Address before the Essex Agricultural Society

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ADDRESS

BEFORE THE

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BY

GEORGE B. LORING.

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PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY.

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3 | NEWBURYPORT :
HERALD JOB PRESS—COR. STATE & MIDDLE STS.

1858.

Essex Agricultural Society,

ADDRESS

BEFORE THE

Essex Agricultural Society,

GHORGH B. LORING.

01
IPUBLISHED BY ORDER .OF THE SOCLE Ty,
DECEMBER, 18 5:8:

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NEWBURYPORT :
‘HERALD JOB PRESS—COR. STATE & MIDDLE ‘STS.
1858.

ADDRESS,
BY GHORGE B. LORIN G&G.

Poe)

Wr. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF TEE Society -:—

A refulgent and luxuriant summer has brought us te
that bounteous harvest season in which we are accustomed to
‘come up to our annual festival, and take counsel together of our
experiences in agriculture. We have indeed abundant reason
to be grateful to an overruling Providence, which has smiled
upon our endeavors, and has taught us, in a time of distrust
and disaster, how true the earth and sky are to the olden
promises.

But I should fail to express the foremost thought of every
member of our society, did I neglect to dwell upon that be-
reavement which is brought before us most sorrowfully on this
day, and on this occasion. In the midst of all our rejoicings
and congratulations, there is one void which rests with a pain-
ful sense upon all who have devoted themselves to our frater-
nity. The place once filled by one of our most worthy Presi-
dents, the Hon. Moses Newell, is now vacant. The manly and
hearty enthusiasm which he imparted to our annual meetings,
is gone. And it remains for us as a part of our duty, to emu-
late his example, and to sustain with his spirit the work which
belongs to us as associated farmers of this his native county,
for he was essentially the impersonation of the duty which we
hhaye taken upon ourselves. A farmer, born upon our soil, ‘he

4 LR. LORING’S ADDRESS,

learned in his infancy the true genius of a farmer’s life, and asx
he advanced to manhood, he grew in mind and body to the
robust proportions demanded by the farmer’s calling. Hisown
lands were large, and the place was early assigned him of high
authority in all matters of agriculture. He had a quick and
sagacious eye, and a calm and correct judgment. A natural
instinet seemed to direct his views aright, and from his genial
and generous temperament, there went ous a kindly interest
in all agricultural enterprise, and a warm encouragement for
all who were engaged in the work he loved so well. He may
truly be called the public farmer of our county, for to him,
of all men among us, was the public attention directed, when-
ever questions arose of general interest to the cause of agri-
culture. It was he who was selected to distribute among us
improved breeds of cattle. It was he who spoke for our soci-
ety in the State Board of Agriculture. It was he who repre-
sented our county honorably and well in the National Society:
It was he who charmed the great farmers of the south and
west by the cordial liberality of his feelings, and by the honest
wisdom which characterized his thoughts. He had secured the
warmest friendship of the late distinguished senator from the
young and growing state of Texas, and in his intercourse with.
that liberal and sagacious statesman he seemed to cherish that
tie which binds cur ancient commonwealth in indissoluble
bonds with the great agricultural regions which send from our.
farthest frontiers the vigor of perpetual youth to our mature
republic. He bestowed upon our society and upon our county
the benefit of his good reputation abroad, and of his good
counsels at home. And while he served his state in her highest
seats with honor, while he performed the part of a peaceable,
honest and good tempered citizen, while he exercised those
domestic virtues which are too sacred to be torn from the spot
in which they were cherished, even for public admiration, while.
he displayed in all his duties an intellectual strength and pre-
cision which education alone cannot give, while he carried with
him the harmonious influence of a truly kind heart, while he
invigorated every public act in which he was engaged, while
he encouraged a spirit of enterprise and improvement, while he
abored always first for the good of others, he won a position.

MB. LORING’S ADDRESS. o>
of high value and commanding excellence, asa sensible, liberal,
honest and high-toned American farmer.

His services to our society can never be forgotten. What-
ever station he was called on to fill, he filled it with fidelity.
In our ranks he was a good soldier; and in presiding over
our society, he was indeed in every point the farmer deliberat-
ing with his brethren.

It is not for him alone that I look around me in vain. Since
we last met, my native town has been deprived of one of its
most useful and exemplary citizens, and our society has lost one
of its oldest and most valuable members. The Hon. William
Johnson, of North Andover, has left behind him a reputation
as-an honest and upright magistrate, a conscientious and trust-
worthy adviser, and a prudent and thriving farmer. He
belonged to a family distinguished for its substantial virtues,
and in sustaining its character he performed his partwell. He
was one of a race of staunch and sturdy men, who, during the
last generation, stood around the institutions of our community
and of our common country, to protect and elevate them. He
was a warm friend, an agreeable companion, a kind and liberal
neighbor. The last acts of his life indicated his just apprecia-
tion of the means by which society is to be preserved and
improved. As amember of our Board of Trustees, he took a
high stand at a time when his associates were men who adorned
our country ; and he never lost that interest in our association
which had led him through a long and active life to encourage
the pursuits of agriculture.

I have felt that I cannot pay a more fitting tribute to the
memory of these, our late companions, nor occupy your time
more appropriately and profitably, than by considering the
duties and opportunities which belong to us as an agricultural.
society.

Now, gentlemen, it was not simply to excite a.spirit of emu-
lation in the farmers of this county, it was not to create a.
rivalry here which might end in enriching the soil and embit-
tering the people, it was not to record a chapter of fortunate
accidents, a long list of mammoth fruits and monster animals,
it was not to encourage an ill-regulated and unprofitable strife
for excellence, that our fathers founded this society in which we

6 MR. LORING’S ADDRESS.

take pride, as in a rich inheritance. Do you suppose the wise
and practical patriot and statesman, whose lofty duties in the
‘service of his country, established an intimacy between the
planter of Mount Vernon and the farmer of Wenham, which
‘gave a glowing dawn to our rising republic, and shed the
‘golden sunset hues of these great lives over American agricul-
ture, had no higher aim than this, when he gave the first impulse
‘to our foundation? It was the recorded experience of more
‘than a quarter of a century which he desired to accumulate,
‘and we are now living to enjoy the realization cf those hopes
with which his mind was filled. His dreams are our realities.
Year after year the work has been going on, until the farmers
‘of this county have the classics and text-books of their educa-
tion in the pages of your transactions. Here, on this very
soil, those facts have been gathered, which are important te
the daily life of every man who dwells upon this same corner
of the earth, and under this same arch of the sky. Could
those men, who, when this society was formed, felt that a clay
farm was a reproach and a stumbling block to agriculture,
whose chiefest agricultvral skill consisted in selecting the
‘choicest soils, whose knowledge of manures extended hardly
beyond their own barn yards, whose surface drainage destroyed
the symmetry of their “meadows and fields,” whose machinery
‘consisted in the intelligence and untiring industry of the farm
labor of those days, and whose success in agricuiture in spite
of all obstacles, should teach us a most encouraging lesson,
could those men have pondered over the record of under-drain-
ing and deep ploughing, could they have studied the experi-
ments made with all the fertilizers which sea and land have
furnished from their ample stores, could they have learned how
labor may be lightened and all farming operations be facilitated
by labor saving machines, could their thoughts have been stim-
ulated and instructed by the records of this society, if by noth-
ing more, would not the dark corners in which they were erop-
ing have been filled with the light of noon-day ? If the wheel
of time could be reversed, and, waking them from their long
sleep, could carry back to them the knowledge which we pos-
‘sess, were it only that rudely raked together in our own little
circle, the design of our socicty would seem to them almost
more than fulfilled.

MR. LORING’S ADDRESS, ZF
For I look upon an agricultural society as in the highest
sense an agricultural school, in which all are teachers, and all’
are pupils. And in this lies its most important duty. The.
best professor of agricultural chemistry, is he who comes em-
browned from the compost heap, which by judicious application
has forced a hundred bushels.of corn from cach of his well cul-
tivated acres. The best teacher of the art of tilling the soil,
is he, who has by long experience become acquainted with the
habits of plants, from their tenderest infancy to the ripened
harvest. The best expounder of agricultural truths, is he who
has learned by diligence and perseverance, with a liberal and
enquiring mind, what those economies are which give success.
to the farmer. The best farmer is he, who, while he becomes:
intimate with the laws of nature, and learns her mysteries so.
far as she will reveal them, has a quick eye for those useful
discoveries and inventions which the ingenuity of man is con-
stantly laying at the feet of agriculture. And herein lies the:
great end of agricultural education, get it where you will, from
the school, or the club, or from those societies which excite:
investigation and experiment by the stimulus of competition.
And itis difficult for agricultural education to go further..
For agriculture has not yet become a fixed science. The as-
tronomer calculates the courses of the stars, and runs his eye
with unerring precision alone those erratic orbits which are
traversed but once in centuries. The chemist reduces the solid.
earth, the waters, and the invisible air to their original ele-
ments, and learns the hidden affinities with the certainty of law..
But for the farmer “ the wind bloweth where it listeth. Thow
hearést the sound thereof, but thou canst not tell whence it
cometh or whither it goeth.” The soils submit patiently to the:
most searching analyses, bet they baffle all inquiry into that
secret principle of life which the art of man has never reached,.
and which is known only to those acute and delicate investiga-
tors, whose thousand fibres draw forth that sustenance which.
gives stature to the mountain pine, and clothes the valleys with.
their living verdure. Men begin to vaunt themselves upon their.
success in supplying the human race with food, when a mysteri-.
ous disease invades one great staple of their productions, and;
year after year rolls on without revealing to the anxious explor-.

B MR. LORING’S ADDRESS.

er the slightest remedy. One of the illustrious minds of the
age applies the full power of science to supplying the deficien-
cies of every soil, and to furnishing each plant with its own
peculiar food, but is finally obliged to acknowledge, that the
relation existing between the earth and the fruits thereof, is
not to be reached by any human power. The changing seasons
send abroad their decrees, the winds exert their influences, the
sun comes forth on its errand, night shuts down over the earth,
the rain and the dews descend, ‘heat and cold come in their
appointed times, the earth goes on with its silent changes, all
warning man that not as a dictator, but as a patient and willing
servant can he hope to reap that reward which the soil will
always yield.

The science of agriculture is therefore of all sciences the
most uncertain, whenever you would pass beyond the bounds
of actual experience. The details of farming may indeed be
taught. The use of the implements of husbandry is something
that must be learned. <A knowledge of the proper rotation of
crops, and of the adaptation of soils to the vegetable kingdom,
comes from teaching and observation. The rules applicable to
the proper proportions of animals may be got in the schools.
Building and draining and planting and fertilizing, may all be
instilled into the mind, until the student of agriculture may go
forth ready to subdue the hardest soil, and filled with tastes
which will make his farm agreeable to the eye, as well as an
addition to the wealth of the community. So far perhaps
agriculture may be made a science. And so far, an agricul-
tural society is capable of furnishing the principles of that
science.

In such a school as this, who are the professors and teach-
ers? Is not every member who contributes his mite to the
treasury of knowledge? Ihave seen a young man in our own
county who by care and diligence and skill and method, has
procured year after year, from soil yielding previously hardly
enough to pay its taxes, a crop of turnips which gave hima
handsome annual income. Is not this young man a good
teacher in the science of agriculture? Ihave seen one of the
most thriving towns in this section of the state enriched, until
its whole population appears to be elevated above the thought

MR. LORING’S ADDRESS..- 9

ef want, by a skilful devotion to its onion crop. Have the
farmers of that town no claims to be considered capable pro-
fessors in the school of agriculture? I have known an old
orchard not far from us, to be brought from a state of almost
hopeless decay and barrenness, to the most abundant bearing,
by patient and continued cultivation. Is not this actual fact,
established here in our own borders, a lesson which every
farmer in this county can learn, and by which. he can profit ?
I have admired from my childhood the fruitful fields, and the
agricultural system of an ample farm in one of your towns,
and have learned from it that there is in our own population,
a capacity for farming which is surpassed in no section of our
country. I have thought a better agricultural school than this
farm could not be found. I have before me also, that most
valuable of all citizens, one of what are called the yeomanry
of our country. A farmer, born and educated to his calling,
and filled with determination to discharge his duty well. The
virtues of a New England home gave tone and direction to his
earliest impulses. The sharp and bracing air of his native
hills nerved his arm, and knit his manly frame into that sturdy:
symmetry which his destiny demands. Amidst the conflicts
and trials, amidst the joys and sports of the district school, he
dlai the foundation of his knowledge, without advancing into
that realm of letters which is beset with the snares of ambi-
tion, and is surrounded by all the temptations which the high
mountains of society are sure to reveal. The great book of
nature lies always open before him, and the relation which
exists between the earth and its cultivator is the first lesson
he learns from its pages. The capacity of his native soil
becomes as familiar to his growing eye as the careworn form
of his industrious father, from whom he learns year by year the
practical business of agriculture. Among the animals of the
farm he walks supreme and applies an unerring instinct to his
estimate of their quality, and to the work of rendering them
obedient to his will. He learns not only the art of tilling the
earth, but the demands of the community in which he lives ;.
and as he advances to that position which he is born to fill, he
finds that the experience of his fathers, and the recorded trials
of his neighbors, constitute that science mitich he is most eager

10 iiR. LORING’S ADDRESS.

to learn. As he goes on in life,a busy world responds to his
enquiries. The agricultural societies, which, in the best farm:
‘ing countries ‘in the old world and the new, are founded for
the benefit of all men like himself, pour forth their treasures at
his feet. Subjected to his treatment, his ancestral acres unfold
mew riches at his hands, and he becomes, as he goes on in
life, the impersonation of successful, economical, progressive
‘agriculture. Will not this man, as a member of our society,
‘serve as a teacher of the best truths of agricultural scicnce ?
As he returns, day by day “ warworn and weary” from his con-
test with nature, does he not accumulate practical wisdom,
which, if imparted, will lighten the load man is forced to
‘carry in every occupation in this toilsome world?

In estimating as I do, the value of the farmer as a teacher of
agriculture, both in his private capacity and as an active member
of asociety, I would not be understood as opposed to agricul-
tural schools and colleses. There is no royal road to learning
in any of its branches. I have no doubt that a thorough agri-
‘cultural education would save much misapplied time and labor
and capital. I have no doubt that it would accelerate the pro-
‘gress of agriculture. I can easily imagine the effect it would
have upon the farming interests of our own county, not only by
the universal influence it would exercise, but by the stimulus
it would give the leading and prominent members of the pro-
fession. It would make the good farmers better, and the poor
ones good. And I can easily understand tke advantages which
those practical teachers of agriculture whom I have designated,
might have derived from a thorough knowledge of the general
principles taught in schools, not only by means of the actual
acquirements and the increased wisdom given by culture, but
also by means of that freedom from prejudice and that liberal
spirit of enquiry and ‘progress which lie at the foundation of all
true success, and have enriched and elevated mankind by the
patient toils of invention, and by the brilliant and startling
achievements of discovery, and which education alone can give.

‘But then, gentlemen, comes the immense power of example.
Why, 1 can take you to sections of your own county, where
the quiet and unobtrusive efforts of a sagacious, industrious,
prudent farmer have operated, like contagion upon all about

MR. LORING’S ADDRESS. ik

him, until he has become one of a community of thriving far-
mers. His well cultivated and fruitful fields, his carefully
pruned orchards laden with fruit, his thrifty and profitable cat-
ile, his well ordered buildings, his walls and fences a protec-
tion to his lands, all lie like an open book before his neighbors,
so that “he who runs may read.” His farm isa treatise on,
agriculture which every man can comprehend, and which all
men delight to study. And as he presents himself with the
fruits of his industry at the annual exhibition of this Society,
he does more than books and essays, more than schools and
colleges, to awaken the agricultural ambition, and to advance.
the farming interests of this community. He is every day
teaching by example, and is illustrating, moreover, that view
which I have taken of an agricultural society as one of the
best of agricultural schools.

That this kind of teaching is not in vain, let us look over
this little section of the country, which contains the farming:
interest represented by this society. Here in Essex county,
we have every kind of industry to tempt us away from agri-
eulture. A long line of sea-coast, with good harbors, has been
made famous in the history of commerce by the enterprise of
our citizens, who swept the remotest seas when navigation was:
in its infancy, and it has been made illustrious in the annals
of our country by the patriotic daring which gave our navy a
name among the nations of the earth. Upon the banks of our.
rivers and sireams, the capital of the manufacturer has built as
it were with a magician’s wand, the thronged and busy palaces
of his trade. The mechanic arts have peopled our villages
and planted their shops along all our beautiful highways ;
and yet in this county enclosing four large cities, flourishing
towns, busy villages, with every inducement to neglect the.
soil, our people have taken a high stand as intelligent and
enterprising farmers. In the cultivation of root crops and
vegetables we have not been surpassed, as the premiums.
awarded at the last horticultural exhibition in Boston will tes-
tify. The largest recorded amount of carrots upon an acre
were raised in this very town where Iam now speaking. No-
where has the onion been cultivated with more skill and profit
than on these fields directly about us. The application of sea-

12 MR. LORING’S ADDRESS.

manure of all descriptions to the soil, has been carried to the
highest perfection along our coast. Some of the best experi-
ments in improving cattle and sheep have been made upon our
farms. In horticulture and pomology the names of Cabot,
and Manning and Ives, are quoted as authority. Whoever has
heard of the liberaland energetic President of our’ Society,
knows that at Lynmere there is a growth of forest trees
planted by his hand, which is almost unequalled as “a thing of
beauty,” and as a triumph of skill over a hard and sterile soil.
I can show you on the shore of Beverly, the best arranged
farm buildings that can be found perhaps in New Hngland,
taking them together ; and you will find there as choice a col-
lection of cows as can be seen anywhere, and I think decidedly
the finest Suffolks and flock of Dorkings that can be found this
side of the royal farm at Windsor, from whence they came.
Not far from us, overlooking our very show ground is a green-
house and grapery, which Mr. Paxton might envy, even among
the costly edifices of his lordly master at Chatsworth. Our
experiments in under-draining have become so extensive, that
a manufactory of tiles has been established in the county. At
a trial of mowing machines during the past summer, on my
farm, six different inventions were brought upon the ground
almost at a day’s warning, and since that time, two others have
been sent to me for introduction to our farmers who are becom-
ing proverbial for their enterprise in the use of machinery.
We have at our exhibition to-day, one of only two tedders that
have been imported into this country—a machine which in the
simple matter of spreading hay, is of inestimable value to
every farmer who would secure this important crop thoroughly,
rapidly and economically.

I will not say that all these agricultural improvements, these
indications of an agricultural ambition among us, have been
brought about by our society—but I am proud to say there is
not one of them which has not been encouraged by its liberal-
ity. The competition it has excited in mowing machines alone,
has aided in a very great degree, the development of an instru-
ment of labor from one degree of perfection to another, until
our farmers have the prospect before them of being able to
resign the seythe with all its hard toil, and with the constantly

MR. LORING’S ADDRESS. 13

yacreasing expense attending its use. And will our horticul-
turists, our breeders of cattle, our reclaimers of waste lands,
our cultivators of field crops say that they have not been
stimulated by our society and enlightened by its publications ?
For myself, I believe it has become an institutien which our
farmers would not resign. I know that the associations which
cluster about it, bringing to cur minds} as they do the pleasant
memories ef cur annual intercourse with each other, and con-
nected as they are with the industrial pursuits of our wives
and daughters, whose handiwork has given a peculiar charm
to our exhibitions, are dear to us all. I value the knowledge
it has accumulated, gathered together as it has been with the
products of our own soil, as of priceless value to every enter-
prising and enquiring Essex county farmer.

I consider therefore this collection of practical knowledge,
as one of the highest duties our society has to perform. I
would have it continued by every means within our power,
consistent with prudence and economy. We may rely upon it,
that the general elevation of egriculture here, will be more
promoted by this, than by any endowment of schools and
colleges ; for while these develop the faculties of the few, the
efforts and influences of our society may be made to reach the
humblest farmer who is striving to make the most of his single
talent. I am confident that by a faithful discharge of this
duty, we shall find our whole farming community advancing in
intelligence and prosperity, and developing those resources
which lie hidden in our soil. And I am encouraged to believe
this, when I look abroad and see what other similiar associa-
tions have done, and what they indicate. In England, where
agriculture has reached a degree of perfection unknown else-
where, the greatest attention is paid to agricultural societies.
There are but dive agricultural colleges, and even these are
buried in comparative obscurity, while the meetings of the
Royal Agricultural Society are thronged by an interested
crowd of husbandmen, who have felt the effects of this noble
institution upon all their interests. In 1857, the number of
visitors to the show at Salisbury amounted to over thirty-five
thousand, all learners in a school which first roused the English
mind to the true value of artificial manures, to the necessity of

T+ MR. LORING’S ADDRESS...

under-drainage, to the importance of a thorough and’ carefal
investigation of the best method of feeding animals, and to the-
most successful modes of cultivation. It is impossible for me
to lay before youall that this society has done to remove the
prejudices and awaken.the minds of the English farmers, both,
by its publications, and by its exhibitions of machinery which.
has been actually used upon the farm, of cattle which have
been improved beyond a doubt in England, of products.
which high farming has brought forth upon that very soil. Let:
me tell you that one great era. in English agriculture, dates.
from the opening of this scciety in 1839, when, as has been.
truly said, “farmers began to be familiarized with men of sci--
ence, and men of science: learned: not to despise agricultural
experience.” It was an era-also in our own agriculture, when
the establishment of societies made farmers familiar with each:
other, and opened their minds to.the importance of their occu--
pation.

In the midst of all the higher duties which devolve upon us,.
let us not forget those humbler obligations which really lie at
the foundation of allour work, and measure the amount of influ-
ence we are to exert. It belongs to us to cherish by every
means in our power, a fraternity of feeling among our farmers..
The love of land which we inherited from our Anglo-Saxon
progenitors, is always attended by the desire for isolation,
strong reliance upon self and exclusive devotion to one’s family,.
which have always characterized that extraordinary race.
Whatever tends to counteract an extravagant development of
these qualities, binds society together with new bonds. The
heart of man never expands until it feels the full force of the:
fact that it is but one of a community, and is. warmed by the:
quick sympathies of neighbors and friends. The farmer living
on his own land, has a sense of independence, which, if carried:
too far, might destroy all those ties which bind society together.
The excess of individuality is his imminent danger. Prejudice:
and a fond adherence to old ways surround him on every side,
with constant tendency to make his mind obtuse. In the calm
and imperturbable spirit which threatens to encase him in an
armour of steel, what a contrast does he form to the impulsive
and excitable groups which are swayed to and fro by every

‘MR. LORING’S ‘ADDRESS. Wes)

““ wind of doctrine” that reaches their work-shops, ‘and whirls
them along with resistless current. In avoiding this extreme,
‘he is threatened by another, from which associated laber alene
sean save him. It is the agricultural society which teaches him
that his fellow-men have like passions and interests with his
‘own. It is the agricultural society which extends his sympa-
thies, and rouses hisambition,and enlarges his mind,and arms him
‘against those foes which beset him behind and before to destroy
‘himself and degrade his calling. The blood of our fathers
makes us careful, prudent, successful farmers; the associa-
tions which they founded will make us intelligent, liberal and
progressive ones.
‘In this respect every form of associated agricultwral effort
is of the highest importance. A town that sustains a farmer’s
club is sure to have its due proportion of good farmers. ‘What
invaluable allies to a county society they might be made
‘Local fairs cannot be too:-highly estimated, both as a means of
bringing farmers together, and also as furnishing an opportu
nity for purchase, sale and interchange ; and-I trust the day ts
‘mot far distant when the judicious recommendation made ‘to
you by your President, will be so far carried out, as to -result
‘in the establishment of monthly, if not weekly fairs, in some
“convenient location in the county. «Let us in every way create
‘a community of feeling here, a-sort of esprit dwcorps, a desire
to talk with*each other, a desire to trade with each other, a
»determination to cultivate our own minds and supply our own
markets, and: Hssex county will soon become as distinguished
for its agriculture, as it now is for its wealth and enterprise in
‘commerce, manufactures and the mechanic arts.
Above all things, it is our duty to be in the ordinary ‘term
“of rather-an uneasy age, sufficiently. progressive. This ‘is a
dangerous word I. know, inasmuch as progress too often: meens
“an entire accordance with our own opinions. There is a:rest-
less, short-sighted spirit,which we are veryapt to dignify with the
-name of progress, but which is nothing more than a superficial
love of excitement, novelty and change. Agriculture tolerates
no such handmaid as this. And J cannot too warmly: eongrat-
“ulate this Society that it has escaped its influences. “When
1 consider the alacrity with which every invention-and «every

16 MR. LORING’S ADDRESS:

new branch of agriculture have been recognized, tiie liberal?
rewards which have been offered for all improvements, the
generous consideration which has been shown careful breeders
of our most valuable farm animals and the attention which has
been aroused by the published essays of the society, I cannot
but look with pride upon an association which seems blessed
with perpetual youth, tempered with the wisdom and judgment
of mature manhood. In its devotion to the cause of agricul-
ture, it has kept pace with the best intelligence of the age, and
has placed itself on an enduring foundation in the minds of the
farming community. An.agricultural society, which, while too
many have yielded, and fatally too, to a passion which leaves
no room for the homely fruits of honest farming, has discrimi-
nated between the different uses of the animal kingdom,
deserves all praise. It has a due regard for all the interests
which come under its cognizance. One of its great objects is
the encouragement of breeding valuable animals for the profit
of the farmer and for the advantage of the community, whether
it be for the dairy, for draught, or for driving. In all this, it
is observant of the most important interests submitted to it,
and is as truly progressive in its recognition of all classes of
animals as it is in the reward it offers the various branches of
farming. Is is the legitimate use of animals, and the legiti-
mate growth cf crops with which it is concerned. Our society
offers liberal premiums for bulls—does it follow that we must
have a bull-fight at every annual exhibition? We all value
the horse and have encouraged the breeding of this important
animal with ample rewards—will the most intelligent judges
among us say that they require the trials of the track, in ordex
to make up their decisions? All these things have their place,
but itis not exactly at afarmers’ exhibitino, or as part of a soci-
ety, which should be actuated. by an honest feeling of competi-
tion, based upon a love of excellence and a desire to advance
an honorable and useful calling, and which has no more con-
nection with the ardor of the race-course, than submitting the
seed to the uncertain influences of the earth has with the haz-
ards of the faro bank and the dice box. The two occupations
cannot live together, neither is it necessary that they should
for the benefit of any branch of industry. Not that I would

MR. LORING’S ADDRESS. Wis

Have our society discontinue the liberal encouragement it has.
always extended to the development of the. American trotting
horse, than which no animal is wiser, more enduring and
patient, more courageous, nor more defiant of all obstacles..
But as it values its own existence, as it regards the dignity of
that occupation to which itis devoted, I trust it will never sub-
stitute a dangerous excitement for that healthy exhilaration
which the farmer feels as he surveys the creditable products of
agricultural industry and skill. There is enough in our exhi-
bitions to occupy the attention of all who come to learn, enough,
to gratify the curiosity of all who comeas spectators, enough to.
arrest the thoughts of all who come to witness the progress
of that business upon which the subsistence of society depends.
Anything beyond this is inappropriate. And I am constrained.
to believe that a desire to introduce amusements among us,
which might for a time eclipse our more important duties, arises
from an inability to comprehend the true object of our associ-
ation. What do you suppose a solid Yorkshire man would say,
were he called away from handling Lord Feversham’s prize Short
Horn bull, to witness a trial of speed between Mr. Tenbroeck’s
Prior, and the slashing mare Blink Bonny. Our trans-Atlantic.
neighbors know better than this. They breed thorough breeds,
in almost every race of animals domesticated by man, they un-
derstand the glowing pleasures of the chase, they know all
about the hearty joys, and the fascinating chances of the race.
course, the Derby, Epsom, Newmarket, are all entered in their
ealendar—but when the steam plough is brought into the field,.
when the earliest maturity of beef and mutton is to be considered,
when the best methods of producing breeds of animals adapted
to specific purposes are to be investigated, when cultivation and
crops are to be examined, the Englishman closes his sporting
book, and becomes an inquiring, progressive, successful farmer..
And will any one say that the Englishman does not pay sufficient
attention to the breeding of horses? Why, it hag become a.
science with him, taught and developed not by converting his.
fair grounds into the turf, but by that care and intelligence.
which always receive their reward, and which may be imitated.
by us to our honor and profit. Let us then as a society encour-.
age still the attention our farmers are giving these useful ani-

18 MR. LORING’S ADDRESS.

mals, and if any man doubts the benefit to be derived from it,
let him witness the extraordinary success one ofour own Hssex
farmers has met with by the exercise of that judgment and
skill which have enabled him to produce a Childers, and to fill
his stables with a collection of colts unequaled as a whole,
from which one yearling animal has been sold at a price great-
er than was ever before obtained in New England. Let us do
this, and I think we shall be progressive enough for the most
ardent lover of horse flesh in the country ; let us continue the
encouragement we have always offered the legitimate improve-
ments of agriculture, and I think we shall be progressive
enough for the most zealous farmer in the country.

And now, gentlemen, let me say a word with regard to the
opportunities we possess for discharging these duties to which
T have referred. The law of consequences and compensation
which controls the life of each individual, and, under the guid-
ance of Providence, prevents our being the mere creatures of
accident, directs also the course of associations of men, and fur-
nishes them their opportunity for good or evil. By a long and
honorable career, our society has secured a position which by
elevating its influence, multiplies its chances for effort. I be-
lieve you will all agree that it has won the respect of the farmers
of our county, and of the community generally. It has been
deemed worthy of the most liberal consideration of many of our
pest citizens. A valuable library has in this way been collected
which furnishes constant opportunity for reference and infor-
mation. And a large agricultural interest has learned to be
stimulated by our rewards and instructed by our advice and
counsel.

But above all, our association has been deemed a worthy
recipient of one of the best farms in our county, a legacy
bequeathed to us for the promotion of the science of agricul-
ture. I think I do not estimate this bequest from Dr. Tread-
well too highly, when I look upon it not only as a compliment
to the reputation we have won as a society, but as by far the
most valuable means we possess for carrying on the work we
have begun. A farm for experiment and observation—how
much is involved in this design! Under the care of an intelli-
gent farmer, and conducted by a competent committee, the

MR. LORING’S ADDRESS, 19

accumulation of facts which may be made there must be full of
interest and instruction. We may learn within our own bor-
ders if we will, the changes of the seasons from year to year,
the chances of crops in our latitude, the cultivation best adapted
to our soil, the effects of manures, the expense and benefits of
drainage, the relative value of products, without incurring that
expenditure of time and money which renders experimental
farming so hazardous and so generally unprofitable. I trust
this golden opportunity will not be wasted ; and I most earn-
estly urge upon you the adoption of a system which shall render
the records of the Treadwell farm an addition to our agricul-
tural literature, which shall be creditable to ourselves and
profitable to those, who, coming after us, assume our duties and
inherit our opportunities.

In conclusion, we should not forget the thousand associa-
tions which throng upon us as we come up to our annual festi-
val. The picture of home, of fond pride and warm attach-
ments, is constantly before us. The fabric wrought at the
domestic fireside, has enwoven through all its fibres the simple
taste which designed, and the simple virtues which attended its
construction. Nota plant or an animal adorns your exhibition
that has not been an object of human care, appealing to man’s
ingenuity for its culture, and to man’s kindness for protection.
They tell of spring, struggling to come forth, touching the
earth with the first faint soft hues of life—of summer, warming
and cherishing to the richest exuberance—of autumn, dashing
its gorgeous colors with bold and lavish hand over the land-
scape, and crowning the laborer with a rich reward—of winter,
whose night season of repose shuts down over the earth, and
binds with domestic ties man with his flocks and herds into
one great family of mutual dependence, filled with faith and
trust. They remind us of those possessions which appeal to
our kindest impulses, and whose memory is always ready to
cheer us through the dull hours of absence and trial. Have you
never heard from the care-worn and grey-haired man, the story
of that tree which cast its shadow upon the roof of his native
cottage, and the music of whose branches he has always heard
when far away amidst the din of busy life? Have you never
experienced the confidence and trust and the calm content which

20 MR. LORING’S ADDRESS.

‘the possession of the soil ought to bring? To those whose
daily toil is devoted to the business of agriculture, the beauties
‘of the farm may be hidden beneath the weight of care it brings;
but above all, rises the genius of the occupation to find the
ready response in man’s nature, until the yoke seems to grow
“light and easy.” And when the temptations of an active
world have drawn man away from his paternal acres into the
severer labors of the forum or the market place, when he is
tossed upon the stormy sea, or defies all danger in the battles of
his country, his thoughts by day and his dreams by night carry
him to those scenes of his youth in which the valley and hill,
‘the pasture and woodland, the dewy morning and the quiet
evening, the daily events of farm-life, prepared for his wearied
soul a fairy land in which he can always find peace and
repose.
“T flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft,
In life’s morning march, when my bosom was young,

I heard my own mountain goats bleating aloft,
And knew the sweet strain that the corn-reaper sung.”

This is not the poetry of farming life, but it is the reality
‘which outlasts all fleeting events, which remains when the bur-
thens of the day are all forgotten, which never faded from the
memory of the great statesman, who, when his eye was grow-
ing dim at the approach of death, would have his last look
linger upon those fields which he learned to love, before honors
and ambition had besieged his fretted soul. It is a reality
which dwells upon my mind when I urge you to cherish and
develop the agriculture of your county, as the basis ef much of
‘its prosperity and happiness, and as the parent of its most loyal
and devoted children. It is a reality which you all possess,
which your occupation has given, and which God grant no
/power on earth can ever take away.

‘pn ey

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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