Litchfield enquirer., 1844-02-01
AGRICULTURE.
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The following is an extract from MIR. Hudson's
address before the Worcester Agricultural Society.
Although agriculture 10 one of the earliest en-
Payments, and an essential ingredient in civilza-
ton, it is by no means an independent calling
Every human pursuit, like man himself, is epend-
ent upon its fellow. Agriculture, manufactures,
and commerce. the three great pursuits of mankind,
are equally honorable employments, all conducive
to the public good and each essential to the pros
perity Of the other. Commerce could not exist
without agriculture and manufactures. Unless the
sails, the cordage the anchor, the ship ITSELF were
manufactured, how could the ocean be traversed
Without agriculture how could the hemp be grown,
the ship provisioned? And what is the cargo Of
the merchant but the products Of the soil, or the
fabrics of the workshop? Commerce is entirely
dependent upon agriculture and manufactures
The ship could not be built without the mechanic
the canvass could not float without the assistance
Of the plough. 1'
There is also an immediate and inseperable con-
nection between agriculture and manufactures
The mechanic must furnish the tools-must manu-
facture the implements of husbandry, the labors
Of the husbandman will fail. The plough must be
constructed before the furrow can be turned the
scythe must be manufactured before the grass of
the meadow can be laid low. But what calls for
the construction of the plough, the scythe, the
SICKLE, but the wants of the husbandman? And
what sustains the mechanic while constructing
these implements, but the products Of the soil p
The mechanic or manufacturer could not Subsist
without the produce of the farmer the farmer
must have the tools the clothing, the shelter, fur
nished by the manufacturer or mechanic. Agri-
culture and manufactures are intimately connect
ed, and whenever by their mutual aid and succor,
they rise and flourish, commerce becomes necessa-
ry for the interchange of their commodities. The
man, who from undue attachment to either of these
pursuits would seperate it from the others, that it
might " stand alone in its glory," would show no
more wisdom than he, who, from Partially to one
member Of the human system, would seperate it
from the body, by which it is nourshed and sus-
tanned"
Which should be the most numerous class, Agrs-
cultasGlists or Manufacturer?
''But although these great callings are impor-
tant to the country and mutually beneficial to each
other to be productive of the greatest good, there
should be due proportion between them. Agri-
culture may be regarded the parent calling. Up
on the earth, as nursing mother, the human fam
lily must mainly depend for sustenance. The agri-
culturalsts, therefore, should be the most numer-
Gus class. They are the foundation upon which
all other laborers must rest. T .ts
II has sometimes been matter Of complaint by
the farmers, that so many Of our young men ADAM
don agriculture and engage in other employments
1t may be matter Of regret, SO far as the welfare
of the young men is concerned, but the interests Of
agriculture are not impaired by this course. The
profits of farming must depend mainly upon the
price of produce, and this price will be regulated
by the demand. Every one, therefore, who leaves
agriculture for some other employment, by ceaslng
to be producer, and becoming consumer, in
creases the demand for agricultural lroducts,which
tends to enhance the price. How then is the far
ever. The injury, if any is sustained, is done to
the calling into which they enter; for surplus is
there created, which, to that calling, may prove
detrimental"