The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1877-10-19
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10Th, 1871
W.. President and Members of the

Hd'J0r0 county agricultural Society
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN-A story il
| told of an Englishman, who, upon the oc
casion of his first visit to London, went tC
Covent Garden to see the fireworks. 1
Glanced that upon that evening there wa'
premature explosion, and our sight-seel
was blown out of the window. Thinking
that this was all down in the BILL ht
picked himself up and exclaimed, ~ won
der what they will do next !"
And l have no doubt many of my audi
ence will feel inclined to echo his exclama.
has brought lawyer from Baltimore to
deliver an address upon agriculture to the
farmers of Hartford county. But let me
assure you, my friends, have no intention
of boring you, or exposing myself by any
attempt to instruct you upon the practical
duties of a vocation to which you have de.
voted your lives. Were / to do so,
should but feebly initiate the example of a
late distinguished Northern editor, who,
in ponderous book and in innumerabie
lectures, under the title of "What l Know
About Farming" has endeavored to en-
Tighten the farmers of the United States
and although have never read his book,
or heard his lectures, have no doubt ne
fairly exposed himself to the criticism, that
if Mr.. Greeley had undertaken to show
what he did not knOao about farming it is
thought the world itself would not con-
tain the books lie might have written.
But have been so long telling you what
/ shall not do, you doubtless begin to Won
der what is my intention in addressing
you. In IA few words my design is to show
you the impression made upon city man
by the contemplation of country life; and
to present briefly my views as to the pres
ent, and immediate future of our agricul-
turists, looking to the giant strides that
the whole country is making in material
development and improvement, by which
the farming interest must be vitality affect
ed.
have said do not intend to discuss
the various practical details of farming
life. abstain for various reasons. In the
first place do not feel qualified to do so;
although | was a farmer before became
lawyer, and had learned to handle the plow,
the scythe and axe, before read Black
stones Commentaries or Story on Bills of
Exchange and Promissory notes. And let
me say to such of my young hearers, if any
there be, who are growing weary of the
quiet routine of country duties, and may
contemplate exchanging them for the more
exciting scenes and brilliant chances of
city life, that although | have had fair
measure of success, and have been, and
am, as happy and comfortable as have
any right to expect, yet l can with truth
say, that | have never been as happy
as when / lived in the country, and have
never found meals as good Though cooked
at Guys or sleep as sweet though enjoyed
on spring mattrass, as when hard days
work in the harvest field had given me
rest for both.
you doubt this, try it for yourselves,
and know you will agree with me. You
may rest assured that the pillow or the scythe
enables you to digest bacon and cabbage
with greater ease and far more pleasure
than you can the Maryland Reports, al
though they have been three times digested
for you by various able authors. And in
the second place, it would be like carrying
Goals to Newcastle for any man to deliver
an agricultural lecture to the practical far
mers of Hartford county. But yet city
man who travels through the country with
his eyes open may see things to praise or
blame which have escaped the attention of
the inhabitants, because they have grown
used to them, just as any intelligent man
who attends trial in court, as juror or
witness, will often see what mistakes are
made by some OF the ablest lawyers in the
land; (but this l tell you in the strictest
confidence, for would not have it known
that lawyers ever blunder), so 1 claim to
be able to tell by the general appearance
of farm whether it has been well or ill
cultivated, whether its buildings and i'm
provements are properly kept, and its stock
and crops in good condition. l have said
the farming interests must be greatly affect
ed by the great improvements which are
being made throughout the country. A
moments consideration of the wonderful
advances made in the mode of farming,
because of the improvements in agricultu-
raj implements, will satisfy any one OF the
correctness of my assertion. Have any of
you ever visited room in the Capitol at
Washington, where the frescoes on the walls
and ceiling illustrate the improvements
which have been made in agricultural i'm
plements from the earliest period to the
present timeg The artist, with rare skill
and judgment, has introduced into the
pictures various historical incidents and
the farming implements which were in
use at the respective periods, so that the
room contains an epitome of the history of
agriculture.
In one picture you see the Roman sena-
tors seeking Cincinnatus at his pillow, that
he may save the State. And what pillow
his was The most skillful farmer among
you could not turn decent furrow with
it, and the most ignorant would pronounce
it unfit for use. And yet its fellow holds
its own in Mexico and various other coun-
tries to this day. Again, in contrast with
the pillow upon which Cincinnatus leans,
the artist represents General Putnam leay-
ing his pillow in the fnrrow as he flies to
arms, aroused by the echoes of the first
guns fired at Concord and Lexington in
the great revolutionary struggle. And
then VIC have an eastern scene, where,
under Syrian sky, the toiling harvesters
thrust in their sickles and reap and, by
way of astounding contrast, the artist
represents one of McCormick's reapers 60
ing through a harvest field at rate of
speed, and doing an amount of work, that
would surprise any one save go,ahead
American. Hs.-
&But let no one suppose we have reached
the limits of improvement in agricultural