AN ADDRESS

®

|

ered at Middletown, in the State of Rhode Island, |
on THE

21sr. DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1854.

ponte: THE

QUIDNECK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, |

e

a

BY

J. PRESCOTT HALL. ie

ree NEWPORT, R. I.
CRANSTON & NORMAN,
) 1854.

AN ADDRESS

Delivered at Middletown, in the State of Rhode Island,

21st. DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1854.

BEFORE THE

AQUIDNECK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,

BY.

J®PRESCOTT HALL.

NEWPORT, Ky I.
CRANSTON &€ NORMAN,
1854.

MIDDLETOWN, Sept. 23, 1854.
To J. Prescott Hatt, Esa,

Sir :—In behalf of the Aquidneck Agricultural Socie-
ty, of Rhode Island. the undersigned, a committee for this purpose specially
appointed, are instructed to return you their thanks for the able and appro-
priate address delivered by you on Thursday last, and request a copy for pub-
lication.

Very respectfully,
Your obedient servants,

JOSHUA COGGESHALL, C tt
NATHANIEL GREENE, a

GENTLEMEN :

The address which you have been pleased to commend in terms far
beyond its deserts, is hereby placed under the control of the Society repre-
sented by you, with a wish that it were worthy of their acceptance.

Very truly yours,
J. PRESCOTT HALL,
‘To Messrs. GOGGESHALL AND GREENE, Committee, &c.
Newport, Sept. 25th, 1854.

ADDRESS.

StS a ee

** Quid faciat lectas segetes :”’ ‘* What makes the har-
“‘vests joyous: under what sign should the earth be
ploughed, and the vines trained upon their supports:
“«what is proper management for cattle, for sheep and
‘“for bees ; for of all these, said the Reman Poet, I pro-
pose to speak.’

Farmers or Ruope Isnanp! You need not fear,
in the brief address which I am now about to deliver, at
your request,—that 1 shall attempt to follow Virgil in his
immortal work upon agriculture ; for, while I am wholly
destitute of Virgil’s genius, so am I as far behind him in
all knowledge of the subject ; which was so complete on
his part, as to leave us in doubt which is most to be ad-
mired, the profound lessons he gave his countrymen in this
important science, or the harmonious numbers in which
those lessons were poured out.

And yet, it were an employment not altogether un-
profitable, to study the works of this great master, and
consider how much we are in advance of the ancients, if
at all, in our information, as to the best methods in which
the earth can be tilled, and our patient flocks and herds

most profitably managed.
The Greeks and Romans attached more importance to

4

the value of frequent and repeated ploughings, than the
farmers of New England are wont to do; and it may be
fairly questioned, whether we of modern times have not
receded, rather than advanced in this part of practical,
and indeed, indispensable husbandry.

Something must of course be attributed to differences
in climates and seasons, which are here, sometimes short
and always variable or uncertain ; while the skies of Italy
and Greece reflect their azure tints serene, with a steadi-
ness to us almost unknown.

But in cognate regions, such as those of the British
Isles for example, the practice of much ploughing is adopt-
ed, and obtains more generally, and perseveringly, than in
any part of North America. .

When I was in England, some years ago, I observed
not only the direct and cross furrow, but in many instan-
ces a third and diagonal one, which served to cut the soil
in a new direction and subdivide it into smaller parts.
And for this purpose, let me say in passing, that they
trequently drive the ox there, in a manner not adopted by
us, and which I think much inferior to the New England
method ; for you would be amused to see four oxen har-
nessed tandem-wise patiently trudging along, one after
the other ;—the leading animal being so far from the
ploughman, that he could hardly be reached by the fifty-
feet whip which the Hottentott flourished from his cape
wagon, as he drove Mr. Gordon Cumming, through the
trackless wilds of Southern Africa.

Tilling the earth, was of course, the first employment

which engaged the attention of mankind; and without
referring to sacred writings for an illustration of this fact,

5

we may, nevertheless, turn with propriety to the pages of
profane writers, in ages far remote, to ascertain what men
then did to fill their store houses and improve their con-
dition.

Hesiod one of the earliest of the Greek Poets, was him-
self engaged in rural pursits in the first days of his
manhood ; and hence, when the poetic divinity was stirred
within him, he put forth a work upon agriculture still in
existence, and now the most ancient in the world, which
he naturally clothed in the stately hexameters cf his na-
tive language. Homer, who lived at a period nine hun-
dred years older than the Christian aera, has such frequent
allusions to the employments of husbandry, both in the
Tliad and in the Odyssey, that we may well be persuaded
that these pursits were not only honorable in his time, but
that they largely engaged the attention of learned men.

In his description of the shield of Achilles, he gives an
alaborate account of the subjects selected by Vulcan for
its adornment; some of which were taken from proceed-
ings in agriculture ; for he says, there was uponit, a soft
fallow field three times ploughed ; and that oxen, the an-
imals now employed by us for the same purpose, were
driven on all sides by numerous ploughmen.

In another place in the Iliad, however, Homer declares
that mules are better than oxen to drag the strong plough
through the deep fallow, although the latter were selected
as more ornamental in poetic description. He also de-
scribes the process by which the harvests were gathered
in; for wpon the shield was placed an enclosure of wheat,
and workmen were reaping it with sharp sickles. The
reapers were followed by binders, and these last by boys

6

who gathered the handfuls as they fell, and supplied the
binders therewith, and the sheaves were then fastened
with cords.

But the harvest seems to have been a festival, as well
as a necessity in Homer’s time ; for under an oak, servants
were preparing a feast by the sacrifice of a large ox, the
flesh of which, strewed with white flour by women, formed
repast for the more dignified laborers. On another part
of the work so artfully fashioned, was a vineyard heavy
with grapes, surrounded by a ditch and rampart; while a
herd of cows, with horns erect, occupied a place upon the
shield at once curious and instructive; for from it we may
infer that the mechanic arts were in the highest state of
advancement 2700 years ago, since it is not at all proba-
ble that Homer drew upon his imagination for his circum-
stancial account of the form, the ornaments and finishing
of weapons of war; but must have described those which
he had seen, and which were in actual use amongst the
ancient Greeks.

From the passage last quoted, we learn that fences
made by a ditch with the earth thrown upon one side were
in use, as far back as King Solomon’s time, and that the
hedges of old England are not of modern invention or con-
struction. One other thing we also know from the passage
referred to, and that is, that the cows in Homer’s time were
not Durhams, since those upon the shield, had their horns
erect ; and to this subject I shall recur again, when, in
an appropriate place, I intend to say a word or two in re-
lation to this breed of animals, now so wide-spread
and so far renowned. In one particular, however,,
they seem to have fared better when Troy was be-
sieged than we do now; for Homer says that as the

fi

ploughmen came to the end of the furrow, on the boun-
dary of the field, a man approaching gave into their hands
a cup of lucious wine, which made them more eager to
accomplish their work.

It will thus be seen that the maxims of Mahomet and
Father Mathew are of comparatively recent date ; and htat
laborers in the poetic ages of Greece, had failed to take
the plodge.

To come back to the subject from which we have for a
moment. diverged, let me remark that the notion as
to the necessity of much and frequent ploughing seems
to have pervaded all systems of ancient cultivation ;
and the Roman farmers always ploughed hard land,
at least three times before it was sowed. ‘This was
first done in the Spring,—the next time in the Summer,
and the third in the Autumn. By this means, the earth
was exposed twice to the heat of the sun and once to
frost: but if the land was uncommonly tenacious and
stubborn, it received the plow the fourth time, at the end
of Autumn, or beginning of winter ; and thus says Virgil :

Tlla seges demum votis respondet avari
“ Agricole. bis que solem, bis frigora sensit :
“ Tllius immense ruperunt horrea messes.”

That field, at last, answers the wishes of the covetous
farmer, which twice hath felt the sun and twice the
cold; and immense harvests are wont to burst his barns.
The ancients, like the moderns, paid also great attention
to the rotation of crops, using ashes freely upon their
lands, and burning the stubble upon such as were unpro-
ductive.

The employment of various substances, to stimulate
and quicken the soil is of the most ancient date ; and

8

marl of various kinds was used for this purpose in some
parts of Europe, 1800 years ago; different descrip-
tions of soil receiving their appropriate dressing from this
source. As to manure, the ancient writers give very pre-
cise directions both for its preparation and use, the worth of
each and all substances being carefully calculated and
classed. One thing it is very curious to observe; they
placed no value upon the deposits of water fowl,—an es-
timate which if correct, would place the Chincha Islands
at a discount ; and it was only yesterday that I read ina
newspaper, that the Roman notion upon this subject, is
becoming American also. The writer (a correspondent of
the Courier and Enquirer who dates from Washington)
says ‘the ‘Guano Question’ occupied the attention of a
‘* special committee of the House of Representatives during
‘the last session. The committee found that three suc-
‘‘ cessive Administrations had made strenuous efforts to
‘reduce the price of Peruvian Guano, without effect ;
‘“and recommended that a duty be laid on Chincha Island
‘‘ Guana, unless the Peruvian Government shall, after due
‘‘representation, grant to our merchants the right to pur-
‘‘chase the article upon the terms of the most favored
‘‘nation. Guano has proved an expensive delusion ; some-
‘thing of a humbug. It was used by the Incas three or
‘* four hundred years ago with great advantage, but is toe
‘* fast for these times. It extinguishes the seed with which
‘*it comes in contact, and nearly burns up the soil itself.
‘The price of Guano here is from fifty to sixty five dol-
‘lars per ton of 2000 Ibs. Its use is chiefly confined to
‘* the districts between the Delaware and the Capes of the
‘‘Chesapeake. The farmers in that region are coming to
‘<the conclusion that the immense sums expended upon

g

‘fiery stimulants to their soils have been thrown away.
‘Its use has been particularly disastrous this year. It
‘* destroyed nearly all the Indian corn planted with it.—
*‘The replanted corn on the same lands came up, it is
‘true, but was caught by the drought and will not mature
‘and the singular spectacle is presented, of a fair crop on
‘‘Jands not manured at all, and of no product worth gath-
‘‘ ering in adjoining fields overspread with this costly but
‘*most deleterious foreign subtance. It is estimated that
‘two millions of dollars were expended last Spring by
‘« the farmers of Virginia, Maryland, the District of Col-
‘‘umbia and Delaware, in the purchase of Guano, and
‘that they have lost five millions of dollars in conse-
‘* quence.”’

Farmers of Rhode Island, if we must be dependent up-
on foreign nations for anything, let us never place our
crops in peril by a neglect of the fertilizers within our
reach. Never give up rock weed for guano, nor neglect
your barn yards for the Chincha Islands.

Lime was used on Roman orchards and on vineyards 5 and
applied in an especial manner to cherry trees, after they
were brought by Lucullus from Asia Minor, about an hun-
dred years before the Christian era. The ancients, we
find upon reference to their books, were very ingenious
and skilful in the construction and adapting of agricul-
tural implements; employing most of those which are
generally supposed to be of modern invention. They had
harrows, clod-crushers, fanning machines and ploughs of
every variety, with mould-boards, double as well as single ;
with coulters and without coulters, with wheels and with-
out wheels ; broad pointed and narrow, with cutters of
many kinds and fashions; and the Egyptians used cylin-

10

-

drical rollers, almost exactly like our own, which were
drawn by horses. The Romans also ridged their lands by
back furrowing, as we do now; and that too upon soil
which was dry as well as that which was wet ; and in
most cases they ploughed to a good depth ; indeed, as deep
as we do, although they practiced some forms of plough-
ing which we do not; the object being to stir the earth
in narrow and perfectly straight limes, so as to present a
soil well pulverized and lightened up, with a surface sur-
prisingly even and level. Ploughing indeed with the an-
cients was of the last importance, and one of their writers
asks, what is the first requisite in good cultivation? To
which he answers to plough well. What is the second?
to plough; what the third ? tomanure; and these an-
swers became maxims amongst the ancient farmers. And
they were in fact much more attentive to all modes of
cultivation by stirring the earth, than we are, for their
fields were so sown, that the grain came up in rows, sepera-
ted by intervals wide enough for the passage of a plough
which was applied to these intervals, even after the crop
had attained to a considerable height. Wheat and barley
were aftewards hoed at least twice and sometimes oftener.
Reaping machines were also in use in ancient times,
propelled by oxen; and this modern idea, which created
such sensation at the Crystal Palace in London, a short
time since, is as old as our religion. The machine not
only cut off the ears of wheat, but dropped them into a
proper receiver, and it answered as well on open and lev-
el land, as it now does upon the western praries.
Threshing was performed in all the various ways
adopted by us, by the flail, by horses and oxen to
tread out the seed; and the Carthagenians, it is said

th al

used threshing machines, driven by the power of an-
mals, long before their subjugation by the Romans. Rol-
lers were employed for various purposes in Roman hus-
bandry and especially for the laying down of a surface hard
and even for their threshing floors. Fanning mills were
also in use, or machines of like effect, while seives served
to assist in cleaning the grain more thoroughly. The art
of cheese making was as perfect 2000 years ago, as it is
now ; and that which was most liked at Rome, was pro-
duced in the mountainous region near Rodez in the South
of France. It was made of ewe’s milk, and bore an un-
usual price. How much of advance then have we made
in this art, since Gaul furnished Rome with one of its
great luxuries? Why, this very cheese, now known as
Roquefort, is, to my taste, the best in the world, and it
still bears its ancient reputation, being made in the same
manner, and maintaining its original value. The moderns
in this one particular, have made no step forward, but are
glad to be able to maintain the ground on which the an-
cients stood.

All the fertilizers of land known to us were known al-
so to the Greeks and Romans. They gathered them to-
gether as we do, and sheltered them from wind and sun,
in hollow water-tight receptacles. These fertilizers they
applied frequently in Spring and Autumn, but in moderate
quantities each time, and they supposed that wet land
demanded nourishment of this kind, more than dry; an
opinion, in which, from a little experience on a very wet
farm I am inclined to concur.

The mixing of earths, the light with the heavy and
the rich with the unproductive, was much practised as a,

12

substitute for better fertilizers, and sometimes chalk was
applied to sandy land and sand to chalky.

Every kind of fence used by us, both living and dead,
was employed also by the Romans ; from the quick fence,
or hedge, down to walls of stone and mud. And _ here
let me throw ima word about stone walls, so strong and
useful in practice, but which disfigure the fair face of our
beautiful Island somuch. It has generally been supposed
that old England is wholly destitute of these ornaments,
and that all her fences are picturesque and tasteful. Not
so. Ihave ridden for miles in her midland counties by
the side of rude stone walls constructed exactly lke our
own, equally strong, equally useful, equally straight,
equally monotonous, ‘and equally ugly. It is trae that
graceful hedges abound in England; but our fathers
brought the art of making stone walls, as they did their
language from the counties in which they were born ;
and there is not one word or expression, no, not a Yan-
keeism, employed in New England and supposed to be lo-
eal, original and peculiar with us, but what is now in use
in some parts of Old England ; as any one may prove
who will refer to the very curious dictionary of Archaic
and Provincial words recently published in London by Mr.
Halliwell.

But to return. The ancients had many works upon
agriculture, giving minute and systematic instruction in
the whole science and economy of cultivation ; from the
first preparation of a field, down the final disposition of
the crop; and these books were studied by all persons who
had the charge of land. A Roman author remarks, ‘“ up-
‘son the health of cattle, I have borrowed much from
‘Mago the Carthagenian, which I make my herdsmen read

15

** carefully.’ These authors discuss all parts of husband-
ry, including the description of a proper farmhouse ; the
size of a farm which is most profitable ; the subject of
cultivation by the proprietor, by a bailiff, or a head-farm-
er, or by tenants; and their conclusions would probably
coincide, for the most part, with our own.

Gentlemen, you cannot have failed to perceive, by the
course of my remarks, that I have very little familiarity
with the great business and science of Agriculture. My
occupation for a long time led me far from the walks
of nature to the stirring haunts of busy men; from
the fair fields, the pleasant valleys and sunny hills of
Rhode Island, to the thronged marts and crowded pave-
ments of a great commercial city ; from theseclusion and
charms of a country life, to the exciting scenes of the
forum ; where man meets man, with a suspicious mind,
with caution and a never sleeping vigilance. And yot
born as I was, in an agricultural district; educated
amongst farmers ; associating with them and their fami-
lies during a quarter of a century, I confess that my
heart has always been true to its first impressions, and has
never failed to lean strongly and warmly towards those,
who are engaged in the pure and peaceful occupations of
a rural life.

The great orator of New England; the Farmer of
Marshfield and of Franklin, once told me that he esteemed
it as a part of the good fortune of his career, that he was
reared amongst the hills of New Hampshire, spending there
his youth and early manhood, in association with farmers,
and the sons of farmers, for more than thirty years.

He considered them as a race of thinking men, who
could follow their occupations by the use of physical pow-

14

ers ; while the mind ‘was left free for reflection, undis-
turbed by fierce pursuits, or exciting passions. He said,
** you and I, sir, have learned much from this class of so-
ciety ; we have learned to place more value upon solid
merit and less upon show and words. We have learned
to address jurors as our peers, because those we associated
with in our early time were our equals in all respects,
and never descended below the level upon ‘which they
originally stood.’’ I admitted then, and I admit now,
here and everywhere, the respect I feel for the compan-
ions of my youth, and thank God that I was born under
the free canopy, the pure skies, and amid the lovely scenes
of an open country, in a rural home. There to my fancy
the sun shines ever brightly, the fields are always green,
the brooks murmur down their slopes, discoursing sweet
music to soothed and listening ears, while nature presents
herself forever in tranquil and graceful repose.

But although my manner of life from the starting point
of an active and laborious pursuit, has been such as to
call me away from scenes like these, yet I never have
ceased to observe the progress of Agriculture, nor suffered
myself to unlearn that which I acquired at an early period.
T was made acquainted in my youth, with trees, with
plants and with animated nature.

The forms and habits of birds, of sheep, of cattle and
of horses, I have studied with attention ; and of them, I
think I have some little knowledge. But so distrustful
have I been as to my own fitness to discuss from knowl-
edge or experience, any topic proper for this occasion, or
this assembly, that I requested one of my neighbors, who
is himself ‘‘ every inch’ a farmer, to give me some hints
for a practical discourse.

15

This he very kindly did, in the form of a note whichI
intend to introduce here in this place, paragraph by para-
graph, just as it was written, that I may thereby express
my obligation to him, who has done as much to lay the
foundation of this society as any man living; and I need
not add the name of David Buffam to indicate the gen-
tleman to whom I refer.

He writes me thus—‘“‘ Some farmers have a great aver-
‘< sion to book-farming. It would, however, be well for all
** farmers, to be well educated and fond of reading, and
‘© compare the experiments of others with their own ex-
‘* perience and to holdfast whatever would prove bene-
*ficial.’?

This first sentence of my neighbor’s letter, led me to
look back upon by-gone practices, to see how much of
progress men have made during the last 3000 years in the
practical business of agriculture; and a few of the re-
sults have already been stated.

He then proceeds in the following manner—‘‘ Deep
‘¢ ploughing to be encouraged as promoting ease in tilling
‘and increase of crops.”’

In this opinion, you will perceive he agress with all the
early writers; and hence I have devoted some space to
shew what the ancient practice was in this regard. Nay
further; I have endeavored to make this maxim useful
to myself; and I hope also’to those who are to come af-
ter me; by carrying it into effect on that part of my farm
well known to Mr. Buffam, which has been called ‘* Dyer’s
Swamp.” Of this piece of land, Professor Jackson in
his Geological Survey of the State speaks thus: ‘A
shallow but very extensive deposit of swamp-muck occurs
in Dyer’s Swamp—near the base of Miantonomy Hill,

16

*

situated north of Newport. It now lies wholly barren,
or is only covered with bushes, and rank aquatic rushe,
and grasses. By drainage, effected by border ditches,
draining to the North, this tract of land may be easily re-
claimed and converted into a very rich meadow.”’

This description is perfectly accurate ; and when I took
personal possession of the Malbone Place in the year 1849,
I thought I would endeavor to remove in some degree,
the very proper and just reproach thus cast upon it by Pro-
fessor Jackson. For this purpose [ carefully examined its
surface, and found that the water with which the swamp
was filled, proceeded for the most part from copious
and never failing springs which gush up under the willow
trees near the road at the base of the hill. I found also
that there was no outlet for this flow, and that when the
rains which pour down the slopes and ravines surround-
ine the swamp, should evaporate in the sun, as they
always do in summer, the ground must still be sat-
urated by the water from the willow springs.

Satisfied, however, of the justness of Professor Jack-
son’s conclusions, I resolved to follow his advice. I be-
‘gan, therefore, by drawing lines of ditches all around the
four sides of this almost level plain so as to cut off the
deluge from the hills; and I cross-ditched also, from
North to South in three other places, so that there are five
considerable arteries, through which the waters may flow.
Many cuts were then made from Hast to West, as veins
connected with the arteries; and these cuts absorbed so
much of the supply furnished by the springs that the sur-
face of the swamp became measurably dry. The next
thing was to find an outlet to the sea; and the eye alone,
unaided by instruments easily told us, that if a line were

17

drawn through the North East corner of Mr. Hunter’s
farm, that the waters from the springs would rush into the
sea at the cove; and thus, not only would my land be
drained, but Mr. Hunter’s supplied in all time to come
from fountains which never fail.

Permission for the experiment having been obtained, I
connected the northwest corner of the swamp, at the point
indicated by Professor Jackson, with the sea, by a ditch ;
and to my complete satisfaction, all the waters of the
brook, which had been backed upon the land and held
there, flowed off, with a steady and rapid motion ; the
descent being greater than that which I had supposed.

Drainage having been effected, the next step was to
rid the land of its bushes, rushes and the rank aquatic
grasses described by the Professor ; and this was done by
means of stout hoes, specially constructed by the black-
smith for that purpose, by bill hooks and scythes.

The worthless alders and wild-rose bushes being torn
up; the roots were consumed by fire, and their ashes,
after the Roman fashion, strewed upon the upland.

The second year the surface was covered with a crop of
wild grass ; and this was mowed, making tolerable fodder
But still something was wanting, and by a hint from my
friend General George Cadwallader, himself an experience-
ed farmer as well as gallant soldier, crowned with well
earned laurels, I soon discovered what that something
was; it was a cast iron plough with the deep furrows
of my neighbor Buffum. This was applied, and cuts dif-
fering in depth from eight inches to twelve and backing
upon each other, were made by this noble instrument
‘over about thirty acres.

18

The effect was not only to drain the land, but to furnish
us with crops of timothy and red-top, reaching as high
on some parts as three tons to the acre, and no where did
they descend below two. Within the last four weeks, tak-
ing advantage of the drought, I followed the advice of
the intelligent editor and practical farmer, who conducts
the Massachusetts Ploughman ; and instead of spending
time in lamenting the conjunction of Sirius with the sun
to burn up our fields, we allowed the Dog-Star to rage,
and began to clear our ditches and to plough our swamp
—now become meadow as Professor Jackson predicted.

My farmer, Mr. Josiah Albro, a man of sense and judg-
ment, followed this purpose with all energy, and in a few
days fifteen acres more were lying in furrow and will soon
be ready to take the seed. In this manner we have
reclaimed near fifty acres; the expense of the procedure
not being one fifth the value of the land in its present
state ; and Professor Jackson has told you how worthless
it was at the time of his survey. Are there not other
swamps on this Island besides Dyer’s, to be treated in the
same way ; aud may we not increase the quantity of our
meadows by these means, and thus add acres to our pas-
tures ?

The land ‘referred to, will now produce good crops of
hay without manure ; but from an experiment made last
spring upon six acres, we find, that a top dressing from
the stable and barn not only improves the quality of the
hay, but increases the yield most decidedly. It is our pur-
ose, therefore, during the ensuing Winter, to cart largely
from our barn cellar upon this reclaimed swamp ; for you
must know that all the proceeds of our stables, our sheep-

‘sand pig-pensare kept from the rain, the wind and the

19

gun, between substantial stone walls, under cover of the
same roof, which protects our cattle and our hay. We have
contrived this building with three entrances, and exits,
one above another, by selecting the spur of a hill’s side,
where three levels are obtained ; by which means our barn,
one hundred feet long by forty-four feet wide, is three
stories in height. The upper story, which is approached
from the east, and entirely above the earth, contains the
hay, in quantity this year, at least one hundred and sixty
tons, being nearly four-fold the amount produced by the
same farm when it was in the hands of my tenant ;
and this hay instead of being pitched up upon lofty
mows, by the aid of three, four or five men, as the case’
may be, is all thrown below the level of the load, or hor-
izontally from the cart, by the man who wields the pitch-
fork. The next story beneath, the east side of which is
below the earth’s surfacce, is approached from the South
and the cattle are tied up on floors which extend the
whole length of the barn, receiving their fodder from above,,
which is of course all thrown down through a scuttle or
hatchway, the approach to the hay loft being at a right-
angle to that which leads to the cow-stable. The first,
or lowest story, which entered from the West, has its-east
side also below the level of the earth, and the whole of
the first story and the east side of the second are made
of solid stones, laid in mortar; and this first story, re-
ceives all the produce of the stables above, through trap-
doors, which open upwards therein, and at the same time
it gives shelter to the swine.

Thus it will be perceived that we have at once secur-
ed ease of approach for our hay; convenience in the
feeding and care of our cattle, and.a free departure with

20
our loads of manure, down the slope which leads to Dyer’s
Meadow where we intend to deposit it.

This plain, very obviously, and at no distant period,
was a bed of the sea which invaded it through the cove,
opposite the northern part of Coaster’s Island; for at the
depth of between two and three feet, we have penetrated
through the superincumbent earth; formed by the decay
of vegetable matter and the washings from the eastern
hills, and struck the hard compact flat sand; (as it is
called,) in all respects like that which forms the bottom
of our harbor; and hence the foundations of our main
ditches are in fact, firm roads.

And while I am upon this topic, not of personal inter-
est only, but of general concern, I trust, to all those who
have barns to make, or swamps to reclaim,—let me re-
peat a remark lately made to me by the well educated,
intelligent, and sagacious farmer of Vaucluse which will
long have a sticking place in my memory. ‘I once
thought,”’ said he, “ that all fertilizers should be placed
below the surface of the earth by the plough ; but I be-
gin to believe that their true application is upon it; in
other words, I begin to think that top-dressing, after all,
is the best.’’ In this opinion I should concur were my
experience such as to justify me in giving it an expression.
The Romans thought highly of water as: a fertilizer, and
meadows were their admiration, because always ready to
produce without culture ; and they recommend the mak-
ing of meadows at all events, if you have water, and if
not, then to form them dry.

They admit that the grass of uplands will make finer
hay than that of the lowlands ; but insist that large crops
-are to be expected only from the latter; and they give

21

directions for passing the water slowly and evenly over
the fields without stagnation. Water when allowed to
stand upon meadows reduces the temperature of the
ground too much at the roots of the plants, and for this
reason it should be drawn off. And upon the authority
of recent investigation we may now affirm, that the prac-
tice of tubular underground draining through porous pipes,
is as old as the days of Ninevah and Babylon. On the
hill sides, near the sources of the Danube in South Ger-
many, where all the ground is full of springs, I observed
lines of ditches, one above another, conducting the super-
abundant fluid gently over the grass, whereby, and by
this means alone, three crops in a season are obtained.

The third sentence in Mr. Buffum’s letter is as follows :
** Keep the dest domestic animals, as in general much
‘*more profitable ; and be sure to keep all kinds of stock
** well, and then they are always ina saleable condition.”

These sentences may, in my opinion, be treated as axi-
oms by farmers and herdsmen, to be acted upon, not only
as the results of experience, but as agricultural wisdom
itself. ‘‘ Keep the best domestic animals’’ says Mr.
Buffum. Ah! we will do so: but which are the best?
and here come in all the jarring opinions as to long-horns
and short-horns ; ‘Alger and Ayreshires; the Here-
fords and Devons amongst cattle ;—Suffolks, Berkshires and
the Essex pigs of Lord Western come next ;— while the
Merinos of Spain and France, the flocks of Saxony, and
the Cotswolds, the Leicesters and South Downs of Old
England all follow in order. Nor will it do in these days.
of Shanghaes, Chittagongs, Malays, Game Cocks, and,
Bantams, entirely to forget the feathered race, lest we be

22
crowed over by all the exhibitors last winter at Barnum’s
Museum.

I shall not enter into an argument as to the merits of
these various classes, but refer you at once to those au-
thors who have carried on the dispute so vigorously ; and
especially to the agricultural reports of Massachusetts,
where the war wages hottest and the toughest stories are
told. I have various works upon animals, all of which I
read with pleasure, and I hope not without some instruc-
tion.

This is an important topic for the Farmers of Rhode
Island. The animals employed here are not for the most
part of our own breeding, although we have every facil-
ty and temptation for raising all the useful kinds.

We have grass and water in abuadance ; —our climate
is good, our fields generally well fenced, and if any coun-
ty in New England can breed horses, cattle and sheep to
advantage, this county can. As for hay there is no end
to it, and we need therefore

‘¢ Fear no more the heat o’ the sun,
Nor the furious winter’s rages,”’

but rest secure in the possession of these provisions for
the animal creation. I was much struck by a remark
made by the distinguished gentleman who addressed you
last year, and to whom I have already referred. He says
in his discourse, (I quote from memory, ) that we, on this
Tsland, cut too much hay in proportion to our acres, and
do not pasture enough. As I was shaping my farm, al-
most exclusively for hay, I was at first disposed to ques-
tion this proposition ;——but when I came to consider the
economy of pasturage, in comparison with the crop cured
and preserved for winter’s use, in an expensive barn, I was

23

forced to believe Mr. Hazard to be right ; and, according-
ly, I amnow preparing portions of my meadow land for
pasturage.

Indeed this use of the soil was in high estimation in
ancient times ; for we are told by Cicero, that when Cato
the Ceusor was asked, what the best policy in the manage-
ment of landed property was, he answered— ‘‘ good graz-
ing.’’ What next ?— ‘tolerable grazing. ’?! What third ?
“‘poor grazing’’ said he. What fourth? ‘tilling,’ was
the reply. This is the same Ceusor, who, when inter-
rogated by the same interlocutor, as to his opinion of lend-
ing money upon interest, answered the question by asking
another— ‘* And what, said Cato do you think of killing
a man’’?

If then we have the capacity for the breeding and rais-
ing of cattle, of sheep and horses, why do we neglect it,
if profitable? Is it advantagious, Farmers of Rhode
Island, to carry your money to Maine, to New Hampshire
and Vermont, to purchase there, the very animals that
feed upon your pastures and consume the stores laid up
for winter ?

If we raise what we now purchase, —and I think we can
do so without diminishing materially those products of our
farms which you are in the habit of selling ; —do we not
thereby add something to the general property of the com-
monwealth, and so to its prosperity ? Think of this gen-
tlemen, and if you will commence a more extensive sys-
tem of breeding than that hitherto adopted, let me come
to results at once, and recommend you to plunge into Mr. -
Youatt’s book, at page 226, and take the ‘‘ Short-Horns”’
to begin with.

I know that some fanciful gentlemen near Boston are

24

almost crazy about the Aldernies ; but this breed, al-
though tolerably handsome and good milkers, have no
size. They are worthless for the shambles, the cart and
the plough, and all these things you are to consider when
you breed for profit.

The number of cattle slaughtered annually in England
near 20) years ago when the population was much below
its present standard, is estimated by Mr. Youatt at six-
teen hundred thousand,—and now if this reckoning be
right it cannot fall short of two millions.

Suppose the animals to be thus slaughtered were Alder-
nies all, and nothing but Aldernies! what a lowing would
there not be in Smithfield, and what massacres of the In-
nocents by millions would follow to supply the great de-
mand !

Our cattle are destined for an inevitable end, and by
one mode; anend to which all animated nature must
come in the manner designed by the Creator.

Our bulls, our cows and our oxen—after their appro-
priate uses have terminated, are all to be delivered over to
the butcher, and we should have an eye to this final result,
when we select our stock.

I have looked at the different classes of animals. I
have personally examined various breeds in England, in
Belgium, in France, in Germany, and in the United
States; and out of them all, give me the Short Horns.

They are good milkers, good workers, good but not ex-
travagant feeders, and they have that which my eye must
always seek—they have size and beauty.

They are not only symetrical in form, but beautiful in
color, the prevailing tints being red and white intermixed
in every curious and changeful variety.

25

When that fearless Patriot and excellent Farmer, Hen-
ry Clay, was last in Newport, I accompanied him to the
top of Tonomy Hill, that he might get, ashe said, ‘¢ the
lay of the land.’’ While we were casting our eyes over
the superb landscape and water-view presented from that
eminence, some cows presented themselves within a few
yards of the position he occupied, and this circumstance
led to a conversation concerning cattle. I asked Mr. Clay
which breed he preferred from his own observation and
experience. ‘‘ Why upon the whole sir,’’ he replied, ‘I
‘like the Short Horns best. They have most of the good
‘* properties belonging to other classes, and then I admire
*¢ their color—I like the red and white ;’? and in these
particulars, my taste, I admit, corresponds exactly with
that of the ‘‘ Great Statesman of the West.”’

But although the red and white are the most usual
tints, yet I have seen Short Horns of other colors which
had every perfection to gratify the eye. I have seen them
pure white, pure red and of a red roan, and this last
is now becoming most fashionable.

In Belgium, and not far from the Field of Waterloo, I
saw a herd of cows ina pasture near the road that attracted
my attention instantly. Descending from the carriage, 1
examined them with care for a considerable time. They
were as perfect specimens of Short Horns as I ever saw in
England, and yet, they had all been purchased in Hol-
land and brought to Brussels, at the expense of a society,
formed there to improve the breed of cattle. In color
they were black and white; but these were laid on in
separate masses, like the spots of the leopard; much in-
deed in the same form, that you observe them, in the red
and white variety of Durhams.

26

Barring the difference in color they could not have been
discriminated from English cows, —their general size, —
symetry, horns and form, being exactly the same. But
their peculiar hues were made more beautiful by the lus-
tre of the hair, which shone and sparkled like the coat of
arace-horse ; and if I had money enough to gratify all
my tastes, I certainly would make an excursion into Hol-
land, to see what might be found there.

The English have absolutely made their breeds by ju-
dicious crossings and great care in selections. We have
now the means of doing the same thing, for the enter-
prise and liberality of Americans have caused the import-
ation of some of the most valuable animals which the
United Kingdom ever possessed ; and it is supposed by:
persons competent to judge, that we have more and better
Short Horns in the United States, than are left in the
British Isles.

Many Farmers believe, because the Short Horns are
large, that they are therefore voracious, and require rich
meadows and pastures for their support. This I conceive
to be an entire mistake, and my opinion is founded upon
some observasion, as well as enquiry. There are two
farmers in a neighboring county, whose lands are conti-
guous,—exactly of the same kind; one large farm in-
deed, divided by a stone-wall to mark the respective pos-
sessions.

Upon the north portion of this division, Short Horns
are reared ; upon the south, cattle of what is called our
‘*native breed’’—although it would puzzle their posses-
sors to point out that spot in America where cows were.
found, when John Smith and Sebastian Cabot sailed
along the coast of New England. Well, amongst the

27

Short Horns north of the boundary referred to, I can
point out the finest Steer in Rhode Island, weighing at
least 2000 pounds; while south of it, there is scarce an
animal raised on the adjoining fields that will exceed 600 ;
most of them indeed falling far below that standard ; and
all these animals north and South of the wall, have fared
exactly alike.

The largest, strongest and best oxen ever raised in
Rhode Island have been Short Horns; one pair of which
I purchased in Bristol, and worked on my own farm ; and
Mr. Albro will tell you that they were the most powerful
animals he ever drove.

Iam aware of the excellence of the Ayreshires, the
Herefords, the Devons and the Aldernies ; the latter pro-
ducing milk, rich and thick—not butter ready made, as
the Bostonians would have us believe ; but milk of the
very richest kind.

Nevertheless it is always most convenient for each Farm-
er, to keep but one class of cattle, unless he would allow
his breed to become degenerate by careless crossing.—
One cross may answer very well, but to preserve your
strain of blood pure, you must go back continually to the
original fountain. Like produces like in the animal cre-
ation, whilst Hybrids, (a proper name for them) even of
the same genus, continually descend in the scale of de-
generation. I therefore stick to the Short Horns, and
hope to be able, hereafter, to exhibit specimens which
may improve our stock.

It has been greatly benefitted already, by those spirit-

ed individuals of Newport, who have imported the breed
I prefer ; and we are much indebted to Governor Gibbs

28

and another excellent person of his family, for their exer-
tions in the improvement of our cattle.

Marks of the Short-Horned blood may be traced in
many farm yards, and I have purchased some on this Is-
land, reared here, which I am not ashamed to exhibit in
any part of the country.

If you raise cows, raise the best and keep them well.
The expense of keeping a cow which produces twenty
quarts of milk a day, is not greater than that of one
which gives but ten quarts. I have examples of both.
I have two cows which cost me $45 each, and I purchas-
ed a Short Horn of Mr. Bailey for which I paid him $80.
Rose and Ella together give me but ten or twelve quarts
at a milking, and have two mouths to be filled; while

Juno furnishes the same quantity at a meal, and I fill but
one mouth in her case.

T use the good, farmer-like word meal, as it is now
used in the north of Old England, and as it has always
been used in New, to signify the milk of a cow produced
at one milking ; and although it is eschewed by all our
Dictionaries, as a Yankeeism,—manufactured here, —
yet if you will turn to the pages of Mr. Halliwell you
will find that our ancestors used this word, as they did all
others, with strict regard to propriety, both in meaning
and idiom.

In relation to Sheep, we have not time to say much ;
and to say much, upon this topic, before such an assem-
blage as I see before and around me, would be superfluous
and out of place.

But I have a strong impression as to the kind which
suits our Island best ; and I pronounce without hesitation
in favor of the South Downs.

29

The Bakewells, the New Leicesters and Cotswolds have
all great size and long wool. The Merinos of Frarice
have also great size, but short wool and fine. A Leicester
sheep has been known to weigh as much as 368 lbs;
and there are Merinos upon this Island, approaching to
the same enormous size. But I incline to think that the
gentlemen who have, with so much spirit and liberality,
brought these monsters among us, are not altogether satis-
fied with their experiments, for I found one of them ii my
pasture, the past summer, culling out some South Down
male lambs from my little flock, without much remark
about the cause of this selection. South Downs can be
exhibited in this country and in England which will
weigh between one hundred and sixty and one hundred
and seveiity pounds; and this volume is quite sufficient
to answer all reasonable requirements.

The wool of the South Down, although not so fine as
that of the Merino, is, nevertheless, of excellent quality.
In quantity it corresponds with the relative sizes of the
animals ; while the niutton of this breed is exactly what
an epicure desires ; moderation in size, but juicy,—the fat
well laid in, and of excellent flavor. The flesh of the South
Down is quite as good as that of the Welsh sheep, of
which the English boast so much.

I have seen these animals, in large flocks upon tlicir na-
tive Downs and Wolds; and I am quite sure from my
own observation, that they keep themselves in better con-
dition, with the same food than any cther breed.

This climate and our hill sides are entirely congenial to
their constitution and habits; and observe it as you may,
the mutton of sheep fed upon Rhode Island, will be found

30
always good, and in my judgement quite equal to any in
the world.

I have had many opportunities of comparing American
mutton, side by side, on the same table, with that brought
from England, and although the latter is as good as can
be desired, it isin no respect superior to our own ; while
our beef is decidedly better, more juicy and rich.

A butcher in New York, with whom I have often dealt,
aman of sense and observation, is in the habit of ex-
changing, every year, by means of steam vessels, the pro-
ducts of his own market with those of Liverpool. In his
stalls you may see, throughout the winter season, pheas-
ants, black grouse and red, quails, {partridges, beef and
mutton, brought from England, and thus compare, as
many times I have done, our own, with the products of
the British Isles.

In exchange for these, Mr. Broadway (for that is his
name) sends out American oysters, American deer and
American Grouse; and last, but not least, believe me
if you can, — American Beef also ; and lam told by him,
that of all his exportations, the American Beef is in most
demand at Liverpool. His correspondents inform him
that their customers at home, consider it quite superior in
flavor to their own; and hence have learned that the
boast of Old England can be equalled in regions far be-
yond the Atlantic.

But, ‘‘revenons anos moutons.’”’ Let us return to our
Sheep. I shall certainly commend to your attention, and
cultivation, the South Downs of Sussex, the very best of
which will be found upon the farms cultivated, as well as
owned by His Grace the Duke of Richmond ; himself a
pattern for farmers as well as noblemen, for his intelli-

51

petice, his unassuming manners and graceful hospitality,

If you would have swine of the best form, you must
go, I think, to the Essex breed of Lord Western ; or to a
cross of that kind with the swine of Sussex.

The hairless Suffolks, with their sides almost reeking
with grease, rather than good honest fat, as I observed
them abroad, are no favorites of mine, although they may
be used perhaps, for crossing, with profit and success.

But you can make a breed of your own, by attention
and care, equal to the best in England, formed in the same
way; and in truth it ¢s already done. J found on this
Island, when I came to my farm in 1849, swine very
nearly right in all desirable particulars and which I then
purchased. With these materials in hand, we have en-
deavored to ‘ train on,’’ and now with a male from New
York, of the New Essex and Sussex breed— presented to
me by my friend Mr. Slate, himself a rival for Lord West-
ern, I will show a sow this day, with twelve pigs by her
side, against any which can be prodnced from Soffolk or
Berkshire. Attend carefully to the crossing: give the
animals length, with a middle-piece for the pork-barrel,
while the hams, shoulders, and jowls are of msderate size,
and you have all that can be expected or desired, in the
shape of swine; and the breed preferred by me will
give all these at moderate expense, as they keep in
good condition with comparatively little food.

The Chittagongs, Singapores, Bramah Pootras, and all
the other ‘‘ big things,’ come, most probably, from one
and the same place, and that is Shanghae.

In my opinion they are all varieties of one breed, made
different in their color and the clothing upon their legs by
the fancy breeding of the Chinese. They were unknown

32

in Canton twenty years ago and have been brought to that
place rocently from the northern parts of the Empire.

Come from where they may, they furnish the elements
for excellent crossing with smaller and more compact
fowls ; and upon trial, you will, I think, prefer the Black
Tavas, or Black Shanghaes rather, to all others. These
last we have found hardy, good layers, and good moth-
ers; while under black feathers, you will find flesh, juicy
and good, covered by a clear and yellow skin.

The pride of your barn-yards, however, is the Game
Cock. Observe him with plumage of every color glisten-
ing in the sun and rivaling the Asiatic Pheasant in beai-
ty. See his fierce eye, his quick athletic step, proudly
deporting himself amid his harem. Hear his ‘shrill
clarion”’ challenging like a Knight of old, all comers to
meet him in the lists; consider his indomitable courage,
sometimes defying the bird of Jove himself; and tell me
whether the Game Cock is not the prince of all fowls ?

Cross him then with the neble breeds of China, and
you will have just what you want for the kitchen and the
table.

And now Gentlemen—“* paulo majora canamus ;”’ let us
take a loftier theme, from the animal creation and say
something of the Horse,—the most beautiful, the most
spirited, the most soul stirring and perhaps the most use-
ful of all the tribes that came out of the ark.

Observe him trained for the race, exercising for war,
or harnessed to the chariot; his eye on fire, his nostrils
expanded, his coat glistening like burnished gold, and tell
me if he is not a subject for the painter and a model for
the statuary ?

The Arabs write, —‘* true riches are a noble and fierce

ae
v

<* reed of horses, and of which God said, the war horses 3
“those which rush on the enemy with full-blowing nos-
<< trils; those which plunge inte the battle early in the
*¢ morning.”

We had in New York, some years ago, a most estima~
ble gentleman, who rose. fromhumble citcumstances in
mechanic life, to fortune and to honor ;——being succes-
sively Mayer of the City and one of its representatives
in Congress. In this latter place he became very fond of
investigations into taxation, importation, exportation and
all the sources of national prosperity and wealth. These
Subjects he would argue anywhere; in doors and out of
doors ; in sunshine or in rain; and if he caught a wil-
ling ear he would exclaim in exultation,—<‘if there is
anything in the world J do understand, it is tanring and
political economy !’

My own conceit, as to my own acquirements, leads me
in the same direction with my former friend ; and I too,
ean exclaim, if there are any things in the world I do un-
derstand, they are— horseflesh and the law!

Tf I do not understand something of this subject my
opportunities have been thrown away ; and all in vain,
have I been President of a Jockey Club.

In my earliest days 1 was introduced to the horse in
his noblest forms ; for the Arab fondness which my father
cherished for Thoroughbreds, he imparted te his son, whe
has retained that attachment all his days. He had at one
time when I was yet a boy, five excellent and beautiful
specimens of the Race Horse, the Cleveland Bay, and the
animal of all work, now known as the Morgan; all ef
which were kept for the improvement of their respective

34

classes; and the names of Escape, Pacolet, King Williats
and Kocklani, are familiar sounds in my ears.

It was my father who first told me the story of Lind-
sey’s Arabian, a horse well known fo him, and in my na~
tive county by the name of Ranger; and I have galloped
a grand daughter of this steed many a mile, weary enough
for her, but cheering and pleasant to me.

This beautiful Barb was presented by the Emperor of
Morocco to the Captain of an English frigate, who landed
him on one of the West India Islands, for exercise and
refreshment.

Being playful as a kitten fie was turned loose into
lumber yard, and taking it into his liead to ascend a pile
of timber he feil and broke three of his legs.

The master of a vessel out of New London, well know
to the Captain of the man-of-war, upon solicitation, re-
ceived the horse asa present in his crippled and hopeless
condition. With much skill and patience the master of
the ‘‘ Horse Jockey’’ caused the fractured hmb to be set,
and succeeded at last in bringing the animathome to Con-
necticut, where he became the ancestor’ of many brave
sons and beautiful daughters.

Some of these being employed during the Revolutionary
War in the South as cavalry horses, attracted so much at-
tention that their history and pedigree were inquired into
with care; and the result was that General Washington
sent Captain Lindsey of the army, to Hampton in Con-
necticut to purchase the foreigner ; and thus it was that
the Old Ranger, — beautiful as Apollo, white and shining
as silver, went down to Virginia to lay his: mended bones
there. But before descending to the grave he left speci-
mens of his blood inthe form of Tulip and other capitad

35

racers ; and now it flows to this day in the veins of many
a high mettled steed, in that ancient and renowned do-
minion.

The horse has been the animal most interesting to man
from our earliest history; and the country of his fame,
for speed, courage, stoutness and endurance, has changed
from time te time as men have sought him out and cultiva-
ted his good qualities.

The East was the first region which possessed a breed
fit for the purposes of battle ; and we read that the wise
King of Israel introduced chargers from Egypt into his
forty thousand stalls of Syria, a thousand years before the
Christian Era.

But this war-like animal was known long before this
period, for it is Job, (and he lived at a time so remote
that we have no correct notion of its date) who describes
the war-horse ** with his neck clothed with thunder, paw-
‘ing the valley and rejoicing in his strength. He mock-
‘¢ eth at fear and is not affrighted ; neither turneth he back
‘** from the sword; the quiver rattleth against him, the
‘¢ littering spear and shield. He saith among the trump-
‘© ets ha! ha! and he snuffeth the battle afar off; the
*¢ thunder of the captains and the shoutings.”’

Homer describes the steeds of Auneas as of celestial
origin, for he says they were given by Jove the Thunder-
er, to Tros as the price of his son Ganymede taken up to
Heaven for his beauty, to be the cup-bearer of the Gods.

Vergil speaks of a breed that had the east wind for an
ancestor, so swift were they and so light of foot.
Ore omnes yerse in Zephyrum, stant rnpibus altis illae
Expectant leves auras; et saepe sine ullis
Conjugiis vento gravida.

36

He describes the animal most in esteem in his time and
says—

‘* Lofty his neck, his head small and slender ; short in
‘<the loin with a chest swelling in brawny muscles. His

‘* color, bay or blueish gray ; his mane thick and waving
‘upon his right shoulder, his back seems braced with a

‘* double spine and his solid hoof resounds upon the plain ;
‘<such was the brace of Mars and such the chariot-horses
‘of great Achilles.”’

This last Hero, declared at the Games in honor of Pa-
troclus, dead, that 1f he were permitted to contend in the
chariot-race he could win; ‘‘ for my steeds, said he, sur-
pass all others, because they are immortal ; and Neptune
gave them to my father and I inherited them from him.”’
The Greeks, however, were not fastidious as to color, and
a chestnut horse with a white circular spot like the moon
upon his forehead, meets the approbation of Homer.

But without stopping to enquire whether the poetic
coursers of Homer and Vergil were entitled to the high
commendation bestowed upon them by those authors, one
thing is certain, that the best horses now to be found in
Europe and the United States have had their origin in the
East and most probably in Mesopotamia.

They were first brought to the notice of English Kings
in the time of the crusades, and the charger described by
Sir Walter Scott as being furnished by the Jew for his
hero of Ivanhoe, and ridden by him at the tournament of
‘¢ Ashby de la Zouch”’ in the presence of King John, the
brother of Richard the first, must have been a true Arab,
faultless in form and of courage invincible.

When the Crusaders went to the Holy Wars, they took
with them the powerful, but heavy horses of Normandy,

37

Flanders and Hungary ; and although these animals, with
Knights upon their backs, full armed, were like ‘‘ Ele-
phants endorsed with towers of Archers’’ yet they melted
away like dew before the heat of Asiatic sands and the
thorough bred cavalry of Saladin.

‘In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong,

‘¢ Prancing—their riders bore.

‘¢See them in their forms of battle ranged,

‘* How quick they wheel and flying, behind them shoot
‘Sharp sleet of arrowy showers, against the face
‘‘Of their pursuers; and overcome by flight.”

This is a very exact description, drawn by him who
equaled ‘‘ blind Thamyris and blind Maeonides’’ not on-
ly in fate, but in the power and sweetness of his song ;
and hence King John, when he succeeded to the throne
of Richard, the Crusader, introduced some of this blood
into England, and encouraged its cultivation by establish-
ing race-courses, and offering prizes to be run for, by the
Arab, the Barb and their descendants.

By these and the like means, from generation to gen-
eration, by the aid of the government, by private enter-
prise and emulous rivalry,—the English had infused so
much of the eastern blood into their horses that in the
time of the American Revolution and from those days
down to our own, they had the best breed in the world.

They improved upon the Arab by giving him size, pre-
serving at the same time ali his admirable qualities of
speed, stoutness and endurance ; for it is a maxim upon
the turf—‘‘ that a good big one always beats a good little
one.”

John Blunt, an Arab in every particular, and as good
a racer of his size, as the world ever saw, not fifteen
hands high, could not contend successfully with Fashion,,

38

because her superior height and length gave her a stride
which so told upon the little horse, in arace of fourmiles,
that he was compelled to yield the palm to that renowned,
and in my opinion, matchless and unrivalled courser.

To come down to practical results then, you may ask,
would you have farmers breed and use race-horses ? Cer-
tainly not thoroughbreds ; by which I mean animals
whose pedigree can be traced directly to Arab originals ;
but I would have them never employ any, that were not
strongly imbued with the best properties of oriental steeds.

The heavy horses of Europe, including those of Eng-
land, France an! Holland, are wholly unsuited to our
habits, and purpo:es, being slow of motion and expensive
to keep. For farming draft, oxen must always be pre-
ferred in New England to horses or mules, for when their
career in the cart and plough is run, they have not lost
any part of their value, but become food for man, as they
were destined finally to be.

Again, the harness of the oxen employed by us, is of
the cheapest and most simple description ; and I defy any
man to contrive a cooler or better mode of coupling this
animal to his plough or cart, than by the common wood-
en yoke which we use and which is equally well calcula-
ted for forward traction, or for backing the load.

The horses which you ride and drive daily are all of
them, strongly imbued with the blood of the thorough-
bred, and we rarely see in this state a single specimen of
the heavy draft-horse of Europe.

When Mr. Birkbeck, the distinguished English Farmer,
first came to this country, more than 30 years ago, he
wrote and published an account of what he saw; and
amongst other things he remarked, and with some as-

o9

tonishment that the American horses were all blood horses,
er so crossed with that race as to cause its predominance
to be seen wherever he traveled; and he pronounced
them superior to those of Europe.

Even in Pennsylvania, their strong wagon horses have
fost their heaviness; and while they are of the largest
size, they have also blood, compact bone and good action.
An English cart horse carries as muck hair upon his fet-
locks as he does upon his mane; while the legs of the
Canestoga, may be found as ciean as those of a Barb.

We have bred in this country from the best originals ;
and our trotters, including the Morgans and Blackhawks,
owe their speed and endurance entirely to their eastern
blood. Old Messenger one of tke best racers that Eng-
{and ever lost, was introduced inte this country shortly af-
ter the Revolution. He was tke sire of Mambrino, a
thoroughbred trotter, who could knock off a mile in three
minutes in his twenty-first year when I saw him; and ke
transmitted his blood te the famous Lady Suffolk whe
could go the same distance in twe minutes and twenty-
six seconds !

He and she had the hardy grey celor of Gid Messenger
who gave to them the speed and endurance of the trotter ;
while the same Patriarch imparted to Eclipse his swift-
mess as a racer,

Trustee, whe not long ago astonished all England by
going over a course of twenty miles within the hour in
harness, was a son of imported Trustee,—a thorough-
bred race-horse, whose price at one time was three thou-
sand guineas.

Mr. B. of London, when in this country had so streng

40)

a desire to see the animal that performed this feat, that I
took him to his stable in Houston street, where we saw
him harnessed to the baker’s. cart which he daily drew
through the streets of New York.

He was a chestnut, fifteen hands two inches high, and
exactly the kind of horse which we should breed and raise.

During the Canadiam rebellion, the English sent over
to those provinces a considerable body of cavalry. Many
of these horses died on the voyage from stress.of weather,
and they were compelled to mount their men by purchas-
esin New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, all along:
the borders of Canada.

These animals I saw im Montreal im exercise. They
were specimens of the middling sized Morgan, with strik-
ing marks of blood; and Col. Shirley, of the Dragoons:
informed me in 1842, that they were the best cavalry
horses for all work that he bad ever seen ; so good he said,,
that they were not to be sold when the regiment went
home, but to be taken to England for use, as. one would.
take coals. to Newcastle. °

Believe me, gentlemen, we of Rhode Island should
breed our own horses, and breed them larger and better
than we do now. It costs. no more to rear and keep a
good horse than a bad one ; while their relative capacity
for service can scarcely be estimated.

I saw when J was abroad, the horses. of France, and
found they had, amongst others, a middling sized race,,
remarkable for toughness. and condition, which are easily
maintained ; but to improve their breeds the government.
makes constant draughts upon. the English thoroughbreds.

Now, we have no need to go abroad for this kind of stock.

41

As a general rule our roadsters are much better than the
English, and the stories about twelve miles an hour in
post-chaises, as an ordinary pace, are not to be credited.

I found, when in England, that the rate of speed de-
pended upon the roads. From South Hampton to London
you may easily go at the rate of ten or twelve miles an
hour ; but it took four beautiful bays two full hours to
transport myself and four others im a light carriage with-
out luggage, from Dover to Canterbury, a distance of only
eighteen miles; and I bribed the Post Boys ‘at that,”
holding my watch to see what English horses could do om
a hilly road.

Between Hastings and Brighton over the sandy Downs.
and Wolds of Sussex, two horses in the same carriage,
with only three persons in it, could hardly average five
and a half miles the hour ; while I was once taken with
a party, without notice to the proprietors, or preparation
on their part, in a common stage coach, weighing 1800
lbs. from Rochester to Lockport by the way of Lake On-
tario, a distance of 63 miles, in mime hours, with ease. Jfwer

I ‘‘timed”’ the race-horses of England at Goodwood and
at Newmarket ; comparing horses, weights and distances.
with our own, and came to the conclusion that their cours-
ers are not superior to those of America ; while in sazling
all the world knows we can beat ther yachts and ships to
death.

No! gentlemen, you have only to look about,—use the
elements within your grasp and the trotters and gallop-
ers of Rhode Island may be as famous in time to come,
as the pacers of Narragansett once were.

There is a Jackson Morgan in Newport, that may yet
rival the famous Old Snip, who, it is said, when pacing his

43

matches over a certain road, with a bridge twelve feet
wide across it, was never known to touch that bridge with
his foot !

He was caught wild, as the report goes, on the Narra-
gansett shore, and was evidently a descendant of those
Andalusian Barbs which the Spaniards earried to Cuba,
and which our officers probably brought from that Island
upon the return of the ill fated expedition against it in
1741.

And if you rear horses, farmers of Rhode Island, be
sure that you keep them well when young.

The stories of Arab colts, fed until their fourth year up-
on camel’s milk, are a perfect delusion ; animal life can-
not be sustained, expanded and developed except by food
and that bestowed by no sparing hand.

Mr. Burckhardt, the only man who ever traveled in
Syria, Mesopotamia and Arabia, with a competent knowl-
edge of the languages there used, is the author upon
whom I rely in this particular, and he says, ‘‘itis a gen-
eral but erroneous opinion that Arabia is very rich in
horses; but the breed is limited to the extent of fertile
pasture grounds in that country, and it is in such parts
only that horses thrive, while those Bedawins who occupy
districts of poor soil rarely possess any horses.”’

‘*Tt is found accordingly, that the tribes most rich in
horses, are those who dwell in the comparatively fertile
plains of Mesopotamia on the banks of the river Euphra-
tes and in the Syrian plain.”

‘* Horses can there feed for several of the spring months
upon the green grass and herbs produced by the rains in
the valleys and fertile grounds, and sueh food seems ab-

43

solutely necessary for promoting the full-growth of the
horse.”’

‘‘The best pasturage places of Arabia not only
produce the greatest number of horses, but likewise the
finest and most select race.”’

Certainly this must be so, and common sense teaches
what Burckhardt expressly asserts. If you will redeem
your former fame in this regard, Farmers of Rhode Island,
I will for the present take leave of the Horss.

The next sentence in Mr. Buffam’s letter to which I
will call your attention, is the following, full of good sense,
as well as of good taste :

‘¢ Some agricultural writer recommends to farmers—first
‘*to make their farms as productive as they can, then as
**covenient as they can, then as ornamental as they can.
** Tt certainly (adds Mr. Buffam) is well to make a farm
‘*home attractive, so that the sons of farmers may wil-
‘¢ linely continue in the business of farming, and not leave
‘* it for the more shewy but less substantial occupations of
Paliie.’”

One would think, when my neighbor wrote this para-
graph, that he too had been studying the ancients ‘‘ tocram”’
for an agricultural address, for upon the subject of a farm-
home even Cato abandons his cautious parsimony and recom-
mends the residence of the farmer to be made attractive
by every means within his power, as a temptation to fix
him permanently there.

There was an ancient maxim derived from the Cartha-
ginians, that the farm ought to be weaker than the farm-
er, and it was also said, that small possessions well culti-
vated were more productive than large ones neglected.

Columella, a Roman authority, is very choice in the se-

d4

¢

lection of the spot on which to build, both in reference to
health and beauty ; only he recommends that the house
be not near the high-road, lest all the idle acquaintances
of the proprietor should be dropping in, and so interrupt
the occupations of the farm. In this particular my neigh-
bor has not followed Columella’s advice in all respects, for
although his residence is upon a spot eminent for health
and beauty, yet it is placed very near the high-road, as
if its purpose was to cause all his acquaintances to pause
at the door.

‘* Encourage,”’ says Mr. Buffam, ‘‘ the land-owners on
‘*the Island to ornament the roads by a row of trees on
‘each side as tending to health, pleasure and comfort,
‘*and largely increasing the value of the land when of-
‘* fered for sale. Fruit trees, particularly pear and cher-
‘‘ry are ornamental, and they grow well on the Island,
‘*andif the land owners generally would set cherry trees
‘* freely, we might have cherries in abundance as formerly.”

‘* ifty years ago I suppose there was no place in the
** United States where pears and cherries of the best kinds
‘* were so plentiful as on this Island. Make the roads good
‘** and ornament with trees, and then the term Garden of
‘* America might truly apply ’’; and with these beauti-
ful thoughts, my neighbor closes his communication, in
itself an excellent address for an occasion like this.

It is quite true that this Island was formerly clothed
with trees, which were at once its pride, its glory, and
its ornament ; but the ruthless hand of war laid them all
low, and after the departure of the British army, our fa-
thers had not the heart to begin replantation, while their
children were crying for bread.

But we are bound to restore the land to its former con-

45

dition in this respect ; for we are here in the midst of
smiling peace, entirely secure in the possession of our
prosperity.

We have merely to resolve and the thing is done. What
Mr. Buffam proposes in theory, he and his neighbor Mr.
Bailey have carried out in practice, and both sides of the
road, all along in the neighborhood of their farms are now
bristling with trees planted by their care.

Specimens of those choice cherries already referred to,
now grace the highway on the north side of Mr. Buffam’s
land ; and there is no reason why noble rows of pears, of
apples, of chestnuts and of walnuts, as well as of cher-
ries, should not ornament all our thoroughfares, from the
Court House even to the Ferry.

When Verrazano was in Newport in April and May,
1524, he found our Islands covered with large and lofty
trees; with oaks, he says, with cypresses and many un-
known in Europe. He found also apples, plums, filberts
and other fruits ; but differing from those of the eastern
continent.

Here also were stags, linxes, deer and otlier animals in
large numbers, all of which have passed away with the
trees of the forest. The wind no longer sighs through
their leaves, or whistles through their branches, but rush-
ing in its unchecked career, it strikes against our naked
hill-sides, and pours down upon our valleys.

Farmers of Rhode Island shall this continue to be so in
all time to come ? Shall not some part of the nakedness
of the land be hidden by those rows and plantations of
trees which were once our boast, and may be again by
your helping hands ?

46

A few autumnal days given by each and all of us would
in a short time accomplish this noble object. The weary
traveller might then rest his exhausted steeds beneath a
lofty elm planted for their protection. The way-farer pas-
sing along the roadside, would find delicious fruits, of
many kinds, presenting their Jucy pulps especially for his
refreshment. With his healthful repast we should receive
his blessing ; while he would cast his eyes backward in
grateful remembrance of those thoughtful men, whose un-
selfish kindness had looked to posterity, as well as to
themselves.

There is atiother cognate topic, touched upon by the
gentleman who addressed you last year, and who has re-
quested me to present it again for your consideration ; it
is the preservation of birds,—the beautiful songsters of
those very groves, to be hereafter planted by your gener-
ous care,

The farmer of Vaucluse, is filled with all manner of
kindly sympathies which he does not seek to repress. On
the occasion of a visit to him, I was looking at the stores
of corn-fodder laid up for his cattle, and modestly suggest-
ed the use of a cutter, as a proper instrument for the pre-
paration of their food. It is a good machine, said he, but
dangerous where there are children, and mine would be
sure to cut their fingers off with it. We then passed to
the ravine, and I casually observed that a dam across it
would throw back a fine sheet of water, which would be
a beautiful object. That is true, he replied, but the child-
ren would be in danger of drowning there, and I shall
not think of it. We then walked into the pasture where
I found cows without horns, and I asked why the polled

47

kind was preferred? Why, said he, I see no tse it
horns, and they might zl my children, while those with-
out horns are tlieir playmates. Why should we cultivate
eattle with horns ?

I could not repress a smile at all this caution; but I
respected it as the offspring of gentle thoughts end a hu-
mane heart; and he it was, who interposed to save the
warblers which his children delight to feed.

You have laws upon this subject which all are bound to
respect, but which are defied and disregarded by some.

There is an act upon your statute book entitled «an
act for the preservation of useful birds.’”’? And which are
the birds declared useful by law? They are ‘ larks, robe
ins, wood-ducks, grey or black ducks, partridges, quails,
woodcocks, snipes, grouse and plover.”’

The object of these laws is, to preserve those feathered
races, during the time they are rearing their young, which
of course every reasonable man would do, even if he were
eruel. But why should birds of song be ever destroyed ?
Why should the migratory thrush, which is generally
called the robin; be the object of slaughter? He is your
companion throughout the year, unless the winter be un-
usually severe ; the first to greet you in the spring, your
cheerful, social, confiding friend during the summer and
the last to desert you at the end of autumn. THe builds
his nest in your orchards and upon your fence rails. Why
will you permit your children to tear it down in mere
wantonness and the love of purposeless havoc ?

The Meadow Lark makes vocal your fields during the
whole of October and November, when the blasts of the
north have sent away the warblers, the vireos, the Bob 0’
Lincolns, the finches, the eatbirds and song thrushes te

48

the milder climes of the south for warmth and protection
Even the rapacious birds do little or no harm with us. The
little Screetch-Owl amuses our autumnal evenings with
his mellow, though somewhat mournful notes. The grace-
ful Harrier, balanced on equal wing, sweeps over your
meadows and swamps, seeking for rats, for frogs, for
mice, snakes and other vermin of a like loathsome chars
acter. Gunner! why should you strike down this crea-
ture which God has made so beautiful and brave, for the
mere purpose ef exhibiting your cruel skill? In winter,
when pressed by hunger he may take a chicken from your
yard, or a pigeon from your dove-cote, but upon the
whole he dees you more good than harm.

And so do all the worm-eating and insect=catching
birds, including even the Woodpeckers who bore into your
old apple trees. They are seeking for food, deadly to the
tree, beneath the bark, and you may well allow them to
pursue their useful employments. The black ducks,
the woodcocks, the snipes, the Virginia rails, and the
meadow larks all make their nests, in each returning sum-
mer, upon my lands, almost under my own eyes; and shall
{ most inhospitably reftise them admittance and give them
over to the spoiler? Forbid it generosity ; forbid it all
ye gentle elements of the human character.

But, you say, the robins eat wp my cherries and destroy
my strawberries. Well, let them, if we cannot have the
sweet songsters upon any other terms. Iset them eat up
the cherries and strawberries and welcome, for they pay
us in music. Welcome to the trees and vines which I in-
tend to plant to intice them to my home. Come in and
partake with us. Don’t gather all if you please, but
take without stint, and let me see you again as Lhave of=

49

fen seen you in former days, drop a ripe cherry into the
mouths of your callow young.

Come ye Ospreys and take your scaly prey before my
eyes, and with your ‘‘sail-broad vans’’ beat up into the
wind’s eye, to carry food to your nests in the wood. You
have as good a right as I have, to take the treasures of
the deep for your own use, and you disturb me not in my
possessions or enjoyment. ‘True it is, I once saw an en-
vious Eagle plunge down from on high and rob you of the
fruit of your labor, while you affrighted fled to the shelter
of a tree. But the Bird of Jove is an imperial robber
and does not even say ‘‘ by your leave,’’ although he too
is generally innocent of injury to man.

Come ye Bob-o’-Lincolns and poise yourselves upon a
single stalk of timothy, causing it to sway to and fro by
the weight of your tiny bodies, yet giving sufficient sup-
port, while the full-hearted song of your happiness comes
gushing from your musical throats.

If no one else will protect you, come to Malbone Farm
and we will give you shelter there. Come all ye gentle
songsters and harmless birds to us, and you shall be pro-
tected while within the boundaries under my control. The
law is on our side; the right is on ourside ; humanity is
on our side, and where I have power “‘ vainly the fowler’s
** eye shall mark thy flight to do thee wrong.”

Farmers of Rhode Island, will you join me in this pleas-
ant employment of saving alive, instead of destroying?
If you will not, I appeal then to your mothers, your sis-
ters, your wives and your daughters, and to them I shall
not appeal in vain; and if I can but get the gentler sex
upon my side, why the men may be defied, and I will
proclaim to all the birds of the air that they are safe,

50

And now my follow farmers, upon leave taking, let me
say a word or two as to the peculiarity of our pursuit, its.
importance, its dignity and its consolations.

I know something of the value of your occupations, by
their strong contrast with all those of my former life. It
is true that you are exposed, like the rest of the world to
the vicissitudes of fortune, for ‘‘Paul may plant and Ap-
‘*pollos water, but it is God alone that giveth the in-
“* crease.’? You are dependent in some degree upon sun--
shine and upon cloud ; upon the blasts of winter, and the -
fickle summer’s changes; and yet, after all, Mazzaroth is :
always brought forth in his season by him who guideth
Arcturus and his sons. ‘‘ For he saith to the snow be
‘¢thou on the earth, likewise to the small rain, and the
‘ creat rain of his strength.’’ ‘* Out of the South cometh
‘“*the whirlwind, and cold out of the North;’’ but not-
withstanding all this, the dews. of heaven descend gently
upon the waste earth and ‘‘ cause the bud of the tender
‘* herb to spring forth.”’

You are as little subject to accident and chance as any
persons in this life can be ; and your pursuits always the -
same, are agreeably diversified by experiment and its re-
sults. When the labors of the day are closed, you can.
lie down to undisturbed sleep, without those engrossing »
anxieties which haunt the merchant, the physician and
the lawyer. You have no ‘‘ Argosies at sea,’’ no sick
and wearisome patients, no clients to tax your energies
and demand the exertion of every faculty with a cruel
tension. You know when your work is done. The phy-
sician and the lawyer never know that ; but the minutes
of your slumber are the hours, of their. watchfulness and
never-ending care. You have time to think, to consider, .

51

to compare, and your most serious labors are performed,
thank God, under the pure canopy of Heaven, where
‘your eyes may wander and take in all the beautiful works
of his creation. The fair sun is above you in the sum-
mer, and the harvest moon sheds its soft radiance upon
the gathering in of your crops; health is in the breeze,
a fair reward in prospect, and you need not envy the oc-
cupations of any other class of men. Your business
draws you away from the temptations, the arts and chi-
canery of traffic, of contract and of sordid-gain ; so great
that Solomon exclaimed ‘‘ how can there be honesty be-
“* tween buying and selling ?’’

Cicero was of opinion that if a merchant satiated, or
rather satisfied with just profits, were to leave the sea and
make the harbor, and from thence invest his money in
lands, he would be deserving of commendation. For,
says he ‘‘of all gainful possessions, nothing is better,
nothing more pleasing, nothing more delightful, nothing
better becomes a well-bred man than agriculture.”’

We are told by the same author, the greatest and wisest
of all the ancients, that Cyrus presented himself to Ly-
sander the Lacedemonian, as the Persian farmer, that
it might be understood that nothing to him appeared so
royal as the study of husbandry.’ And the Carthaginians
had a maxim to this effect, that he to whose heart a city
abode lies close, has no need of a country estate.

The most distinguished men of this nation have been
farmers, and the illustrious Washington, except when
called by duty from his home to defend and direct his
country’s destinies, knew no other pursuit. While at the
head of power his private letters shew that his heart was

52

at Mount Vernon, and he longed to lay his weary head
beneath its peaceful shades.

Jefferson was a farmer ; Madison was a farmer, and
Webster was a farmer. As such, the ‘‘ great orator’’
was exceedingly well informed, both by books, by obser-
vation and by practice, and I have heard him express the
wish that it might be his lot at some time, never to leave
the borders of Marshfield, and the quiet scenes he there
enjoyed, and which he always loved so much.

As your employments are full of dignity, so are they
full of importance. Without your labors, civilized man
cannot exist, and society would be compelled to go back
to the savage state from which it emerged, and depend
upon the bow, the barbed hook and the spear. Garments
from South Downs would give place to skins of animals,
and all cultivated nature, now so rich and beautiful,
would be overgrown with weeds and choked up by wild
and noxious plants.

You are here then upon this earth for a noble purpose.
It is to improve and adorn it, and make it that glorious
planet for which it was designed by its Creator.

You are here also as patriots; for the land-owner has
a fire-side and a home to love, to preserve and forever de-
fend. Your walks in your fields are none the less pleas-
ant that they are made upon your own grounds, and that
which you hold you will not be likely to give up, that the
stranger may possess it with a strong hand.

Your pursuits have also a tendency to purify the heart,
while they clear and exalt the understanding, for a farm-
er should have no debasing thoughts or groveling desires.
He deals with creation, simple pure and beautiful, and

53

there he finds no warrant for depravity or the indulgerice of
unworthy passions. The young farmer too, has a vast ad-
vantage over a professional man in this, that he can come
to a competent knowledge of the business of his life at a
comparatively early period. With his majority, his career
is to begin, and he may then be full fledged for the flight
which takes him out into the world ; and in later life
when it is time to think of something besides the cares of
business, the advantages of a rural life begin.
“¢T look’’ says Addison, ‘‘ upon the pleasure which we

** take in a garden, as one of the most innocent delights
‘*in human life. A garden was the habitation of our
‘¢ first parents before the fall. Itis naturally apt to fill
‘¢ the mind with calmness and tranquility, and to lay all
‘¢its turbulent passions at rest. It gives us a great in-
‘* sight into the contrivance and wisdom of Providence
‘¢ and suggests innumerable subjects for meditation.’’

If this be justly said of a garden, and who can doubt
it, how much more appropriate is it, when predicated of a
farm, of which the garden is only apart. Every farmer
has his garden, but all gardeners have not farms.

Again, Agriculture is the appropriate employment of
declining years ; for it may be pursued to the very end
of life. Not so the occupations of professional men, for they
will find when the strength of their days is gone by, that
younger and stouter rivals will hasten their descent, as
they are traveling the downward slope of hostile rivalry.

I heard a short time ago, of a question put to one of
the most energetic and prosperous merchants of New York,
now in full career and who in age is approaching very
nearly to four-score years. He was asked when he in-

54

tended to retire from business? ‘* Retire ?’’ said he,
«¢ why should I retire ? where should I retire? and to
what ? Did you ever know a Farmer to retire ? ”’

Here gentlemen is one of your consolations. You pursue
an occupation so natural to man, that he can follow it all
his days with undiminshed satisfaction. He has no rea-
sons for asking ‘* to what shall J retire ?’’ for he is in the
possession of that enjoyment which furnishes no solace to
the rich merchant who cherishes no taste for country life,
and finds no pleasure but in the excitement of gain and
the busy hum of reeking wharves and crowded counting-
houses.

He cannot say with Cicero, ‘‘ I come now to the pleas-
‘‘ures of husbandmen with which I am_ exceedingly
‘* pleased, which are not checked by any old age, and ap-
‘* pear in my mind to make the nearest approach to the
‘life of a wise man. For they have relation to the Earth
‘* which never refuses command and never returns with-
“* out interest that which it hath received: and yet for
my part it is not only the product, but the virtue and na-
‘* ture of the earth itself which delight me, which when
‘** in its softened and subdued bosom, it has received the
** scattered seed, first confines what is hidden within it ;
‘* then when warmed by heat and its own compression,
** it spreads it out and elicits from it the verdant blade,
‘* which supported by the fibres of the roots gradually
‘* grows up, and rising on a jointed stalk, is now enclosed
‘*in a sheath, out of wihch it pours forth the fruit of the
‘* ear, piled in due order, and guarded by a rampart of
‘* beards against the pecking of the smaller birds. Why
‘* should I, in the case of vines, tell of the plantings, the
‘* yisings and the stages of growth ? That you may know

5d

‘‘the repose and amusement of my age, I assure you
‘* T can never have enough of that gratification. Nothing
‘*can be more rich in‘use or elegant in appearance than
‘* eround well tilled, to the enjoyment of which old age is
**so far from being an obstacle that it is even an invita-
*¢ tion and allurement.’’

The Farmer has resources then, which are denied to
people in other occupations ;—he has that which cloys
not with time nor satiates by possession. His amuse-
ments too are connected with his employments and all
these may be enjoyed on this Island, and around it ina
perfection rarely united on the face of the earth.

Nothing can exceed the beauty of our natural scenery.
Its combination of land and sea, of hill and dale, of wind-
ing paths and devious walks, of healthful breeze and
basking sunshine, cannot be found anywhere but within
the clasping waters of our glorious Narragansett Bay.

Here you are and here you sit secure. Your acres are
your own. Your household gods are in your homes.
Your hearts are fixed upon the prosperity of your country,
and may God give you many days to possess and enjoy
all the blessings he has bestowed upon this fair and most
favored land.

¥ a roost to twee
eget ters: eh ai wl

| sa So
ee ap
“ey oid Tait ogeh Tbe" i ;
chop MLE fei? fy eny wif we) iy

ih lite BPE pra tid de Op"
eit Te Fetes > igual vid on Ne :
ne Pra 7B gihites alt oo Tadley View of
+ been Reuataa shee tee aried? bP hie fia re isi
{ _ fh oT ] — * on Pitaw Neral tee obit —

vesud Faliiearl Te leer ered hr
- i pay tach orb ary i rice yeh) Semetare permdin.

+> a ‘
i coe, epolpehe ta Te aesdiers gna
r Sie pry papal ne 4s hore
~— ,
hayes hiailoss Ose: te y phic
ie" Ai ih ty
: ‘ “iV tyet ti scale (Vest Abie ah
x i‘. p oan
sv yr nie TeVye qe how
Sito, | sesh Moe Janrgh 0 ,
‘ 7
Jot uit,
a
=
4 |