S16 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



aa exchange is made. It is this which is pressing so 

 heavily upon the introduction of steam culture at pre- 

 sent, greatly retarding its progress. In order to do 

 justice to this part of our subject we shall return to it 



with greater length, in the hopes of stimulating the 

 Royal Agricultural Society, and other societies of this 

 kind, to encourage progression in steam culture on sound 

 principles. Practice with Scienck, 



SUNDAY ON THE FARM. 



' The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."— Mauk ii. ! 



Perhaps no class ia the community pay more outward 

 attention, or manifest a higher regard for the sabbath 

 than that of farmers generally. Their retired village 

 life, and the manners and customs under which they 

 are brought up, all tend to induce them to respect the 

 day. A man who never goes to church, or it may be 

 tO" chapel, is now looked upon as almost a heathen, or 

 something analogous to one. It is the regular habit, 

 at all events, to go once to " service." A genuine far- 

 mer of the old school would iavariably insist upon his 

 family going once to the service, and then conclude that 

 he had done his duty, and no more was to be expected 

 from him : he had been to church, said his prayers, 

 done his duty, and thus thought himself religious. Ah ! 

 this form, old-fashioned as it may be, is not religion : 

 it is all commendable in its way, and not to be despised, 

 but real religion influences a man's heart : it is the 

 guide of his life, and the farmer has great responsi- 

 bility resting upon him in connexion with his servants 

 and labourers : he may influence them greatly for good 

 or for evil by his precepts and example : his is a little 

 world, and he must see to the welfare of it. Much of 

 his influence will depend upon the orderly conduct of 

 the Sunday on the farm. What can be expected of a 

 master who continues to do much business on the sab- 

 bath-day ? True he cannot work his teams or follow 

 his usual labour, but he can arrange for shifting his 

 stock, for enlarging his sheep-folds, and for reviewing 

 his flocks and crops more intently. Depend upon it this 

 is sabbath-breaking, and if a master will do this, the 

 man will soon take example, and do his own part — it 

 may be at the ale-house, or in a quiet stroll along the 

 hedge preparatory to a revisit in the night, or in noisy 

 boisterous mirth with his fellows on the highways ; in 

 fact in any way rather than in attendance at the house 

 of God and joining in his service. It seems most as- 

 tonishing that, although the great business of life is to 

 prepare for an endless state of being, so few are found 

 to give earnest heed to it : why any one should expect 

 to reach heaven without seeking to obtain it, is more 

 foolish than expecting to reap a crop which was never 

 sown: we don't do this in matters of worldly business. 

 Masters must take heed to make religion a fundamental 

 point, and thus impress with its importance all beneath 

 their care or influence. 



I make these few rather unusual remarks, because I 

 am desirous of putting an end to all unnecessary Sunday 

 labour, and thus far to free my brother-farmers from 

 being responsible for the irreligious state and conduct 

 of their dependants. What an amount of Sunday la- 

 bour may be saved by a strict and careful attention to 



making provision for cattle and sheep on the Saturdays ! 

 I was deeply grieved on one occasion, when spending a 

 Sunday in the Southern counties, to find that every 

 shepherd was compelled to be in attendance upon his 

 flock the whole of Sunday, and, moreover, that he 

 was expected to remove the hurdles in the folds 

 just as on every other day. I almost thought it a case 

 for magisterial interference. Now, what possible in- 

 jury would these southern flocks sustain, provided they 

 had a double allowance of food, and a larger plot of 

 turnips set out for them on the Saturday ? or what 

 actual loss would the ilockmaster sustain, by this setting 

 out ? It is not the custom in the North, and no one 

 complains of injury. Why are the poor shepherds of 

 our Southern counties to be debarred the blessings of the 

 day of rest, and the privilege of the Christian Sabbath ? 

 Verily these flockmasters have much to answer for in 

 this thing. It is not a work of necessity ; it may be a 

 profitable course of management. I am far from pre- 

 cluding any works of necessity or charity, or even with- 

 holding reasonable rest or innocent recreation from the 

 labouring classes on the Sabbath. But the great difficulty 

 is in the thing itself ; what may be wholly allowable in 

 one case may be a sore temptation in another : to his 

 own master he standeth orfalleth. If we are commanded 

 " not to think our own thoughts, nor do our own work," 

 but to give ourselves wholly to God's service on his own 

 day, a man may take that as a rule upon which to act as 

 to what is rest and what is recreation. I don't object 

 to a meditative walk, for the master; akindly call, or visit 

 10 the distressed, for the mistress; a walk, or attractive 

 book, for the children ; a run home, for the servant. As 

 to indulgence in idle and frivolous if not sinful amuse- 

 ment, that I utterly repudiate as unworthy of the sacred 

 day. It is abhorrent to God, and in disobedience to his 

 law, which says, " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep 

 it holy. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou 

 nor thy servant .... nor thy cattle," &c. Would that 

 farmers, from one end of the land to the other, would 

 take this subject to heart, and consider in how many 

 ways and in what numerous instances they could, under 

 proper regulations of business, prevent much Sunday 

 labour. Why should the poor little crow-boy be kept 

 from his Sunday-school, if the occasional explosion of a 

 gun would drive away his foes } Why is the dairymaid 

 or the cook kept from divine service, or the shoe-boy 

 or groom ? Families should think of these little things 

 — apparently little, but most important to the subjects of 

 deprivation. The soul of the crow-boy is of infinite 

 value. The fact is, the Sunday is too much a day of 

 feasting and pleasure, and all dependants must be made 



