20 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



AGRICTJLTIJIIE-ITS ADVANTAGES. 



Of all the various occupations and p. ofessions 

 which Lave engaged the attention of mankind, there 

 is none that seems to be so preeminently useful, so 

 honorable, in i-hort, so compatible with all our inter- 

 ests, as the cultivation of the earth. There is none 

 that has so many resources within itself, or whiel can 

 furnish from its own means the supplies for all our 

 necessary wants. Food, raiment, and luxuries innu- 

 merable are the fruits of the farmer's labor and care; 

 and in their train follow health, happiness and inde- 

 pendence. 



And in view of these facts, for facts they are, v/e 

 are led to wonder that so many of our young men 

 are placed behind the counter to learn the arts and 

 mysteries of the scales and yard-stick, to deprive 

 themselves of the bloom and the freshness of youth, 

 and bring early and deep furrows of care and anxiety 

 on their brows, by the difficulties and perplexities 

 attending the prosecution of mercantile pursuits, 

 when .so many and so strong inducements are held 

 out for them to engage in that profession which was 

 the earliest employment of man, and which, as the 

 light of science is spread abroad, and imjsrovements 

 are made in the art, is becoming more interesting, 

 more profitable, and at the same time less laborious. 



With what different feelings do the farmer and the 

 merchant leave their pillows in the morning. The 

 one bouyant with health and spirits, goes forth with 

 the first dawn of day to his cheerful labors in the 

 field, while the other after a restless, and perhaps a 

 sleepless night, walks in a sober, thoughtful mood to 

 his counting-room, anticipating, with fearful fore- 

 bodings, the insolvency of his customers, or the ill- 

 success of a voyage. 



With what honest pride and heartfelt satisfaction 

 does the farmer look at his luxurious fields, his richly 

 laden orchards, and his growing flocks, with the happy 

 assurance that with every returning season his sub- 

 stance is increasi-ng, that he is above want, and far 

 from feeling the fluctuations of merchandise or the 

 embarassnients of trade. Who, that has seen the 

 hale and vigorous plowman whistling along as he 

 turns up the furrow, and has not sighed for,the joys 

 of pastoral life? Or, who has enjoyed the privilege 

 of witnessing the internal arrangements of a thrifty 

 farmer's establishment, and observed the care and atr 

 tention evinced in all her domestic economy by his 

 industrious and frugal wife, and has not coveted the 

 happiness and independence of the farmer? Much 

 as the wealth and prosperity of a nation may be pro- 

 moted by its commerce and manufactures, still we 

 are constrained to look upon agriculture as its source 

 and foundation. It is absolutely necessary to our ex- 

 istence; for let men pursue what other business they 

 may, they are still dependent on the farmer for what 

 they eat and wear. 



And, suppose the farmer, by way of relaxation, 

 occasionally deviates from his regular routine of duties 

 and engages ahttle in horticulture, or the cultivation 

 of the choicest kinds of fruit, will he not be repaid 

 a thousand times for the time and labor bestowed on 

 a few trees, vines or shrubs ? And further, will not 

 the appearance of his house and "front door yard" 

 be immensely improved, himself and family enjoy a 

 large amount of pleasure and gratification, not to 

 speak of the frequent lessons of neatness and order 

 which his children would learn by the cultivation of 



a few varieties of flowers. And will not these silent 

 monitors, which so beautifully rennnd u:j that 

 "The hand that made tliem is divine,'' 



also have a moral tendency, and teach us to look 

 "Through nature up to nature's God." 



C. N. Bemejjt. 



BKIEF REMAKES A DDRE SSED TO FARMEES. 



BY C. N. B. 



Independence of the Farmer. — ^The merchant or 

 manufacturer may be robbed of the reward of his 

 labor by changes in the foreign or domestic market 

 entirely beyond his control, and may wind up a year 

 in which he h;is done everything which hiteiligenca 

 and industry could do to insure success, not only with- 

 out profit, but with an actual diminution of capital 

 The strong arm of mechanic industry may be en- 

 feebled or paralyzed by the prostration of those man- 

 ufacturing or commercial interests to whose existence 

 it so essentially contributes, and on whom in turn it 

 so essentially depends. But what has the intelligent 

 and industrious farmer to fear? tlis capital is in- 

 vested in the solid ground; he draws on a fund which 

 has never wholly suspended or repudiated; his success 

 depends on no earthly guarantee, but on the assurance 

 of that great and beniticent Being who has declared 

 that while the earth endureth, seed time and harvest 

 shall not cease. 



The Farmer's Life. — The pleasures of rural nature 

 are consistent with every period of our lives; and they 

 certainly approach the nearest of all others to those 

 of a purely philosophical kind. Those who are p."*!'- 

 tial to the country — and where is the man of genius 

 who feels not a delight, approaching to ecstasy, from 

 the contemplation of its scenery, and the happiness 

 which its cultivation diffuses ? — those who have paid 

 attention to the process of husbandry, and who view 

 its occurrences with interest; who are at the same 

 time alive to all the minutis of the animal and veg- 

 etable creation; who mark "how nature paints her 

 colors, how the bee sits on the bloom, extracting 

 liquid sweets," will derive from the study of nature a 

 gratification the most permanent and pure. 



Farmers — Yours are the tnie sources of wealth; 

 yours the fountains from whence flow ihe peaceful 

 streams of contentment and of real enjoyment; yours, 

 though a life of toil and industry, is a life free from 

 the thousand temptations which surround the indo- 

 lent, the vicious, and the votaries of pleasure. 



Agriculture is an Art. — Man is the artist; the 

 soil his labratory; manure his raw material; animal 

 strength and machinery his power; air, heat, and 

 moisture his agents; and grains, roots, fruits, and for- 

 age his products. 



Japan Pea. — Our esteemed corresspondent. Dr. 



Dusenbury of Gates, N. Y., informs us that the Jap- 

 an pea last year did not fully mature with him. It 

 grew most luxuriantly, but did not produce as many 

 matured peas as the seed sown. It is evidently very 

 prolific and where it matures, as in the Southern States, 

 it may prove an acquisition; but v/ill it in this cli- 

 mate? 



We have no notice of the horse being used in th 

 cultivation of the soil till A. D. 1066. 



