CLAIMS OF AGRICULTURE UPON THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY. 

 To Merchants, Mannfacturers and others on the Calamities of Trade : 



The vicissitudes attendant on trade have es- 

 sentially aided in enforcing the claims and ad- 

 vantages of Agi'iculture upon the attention of 

 the business community generally — upon the 

 Manufactiirer, Mechanic, Merchant and "pro- 

 fessional man," as weU as upon the " natural 

 boni" Farmer himself 



Singular as it maj- seem to the unreflcctmg, 

 the statistics of our cities and towns will prove 

 that the operations of the trading world are sub- 

 jected to more than lottery-like uncertainty, for 

 whereas, in lotteries there may be not " two 

 blanks to a prize," tlicre is a still larger propor- 

 tion of disaster resulting to persons whose for- 

 tunes are embarked in trade. 



The histoi';^- of the trading community, in al- 

 most any given district, conclusively proves the 

 startling fact that full three-quai'ters (aye, even 

 a larger portion) of merchants and manufactur- 

 ers are driven from their stores with shattered 

 fortunes and mind depressed ; aggravated by 

 the reflection that : " prosperity they had neglect- 

 ed to make suitable provision of agricultural 

 property and knowledge, which would have 

 proved a comfortable homestead, at least, for 

 theiv declining years — thus guarding their fami- 

 lies from being thrown upon the cold charity of 

 the world, or from having recourse for a wretch- 

 ed and precarious livelihood to some revolting 

 employment. 



Though Farming holds out no decoying hopes 

 of large fortunes to be speedily realised, it fur- 

 nishes, if pursued with economy and industrj', 

 in the first place a certain shelter, with un- 

 failing means of comfort and independence to 

 those who apply their intellect as well as dili- 

 gence in cultivating the soil ; and in what branch 

 of industry can intellect be more advantageously 

 employed for promoting individual happiness 

 and national welfare ? 



Far be it from our thoughts, in any wise to 

 undervalue the importance of mercantile and 

 manufacturing pursuits ; too highly do we es- 

 teem them, as promoters of civilization and in- 

 dispensable purchasers and consumers of the sur- 

 plus fruits of Agricultural industry itself The 

 Merchant and the Manufacturer, when just and 

 liberal, as well as intelligent and enterprising, 

 may be classed among the noblest of our race ; 

 for doubly honored should they be, who, daily 

 beset with the multitudinous allurements of the I 

 I' 5) ' 



world, and exposed to its most unexpected and 



trying vncissitudes, yet, in spite of all these, pur- 

 sue the course of honor triumphantly through 

 life. But surely a reasonable degree of atten- 

 tion to Agriculture and Horticulture — attention 

 in storing the mind with valuable information 

 on the theoi-y and practice of arts which lie at 

 the bottom of all earthly pursuits. Surely, surely 

 such attention cannot injuriously interfere v.-itli 

 assiduous devotion to commercial and other in- 

 dustrial pursuits, but, on the contrary, afford, by 

 diversity, that occasional recreation which gives 

 power to prosecute them more vigorously. 



The history of the whole trading community 

 speaks volumes of admonition on the importance 

 of making for your families, in days of prosper- 

 ous advent^fre, some certain, substantial tcrra- 

 Jirina provision, however small, for your fami- 

 lies. Even amid the turmoil with which we 

 are surrounded in these large cities, the follow- 

 ing startling assertions, made recently in public 

 discourse by a distinguished citizen of New- 

 England, will scarcely fail to force their way to 

 the anxious attention of every prudent business 

 man. We respectfully wi,sh it to be borne in 

 mind, that it will be one of the leading objects of 

 the Farmers' Library, to aid in attracting the 

 attention of such men toward the pleasures and 

 advantages of raral pursuits, and to inculcate on 

 all such the propriety of securing (while for- 

 tmie enables them honestly to secure,) a com- 

 fortable little fann, however small, for " die 

 family," where the trader, unfortunate in busi- 

 ness, as a large portion of them sooner or later 

 become, may spend the evening of his life, with 

 the comforting reflection that, while he could 

 justly do it, he had the prudence and intelli- 

 gence to provide a homestead, beyond the reach 

 of fraud or accident at home, or the disa.sters of 

 the sea. For such men, as well as for those who.se 

 only business now is Agriculture, we design 

 the "Farmers' Library," and flatter ourselves 

 that we may look to the trading community, to 

 the prosperous Manufacturer and the fortunate 

 Mechanic, for such a share of patronage as will 

 indicate that the comforts and amusements of 

 Agriculture and Horticulture are duly appre- 

 ciated in the intervals of business ; and that they 

 agree with us in the opinion, that nothing can 

 be more expedient than to provide a snvg farm 

 as a retreat for wives and children, when driven 



