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food for vegetation, cither in solid or liquid fonii, is carefully preserved and 

 skillfully applied. Every acre, every foot of land is made to yield. 



In Europe, agriculture and gardening have been brought to great perfection, 

 and in those countries skill has eventuated in great wealth to the owners and 

 tillers of the soil. 



In the eastern parts of the United States, aided by agricultural associations, 

 astonishing increase in products has been obtained. The meeting of these 

 societies, and the exhibitions at the fairs, have given a general interest to the 

 subject ; the beholders seeing what has been done by others, reasonably con- 

 clude that they can do as much or more. They have treasured up the infor- 

 mation of the means to attain the object, and applied their knowledge and 

 industry to equal and surpass what others have accomplished. Thus a whole 

 agricultural people have been changed from toiling plodders, \vho followed 

 the same invariable routine from sire to son for ages, to be enlightened, scien- 

 tific, and wealthy farmers. 



"Without books or newspapers devoted to the subject, rapid and valuable 

 advances cannot be attained. The mind must be stored with knowledge to 

 give efficient direction to the hands. "What is learned by toil and experience 

 is the most enduring and valuable knowledge, but is too slowly acquired to 

 be extensively valuable. "When the divers experience of many is recorded 

 and made public by printing, and generally read by those engaged in the 

 same pursuit, it will result in a march of mind that may be compared to the 

 improvement made by the electric telegraph, upon the post-horse system of 

 conveying news. 



"With a population of nearly 4,000 voters, why do we not have and support 

 one or more agricultural papers in these counties? Because the subject of 

 agricultural improvement is not as yet, one of general interest. But let a so- 

 ciety be formed and fairs be established, and the public mind will be on the 

 enquiry; the people will be hungry for information, and they will be fed. 



A farmer properly educated for his business, is to no small extent a learned 

 man. He is master of the greatest terrestrial subject of human knowledge. 

 The application of chemistry enables him to apply advantageously, the pro- 

 per nourishment for plants and animals. He should be informed of the con- 

 stituent parts of the earth which he cultivates, to enable him to know what 

 ingredients are wanting to render it fertile. The more extensive his informa- 

 tion, the better is he fitted for the successful tillage of the earth. Nor will it 

 be difficult hereafter for men to become scientific farmers, if we of the present 

 day perform our duty and begin the work. Information will flow in and be 

 greedily devoured, and the youths as they grow, will from infancy be imbibing 

 instruction by both theory and practice, and many of them will become learn- 

 ed, as their bodies have increased in stature, without themselves perceiving 

 the progress. 



Many parents are mistaken in educating their sons for the learned profes- 

 sions, thinking thereby to elevate their rank in society, or to enable them to 

 accumulate wealth, or to render their future lives less laborious. The lawyer, 

 the physician, or divine, who has much business and attends to it faithfully. 



