The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-09-28
BALTIMORE.
TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER %. 1853.

TrssELS rive IlunuTeu l Oih'o' / " NV |
Utmost of his admirers, and he still has many in
A., ,,,rsl districts of England, would scarcely |
a,,fond in behalf of the old bard, that ''the Gods
had made him poetical," for the imaginative facul-
r. was dead within him. He had, however, what
i certainly better for the practical purposes OF
IiG.-strong common sense and pithy mode OF |
EXPRESSING it. He did not pretend to sing of the
of agrculturc-he knew nothing OF
science: for agricultural science was term almost
wholly unknown in his day, nor was he IN the
least theorst He only protested 10 chrohicie the
results of his observation and experience lie knew
that by the adoption of certain rules II was posi-
BILE TO make ''two blades Of grass grow "here put
one blade grew before" and he set himself down
honestly TO his work to tell the farmers how it
could be done. But husbandry was q laborious
OCCUPATION at the best in those days, and although
many of the rude, unlettered tllIers OF the soil
learned by heart the maXims OF good Old THOMAS
TUssER, they cherished his book, and IN many III
stances handed il down an heir loom to succeed
ing generations. Agricultural Improvement pro-
crossed very slowly; nor Is tins 10 be wondered at
when we reflect how primitive the implements OF
husbandrv were Even so late as the closing half
of the last century, the mould boards Of ploughs
were of wood. sheathcd with iron or tin plates.
The first cast iron plough brought into use in the
United States was patented by NEwBoLD, of New
Jersey in 1897; but for many years subsequently
the ancient wooden plough maintained its ascend
ancy in remote districts. The harrow was as rude
rs the plough, and the grain was harvested by the
sickle and winnowed either by the natural breeze
or by means of a skeleton cylinder, having loose
cloths attached to its transverse arms But
when science began to investigate the tex
ture and qualities of Soils and to show
by ANALYSIS why some fields are naturally barren
and some erte-why 4 succession of similar crops
impovershes the land, and why judciously ar
ranged rotation increases its productiveness, the
first step was taken towards thorough re-organi-
cation of the old system of agriculture. Farmers
then began 70 understand wherein JETHRo TuLLs'
theory of Drill husbandry was practically errone-
Gus. They found that although thorough loosen
ing, and a constant working of the soil with his
newly invented implement, 'the horse hoe" was
undoubtedly beneficial in some instances, yet that
no amount Of cleaning and pulverization would
restore TO n worn out field those clements which
We're necessary to its fertility, and of which by
constant cropping it had been deprived TULL
failed, because he claimed too much He imagined
that deep ploughing and thorough disntegraton
of the SOIL was the only thing required to render it
productive. Manures, in his opinion were of no
value whatever; liberal use of the horseshoe, he
commended, was all that was needed In this he
was altogether wrong, and his system fell for a
number of years into disrepute, not because Drill
husbandry was not beneficial, but because it could
not accomplish all that he asserted it would. The
theory announced by TULL, supported as it was by
the celebrated DUHAMEL had, however, produced
at least one good result: it had aroused spirit of
enquiry, and the agricultural writings of ARTHUR
You've, Sir JOHN SINCLAIR, of DAvY and of CHAP
tai, were more frequently consulted. Great pro-
gress was also made in the various branches of
agricultural mechanics. Numerous efforts were
directed towards attaining the proper form for the
mould-boards Of ploughs, so as to overcome as far
possible, the friction of resistance Spades and
hoes were made lighter and handler, yet less dura-
BILE than before. Folding and expanding harrows
and cylindrical clod-crushers were introduced
After while, the fail gave place to the threshing
machine-the old fashioned winnower to the COM
pact winnowing machine-and of late years, the
cradle and the sythe have been superseded by
reaping and moving machines. All these
Improvements, together with numerous others
scarcely less important, have been made within
the last thirty years, and to our American me-
chanics belongs the honor of originating many
of those ingenious labor-saving machines, which
are now recognized as the least complex in their
structure, and as doing most satisfactorily the
work for which they were designed. This intro
duction of labor-saving machinery, is the first
step towards that division of labor which has ac-
complishcd such wonders in manufacturing indus
try, and will GENERALIZATION the great variety
Of new implements which are being almost daily
brought into notiCe-produce similar results in the
operations Of husbandry. But the vast improve
ments, which have been made of late years. upon
the old system of agriculture are not wholly due
TO the researches Of scientific men, or to the inven-
tons Of mechanicians. The agricultural societies
must also claim their share of the praise that is
bestowed upon their felow-laborers in this impor-
tant field of industry. 1t is by their exertions,
both here at home and elsewhere that the aggre-
gate yield of staple articles of food has been more
than doubled. 1t is to the premiums offered by
these associations, that the alligator herd Of hogs
has been eiectually displaced by the famous breeds
OF Berkshire and Chester county-that the long,
lank mich COW, with the very large belly, and
the very thick tail, which Colatnella once regarded
as the beau ideal of good COW, has given place
10 the finely formed Ayrshires and Durhams, and
Devons Of modern breeders that the lean
and woolly mutton, which {once graced the tables
OF our ancestors has been exchanged for the fatter
and more delicate flesh of the Southdowns 1t is
OWING to the eXertions of the Royal Agricultural
society OF England, that the productive power
Oh that country, in wheat alone has increased 10
Tie extent Of supporting an additional population
OF seven millions. Nor have Ne efforts of our
own agricultural associations been less successful,
or less praiseworthy, in dffusing better know
leoge oil the true principles of Farm husbandry,
or IN promoting a continual improvement in Farm
i'g implements and in the breeds of cattle. For
inc great service they have already done, and
'or the good they are still capable of accom-
piiShing, they deserve all the announcement
which can properly be bestowed upon them,
~ people justly sensible Of the value of their la
- 800" VI tht itbtDtIaI results accrQeln3 from
"lrf exert'ons. Very much Of the Improvement
winch has taken place in the system of farming in
Ni.Fylono during the past ten years, may be as
70 ,he influence exercised by our State Agri-
'ui'uf"i society and especially to the stimulus
given u ''e agricultural interest bv the annual ex-
motions OF inc cattle and Of tbe Io+ost ;o,rovo-
mehtS IN agricultural implements and Iobor-sorino
machines OF various kinds Such YEARLY fairs as
these deserve not only to be encoura1s1 bnt to he
substantially supported. Even in . -. ro;nt
Vi 'ie"' however narrow and contracted IN ar
gument based upon such ground nav ba c,,ot
exhibitions are advantageous to tho con,,,,r;.-.
They bring the skill of our mechanics to t,,o
edge of strangers, they operate as an attnaoto,,
and an inducement to country peonIo 70 ia;t ,ba
city, and they promote that intercboro,o -
sizes which re-invgorates old fricn1abirn ~ 49,.
the foundation Of new ones. But abr VI ,Io',
tend to the improvement of agriculture which
ever since the time when ADAM deIrod ~ 49, H.
spun, has been justly regardcdsas tbo WOO. i'm,
portant branch of human industry
toll 81,