactures, which are filling the world 
 with all that is magnificent and useful. And so it should 
 be also in Agkicultuee. We need a revival in this depart- 
 nient of human industry ,'^-in this high profession of active 
 lite. The best excogitations of mind are to be united with 
 the most efS.cient executions of the hand. 
 
 Much has already been effected for agriculture and kin- 
 dred interests, by that spirit which has been awakened, in 
 out country, during the last few years. Every observing 
 eye must have marked the change. This county has expe- 
 rienced a renovation. And many of the improvements 
 have forced their way against the most dogged conserva- 
 tism. Prejudice has kept still long enough to be instruct- 
 ed ; and many men have learned that their grandfathers, 
 though they may have been very good old Puritans, or 
 very good old Dutchmen, did not know every thing, even 
 about /armiMg--^and that wisdom, with her predestined 
 life of immortal progress, did not die with them. I am 
 glad it did not. And my kind regard for posterity, leads 
 me to cherish the aspiration, that it may not die with us. 
 
10 
 
 Its career has no prescribed limits. This is the law of God, 
 ordained for mind — iand man. 
 
 If we were to institute a more minute inquiry respecting 
 the niiiure of those changes of which I have spoken, time 
 and information might both fail me, in any effort I could 
 make to set them fully before you. And yet I must at- 
 tempt a mere sketch, however hasty and imperfect. A sin- 
 gle glance of thfe eye will tell us that every thing pertain- 
 ing to the agricultural interests of this county has greatly 
 improved within a few years past. A mere traveler pass- 
 ing through its' bounds, twenty years ago, and again to- 
 day, wotdd hardly recognize many of its localities ; and 
 most of its cheering renovations have been effected since 
 this Society has been installed in the affections of our citi- 
 zens. It would be claiming too much to assert, that all the 
 revelations of a happy character which have taken place, 
 were effected by this Society and its yearly exhibitions. . It 
 is enough for me to say, that here has been established a 
 great central influence, — here has been seated the main- 
 spring of power. Much might have been done without 
 any concerted action ; but to affirm that the same amount 
 of good could have been achieved by individual and spon- 
 taneous movements, as by associated and consolidated 
 effort, is to maintain that man, single-handed, is a phalanx, 
 and a scattered few, warring upon their own hooks, are 
 quite as efficient as an embodied army. Union is strength ; 
 united action is successful action. And this is true, hot 
 only of one thing and a few things, but almost of every 
 thing. 
 
 But I have spoken of changes for the better, which may 
 be seen by the dimest eye, — of the improved beauty and 
 increased abundance which smile around us almost every- 
 where. And do you ask for specifications 1 I may reply, 
 in a single word, that barns and other out-buildings are 
 rendered more commodious, — farm-houses are better adapt- 
 ed to their uses, — private residences are more imposing 
 and magnificent, — ^lands are more thoroughly cultivated, 
 and harvests are more abundant. Fertilizers are now tased 
 with some knowledge of their nature, and with a wise 
 regard to the_ demands of the soil to which they are ap- 
 plied. Attention, too, has been turned to a judicious rota- 
 tion of crops,— a great practical doctrine which is taught by 
 nature itself. Go into the dense forest, far from the open 
 field of cultivation, fell the trees, and clear the land, and 
 then leave it to a new spontaneous growth, — and it will 
 differ widely from the first. ThiB I have traced by ihany 
 
11 
 
 cjareful Qbeervfttion^. , T|ie Southern States are fjivQrabl^ 
 for testing this fact. Clear awfiy the long-lea!f pine, and 
 it will always he suoceseded hy th^ short leaf, though there 
 may not be a tree of that variety within fifty miles of the 
 spot. Sweep this away, and it is succeeded by the scrub 
 oak and the black jack, and these, in their turn, by another 
 and still different growth ; and the original native prodiiQ- 
 tion will not re-appear till after the lapse of several years. 
 This is the doctrine of rotation taught by the spontaneous 
 working of nature. 
 
 Lands become prematurely old and exh3,usted by a dis- 
 regard of this principle. Many a farmer niight find his 
 prototype in the old man in New Hampshire, mentioned 
 by some Yankee traveler. He was engaged in sowing rye 
 on a sort of worn-out, antediluvian, piece of ground, which 
 was, at this time, receiving into its stony bosom, perhaps, 
 for the fiftieth autumn, the seed for the same kind of crop, 
 without any rotation; and the traveler said, "My good 
 daddy, how much do you sow on that field V He replied, 
 "Mout a bushel and a half." " And how much do you har- 
 vest?" "About the same." This was traditionary iaxuning. 
 No hook farming here! And I may add, this is farming 
 with a vengeance. And this skill had probably descended, 
 as an heir-loom, from father to son, from a period nearly 
 as remote as the landing of the Mayflower. 
 
 But there is no one thing in which the influence of Agri- 
 cultural Societies and their Annual Fairs has been more 
 pow;eirfully felt for good, than in the improvement of Stock, 
 This is becoming a great interest in our country; and 
 farmers begin to feel it. All kinds of domestic animals 
 have of late excited new and increa,sed attention. The 
 remunerative prices of butchers' meat, butter, cheese, and 
 wool, must necessarily attract the notice of those whese 
 business it is to produce and vend these articles. The size 
 and quality of the animal, its habits of feeding, and its 
 final •product in the market, are matters of obvious interest 
 to all. And what better occasion could be furnishpd of 
 giving birth or strength to this interest, than the Annual 
 Fair Ground, covered and beautified with fine Stock? Man 
 is gifted^ by his Maker, with an eye to discriminate "be- 
 tween the precious and the vile.!' Every one admires a 
 IBrellTfarnied, symmetrical, and finely developed _ animal. 
 The elegance of form, and grace of motion almost instinct- 
 ively fix -our jaibtenition :^the fleet horse, the strong ox, and 
 the fine-temperod and docile cow, are our admia^ij^ Th^ 
 is f o lalniosi; evBryw]iier,e, but it is espejei%ffy.*h6 Anglo- 
 
12 
 
 Saxon taste; It becomes a passion with men who ate de- 
 voted to the raising and training of superior stock ; and it 
 is a taste or passion easily diffused among a people. And 
 the Annual Cattle-Show affords a favorable opportunity 
 for exhibitiiig stock, and of making a strong impression m 
 favor of good cattle. The comparative excellencies and 
 defects of different breeds, may here be seen; and their 
 merits thoroughly discussed and canvassed. The same may 
 be said of all domestic animals, which contribute to the 
 wealth and comfort of man. Horses, oxen, cows, sheep, 
 swine — have all greatly improved; in the county, within 
 the last ten or twenty years; and the Annual Fair has con- 
 tributed no ' stinted influence in securing this result. No 
 part of this whole exhibition, — not even the Floeal Hall, 
 furnished by woman's finer taste, and adjusted and deco- 
 rated by her chaste hand, attracts more attention than the 
 stalls, and pens, and other stations of live stock. Flowers 
 and fruits are attractive, but with all their fascinations, 
 they occupy, in the arrangements of God, a position infe- 
 rior to that assigned to creatures endowed with life. The 
 former germinate and grow, — ^the latter exercise the high 
 functions of vitality and locomotion. And not a few — the 
 majestic horse, for instance, evinces powers of sagacity 
 bordering upon reason. I have very little respect for any 
 man, let his occupation or profession be what it may, who 
 is not inspired with pure delight, in viewing the form, pro- 
 portions, and graceful movements of a gplendid animal. 
 Such creatures of God, made still more perfect and beau- 
 tiful by the affection and care of man, should give true 
 pleasure to eyery farmer. It is a happy task to tend good 
 stock. And yet I am sorry to say, that this enthusiasm 
 does not warm the bosoms of all who are devoted to rural 
 an'd agricultural pursuits. Many a farmer seems to esti- 
 mate his stock by numbers, ^rath^r than by beauty, propor- 
 tion and weight. Such an' one will tell you that an ox is 
 an ox, and a cow is a cow, and a pig is a pig,— and so it is ; 
 and he might add with equal truth and gravity,-^— and a goat 
 is a goat. 
 
 But g,fter all the progress that has been made, the inte- 
 rests which are set forth and represented at this annual 
 meeting, have not been duly appreciated by the farming 
 cotnmunity. While much has been done, it serves only to 
 show us how much more remains to be done. Agriculture 
 and all its collateral interests, are still in their infancy 
 among lis. We cannot compare yet with many of the older 
 countries of Europe. It might not be expedient, or even 
 
13 
 
 practicable , for us to attempt a close imitation of their 
 modes of culture in all respects. There are specific differ- 
 ences in many things . which would sternly forbid such a 
 measure. The high price of labor here renders it impera- 
 tive for us to cultivate, or rather run over, more land than 
 they do. But there should be a gradual approximation to 
 their method. And there wiU be. Higher culture should 
 be aimed at, — and the powers of productiveness which lie 
 dormant in our soil, should be more fully taxed. I cannot, 
 however, pursue this theme farther here. 
 
 But the superior attention which is bestowed on stock of 
 all kinds, and especially in England, is worthy of all praise, 
 and of universal imitation. It makes an American's eye 
 glisten, and his spirits joyous, to go out in the morning of 
 any market day into old Smithfieldi where the bloody Mary 
 used to burn heretics, and see the vast congregation of cat- 
 tle and sheep and other animals, well fatted for the market. 
 They are the living symbols of industry and prosperity. 
 Nothing On this continent can equal these pictures of Eng- 
 lish tact, and taste, and wealth in farming. 
 
 Many radical reformations are still called for among our 
 people. As I have already said, they have been auspi- 
 ciously begun. These should be carried out, and made per- 
 fect. Farmers must honor their profession, and then it will 
 be honored by others, — by all men. They should study the 
 science, as well as the art, of farming, — for it is a specific 
 science, as well as a practical art. Many read too little, 
 and especially in relation to their own business ; and yet 
 their opportunities are not scanty. Agricultural Papers of 
 a high character abound in our country, and the compara- 
 tive leisure of the winter season, and especially the long, 
 cheerful winter evenings, afford abundant opportunities for 
 mental culture, and particularly on this subject. They 
 should read the best Books on farming, and kindred mat- 
 ters. What can man know, on any important subject, with- 
 out reading 1 Take away books, and the lawyer would be 
 a pettifogger, the doctor a quack, and the preacher a 
 ranter J and without such auxiliaries, the farmer would 
 unite all these in one — and be a pettifogging, quacking, 
 ranting farmer. 
 
 Agriculture will ever be the great interest of our vast 
 Republic. A large proportion of our citizens are devoted 
 to this one employment. And shall they rush hap-hazard, 
 and unprepared into this responsible business ? Men should 
 be educated for their calling ; and farmers should not be 
 deemed an exception to the rule. Every common school 
 
14 
 
 should have an agricultural class tp which the elements of 
 knowledge, on this subject, should be careifuUy imparted. 
 Here the process should begin. A great model agricultu- 
 ral farm, supported by the State, in my humble opinion, is 
 a great legislative humbug.* Every farm should be a 
 model farm, and every tiller of it, should be a professor 
 qualified to teach the art and science of working it. In 
 connection with this a few rudimental Class Books should 
 be prepared, and approved by the authority of the State, 
 and their study in the common school, should be made im- 
 perative. Lessons on the great principles of h^isbandry in 
 general, once learned, would never be forgotten. Ta.ught 
 to the child, they become interwoven with the warp and 
 woof of his being, and will last as long as he lasts. 
 
 The farm and the garden are intimately associated, an4 
 the culinary department with the floral and the landscape. 
 If we would clothe the country with the most attractive 
 robes — a vesture of richest dies — some attention must be 
 devoted to other productions than those which fill our 
 barns, and grannaries, and cellars. Farming, in every oldl 
 and wealthy country, will unite, to some extent, knowledge 
 and taste ; and their joint contributions will invest it with 
 beauty, and load it with wealth. This happy union ren- 
 ders England one of the most charming countries, to the 
 eye of a traveler, in the world. While teeming harvests 
 adorn the fields, and tell us of solid wealth, some whole 
 counties seem to spread around us, in all the picturesque 
 beauty of one entended and interminable garden. This is 
 true of Kent and the Isle of Wight. 
 
 But one seems to whisper, ' this is mere Book farming.' 
 And are we to understand that every thing is to be de- 
 spised which is learned from books 1 What is the world 
 without books 1 The knowledge which is embodied in a 
 written or printed form, is much more definite and reliable 
 than that which depends on the vagueness and uncertain- 
 ties of tradition. And why, I would ask, is not this objec- 
 tion urged against every kind of knowledge 1 We might 
 just as well call any good man, a mere book christian, be- 
 cause he has learned his religion from the Bible. Such an 
 objection would much better become a Roman Catholic 
 than a Prptestant. If we are to repudiate all science and 
 knowledge derived from books, and depend on the resources 
 of oral tradition, our world must become stereotyped, — or 
 rather fossilized, ajid progress is out of the question. Some 
 
 * The speafcer alone holds hinwelf respcmsibjp for , these sentiments. 
 
IB 
 
 men seem to dread fji-ogress ; and this feeling lies at the 
 basis of all that is said against placing agricnltufe and 
 associated breinchee of business, On a common level with 
 all human ilhprdvements. Man is progressive. His ac^ 
 quifements are progressive. Hife developments are pro- 
 gressive. And so are the changes and improvements of 
 that vrorld on which his talents, acquirements, and' ener- 
 gies, are expended. To oppose all this, is to war upon the 
 laws of nature, and is as unwise as it is futile. Things 
 will move on, whethfer W6 do or not. This statu quo-^ov 
 Stand-still policy, reminds me of a quiet old gentleman I 
 once read of, or heard of, or dreataed of — I will not now 
 Say which — who was so conservative, and SO much dread&d 
 progress, that he never drove up a stfeCp hill without first 
 Carefully adjusting the breebhing of his harness for feat 
 his wagon would run over his horse. 
 
 But let us glance our thoughts again et this objection 
 a^a,inst what is called Book farming. We have some spe- 
 cimens for the illustration of this matter, before us to-day. 
 And if these are the fruits, I am compelled to think well 
 of the system. Take a deliberate survey of all the products 
 of industry and taste and ingenuity — some of th&se ani- 
 mate and some inanimate — densely crowded and skilfully- 
 arranged within this enclosure, and label them all " book- 
 farming," and think you that this would create a prejudice 
 against this.kind of culture 1 I have no such apprehension, 
 I cannot look upon the profession, and variety, and wealth, 
 and elegance, and utility, and taste which solicit attentibn 
 on every hand, without feeling an instinctive veneration 
 for that volume which has wrought such wonders. These 
 spfecimens would make me a disciple of the system, if I had 
 not been converted long ago. I should be disposed to say 
 of such a volume as a, certain old lady said of the Diction- 
 ary which she had borrowed, for a hasty perusal, of one of 
 her neighbors, " There is a great deal of pretty reading in that 
 Book." 
 
 Having stated very imperfectly some of the beneficial 
 influences of the Agricultural Fair and the Cattle-Show, — 
 their re-productive power ilpon every interest with which 
 they are connected, it falls within the legitimate scope of 
 toy purpose to point out some abuses which may occur, — 
 some incidental evils which should be guarded against, that 
 the end proposed may be effectually secured. A good thing 
 perverted, becomes something worse than a common nui- 
 sance. It is a craft that sails under false colors, and is all 
 the more dangerous from the flag it bears. It is a positive 
 
16 
 
 evil wearing l^he sj^mbol of a public blessing. Many are de- 
 ceived by it, because its bright robes conceal its ugliness. 
 
 This Fair, after all I have said in favor of its healthful 
 tendencies,— its stimulating and prod^uctive influence upon 
 the interests of the farmer and the great community around 
 us, may become comparatively useless, if not positively 
 hurtful. It should not degenerate into a mere pastime. 
 True, there is enough of novelty, of originality, of excite- 
 ment, to fill agreeably a vacant hour ; but graver matters 
 demand our notice here. Every thing foreign to our ob- 
 ject should be rendered quite subordinate, if not be entirely 
 excluded. This Society, I am happy to say, has taken 
 praise-worthy measures to protect its own interests from 
 encroachment. You, gentlemen, were the first to organize 
 under the Act of the Legislature for the encouragement of 
 Agriculture, and have been the first to make permanent 
 enclosures, and to erect commodious buildings for your ex- 
 hibitions. Many possible evils are thus excluded. If they 
 occur, the'y must be perpetrated by outsiders. A good po- 
 lice should be stationed in the purlieus, that the peace may 
 not be disturbed, and young men corrupted and swindled, 
 and your Society be held responsible, at least, for a portion 
 of the mischief. 
 
 But there is one exercise, or exhibition, sometimes con- 
 nected with these Annual Fairs, which I name with great 
 diffidence. It is not chargeable on this Society, — at least, 
 not this year, — if it were, I might not have the moral 
 courage to allude to it at. all. Or if I were a young man, 
 I should probably hold my peace. But as circumstances 
 are, I may avail myself of the plea used by the Apostle 
 when writing to Philemon, — " being such an one as Paul 
 the aged," I shall venture to give my opinion. I refer to 
 " Ladies' Prize Riding," as a constituent part, or an ap- 
 pendage, of an Agricultural Fair and Cattle-Show. It may 
 be a very pleasant amusement, — but amusement is not the 
 object for which we have come together. It may afford a 
 favorable opportunity for setting off the fine proportions 
 of a splendid horse, and the graces and flexibility of his 
 moverhents, and to exhibit the beauty and agility of an ele- 
 gant lady, and to demonstrate, before the public, her horse- 
 manship, — or horse-t6"omaw-ship. But I have been greatly 
 puzzled to ascertain to what department of agricultural 
 pursuits it properly belongs. It might be deemed discour- 
 teous to call it a catth'^show. It can hardly be considered 
 the cultivation of the soil, — though perhaps some young 
 and mellow hearts may be a little disturbed by harrowing 
 
17 
 
 the surface in the operation. By an act of Courtesy it 
 might be called plowing. We have a precedent. The Rev. 
 Dr. Witherspoon, one of the Signers of the Declaration of 
 Independence, before he left Scotland, wrote a caustic 
 satire on the liberal or latitudinarian clergy in the estab- 
 lished Kirke. The drapery of his satire, however, is alle- 
 gorical. An ecclesiastical Body is represented under the 
 image or symbol of a corporation for the encouragement 
 of agriculture. A young man appears before this venera- 
 ble Body for examination, that he might obtain a Certifi- 
 cate as one qualified to follow this business, — or, in other 
 Vfoida, a license to preach. A member of the corporation 
 who suspected the superficiality of the stripling, asked him 
 how he would plow hard ground | and he replied, ' by run- 
 ning a whedha/rrow over it.' The moderator, who sympa- 
 thized with the young man in theological sentiment, was 
 greatly alarmed at this unfortunate blunder, and gravely 
 shook his venerable wig, and said, " How deep would you 
 plow hard ground 1 And he promptly answered — " Six feet 
 deep." Such kind of sub-soiling might very well follow 
 this wheelbarrow plowing, performed on horse-back, to 
 which I now refer. 
 
 Where these prize-ridings have been introduced, they 
 have become the grand attraction of the scene. Solid inte- 
 rests are overlooked in the midst of mere sports which can 
 serve no higher purpose than to exhibit the pride of some 
 gay steed, or the conscious power of his brilliant rider» 
 The thing may all be well enough in its place ; but has no 
 more connection with the encouragement of agriculture, 
 or useful inventions, or the mechanic arts in general, than 
 would be the introduction, upon Fair grounds, of a theatre, 
 or Dan B,ice's Great Show, — half Circus, and .half Mena- 
 gerie, ...•-. 
 
 Our friends of. Albany County, are now making some 
 original experiments informing. Their motto would seem 
 to be " Excelsior," and their progress is not only onward, 
 but upward. They are giving jpractical lessons in agricul- 
 ture, by inviting the people to watch, with the intensity of 
 Chaldean astrologers or star-gazers, an ascending Balloon ! 
 I wish them success in their upward flight, and their farm- 
 ing' in these nether heavens. But if the object is to raise 
 funds by these empty shows — entirely foreign to associa- 
 tions like ours, I would suggest to the Managers of Agri- 
 cultural Societies, that it might be well to establish a 
 whiskey shanty and a Lager Beer shop, and they would realize 
 more money, and, at the same time, promote the manufac- 
 3 
 
18 
 
 tur# of ijti^ee^ popj^larj if not. necessary sixticleaT~rWbdskej/, 
 Beef, and inebriates, : 
 
 I qopgratulate' yoH, gentlemen, on ttei return of your 
 Sii:?;tefei)tE. SHDQJversary, and ardently hope your future pros- 
 perity may be still jiiore gratifying than; that which > has 
 jaarked your progrejas hitbei^to-, , 
 
 [The following remarks concluded the Address as it was 
 deli'viered in Rutland.} 
 
 , Vermont is destined to stand, high on the list of wealthy 
 §|%i.eS( It is rich in treasures which lie .beneath the soil, 
 and especiially in marble. But she: ba»;two things which I 
 glance &U-^ast fvorses and maple sngar-. I leave the horses 
 to speak for themselveiS. The Yermont sugar cane is much 
 taller than that of more Southern climes-^soBaetimes attain- 
 ing the height of laore than a hundred feet ; and it often 
 grows on rocky and precipitous hill-sides which is: hardly 
 fit for any other culture. And as a, more distinctive cha- 
 racteristic,, I would say, itie the growth of a free soil, and 
 the^ ^hole process of manufacture is carried on by free 
 hands and free hearts. And let your motto he, >'Free 
 hands and free heairts for ever." 
 
 y UNION "^> 
 
 THEOLOOICAIi 
 SEMiSAKI, *^