Demoine courier., 1855-12-06

(dtr7iffa, on ne iOia 0J oepteHoeT,
1855.
Mr.. President. and IeRow-ci!i=pas
of bpa:-l ar not an orator. My
business does moi. require that ] should
be proficient as a public speaker. The
lawyer and The clergyman study and
practice those arts which enable them
TO mos, elfec,ually reach the hearts and
convince The min:!s Of their hearers. ]
am simply a mechanic, and accustomed
IN the labor Of the shop, hence should !
fail To speak in glowing thoughts and
burning words. you VIII not be disa7-
pointed. Speech making is like all 9th
er trades. it requires pracrice. This
much for my sell-one word for you.
Ny fieuds. you have assembled here
in tina, spiri, Of progress which charac-
ter.zes the age in which we live. I'm
provement is The order OF the day, and
you IN common with all other classes al
your to,itr, men iul lie inn al.
d! inf lences ,ha. drive you onward
and u, ward in tie march Of progression.
Blu, a few years since, md you as ngri,
culturists, were willing TO plod on as
your fathers had done before you. Yon
plowe ed the ground three or four iacIes
deep ard thought not Nhat the sources oil
vegetable pioducuon came deeper from
The Garth. Now you know The deeper
YOU pillow. the more rapid, the mole Wig.
orous end the more maiured will he
you vegetable productions, for j, ls fac,
practically demonstrated, that ali p'an,s,
in a deep AID finely pulverized soil. re-
ceive sust;nance from a depth Of soil,
equal TO the hight the article cultivated.
usually grows above the surface. Nhea.
,h., grows four or five fee, high. under
a proper cultivation sends, It's roots or
a, l,as, its attractive powers fGr collect
ing The means Of production, an equal
distance in the body Of the earth, so with
III o:her vegetable productions. With
va, This there cannot be a peTfec' matur
ny o! yraia, or other productions. -
Hence the practice of sub-oil slowing
was introduced. Formerly you paid
but little attention 10 the qualify Of seed
you sowed or planted. II il was corn
-grains of corn were sulicient-il
wh-a'. grains OF wheat were sufficient
ii potatoes. The semblance nf that po-
puia. vegetable was sufficient. Now
with what care ,he intelligent farmer
selects his seed torn--dssiious OF oh
tanning that variety which is most pro
duc,ive in its nutri,ive qualities, aud pro-
,iuces the largest result from a gwen
quantity Of ground. Formerly you paid
nut little attention 10 the improvement of
vour breed o! cattle. The science OF
animal i'm prevement vas ua~heedei.--
Now, the exhibition before ou demon
sirates that you have learned that By GER
tain crosses You can secure a much in
creased size at a much earlier day
more symmetry-more beau,y-and The
more essential quality, more profit -
Look at YOUR Middlesex and Leicester
hugs. and compare them with the long
legged. slab-sided. aIIiga,or-looking am
mails of 30 years ago. Look at the
broad lo-ms. the heavy proportions of
your full blood aud thorough breed cat
tie. in comparison with the broad horns,
and guani looks Of a few years ago.
Your horses y"ur sheep and even your
poultry. all indicate the agricultural i'm.
provemen, of The pge. An English writ
er states, that '.abou, the year 1900.
ME average weight of oxen killed for
The London market. was 370 pouncs- Z
Of calves 90 pounds--of sheep 81
pounds" The average weight at pres
emf. is at leas, of oxen 900 pounds. Of
calves $50 pounds, sheep 80 pounds -
u would be a most interesting item in
The agricultural knowledge Of This conn
Try, il we possessed the date from which
a comparison could be made Of our pro-
gross in ,his respect. But the iarme'
has no record. aud tradition a one is his
source of knowledge.
y our presence here to-day, is to still
advance in this progressiou--o learn
from each e,hey. by comparing your re-
spective theories n practices what is
the best plan Of cullivauou. One sows
his wheat broad-casi--ano,her with d
utbts sUy NVAhpusC u cS"pf~ ~
adopt that which has been mosi success
ful. One plows. sub soils. harrows and
rolls his grounds. ard another simply
plows and harrnws with a big brush
The result is toe palpable no, to follow
the former course. Thus by personal
intercourse you learn from each ether,
True, there is another means bv which
The same Information might be Obtained.
bu, there is ! regret TO soy, ,oo great a
prejudice existing in the minds Of many
in regard 10 i,-foy If a farmer Of Iowa.
were to write an article for the exceilen,
agricultural paper. published in ,onr
own State. tie Iowa Farmer. many
would read il. and however true nigh,
be The facts detailed, ond however PLAN
be the course described, 10 produce the
result announced. they would throw it
aside, and cay il was nothing bu, .'book-
farming--men that write for The papers
DO no work-they know nothing about
farming" This is false prejudice. and
should not be entertained. The farmer
who wri,es FOR your papeE. tells you jus,
what ie would were he sitting at your
ireside, in social conversation. and his
remarks ought to be implicitly relied on.
The lawyer has his books-the merch-
art qualities himself for his business by