FATTENING CATTLE, ETC. 



393 



ON FATTENING CATTLE, 

 AND THE FORMATION OF FARMERS' CLUBS. 



Can we too often urge the formation, in every 

 Election District of the countiy, of Farmers' 

 Clubs, for the discussion of questions of all 

 eorts, even political questions, iriimcdialdy and 

 ohinoHsIy connected with the spread of agricul- 

 tural Jcnoicledge, and the advancement of agri- 

 cultural prosjierity ? Hov^r easy it has ever 

 been found when the political huckster has de- 

 sired to get up an excitement, most generally 

 with some sinister design covered by the avow- 

 al of a public purpose, to bring his clansmen 

 around him, at some X roads tavern, to be slang- 

 whanged. For this purpose, he has but to 

 sound his whistle ; alas, not the spirit-stirring 

 whistle of Rhoderick Dhn — at sound of which 

 "The rushes and the willow wand 

 Are bri.stliiiEr into ax and brand, 

 And cverj' tult of brand gives life 

 To plaided warrior, arm'd for strife." 

 No ! no ! his resembles rather the insidious 

 call of the shepherd, whose flock, gathei-ing 

 around him in hope of being fed, are flattei-ed 

 into the fold and sheared, and then turned loose 

 again until another crop of wool has time to 

 grow and be sheared again. Thus are good, 

 easy Farmers gathered under the banner of 

 party to appoint their ^a^rio^ leader ioiho Leg- 

 islature or to Congress, or to recommend him 

 to some Executive office, and all this in abject 

 compliance Avith the " usages of the party." 



Wc are characterizing no particular faction, 

 but, more in sorrow than in anger, adverting to 

 the easy excitability of the agricultural commu- 

 nity, in matters of party politics, and the great 

 difficulty of bringing them together for any pe- 

 culiar concern of their own, as Farmers, and 

 the extreme I'cluctance and parsimony with 

 which they can bring thcm-selves to give either 

 time or money for the discussion of agricultur- 

 al que.stions, the dissemination of agi'ic'ultural 

 knowledge, and for devising the ^vays and 

 means of controlling and shaping the legislation 

 of the State and the Country, for the protection 

 and benefit of the landed interest. We have 

 known farmers and planters who would cheer- 

 fully give a fat sheep or bullock, or a barrel of 

 whisky or of flour, for & partisan " treat." who 

 woold not give ?5 a year for 1200 pages of the 

 most valuable information to be gathered in ref- 

 erence to their own bu.sincss, from the experi- 

 ence and teachings of the best farmers, and the 

 ablest men to be found, in all parts of the 

 world! And yet there arc m^en who will tell 

 (3051 



you that they wish their sons to be honorably 

 distinguished for intelligence, and to keep pace, 

 themselves, with the progress, experience and 

 di.scovery, in every thing connected with their 

 own business and sphere in life ! 



We know not how wc could give a better 

 idea of the utility of these Fanners' Clubs, and 

 of the useful designs which animate and so 

 well become them ; than by copying, from the 

 last November number of the London Monthly 

 Magazine, the following account of a meeting 

 of the "LouGHCOKOUGH Agricultueal Asso- 

 ciATio.v." The problem for discussion was T/i£ 

 Fattening of Cattle. We transfer to our col- 

 umns the observations of the several speakers, 

 the more readily, as they seem to answer, in 

 part at least, an inquii-y lately made of us by 

 Major Gwinn, the enterprising contractor for 

 the completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio 

 Canal, who has large possessions in the fine 

 " glades'' of Allegany Comity, Maryland; a 

 region so admirably adapted to the growth 

 of oats and potatoes, and replete with advan- 

 tages for grazing and for sheep and dairy hus- 

 bandry more eminent and less known than al- 

 most any equally eligible portion of our coun- 

 try. Major Gvvinn's inquiries were, as to the 

 adaptation of the crops congenial to that ele- 

 vated region, to the Fattening of Cattle and 

 Hheep. 



True, it may be said, and by some objected, 

 that these are English discussions ; but the sub- 

 stances referred to, and the principles evolved, 

 are of no particular nation or clime ; they are 

 of universal use and application, and in Heaven's 

 name let us go, for knowledge, to Kam.schatka 

 or the moon, if not elsewhere to be had. 



It requires but half a dozen in any county or 

 neighborhood to form the nucleus of such a 

 club. If the right spirit exi.sts, it will soon be 

 sufficiently numerous, and if it docs not exist, 

 it may be easily infused. 



One thing is to be guarded against — the caco- 

 ethes loquendi. Too gi-eat a disposition to twad- 

 dle and to have the last word ! When ques- 

 »ions are given out, the chairman should allow 

 no rambling from the subject in hand. One 

 thing at a time — and for the sake of uniformity 

 and consistency in the maniier of conducting 

 these meetings, it would be better to have 

 a standing permanent chairman, chosen with 

 strict reference to his tact for the duty, — quali- 



