75-2 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 12 



of the Avcnlthy farmer, they are as nothing com- 

 pared to those of the fhr more numerous class of 

 men of small possessions, and of more limited ed- 

 ucation. The jormer has leisure, and various fa- 

 cilities to gather information from others. Travel, 

 books, frequent and varied association with his fel- 

 lows who are better informed, (or who even il 

 alike ignorant, are alike striving to gain know- 

 ledge,) all serve to aid his improvement. But the 

 small farmer who is confined to his daily toil, has 

 ho such means, and can rarely acquire knowledge 

 from others, if surrounded by such as are in cir- 

 cumstances similar to his own. 



So much for the proprietors of farms, and gen- 

 eral directors of farming. But of necessity, all 

 extensive and complicated operations must he un- 

 der the immediate direction of agents — and in our 

 farming, these agents, the overseers, are without 

 any previous training for their business, and of 

 course deplorably ignorant, even if not in other 

 things deficient. This alone would present, a suf- 

 ficient cause for failure, even il" the proprietor is 

 not wanting in ability as a general director— un- 

 less indeed, fas is usually the case,) such capable 

 proprietors are in a great measure their own over- 

 seers, or have to undergo the drudgery of their 

 business, and attend to those details which proper- 

 ly belong to the care of subordinates. But how- 

 ever low our overseers deserve to be ranked, as a 

 class, there have been among them a few distin- 

 guished exceptions — men, who however humble 

 was the commencement of their career, have earn- 

 ed, and well deserve to enjoy, the applause and 

 high respect oi' their countrymen in general. The 

 distinguished place in society to which some such 

 men have honorably risen, by their knowledge and 

 success as farmers, shows that the reward of rep- 

 utation, as well as of wealth, may be surely attain- 

 ed by such meritorious exertions. 



This cause of the degradation of agriculture — 

 ■ignorance — is more subject to the control of go- 

 vernment, than any other — and therefore it is more 

 important to dwell on its baneful influence, and to 

 suggest remedies for the evil. 



If agricultural professorships were established 

 in our principal institutions of learning, young- 

 landholders who are there acquiring liberal edu- 

 cations might easily obtain a competent know- 

 ledge of the general principles of agriculture, 

 without sacrificing the other useful parts of scien- 

 tific instruction. If this object would not be a suf- 

 ficient inducement to remain one more year at 

 college, it would be an advantageous exchange in 

 such cases, if the study of theoretical agriculture, 

 and its connexion with chemistry and some of 

 the branches of natural history, took up the time 

 usually devoted to metaphysics and the higher 

 branches of mathematics— the study of which will 

 be of use to but few men, except as a good men- 

 tal exercise — a kind of gymnastics for the mind. 

 It will be easy to ridicule the agricultural instruc- 

 tion that could be acquired from the lectures of a 

 professor — a mere man of books and of theory. 

 But though it is freely admitted that no such 

 course of instruction, alone, could make a farmer, 

 yet it would be the best preparation for the fulure 

 acquisition of practical knowledge. It would be 

 folly to look to the lectures of a professor forinstruc- 

 tion in practical operations: but we might expect 

 them to furnish the general and true principles of 

 agriculture and its kindred sciences, (so far as they 



are connected,) without some knowledge of which 

 no man can avoid committing continual blunders, 

 and meeting with continual losses, as a practical 

 tiller of the earth. For example: a farmer can- 

 not know whether he is proceeding right or wrong 

 in the very important operations of" preparing, 

 preserving, and applying manures, without some 

 knowledge of the chemical ingredients of the ma- 

 terials used, of the changes produced by fermen- 

 tation, and of the functions of the plants which 

 are designed to be fed, and of the composition 

 and properties of the soil intended to be enriched. 

 Even a little knowledge on these points would 

 serve to guard against serious waste and loss on 

 every farm — the total amount of which makes an 

 hundredfold greater national and annual loss, than 

 all the expense of agricultural professorships, and 

 of every other means for instruction that I shall 

 advocate. 



Experimental farms, under proper direction, 

 would also serve a most valuable purpose lor in- 

 creasing general agricultural information. But it 

 would be a mistake, fatal to the object in view, if 

 such establishments were expected to present a 

 system of pattern husbandry, or even to yield any 

 clear pecuniary profit whatever. Such expecta- 

 tions would necessarily be disappointed — and thus 

 would cast discredit on the whole plan. Experi- 

 ments, if judiciously conducted, and accurately re- 

 ported, would be more effectual than any other 

 means for conveying valuable information to the 

 agricultural community. They cannot be made 

 extensively by private individuals — for the plain 

 reason that they require too much expense of time, 

 labor, and money, and in general, are attended 

 with loss, even when the results are most valua- 

 ble for the information they give. A farmer might 

 lose A 100 by making a series of experiments, of 

 which the results might, be worth $ 100,000 to the 

 community at large. Hence, it is in vain to hope 

 for such proceedings, unless induced and support- 

 ed by the funds of the community — and it is fool- 

 ish to count on deriving direct and immediate pro- 

 fit from experiments, whether conducted by pub- 

 lic bodies or private, individuals. Yet this foolish 

 expectation is very general — or at least it is com- 

 monly deemed sufficient ground to condemn and 

 ridicule any experiments as worthless, if their im- 

 mediate result is loss to the inquiring and public- 

 spirited individual who instituted them. Yet who 

 ever counted on deriving direct pecuniary profit 

 from any course of experiments in chemistry or 

 natural philosophy'? And without many such 

 cosily and losing experiments, the world would 

 not have obtained the benefits of the steam en- 

 gine, of" the machinery (or spinning and weaving 

 cotton, the modern processes of bleaching and 

 coloring, and hundreds of other improvements in 

 the arts. If judged by the test of profit, as usu- 

 ally applied to agricultural experiments, Watt and 

 Fulton, and Arkvvriffht, would have been pro- 

 nounced mere fanciful schemers, if not fools, not 

 only because of the expense of their experiments, 

 but perhaps because neither of them could bring 

 into operation the mechanical skill, and habits of 

 business, necessary to the highest perfection and 

 greatest profit of their splendid discoveries. 



It has often been recommended, and by high 

 authorities, that pattern farms should also be es- 

 tablished, to teach agriculture by example. This 

 I should strongly oppose — and for the reason that, 



