The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1858-10-28

Delivered at The close of the FIRST 4Annual
Fair Of the buchanan County Agri-
cultural Society, al independence, Oc-
tober 14M, 1858.
BY c. A. L. RoszELI.
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen.

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Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen.:
This is an Agricultural Fair. and am
invited to deliver you brief address. more
as a matter of form, than from any know
ledge / am expected to ilnpart--more as
a characteristic of Fairs. to have a separ-
ate show--to enlarge and give variety to
the general exhibition by the introduc-
ton of new animal. A person may
sometimes criticise an art without being
an artist himself, and it is said Of the
learned DR.. johnson, of England, that he
was no more poet than sheep IS a
goat, yet he spent large portion of his
time reading poetry, and gained some
thing of celebrity as a critic of that art,
though il is admitted that he was scarce
ly ever right, if not olrays wrong
But in one respect must initiate
the great Doctor, and being no farmer
though l myself cannot cut - yet,
by stating some facts connected with
Agriculture, | may operate as whet-
stone. to sharpen the farmers energy, if
not his practical ideas. Whether man
be mechanic, an artist, doctor or law
yer-wbetbcr he has spent successful
life toiling in country village or in pent
up cities, regarding every other occupa-
ton as inferior to his own-when he first
steps upon the great valley divided by
the Father Of Waters" bordering a
land of the richest fertility, of unsur-
passed beauty, of the finest clime-when
his eye stretches over the grassy inter-
minable prairies, watered with springs,
lakes, and majestic rivers--he feels his
mind expand. his own profession is lost
in insignifcance, and the vocation of the
humble agriculturist rises into the noble
and sublime. In this great region,
which the pillow has hardly scarred-lies
our own state, spread out like table for
a feast of the Gods, possessing all the natu-
raj advantages of salubrious climate,
strength, variety, and richness of soil =
almost an Agriculturist in itself-it needs
but to be touched by the creative thought
and energetic action of man. and its
luxurious soil yields the harvest. With
this immeasurable field for Agricultural
enterprise before them-we think our far
mers should at least enquire what ought
to be done to secure their own individu-
al happiness and prosperity, and per-
manent Agricultural importance to their
county and state. is almost presump-
tious for me to undertake to tell you any,
thing about it, but if we look at the east
ern states, many of them had primi-
tive fertility of soil equal to our own
but the farmers, in their haste to get
rich, and deeming the strength of the
fields inexhaustible, crop followed crop
in rapid succession. and they have
raised their millions of bushels of grain,
that have filled their own and foreign
markets for three quarters of century,
by impoyerishing the soil. and replacing
but little equivalent--by sapping and not
replenishing. They have been industri-
ous--building up magnificent internal
improvements-bu not prudent, and to-
day their agricultural statistics show a
rapid decrease in produce fer the last few
years. They have moved fast. but now
are slower. from want of breath, ad-
hitting that there has been radical mis-
take in cultivation.
Z Many of our Iowa farmers are from the
East-they have come where land is
cheap, to, seek wider field for their la
bors, to establish a permanent home, to
amass wealth.. Their old homesteads
were too limited-ahd worn out by old
age and debility. the soil failed to pro-
duce, and it was thought out of the ques-
ton to infuse 1t with new life and vigor.
They are here. certainly. not orepest the
old system of decay that is urging the
soil OF the east into sterility, but to grow
extensive crops, and yet retain the pris-
tine vigor of the fields by nourishing
them with the proper aliment. Yet with
all the prudence and foresight exercised,
with all the accuracy of geological con-
clusions and chemical combinations, the
exact depth Of blowing, and precise time
of sowing. the farmers occupation has
its ups aud downs, lis calamities and de-
pressure-the seeds do not germinate,
and in spite of the barometer, by which
a man can get little the start of time,
aud look forward week or two into the
weather, the ripening crops are cut off by
the frost, wind aud rain. The effect OF
these accidents can be in part counter
acted by devoting portion of the atten-
ton to growing horses, cattle, sheep and
swine--a concomitant of Agriculture.
and may be said to be comprised under
that general term. In this state, where
pasture and meadow land is immeasura-
ble. and grass nearly as free ms the air We
breathe, fine herd of live stock must
certainly be a source of immense profit
| am not intending to recopmend any
particular breed, for whether the best
breed of cattle is the Durham or Devon
shire. the short, long. rough or smooth
horn, | cannot tell.
A good breed is always desirable, bu,
many are under the mistake that be-
cause il cost, for instance. ten dollars tc
fatten hog of poor breed, it will cos'
twice that amount to falten good one
The converse Of this proposition is al
ways true, and while swine Of misera-
bic breed is decidedly the most consum-
mate hog IN the world so far as eating il