Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-10-08
Address of Colonel A. Z. Mcclure
at Riverside Park Fair.


Thursday, September 2, 1879. Amos
G. Bonsall, Esq, director of the
Park Association, was appointed as
escort for the Colonel. They came
upon the ground at one O'Clock P. NJ,
but the Colonel had SO many old
} friends to talk to, that it was fully a
half hour later before he began to
speak
Mr.. Bonsall, en- behalf of the Park
and Fair Association, introduced the
speaker.
He declared that he had not come pre-
pared to deliver an agricultural address, or
to talk about farming as one who had en-
gagged in the business of cultivating the soil
Farming has not been his business, and yet
II is the custom every autumn to obtain men
not engaged directly in agriculture to ad-
dress Fairs and agricultural societies. Ger
tainly it gave him the highest pleasure TO
meet and sprak to people among whom he
lived thirty years ago. Many, indeed most
of those who were his warm friends almost
a generation ago, have passed away; but as
he looked into the faces of those before
him, the lineaments of the faces of his old
departed friends beamed clearly in the coun-
tenances of many of those who listened TO
ms remarks.
He could not speak of the nobility of farm
ing. All labor is noble, but farming is no
nobler than other labor, and it came as Di-
vine command long, long ago, as other labor
came, when the edict or decree went forth
from Heaven TO Eden, that ssln the sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return
TO the ground" 1t may be true that the farm
er's labor Yields less THAI the labor en-
plcyed in many other pursuits, but il is free
/ from the mental anxietles of many other
avocaIons. The past is beyond reclaim
no regrets can redeem it--but would have
been glad if my lot had not been extended
/ TO such cares as those that silver the heads
OF men, and make them premature!y gray.
1t is intelligent labor among the farmers
that is needed. They labor well, as they
lsbOred generations ago. 1t is not neces-
sary to be scientific. Farming Is the most
interesting Of pursuits or labors, when pur-
sued intelligently. 1t reaches deep into
the realms of nature and finds ont the beau
tiful. But the realm of the farmer not only
extends to his broad acres, and the great
storehouse of the atmosphere above and 4
around Kim, but he is IN truth the great
safeguard of our government. But for him .
''GOvernment of the people, by the people, /
and for the people, would perish from the 4
earih.' The shifting men are not the farm.
ers. The large floating crowds that surge .
about from place to place without home
are not farmers.
The farmer is the man of home, and
people who have fixed homes are the sup
port Of the State, always in its greatest
need.
The men who are fastened TO the soil are
e, er true to the higher allegiance, and may
be always relied on. They look ont undiS-
OF other pursuits, and make few or no
changes themselves. They Will not be .
scientific; it is not Necessary that they /
should be So, but they should be progress
siye. II it were not for progress the world 1
would be brought to a stInd-Stili. The 1
farmer as rule is not progressive, because /
be feels that he does not need il. 1t Is not .
so with the mechanic. The progress of the ,
mechanics art in the past two generations /
is almost a marvel, and has nearly royolu- /
tioLized the whole system of labor.
The farmer should be progressive. 1t
may not be within the reach of all to under. |
stand the exact scientific or chemical prop |
critics of every kind of soil, but he should 4
understand what the crops most require
what the dfferen, KINDS of manure will pro- I
duce. 1t is within the reach of every farm |
er who will spend an hour in reading every /.
evening to acquire knowledge OF how to
treat his land more inteligently and with
more satisfactory crop results.
The correct way of pIowIng is important;
the depth Of plowing is important, and how
many understand that deep plowing is bet
ter than shallow plowing for both dry and a
wet season. There is a reason why it is SO.
Nature has reason in all her operations.
| The intelligent farmer will ty and reach the
reason. There are deep scientific researches
that need not be reached, no more than
| that the abstruse branches of mathematics,
or that Latin and Greek and Hebrew need
| be added to the store of learning of the
| farmer, but there are many things that farIn-
ers should know. To know them would
prepare their minds for more intelligent
and satisfactory cultivation of the soil OF
their farms and help them TO reach larger
crop results. Find out why deep blowing
is a benefit. 1t is no more difficult to know,
than it is to know why it is that sometimes
on a summer day the pitcher with water in
it, as it sits on your dinner table, will be
dotted over with great clear drops of water.
The cool water in the pitcher has had an
effect on the watery atmosphere around it
and condensed the water into drops. There
is a reason for all things. Intelligent OBJ
servation may find out the reason for
many of the things that seem obscure.
The air is the greatest fertilizer. The
deeper the soil can be loosened up the
further the air will reach down and fer
tillze, moisten and cool it. That is why
corn that is constantly cultivated in sea-
sons Of drought constantly grows; that
is why wheat that is narrowed between
the rows grows; it is because the soil
is loosened up and the air permedtes
all the crevices thus broken, with the fer
tiiizer dnect from natures great exhaust
less storehouse. Deep blowing is good
IN time of flood or protracted rains, for il
leaves sufficient soil loose and soft for the