9-2 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



Ece Chose, of Hopkinton, examined tlie said mod- 

 el, and in the absence of Col. VVni. A. Kent, tie 

 chairman of said committee, His Excellency the 

 Governor, Issac Hill, made the follnving flatter- 

 ing Report ; , . . 



"Mr. Scarle of Franklin, exhibited a miniature 

 Bee-House, or Apiary, for which he has obtained 

 LcHcrs Patent. The great advantage of this bee- 

 house is, that the lioney is taken from it without the 

 destruction of llie bees. And the inmates aro pro- 

 tected completely agVinstthe depredation of worms 

 and millers, and other vermin, and from the sever- 

 ity of the winter. It is believed Mr. Searle's in- 

 vention is an improvement on all ethers for the 

 convenient protection and keeping of that highly 

 useful little animal, wliieh might be advantageous- 

 ly multiplied in all our towns. 



Fur Ibu Farmer's Monthly Visilor. 



The Farmer's Lot. 



The farmer's lot is bless'd indeed ; 

 He tills his ground and sows his seed ; 

 While snufihine and the gentle rain 

 Ripen his fruit and swell his grain. 



True, he must labor for his meat, 

 In winter's cold and summer's heat ; 

 But yet within his humble cot, 

 He feels his is a blessed lot. 



Tenceful his days : he never feels 



The stings of conscience ; for he deals 



In honesty with friend or foe. 



And knows what every one should Itnow ; 



That to be happy he must be 

 A man of sterling honesty : 

 Faithful and kind to all around. 

 Quick to relieve, but slow to wound. 



For him the birds the live long day 

 Pour forth their blithsnme roundelay, 

 Inviting him his heart to raise 

 In hymns of never ceasing praise. 



Fair Nature's Book, with wisdom stcr'd. 

 Is ever open, to afford 

 The hallow'd truths of heavenly lore 

 That bid his spirits upward soar. 



On its fair pages he may trace 

 The record of unmeasured grace : 

 No words of doubt or dread are there 

 To wake a sigh or cause despair. 



The gladsome smiles of spring impart 

 Visions of promise to his heart i 

 While clad in robes of living green 

 The earth rejoices like a queen. 



Summer succeeds, with verdure crowu'd, 

 And sheds its magic iulluence round ; 

 Mantles the earth in blushing bloom. 

 And scents the air with sweet perfume. 



Autumn, with blessings in its train, 

 Comes with its slieaves of nodding grain : 

 Its stores of lu.xuries afford 

 Plenty to crown his flowing board. 



While winter with its frost and snow 

 Brings naught to add a pang of wo : — 

 Secure and warm within his cot. 

 The angry storm he heedeth not. 



Thus glide his cheerful hours along. 

 In peace, in happiness and song : 

 His thankful heart to God he lifts 

 In gratitude for all his gifts. 

 Dorchester, June, 1839, 



ed so, the ''independent farmer,' if not passed by 

 with scorn, receive a far less cordial greeting, from 

 those who claim to be his superior, than others no 

 more worthy of respect, in point of moral wortli, 

 but who happen to wear a coatof costlier fabric and 

 more fashionable shape ; and who pursued a voca. 

 tion thought to be a little more honornb'c. I trust, 

 therefore, Mr. Editor, that it will be a part of your 

 labors, as the conductor of the 'Visitor, to do away 

 this heresy — this fatal error, that it is not respecta- 

 ble to be a farmer. I say fiitiil error, and I think it 

 cannot have escaped your observation, that it has 

 v,-eiglied like an incubus upon the iarming inter- 

 est. 



Acting under the influence of this error, the sons 

 of our farmers, who possess a commendable share 

 of ambition, when tliey attain to manhood, come to 

 the conclusion that if they would gain a respecta- 

 ble standing in society, they must direct their ef- 

 forts to some other calling than that of the farmer. 

 And so, perchance, thcv leave their soil, to the un- 

 disputed possession of brake and bramble, und set 

 their face towards the city, big with hopes of future 

 riches and honor — hopes, alas ! destined in nine 

 cases out of ten to be blasted in the very bud. 



I do not, Mr. Editor, claim to be very wise or 

 very experienced; but I have the vanity, never- 

 theless, to think myself capable of giving such 

 young men advice worth heeding. If privileged 

 with the columns of the Visitor for that purpose, I 

 would say to them : 



"Young men stick to the farm ; and leave the 

 city to be peopled by (hose less favored than your- 

 selves. Remember the old adage : 'God made the 

 country— man the city.' Why will you leave your 

 happy homes to become the sport of fortune .' Is 

 your object to gain wealth .' If so, reflect how ma- 

 ny chances there are against you to one in your fa- 

 vor. Is it to gain honor: What is honor but a 

 bauble, a cheat, a wortliless appendage .' There is, 

 indeed, such a thing as honor, that is worth striv- 

 ing for. But this true honor bears hut little resem- 

 blance to the spurious honor of the world. It con- 

 sists in the performance of all the relative duties of 

 life; in works of kindness and benevolence; and 

 in feelings of love and good will to all around u.:. 

 This honor, the only kiiid that is worth possessing, 

 is as easily acquired, and as permanently retained, 

 by the farmer and the mechanic, as by tlie profes- 

 sional man or the scholar. 



But above all, is your object in leaving the farm 

 for other pursuits to obtain liappiness.' Then think 

 a Tain before you carry your resolves into e. sedition. 

 Is it the part of wisdom, in seeking for happiness, 

 to leave the very pursuits and associations most fa- 

 vorable to virtue and happiness ? What ! leave 

 the country redolent as it is with beauty, when the 

 blessed sunshine rests upon you, and the free and 

 glorious breezes of heaven play around }»0H — leave 

 the countrv, I say, with all its beauties and all its 

 blessings and all its glories, for the pent up city, 

 where the puny works of the creature shut out the 

 all glorious works of the Creator, and call this a 

 search after happiness? Tis rank heresy. As well 

 might a man talk of going to prison, that he might 

 enjoy liberty." 



In concluding my tedious, though I trust, not al- 

 together unprofitable advice, let me repeat the mot- 

 to witli which I set out : Young moi, stick lo the 

 fiirnt. S. C. 



Dorchester, June, 1S39. 



6. C. 



FortlieF.irnifr's Slontlily Visilor. 

 Mr. Hill : — It is matter of congratulation to 

 the firmers of the Granite State that they are-re- 

 ceiving the visits of so respectable a visit-ir as your 

 'Farmer's Montlily ;' and I hope it will continue 

 to make its visitations, until our barren lauds shall 

 become fruitful, and our fields blossom like the 

 prairies of the West. It is not alone for the con- 

 viction that your 'Monthly Visitor' will add to the 

 pecuniary interest of the farmer, that I prize it the 

 most ; but it is because I believe it will have a ten- 

 dency to elevate his mind, and make him, and oth- 

 ers too, feel that there is no degradation in cultivat- 

 ino- the soil. Why should there be ? There is 

 none ? there can be iv.ne. But yet, I doubt not, 

 many, and especially the young, look Ujion the pur- 

 suits of agriculltirc. If not as derogatory, at least as 

 vastly ungenteel. True, professional men some- 

 times talk very flatteringly about the 'indoj*endent 

 farmers.' But I have seen, at least I have imagin- 



fore he gathers it : I think he will leave none for 

 toll. 



I don't like' to see a farmer who raises much more 

 than his neighbors : I think he had better not bo 

 too independent. 



I don't like to see a farmer in the fall, tolling 

 liow many cattle he can winter: I think they will 

 not winter well. 



I don't like to see a farmer who sufi'ers manure 

 to collect around his house: I think he does not 

 know the value of it. 



T don't like to see a farmer driving a lean pair of 

 oxen : I think he does not like his barn. 



I don't like to see a wood pile in the door yard, 

 obstructing the p.issage to the road : I think it a 

 more fit place in the wood house. 



I don't like to see a swamp within half a mile of 

 the barn yard, to lie untouched and almost unnotic- 

 ed f.r years : I think the owner docs not consnit 

 his own Interest. 



I don't like to see a farmer more engaged in pol- 

 itics than in agricultural pursuits : it seems as ii 

 he wanted oflice. 



I don't like to see so many farmers emigrating to 

 the West : One would be in anxious suspense to 

 know why they so dislike the Granite hills of New 

 Hampshire. 



I don't like to see a farmer spend more for rum 

 than for stone wall : He is most certainly paying 

 too dear for the whistle. 



I don't like to see a farmer too poor to take and 

 pay for an agricultural paper : I think he had better 

 enlist in another kind of emplovment. 



AN OBSERVER. 



For Itie Farmer's Monllily Visilor. 

 ■>Vhat I don't like to see. 



I don't like to see a farm neglected till it is en- 

 tirely worn out: I think the owner does not make 

 improvement. 



I don't like to see a farmer very earnest to trade 

 liorses : I think he docs not pay proper attention to 

 his cattle. 



I don't like to see a farmer ashamed of his occu- 

 pation : I think that it will soon be ashamed of 

 lilm. 



I don't like to see a farmer who had rather be cal- 

 led a gentleman : I think he will be company for 

 neither. 



I don't like to see a farmer all for experiments : 

 I tlilnk he is for nothing else. 



I don't like to see a farmer so obstinate that no 

 persuasion v>lll induce iiiin to try an experiment : I 

 think that want will drive him to it. 



I don't like to see a farmer always complaining 

 of hard times anci high taxes : I think he docs not 

 feel coiitented. 



I don't like to see a farmer who can never hire 

 good help : I think he is very difticult. 



I don't like to see a farmer afraid mother earth 

 v.-iU cheat him : I think if she deals justly, he is a 

 great loser. 



I dent like to sec & farmer measure his corn be- 



For llie Faimer's Momhlj Visiloi. 

 Thoughts on Asricultural Improvement. 



A time like the present, when "improvement" is 

 written on every thing around us — when the sev- 

 eral mechanic arts are all on tlic high road to per- 

 fection — wlien our Inland transportation has been 

 nearly revolutionized by the introduction and use 

 of steam,— and when too, our means of informa- 

 tion are so great that "he that runs may read" — 

 such a time, is highly auspicious for the farmer, the 

 cultivator of the soil", to be waking up, am! looking 

 about him, that he too may have a heart in that glo- 

 rious revolution that is progressing, with giant 

 strides, to the empire of the mind, and ameliorat- 

 ing the condition of the human race, wherever its 

 happv influences extend. The farmer, who in this 

 age of light and knowledge, neglects lo avail him- 

 self of the inventions and improvements which 

 science has made in the construction of new and 

 useful implements, of labor-saving machines, and 

 in improved methods of tilling the soil, cannot ex- 

 pect to compete with him who makes the science 

 of agriculture his study. What, for instance, 

 would be thought of the man who should be seen 

 going to mill with a stone in one end if hn bag to 

 balance the grist on the horse, because, perchance, 

 this may have been the practice of his ancestors ; 

 instead of dividing his grain, and thus save one 

 half the labor of transportation i" He would be 

 lauirhed at by the very urchins in the streets, for 

 his "blind adherence to the time honored usages of 

 his fathers, v.-ho could see no other way in which 

 "to make tlie balance true," till at length, the dis. 

 covery was made, that if they put an equal quanti- 

 ty of grain in the other end of the bag it would an- 

 swer as well as the stone. 



When we take but a partial survey of our coun- 

 try, we shall find that in literature, science, the 

 arts and manufactures, and in government, the 

 "march of mind" is emphatically "onward;" but 

 in agriculture, we are "behind the tiu.es." 'VVhy 

 is this? Does it arise from any deficiency in our 

 soil .' This cannot be : our soil, th'-.ugh not the 

 best for some kinds of produce, is rich in all the 

 materials necessary for the growth of plants adapt- 

 ed to our latitude. Is it from a too cold climats ? 

 No: our summers are sufficiently warm lOr the pro- 

 duction of wheat, rye, Indian corn, and tiii:'r kinds 

 of grain, the roots, such as potatoes, ruta baga, beets, 

 carrots, Ac, and for various kinds of grasses in 

 almost any abundance. It arhcs from a want of 

 the proper htioirlalge to eiutlilc the fanners to un- 

 dcrstinul the nature of his soil, so as to know how to 

 apply the proper correctives, and thisiii a mauiier to 

 refilize ttrentii dollars profit where he nou- ^ets ten ; 

 and from a too great prejudice against, ijiaovation, 

 and proncness to keeping on in the pldway, exhaust^ 

 itiff the soil, thus virtuaUrj erdijiitting that the ^^la~ 

 borer' is not ^^icorlhij of his hire." 



And how can it be otherwise, so long as our 

 farmers contemn tlie knowledge that the world has 

 been gaining foi* si.x thousand 3e3rs, and sit quiet- 

 ly down, contenting themselves witli kiiov.-ing that 

 they have done as well as those who went before 

 tlium I OojfJu they not to do better ? It is said 



