266 



Editor^s Jlddre&s. 



Vol. IV. 



EDITOR'S ADDRESS. 



Brother Farmers : — 



I congratulate you on the change 

 which has taken place in the prospects of our 

 favourite, "The Farmers' Cabinet;" it has 

 passed into the hands of gentlemen who are 

 willing, as they are able to sustain it, until it 

 has acquired the character of a work, worthy 

 of the state and country. 



As a subscriber, reader and contributor, I 

 have been closely connected with this publi- 

 cation since the time of its birth, and have at- 

 tended it through the stages of its parentage 

 and education with anxious solicitude, and 

 fervent wishes for its weltiire. Its excellent, 

 gentle and intelligent founder and sole editor 

 to the end of the past year, the late Mr. F. S. 

 Wiggins, was my intimate friend, from 

 whom, in my frequent intercourse, T obtained 

 much information relating to the detail of its 

 publication; and his impartiality, urbanity 

 and industry, were virtues which it will be 

 my endeavour to imitate — peace to his me- 

 mory ! 



My appointment, as editor of the " Farm- 

 ers' Cabinet," is as gratifying as it was un- 

 expected — it will be my pleasure— my pride 

 — to fulfil its duties to the satisfaction of all 

 connected with it, as far as I have the ability; 

 and the unlimited conhdence which the pro- 

 prietors repose in me, will operate as an in- 

 centive to caution, circumspection and assi- 

 duity on my part; and if our friends will sup- 

 port me with their counsel, assistance and 

 forbearance, 1 have no fear for the result. 



Arrangements have been made for me to 

 visit, at those seasons when I can be sjjared 

 from the immediate duties of editor, our 

 friends in different parts of the state and 

 country; this will alTord an opportunity to 

 consult and contrive for our mutual benefit, 

 and from thence much good, and extensive 

 usefulness will accrue, as well as occasion 

 to register interesting events, which might 

 aflerwards be communicated to the public 

 through the medium of the " Cabinet," to 

 great advantage. An important object will 

 be, to \ndv\ce real, practical men to communi- 

 cate their ideas upon every branch of their 

 profession — on the breeding and rearing of 

 stock, the agriculture of the soil, and the 

 husbandry of their crops — and if they will 

 put pen to paper, much good must result 

 therefrom ; some, perhaps, might be unwill- 

 ing to do this, through fear of not being able 

 to guide the pen as straight as they guide the 

 plough, but let not this deter them ; practi- 

 cal knowledge is the thing most desired ; so, 

 if they will set the coulter of the pen well to 

 land, put it to a good depth, and turn the fur- 

 row well up and over, without regard to tlie 

 roughness of the work, we will do our best to 



harrow and roll, and put a smooth face upon 

 it, calculating to reap a crop of a hundred 

 fold from such a soil so cultivated : it will be 

 a pleasure to visit such persons, to share in 

 their labours, to make them acquainted with 

 what their neighbours are doing in other part^ 

 of the country, and to profit by their experi- 

 ence ; and this, rather in preference to giving 

 long extracts from foreign agricultural jour- 

 nals ; the soil, climate and circumstances of 

 our country, often operating as an interdic- 

 tion to the introduction of the modes of man- 

 agement adopted in those countries, where 

 circumstances, climate and soil are so differ- 

 ent. Let it not, however, for one moment be 

 supposed that this is said in disparagement- 

 nothing is farther from the intention — tor it 

 is the determination of the proprietors to 

 spare no expense in procuring the best for- 

 eiL'u and domestic works on agriculture, from 

 which to enrich the pages of the "Cabinet," 

 as occasion might ofTtT. 



The present disastrous state of the times, 

 will lead thousands of individuals to emigrate 

 from the rank of respectable citizens, and 

 bend their minds to the cultivation of the 

 soil ; these will be a most valuable class of 

 well educated men, with a taste for reading 

 and study, and having no means of becoming 

 acquainted with the art of managing their 

 farms, but through the aid of agricultural 

 publications. And this is not all; they will 

 form an enlightened band of correspondents, 

 enquiring of, and communicating to the pages 

 of the agricultural periodical works, what- 

 ever of importance occurs to them, giving 

 and receiving at the same time, an immense 

 mass of information, and greatly contributing 

 to the formation of a new era in the science 

 of agriculture and rural affairs. The "Cabi- 

 net" will be open to such, and they are most 

 cordially invited to contribute to its pages: 

 their communications will be highly valued, 

 and command particular attention. 



The handsome manner in which the late 

 editor, and my friend, Mr. John Libby, has in- 

 troduced me to your notice, leaves me noth- 

 ing more to saij, but a great deal to do — may 

 I not be found wanting. 

 I am, gentlemen, 



With respect and esteem, 



JAMES PEDDER. 



Philada. 15th April, 1840. 



A IReautiful Comparison. — " Tlie damps 

 of Autumn sink into the leaves, and prepare 

 thorn for the necessity of their fall ; and thus 

 insensibly are we, as years close around us, 

 detached from our tenacity to life by the gen- 

 tle pressure of recorded sorrows." 



