The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1854-12-16
Agricultural.
ADDR ESS,
ADDK ESS,
Deferred before the agricultural Society of
Montgomery County, September IAN, 1854.
BY CHACNCEY p. H0LCOMB,
OF DELAWARE.
OF DELAWARE.

GENTLEMEN TIE OF SocIErY--My Brother
Aericul'uists Il promptly responded to the
invitation with which was honored to de-
liver the annual address before your society
because l acknowledged, as all friends of
agriculture must, / think, acknowledge, an
obligation to the farmers of Montgomery
county for the carly stand they took in favor
of agricultural improvement, and for the zeal,
intelligence, and success with which they
have prosecuted the object,
Your system ofrcnovating poor lands, your
selection of fertilizers, and your mode OF APP
plying them, has been extensively adopted;
your county. in short. may be considered
model county, in the whole routine of the
agricultural Improvements Of the day. Del
aware farmers have read of what was being
done IN Montgomery county, and gone into
their fields Oh such authority, land no othcr)
and adopted similar course. Many of us
as carly as 1916, after having Lecn skeptical
as to the value of Peruvian guano, applied it
on the published testimony of farmer of
Montgomery county. We said "this Mont
gomcry county witness is a competent, he is
an intelligent agricullurist, he teStllics to
what he knows, and he makes out clear
case we will act on his statements" Many
of us did so, myself among the rest, greatly
to our advantage. If | was called on to dosig
nate any county in the Onion, from my read
ing and observation. and any means of knowl-
edge have as to what has been done in ag
ricultural improvement, ! should say Mont
gomcry county deserved to lie named among
the first. don't say this in the language Of
aattery, or in a spirit of cxaggeration. !
know it is high praise: it is certainly high
praise to give credit to a comparatively small
community for having contributed, even to
limited extent, to advance the agriculture Of
the country. 1t is, perhaps, equal to saying
that such a community is an intelligent COM
munity, an Industrious community, full of
energy and public spirit, their own and their
country's bencfactors.
Now, before such an asScmblage, before
such practi al class Of my brother agricul.
turists, cannot think of standing up and
reading an essay on some branch of agricul-
ture, Or attempting to demonstrate the truth
of some new theory in agriculture, or spccu-
late as to how far science is yet to reveal new
and hidden mysteries to us. ] can be OF no
use to you in this way; can cancel by no
such mere paper currcncy-manuscript obi
gations-thc debt | acknowledge we all owe
you.
Every man has generally few decided
opinions: there are certain subjects he has
more investigated and pondercd over than
others: if his thought on any subject are Of
any value ii is when he gives us Tie fair re-
suit of his maturcd opinions. He may be
mistaken. then; it may not be safe to adopt
his views in whole, or in part; but still We
may hear him asa witness, though VIC should
be unwilling to find verdict on his too i'm
perfect testimony.
My poor opinions will relate for the most
part to practical subicc that claim our attcn-
ton on the farm, and would choose to ad-
dress YOU in the same familiar way would if
I were walking with any of you over your
farms, or you were visiting me at this season,
and we were walking over mine.
should point out my corn fields and say:
You see cut up all my corn; after repeated
experiments and much experience, | am sat-
islicd it is the best way II is better for the
corn, it is infinitely better for the fodder" |
should add that "some years back ] wintcred
hundred head of cattle, carrying them well
through the winter on little besides the corn
fodder from one hundred and forty acres of
corn, for do not take the straw largely into
the account, and had not that season TWEEN
tv tons of good hay in my barns. ! annually
winter my horses in great part on long fodder
nor is its length. when fed in cribs or rail
managers in the yard. any considerable in
convenience We tie the fodder in bundles
as we husk the corn: using rye straw, or
broom corn stalks, and put it in punches OF
dozen or fifteen bundles and haul as soon
after husking as We can, and decidedly, then
the best way is to stack in the round stack.
In cutting up the fodder you avoid all risk OF
danger from the wcatcr. In topping and
blading the risk to the blades in bad seasons
in particular is very great. Corn may lie cut
up. and should be, as carly as the blades can
be safely pulled. In the case of the premium
generously offered in Talbot county by thai
accomplished, intelligent, and jealous friend
of agriculture, Edmund Ruffin, Esq. to as
certain which mode of saving fodder is least
injurious to the corn, the very excellent re-
port of Mr.. Holiday, of that county, showed,
according to my recollection, that corn cut
up, not only lost less in weight than by any
other process of saving the fodder but actual.
" less than when it was left to stand on the
stalk in the field Until gathered. 1t may he
convenient to have few blades, and certain.
ly it often is, but give me as general rule,
the noble plant as it grew; robbed only of its
rain, both for the stock and the manure yard
as well as for the subsequent tillage of the
field on which it grew. The difitre be-
tween topping and blading and cutting up
corn would hardly be stated too strong by
saying it was the difference between insrring