46 PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



PORTRAIT OF AN ANTI-BOOK-FARMER. 



WHENEVER our anti-book-farmers can show us better 

 crops at a less expense, better flocks, and better farms, and 

 better owners on them, than book-farmers can, we shall 

 become converts to their doctrines. But, as yet, we cannot 

 see how intelligence in a farmer, should injure his crops. 

 Nor what difference it makes whether a farmer gets his 

 ideas from a sheet of paper, or from a neighbor s mouth, or 

 from his own experience, so that he only gets good, practi 

 cal, sound ideas. A farmer never objects to receive politi 

 cal information from newspapers ; he is quite willing to 

 learn the state of markets from newspapers, and as willing 

 to gain religious notions from reading, and historical know 

 ledge, and all sorts of information except that which relates 

 to his business. He will go over and hear a neighbor tell 

 how he prepares his wheat-lands, how he selects and puts 

 in his seed, how he deals with his grounds in spring, in har 

 vest and after harvest-time; but if that neighbor should 

 write it all down carefully and put it into paper, it s all 

 poison ! it s book-farming ! 



&quot; Strange such a difference there should be 

 Twixt tweedledum, and tweedledee.&quot; 



If I raise a head of lettuce surpassing all that has oeen 

 seen hereabouts, every good farmer that loves a salad would 

 send for a little seed, and ask, as he took it, &quot; How do you 

 contrive to raise such monstrous heads ? you must have 

 some secret about it.&quot; But if my way were written down 

 and printed, he would not touch it. &quot; Poh, it s bookish !&quot; 



Now let us inquire in what States land is the best man 

 aged, yields the most with the least cost, where are the 

 best sheep, the best cattle, the best hogs, the^best wheat ? 

 It will be found to be in those States having the most agri 

 cultural societies and the most widely-disseminated agricul 

 tural papers. 



