FARMERS' REGISTER 



331 



000 arpents ; in ihi.-? opinion M. Malpart coincides. 

 By tlie aulhor oi' the Credit NalioiiaL they are 

 reckoned so low as 6,000,000 arpen(s. Mr. 

 Young endeavors lo determine this lact by two 

 methods ; liy liie maps ul"Cassini and by the con- 

 sumption ol' the people. By the first method, he 

 makes the extent ol' wood about 19,000,000 ar- 

 pents, or one-seventii ol" the kingdom; by the 

 other method, he finds, that the quantity of wood 

 is about 20,800,000 arpents; the nipan of the tuo 

 results wliich he thus obtains is 19,850,515. We 

 have already observed, however, that his estimate 

 is too high, at least it is above that of the commit- 

 tee of the first national assembly, which reckons 

 the wood only at 13,100,691 arpents. xMr. Young, 

 in his calculation, reckons the annual value ol' the 

 woods to be about 12 millions sterling, the rent 

 being taken at 12s. per acre. 



Some ol the lorests are very extensive, par- 

 ticularly those of Orleans, the Ardennes, and 

 Foniainebleau. The Ibrest of Orleans lies to the 

 north ol' that city, and of the river Loire ; it con- 

 tains several filains and villages in it ; its whole 

 length is upwards of 15 leagues ; but it is of une- 

 qual breadth, in some places seven or eight lea- 

 gues, in oihers only two or three. It coniains 

 great variety :i[' timber, such as oak, elm, aspens, 

 fir, &c. Belbre the revolution the value ol' the lim- 

 ber annually i'eiled in this Ibrest amounted to 

 100,000 livres : the profit was part of the appa- 

 nage of the Duke of Orleans. It was Ibrmerly in- 

 iesled by numerous troops of banditti; and it is 

 still the haunt of immense numbers of wolves. 

 The forest of Artlennes, in the time of Caesar, was 

 the largest in Gaul ; it began on the bank;? ol the 

 Rhine, and extended to the very borders of the 

 Rhone, that is to say, the diocess of Rheims in 

 Champagne. In another place hesays, it extend- ^ 

 ed from the banks of the Rhine, and the country ! 

 of Treves, to that of the Nevii, that is Hainault, 

 Cambresis, and French Flanders, comprehending 

 50,000 paces in lenglh. This Ibrest has been cut 

 down in a great many places, especially towards 

 its extremeiies : however, it siill extends over the 

 greater part of the Duchy of Luxembourg, in the 

 southern pari of the bishopric of L^jige, and of the 

 province of Hainault, and of the northern part of 

 Champagne, though wiih several interruptions. 

 ft was formerly renowned lor events of chivalry. 

 The Ibrest of b'ontainebleau, anciently called the 

 Ibrest ot" Biere, contains 26,42-1 acres of grounii, 

 reckoning many empty places, where the trees 

 have been cut down. 



(^jf'ube continued.) 



KSSAY ON THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE 

 OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 



JBy Professor G. D. Armstrong, of JVa>ihington 

 College, Va. To which the prize was awarded by 

 the Bedford jJgricaltural Society. 



Published by requestor the Bedford Agricultural Society. 

 In this country, we use tlie phrase "agricultur- 

 al education" with some variety of meaning. 

 Very frequently, we ai>ply it lo the whole of that 

 education which the farmer ought to receive ; at 

 other limes, we use it in a more restricted sense, as 

 including only that education which the farmer 



sliould receive for the especial purpose of prepar- 

 ing him lor his business as a litrmer, and not ihat 

 which it is proper he should possess in common 

 with men of all oiher proiession-. Tlie latter is 

 tlie more appropriate sense of the phrase, and is 

 doubtless the sense in which ihe society intended it 

 should be undeisloud, and for these reasons 1 shall 

 so uiiderslaiid it in the present essay. In taking such 

 a course, I would by no nijans be understood as 

 aiiaching but little value lo that general education 

 which the lanner should possess in common with 

 others. In such a country as this, where ihe will 

 of the people is the Ibuulain of all power, it is of 

 the greatest importance that all our citizens should 

 be well inlbrmed respecting every subject on which 

 they are called to act ; and the more extensive 

 and thorough this inlbrmation is, the better will it 

 be lor them individually, and lor our country too, 

 "the common moiherof us all." Tliere is no 

 reinarkmore true, ihan that made by one of the 

 liithers of our revolution, that the " permanence of 

 our free institutions must depend, under Heaven, 

 upon the intelligence and virtue of our people." 

 But the discussion of such a lojjic, however appro- 

 priate it might be on tuioihcr occasion, was, I 

 suppose, intentionally excluded when agricultural 

 education was proposed as tlie subject, and on this 

 account 1 shall [lass it b)'. 



Hy agricultural educaiion, I understand (as be- 

 lbre remarked) that species of education, which 

 the larmer should receive to prepare him for his 

 business as a larmer ; or, in olher words, educa- 

 tion in those departments of human knowledge 

 which have an immediate and practical bearing 

 upon the business or" agriculture. In order to 

 determine what studies would properly be em- 

 braced in such a course of instruction, we must 

 look lor a moment at the situaiion of llie I'armer. 

 In this country, his situaiion is somewhat dili'erent 

 liom that which it is in most European countries, 

 in those countries the land is generally owned by 

 one class ol men, whilst it is cultivated by another ; 

 — in this couniry, on the contrary, the land is ge- 

 nerally owned and cultivated by the same person ; 

 so that in discussing this subject, with relerence 

 '.o our own condition, wc must consider the larmer, 

 botli in the character of an owne.-, and in that of 

 a cultivator of the soil. 



The business of agriculture, when properly con- 

 ducied, is one of a very complicated character. In 

 no department of human labor, is attention di- 

 rected lo a greater variely of subjects, or subjects 

 which it is more dilHculi fully to understand. The 

 difficulties which attend the profitable prosecution 

 of agriculture, are owing 10 such causes as these: 

 dilierences in the constitution of soils ; diliierence 

 in the nature of |)lants considered with reliirence 

 to the soil ; the changeable character of plants 

 themselves, im|)roviiig as tiiey do under one sys- 

 tem of culture, and deleriuraiing under another; 

 dilierences in the manner in which the produce of 

 the soil may be prepared for market j dilierences 

 in the manner in which the available Ibrce of the 

 litrm may be applied lo the accomplishment of all 

 necessary work. All the.^e things, and many 

 oihers of a einular character, are lo be so attended 

 to, and so conducted, that the greatest amount 

 of net income shall be obtained, wiih most cer- 

 tainly, least labor and least detriment to the soil. 

 Such is the problem which the firmer has to solve; 

 and no one can examine the several particulars 



