446 



FAllMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 7 



munications. Moreov^er the circulation of these 

 journals is confined chiefly to ihose particular sec- 

 tions ofcountry to which they are supposed to be 

 best adapted,, and consequently treat much more of 

 local thiin general husbandry. Their contents, too, 

 consist, in a great measure, of anonymous articles, 

 in spite of ever\^ thing their editors do to prevent 

 it; and thus necessarily fail to acquire that degree 

 ofauthority and influence which they might other- 

 wise p'.'ssess. No one, therelbre, of our agricul- 

 tural papers could well be used as a manual of 

 husbandry lor every part of the Atlantic states, 

 and hence the necessity of such a work as the one 

 here proposed, in addition to those highly useful 

 and. uiteresting periodicals. An additional argu- 

 ment in its (itvor is derived from the fact, which 

 must often have been noticed by all who have 

 travelled to improve their Icnowledixe of rural af- 

 fairs, that there are many valuable machines, im- 

 plements, processes, and practices of husbandry, 

 the knowiedn-e of which is yet confined within 

 very narrow limits; simply, because those who 

 enjoy the benefit of them, either believe them to 

 be common, or have too little public spirit to make 

 them generally known. With all such matters 

 the author designs to become as thoroughly ac- 

 quainted as he can, during an agricultural lour 

 through the best cultivated portions of the Atlantic 

 states, pre()aratory to the completion of his work ; 

 provided the number of subscribers will warrant 

 the expenses which must necessarily be incurred 

 lor such a purpose. He will rely upon his own 

 personal observation ns fiir as practicable, lor all 

 iiicts and details; and where that cannot be made, 

 upon mlbrmation carefully collected among the 

 best inlbrmed and most experienced acrriculturisls 

 lie can find in the different states throiiirh which he 

 intends to travel. In his whole book there shall 

 be nothing of those fanciful theories, and abstract 

 speculations, surcharged with scientific terms, 

 which have contributed so largely to bring all 

 kinds of agricultural works into ridicule and ne- 

 glect, by those opinionated sciolists in husbandry, 

 who seem to take a pride in their ignorance of 

 every thing which has ever been printed and pub 

 lislied on the subject. Under the cant term of 

 ^^bnok-f arming,^'' all have been confounded to- 

 gether in one indiscriminate denunciation; and 

 consequenil}^ their circulation has been, in a great 

 measure, confii'ed to those who have really least 

 need of them. It may possibly be deemed very 

 presumptuous in the author to hope for any better 

 success than his predecessors have had, in his 

 efforts to disabuse his agricultural brethren of the 

 United States, in reifard to that most irrational 

 prejudice entertained by so many of them, against 

 bocks on husbandry. But when he assures them 

 that his sole object is to collect and publisli litcts 

 which will prove highly useful to us all, and which 

 probably may never be generally known, unless 

 somebody will make it his special business to no 

 in search of them. He trusts that the result of his 

 labors may meet with a more favorable reception, 

 than if he tendered his services rather as a teacher, 

 (to which character he makes no j)retensions,J 

 than a mere reporter of the best practices of others 

 in every branch ofhusbandry. Of this he believes 

 himself capable, and also of giving the requisite 

 details wiih sufficient minuteness and accuracy to 

 make his book, a convenient manual for all who 

 desire such a guide. On the score ol'execution, he 



promises nothing more than diligence in research? 

 fidelity of representation, and a constant effort to 

 render all his statements perfectly intelligible to 

 the most illiterate reader. 



It is a part of his design to aim at relieving the 

 dryness of details relating merely to rural affairs, 

 by occasional remarks on state ■|)eculiarities, and 

 prejudices, than which nothing has'more impeded 

 the progress among us of all useful knowledge, 

 but especially ofhusbandry. In this vital an — 

 the ever bounteous nurse of all the rest — it is un- 

 deniable that some portions of our union are a 

 century or more behind others ; and that the sole 

 cause of it is, the prevalence of those violent and 

 senseless antijxiiki'es, (as the\' may well be called,) 

 which a very large part of the citizens of the dif- 

 ferent stales indulge against each other. They 

 have prevented, to a most injurious extent, that 

 harmonious and frequent intercourse between the 

 members of the great American family, so essen- 

 tial to their peace and happiness ; they have made 

 enemies of natural liiends ; and they have kept 

 the great mass of each community utterly ignorant, 

 not only of their true interests as component parts 

 of our grand confederacy, but of the progress made 

 by each state in all the uselLil arts of'lile. Destroy 

 this ignorance — cure these antipathies, and the 

 ties which should bind us together as a nation, 

 will prove as indissoluble as they are endearing. 

 It is a consummation which every true friend to 

 his countr}' must desire most ardently; and no 

 means appear better calculated to accomplish it, 

 than first to expose each others frailties and limits 

 with candor and impartiality; and secondl}, by 

 making known to all the various improvements 

 made by each in that vital art which, far beyond 

 every other, conduces most to individual and na- 

 tional prosperity. This is the art of good hvs- 

 handry. How far the author's labors may con- 

 tribute towards the attainment of the great objects 

 he has in view, remains to be proved. He may 

 possibly share the fate of those volunteer peace- 

 makers who interfere between man and wile ; but, 

 in any event, he will console himself with the 

 consciousness of having been the first to plan and 

 to undertake a work which cannot possibly fail to 

 be highly useful, if properly executed. 



Estimates derived from the most authentic 

 sources of the present netl profits of husbandry in 

 each of the Atlantic states, will occupy a portion 

 of his work ; together with |)Iain drawings of such 

 agricultural implements and machines, as appear 

 to him best calculated lor their destined purpose ; 

 provided he believes they can be made from linear 

 representatioriv without models. To this will be 

 added some cursory views of our manufacturing 

 establishnients, 'and their effects upon our agricul- 

 tural interests. 



The whole will conclude with an appendix of 

 approved receipts in rural econotliy, either tested 

 by the author himself," or by such other persons as 

 are deemed fully worthy of confidence. 



Conditions. — Should the amount of subscriptions 

 be sutfii'ient to defray barely the necessary ex- 

 penses of the undertaking, the work will be pub- 

 lished, (if the author lives,) in the course of the 

 next year. It will be in one large octavo volume, 

 the price to subscribers S3 in boards, and $;3 50 

 lor a well bound copy, lettered on the back. 



Any person who will procure subscribers for 10 

 copies, and guarantee the payment, shall be en- 



