Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1844-04-19
TO THE PEOPLE OF wINDHAM
COUNTY.


upon your countenance, and what is more, up
on your efficient patronage. The Society is
formed for the Improvement of agriculture,
Horticulture, the household arts aud the me-
chanic arts as connected with agriculture with
in the County. Improvement in these most
important industrial pursuits is the end, TO Sc
cure which the Society has been organized as
a means.
No doubt farming has recently undergone
great Improvements in some parts OF the coun-
try yet, on fair comparison in the matter Of
skful and profitable husbandry, we must adj
NIT our marked inferority to many of the high
~ cultivated agricultural districts Of adjoining
States. The soil Of the county was originally
rich and productive. The earthly elements re-
main in great measure unchanged the sea-
sons are as propiious as they were wont TO be,
and the lessons Of Improvement that have been
taught elsewhere leave no reason to doubt that
under proper management the soil may be re-
stored to its original fertility.
Among the causes that have contributed to
the deterioration OF our lands and the conse-
quent depression of our agriculture, we consid-
er the following as prominent:-Ignorance Of
the principles of agriculture; and, the low es-
timation in which the employment has been
held by all classes, including farmers them
selves.
Agriculture has too generally been consider
ed a-business requiring mere physical power.
But the head and the hand should act in con-
cert on the farm deriving mutual aid from
each other there, as well as in the shop and
mandatory. Science, which is but art built
on principles, is probably capable of rendering
more important services to husbandry than to
any other branch Of labor. and presents wider
field OF useful study to the cuItivators OF the
soil, than TO any other class Of society. Let
the farmer study the laws which Providence
has ordained, in their application TO his labors,
and he will find the means Of increasing his
profits, as well as of high intellectual enjoy
mont. The more he studies and is guided by
these laws, the more win he become satisfied OF
former errors, and of his comparatively limited
sphere Of usefulness. new era will dawn
upon him-a new light illumine his path, and
new interest and new pleasures urge him on
to Improvement.
But another cause of depression Of agricul-
ture is the subordinate rank to which his en-
ployment has been consigned by one Of the
most pernicious and perverse misndgments of
the age. The wholesome habits Of society
have been so broken up by the civil and politi-
cal commissions of the age, and the inordinate
thirst for acquiring wealth and consequence
through mercantile and other specuations, that
honest productive labor has been thrown en-
tirely in the back ground, and even considered
mental and servile. Farmers even have shared
in the errors Of the day. While men of other
occupations have ever manifested a watchfu
jealousy to defend and exalt the character of
their several pursuits, farmers have hitherto, to
great degree. moderated the Importance and
dignity Of their calling. They have brought il
into disesteem by divorcing it from science,
which waits upon all the other pursuits Of
men titus making it a matter of mere rude
labor, with which mind can have but little TO
do. And not content with the gains which are
ever the reward Of prudent industry, and which
he h. hu al eulf
nor content with one of the most independent
conditions in society, hundreds and thousands
of them seek other employments, and some of
them of truly mental character, to get rid Of
labor and TO raise themselves in the imaginary
scale of society. And their sons, ignorant Of
the high capabilities of the Art to which they
have been bred, desert il for the over crowded
trades and professions or if they continue TO
pursue it. il is, to lamentabe extent, but TO add
10 its discredit by the weight OF their own ex-
amples. To correct these false and pernIcious
estimates OF agriculture as an employment--to
restore il to IFS true rank-to develope and IL
Iustrate its principles--to reunite it to science
Ito bring all its processes under the leader
ship of inquring aud intelligent thought-to AID
in encouraging the enterprise, developing the
resources and augmenting the wealth of the
county, are the objects lor which our society
has been organized.
Farmers,-Friends OF Agricultural Improve
ment will you aid in accomplishing these OBJ
iects Isolated individual effort can do but Ill
lie. The strength Of the many must be united
and concentrated by means OF associations
Men have united TO promote the interests Of
-morals--art-trade,a and almost every
thing touching their social interests and so uni
form have been the results that the sentiment
ain union there is strength has become a
prime canon in all reformatory operations
Agricultural Improvement is not an exception
70 this rule Experience upon this subject has
been uniform, where the association was iorm-
ed, not from selfish and mercenary motives,
but in the benevolent and patriotic desire to do
public good To illustrate this last PROPOSE
ton, we beg leave to refer to some associations
which have been tried, and whose abors have
been crowned with paipabe and brilliant sue
cess.
The counties of Berkshire, Essex, and
Worcester. in Massachusetts,, have each for
many years maintained an Agricultural Socie-
ty, and they each distribute ten or twelve hum
dred dollars year, one half OF which Is paid
out of the State Treasury, in prizes to success
FOL competitors in the various departments Of
agricultural and household labor. II is said,
that every dollar thus expended, has made a
return of twenty dollars in The increase Of ag-
riculturaI products which it has caused and SO
saIisfied are the inhabitants of the benefits OF
the expenditure, that an increased spirit is an
nually manifested, by all classes, TO maintain
and perpetuate these measures of Industry and
Improvement. Similar societies have been
formed in other counties in Massachusetts, and
in several counties in New York, and in every
instance they have given, and are still giving, a
powerful impetus, and in the right direction, to
the cause Of agricultural improvement.
Let us, fellow citizens, avail ourselves Of the
means thus approved by the experience of 9TH
ers, 20 advance the interests OF agriculture in
a. fhar h