INTRODUCTION.

BY THOMAS R. CROSBY, M. D.

The institution of the State Society constitutes an important era in the history of the agriculture of New Hampshire. Energies, heretofore operative only in a narrow and individual sphere, are, by it, harnessed into a strong, combined power. Labor, previously ineffectual to the production of great good, or of much advancement, is now able, by the increase of force, derived from association, to operate powerfully on the social machinery. A single rivulet trickling down the mountain side is useless as a mechanical force. Nevertheless, the most available "power" is but the combination of these rivulets.

Associated labor is the secret of the great influences that are now moving the world. Human experience has abundantly demonstrated that a man alone can do little as a mover of social

institutions. He can reach comparatively few, that he may infuse his life into them. It is true that history furnishes many notable examples of the successful labor of individuals. And the thought of one may move the spirits of the many. The preaching of a Peter the Hermit may, as it were, compel the masses, in vast armies, to fight and die upon the Syrian sands. But the associated labor of the nineteenth century is remodeling the world.

The same method, by the use of which the great moral and religious movements of the day are carried on, will be effectual in other enterprises. Associated labor may be as hopefully re

garded as the source of prosperity to our agricultural interests as to any other. It is adapted to move many men—to reach out with its strong arms into every town, village, hamlet, or solitary farm in the land. Its voice is penetrating-it is irresistible.

"Associated action in the improvement of agriculture," says a strong practical writer of our State and time, "is now beginning to be appreciated. The present century has done more to promote the philosophy of tillage, than all the ages that preceded it from the days of our great progenitor, who was placed in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it until this hour."

The effects of association are abundantly visible, if attention is but directed to them. The many-minded power at work to elevate the profession of agriculture, leaves not itself without a witness. Improved implements-more perfect notions of the mechanical philosophy of tillage-more accurate and extensive knowledge of the chemical constituents of soils, crops and manures—an increased and excited power of observation of natural phenomena, and a more habitual and accurate system of recording results-these, and more such as these, testify to the value of the associated labor of the present age.

Influenced by views similar to the preceding, the friends of agriculture in different parts of the State began to think of some organization that should unite the scattered forces operating in county societies or moving individual minds. The call for a meeting to form a State Society was promptly met. The organization was happily consummated, and the new Society commenced operations.

Three years of its labor, with the results arising therefrom, are now before the people. And when we consider the geological character of New Hampshire, its hard soil, its ungenial climate, and its many influences adverse to enthusiasm in farming, we can but admit that few new societies have done more in the same time. It would not be just to measure it or its results by societies that have been years in successful operation, situated under milder skies and with a kinder soil, and in which experience points unmistakably towards the most popular and profita

ble paths. What it has done is a source of pride to the sons of the Granite State; nor could we dispense with this portion of our history.

New Hampshire has an agricultural history in the past. And the presentation of this first report of the State Society affords a proper opportunity in which to pass this hastily in review. It is not possible, in the limited time allotted to the preparation of this article, to get a complete history of the past agricultural movements in our State, owing to the imperfect manner in which the reports were made at the time, or have been preserved. Only the prominent points can be touched upon. These, however, are of interest, and are well designed to convey instruction to those at present engaged in moving the springs of action and directing the course of the newly aroused interest.

The societies which are now in operation in the several counties have sprung up, with one or two exceptions, within the last half dozen years. It is well to remember that from thirty to thirty-five years ago similar societies existed. These grew up, lived their day, and have become extinct. Nay, more than this, a State Board of Agriculture was at no very distant period in operation, some of the active members of which are now among the foremost in the cause. This too passed away, and its labors have been almost forgotten.

In the early history of New Hampshire, agriculture was not a prominent branch of industry. With the exception of the intervale lands of the Connecticut, and perhaps some portions of the Merrimack, and occasionally an inland town settled by some emigrant company, the first settlers were traders, lumbermen, and fishermen. A large proportion of the industry of the State was devoted to the getting of oak and pine timber to the coast. The abundance of these woods upon the various rivers, and their value upon the seacoast, furnished the greatest reward for labor, and was to it the strongest incitement. And the culture of the soil was practised only to the extent of furnishing the adequate amount of food to those who were mainly otherwise employed. And not even to this extent, for the teams that drew lumber to market were loaded for return with various articles of food, pur

chased in the larger towns. The country was not settled with reference to agricultural labor or reward, and therefore the energy, the enterprise of the time were expended on other pursuits. Habits once formed are not easily changed or put off. For a long time, then, the character of our population remained the same. Consequently the farming interests of the State made little progress during the entire century succeeding its settlement. The commercial interests of the seaboard towns controlled all the labor of the interior. Commerce, ship-building, trade with the world, gave tone and character to the labors of the husbandman, equally with those who partook more immediately in its excitements. And it was not until the embargo of 1808, which prostrated commerce, and cut off all demand for lumber and timber, that the attention of residents was turned to any great extent to the cultivation of the soil.

A picture of the condition of the agriculture of the State at this time has been vividly drawn by the able pen of a distinguished citizen of the State, in an address delivered before the Strafford County Agricultural Society, in 1824:

"The lumber and timber business being annihilated, men were compelled to seek new sources of support. They were therefore turned back upon that soil which they had too long neglected. The plow took the place of the axe, and the hoe that of the saw. The barren field, however, yielded but a sickly crop, and nothing but the total overthrow of his former grand business could prevent the disheartened husbandman from returning to his favorite employment. Fences were to be made, flocks to be purchased, dairies to be erected, and, in short, that support which the oxen had hauled from abroad was now to be reluctantly dug from the soil.

"Since that period, which may be considered the dawn of our agricultural improvement, our progressive improvements have been slow, but constant. The generation of teamsters has passed off, and a race of cultivators of the soil hold their places.

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Farming," still to quote the same authority, "when it became the general business of the country, was of the very worst description. It was assumed from the most direful necessity,

and was ready to be abandoned at the first prospect of a return to the former way of life. Things that were done, were half done; husbandry was a scheme of expediency altogether. The art was in its infancy, and every thing bore the same slovenly impress. Men came to a new employment with reluctance, and without skill in their pursuit. It was a dull, unthankful business. Every undertaking was with doubt as to its success, and a whole season was necessary to try an experiment. Fields were poorly fenced, and pastures not fenced at all. The stock consisted chiefly of oxen, and these were constantly in the yoke. The cows and young stock received little consideration, and were left to range the highways, or gather a scanty subsistence from the public common. From these considerations, we may naturally look for all the unhappy consequences flowing from an ill course of management. The changes for the better were therefore slow and almost imperceptible. There were none found to encourage the art, or to view the labors of the husbandman but with apathy and indifference. The character of the farmer was held in a state of degradation by himself and by all that did not support themselves by the culture of the soil. Coming to the plow with such prejudices, it is not wonderful that our march has been slow, and not always forward."

To this portraiture of agriculture from the settlement of the State to the years immediately following the war of 1812, true in the main, faithful as regards the whole, there were of course many exceptions. And did the occasion permit, a long catalogue of names might be recorded of men who came to the State as farmers, who followed the profession enthusiastically and well, and who compelled fortunes from a hard and barren soil. Of the descendants of these, there have been many who followed the plow from a love of labor, and who honored alike their names and their profession. But we propose to consider institutions rather than individuals.

It may not however seem invidious if we here notice one early, constant and laborious friend of agriculture, whose public life commenced about the time of the rise of agricultural interest in this State. We refer to the late Hon. Isaac Hill, whose name