26 



MONTHI.Y JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



Skinner — we won't say in his old age — (let that 

 ■w^ord become "obsolete"] — has rejoined the 

 Editorial phalanx, and set down now, with no 

 other employment, to make liis bread by assist- 

 ing to teach others, in " The Farmers' Li- 

 brary." how to make theirs. 



The Farmers' Librarj' and Monthly Journal of 

 American Agriculture will have no sort of con- 

 nection, near or remote — direct or continsrent, 

 with any political object or paper. In Agricul- 

 ture there is no party politics. Tlie publication 

 will consist of at least 100 pages a month, to be 



made up of standard works on practical Agri- 

 culture, and all sorts of treatises which it may 

 be becoming and useful for a cultivated Fanner 

 and his family to read, either for solid instruc- 

 tion or elegant amusement in any way connect- 

 ed w^ith his condition and pursuits in life. 



Tlie engravings, lithographs, paper, type, &c. 

 all to be of first quality — making two volumes 

 per annum, of at least 1,200 passes, all for $.5 a 

 year. Address J. S. SKINNER, 



Editor of the Farmers' Library, 

 Tribune Buildincrs, New-York. 



THE POETRY OF RURAL LIFE. 



It is to be hoped that few or none of the read- 

 ers of the 'Farmers' Library" entertain tlie no- 

 tion that an Agricultural publication should be 

 utterly banned against the Muses — exclusively 

 confined to the mere dry statistics of Farming 

 industry. Horses, com and oxen — pigs, poultry 

 and potatoes — are all valuable in their way ; and 

 we \\'ill go as far as any one to encourage un- 

 provement, so as to realize the greatest propor- 

 tionate value from tlie investment of labor and 

 capital. But we are far from thinking that po- 

 etical associations are incompatible with rural 

 pursuits ; and, indeed, ^ve fancy that much ser- 

 vice may be rendered by irradiating country 

 life with the charms of Song. The spirit that 

 led to the introduction of Music in our Common 

 Schools animates us in the belief that similar 

 benefits may result fi-om the better culture of 

 the imagination, (as well as the soil) among 

 the Farming community. Indeed, we fancy- 

 that we cannot better promote a preference 

 for rural pursuits, and thus aid in benefit- 

 ting the Agricultural interest, than by appeal- 

 ing to the taste, as vsell as the intellect, through 

 occasional quotations from the -wTitings of poets 

 who "looked through Nature up to Nature's 

 God." 



Who that is familiar with the poetry of Bry- 

 ant can ever enjoy the .solemn grandeur of our 

 forests without realizing some of the ennobling 

 sentiments whicli breathe through such poems 

 as that commencing with these lines ; 



" The Groves were God's first temples. Ere Man 

 learned 

 To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, 

 And spread the roof above them — ere he flamed 

 The lofty vault to gather and roll back 

 The sound of anthems ; in the darkling wood, 

 Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down, 

 And otVercd to the Mightiest solemn thanks 

 And supplication." 



Our purpose is not to sermonize at the pres- 

 ent time, but rather to invoke the attention of 



174) 



our city friends towards tlie attractions present- 

 ed for recreation in the country during this 

 "merrie month of June."' And how can we 

 enforce our object more agreeably than by quo- 

 ting, from the Dublin University Magazine, some 

 stanzas written by the late Mrs. Gray ? 



" Go forth into the country. 



From a world of care and gnile ; 

 Go foith to the untainted air, 



And the sunshine's open smile. 

 It shall clear thy clouded brow — 



It shall loose tiie v\-ordly coil 

 That binds thy heart too closely up, 



Thou man of care and toil ! 



" Go forth into the country. 



Where gladsome sights and sounds 

 Make the heart's pulses thrill and leap 



With tresher, quicker bounds. 

 They shall wake fresh life within 



Tlie mind's enchanted bower ; 

 Go, student of the midnight lamp, 



And try their magic power ! 



" Go forth into the countrj-. 



With its songs of hajipy birds, 

 Its fertile vales, its erassy hills, 



Alive with flocks and herds. 

 Against the powers of .sadness 



Is its magic all arrayed — 

 Go forth, and dream no idle dreams, 



Oh, visionarj- maid ! 



" Go forth into the countrj-. 



^Vliere the nut's rich clu.sters grow, 

 Wliere the strawberrj- nestles 'mid tlie furze, 



And the hollyberries glow. 

 Each season hath its treasures. 



Like thee, all free and wild — 

 Who would keep thee from the countiy, 



Thou happy, artless cliild ? 



" Go forth into the countiy ! 



It hath many a solemn grove. 

 And many an altar on its liills, 



Sacred to peace and love. 

 And whilst with grateful fervor 



Thine eyes its glories scan, 

 Wor.sliip the God who made it al), 



Oh ! holy Christian man ! " 



