FARMERS' REGISTER— STEAM CARRIAGES. 



19 



that agriculturul books f^hould be i)erlect, to render 

 them vakiabie and instructive — and that the prac- 

 tice of a farmer should ))c good throughout, to 

 make his example valuable in some, or perhaps 

 many respects. I therefore readily accord the 

 higiiest degree of merit to John Taylor, as an im- 

 proving farmer, and a bciietactor to our country, 

 although it is said that his plough-gear, and im- 

 plements were of the lowest order — to eulogize 

 tiic ed'orts, and highly prize the success of R. K. 

 Meade in improving the live stock of Virginia, 

 without encjuiring into the profits of his tillage — 

 and (if you will permit such an illustration) Mr. 

 Etlitor, I am content to })rofit by your opinions 

 on calcareous manures, and your successful 

 jiractical use of them, without testing them by 

 your generid management as a farmer, which 

 I have heard is very liir from being commendable. 



But I have conceded too much to our adversa- 

 ries, by discussing this question on their own pre- 

 mises. I deny that reading ever made any man 

 a worse farmer. Books, and agricultural books, 

 may serve to occupy the leisure of many an indo- 

 lent farmer — but in that case the occupation is not 

 the cause, but the eflect of negligent Jiabits, and 

 serve to lessen instead of increasing its ill elTects. 

 Of those who thus neglect their business, there 

 are hundreds who change their pursuits to plea- 

 sure or vice, while one does to study. It would 

 also seem, from prevalent opinions and sarcasms, 

 as if no reading farmers were successful in prac- 

 tice. So far from this being the case, there are 

 fi^w of the best farmers in Virginia, who have not 

 been diligent and extensive readers of agi'icultu- 

 ral works, and who do not owe much of their suc- 

 cess to the general information thence acquired. 

 I might name many striking examples — men who 

 are known by reputation tJiroughout Virginia, as 

 judicious and successful practical farmers — of 

 whose claim to this distinction there would be no 

 question, and who stand so high in this respect, 

 that they are altogether unsuspected of the sin of 

 reading agricultural books. 



If any of our despisers of theoretical and book 

 farming, were asked by a foreigner "who ai-e the 

 best ami most successful practical farmers in Vir- 

 ginia?" the answer would most certainly include 

 the names of several persons whom I know to be 

 among the most extensive readers of agricultural 

 books in general, and who would not hesitate to 

 acknowledge their great oblifjations to these 

 sources of instruction. Indeed, but for the gene- 

 ral and strong prejudices on this subject, it would 

 seem as idle and as ridiculous to adduce argu- 

 ments to support my position, as to prove the ge- 

 neral proposition tliat the pursuit of knowledge is 

 aided by instruction. 



I will readily admit that a habit of reading 

 works on agriculture, does not-always help to make 

 a good farmer, any more than a habit of hearing 

 sermons always makes a good christian: but that 

 adjiiission does not mclude, what is generally 

 claimed, that reading is injurious to working men. 

 I will illustrate my view, by repeatmg a story 

 which I have heard brought up for the purpose of 

 condemning and ridiculing reading farmers. In 

 one of the counties adjoining the Blue Ridge, 

 some Iwelve yeai's ago, there were two ad- 

 jacent farms, very similar in eveiy resjiect, except 

 for their condition anil management; the one ex- 

 hibiting every mark of care, industry, and econo- 



my, while the want of these, and dilaj-idation and 

 waste of every kind, were as consjiicuous on the 

 other. A traveller. Avho passed by the latter farm, 

 on his way to visit the owner of the former, was 

 forcibly impressed with the apparent contra^it, and 

 asked his host to explain the cause. "The rea- 

 son is plain enough," was the answer; "while my 

 neighbor is in the house reading the American 

 Farmer, I am ploughing." But the fault in this 

 case was the indolence or carelessness of the 

 farmer, and not in the particular amusement or 

 study tor which his work w.is neglected. If he 

 had spent the same time in gaming, driidcing, 

 hunting, or paying visits to other idlers, his farm- 

 ing would not have been better. Nothing will 

 compensate lor the wantof industiy and economy: 

 but the liu'mer wlio possesses these indispensable 

 qualifications, will always be greatly benefited by 

 intellectual improvement, and by the most exten- 

 sive acquaintance with the opinions of the best 

 tlirmers Throughout the worid: and these opinions 

 are only to be Ji^^iund in books. 



Alter otlering these obsei"vations, it will not re- 

 quire the signature to show that I am one of those 

 who bear the repoach of being 



A BOOK FARMER. 



STEAM '^ARRI.VGES ON THE LIA ERPOOL RAIL- 

 WAV. 



Extract Tumi Dr. Lindner's Lectures on the Steam Engine. 



Some time belbre it was opened a contest took 

 place on this railway between three diflcrent steam 

 coaches. The Rocket, constructed by Mr. Ste- 

 venson; the Sanspareil, by Mr. Ilackworth; and 

 tlie Novelty, by Messrs. Braithwait and Ericson, 

 Jbr a prize of £500, offered by the directors to 

 that which should accomplish the greatest dis- 

 tance in the shortest time. On this occasion the 

 Rocket, which gained the prize, went over the 

 space of .30 miles in 2 hours 6 minutes and 49 

 seconds, being at the average rate of 14 1-5 miles 

 per hour. But in the course of the journey it 

 sometimes proceeded at the rate of abov^e 29 miles 

 an hour, and its slowest motion was about 11 1-2 

 miles in that time.* In May last. Dr. Lardner 

 saw the engine called the Victory draw on the 

 same rail road the weight of 92 tons 19 cwt. 1 

 quarter, in twenty wagons, together with its ten- 

 der containing fuel and water, from Liverpool to 

 Manchester, a distance of 30 miles, in 1 hour 34 

 minutes and 45 seconds, besides 10 minutes spent 

 in taking in water. The speed on this occasion 

 vv'as in some places 25 1-2 miles an hour, and on 

 level ground, where there was no wind, it was ge- 

 nerally 20 miles an hour. On another day, the 

 engine called the Samson, drew fitly wagons la- 

 den with merchandise, and, with itself, making a 

 gross weight of above 233 toixs, the same distance 

 in 2 hours and 40 minutes, exclusive of delays 

 upon the road for watering, &c. the rate of motion 

 hiiving varied from 9 to IG miles an hour, and 

 being on an average nearly 12 miles an hour. 

 The coke consumed in this journey was 1762 lbs. 

 or a quarter of a pound per ton per mile. The 

 attendance required is only an engine-man and a 

 fire-boy, the former of whom is paid Is. 6d. for 



* In another, place Dr. Lardner states that "the en- 

 gine which conveyed Mr. Hu.^kisson to Manchester, 

 after the unhappy occmTcncc which took place at the 

 great trial, movecl at the rate of S5 miles an hour." 



