312 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



and he who sows and reaps, as well as " he who 

 runs, may read." Do you say that these studies 

 are unnecessary to successful tanning? Remember 

 that the cultivated portions of the earth are fast 

 losing "their fertility, under the old traditionary sys- 

 tem of farming, and that science alone, aided by ex- 

 periment, perseverance and economy, bring them up 

 to, and even above, their early standard. The far- 

 mer who discards science as unnecessary, must emi- 

 grate to the newer portions of the earth, and be 

 content with the society and the luxuries they af- 

 ford; while he who would be surrounded by all the 

 comforts and improvements of the age, must remain 

 where they flourish, and should add his mite of mind 

 and talent fer their promotion. S. B. Peck. 



Gorham, JV. Y. 



HOW CAN SETTING HENS BE TAUGHT TO FOKSAKE 

 THE LAZY HABIT 1 



Make a small open pen, of laths, or some similar 

 material, in one corner of your hen house, about 

 eight inches wide, and of any convenient length and 

 height. Let one of the laths or slats be so secured 

 t'lat it may be easily taken out or moved one side, so 

 that a hen may be conveniently passed into or taken 

 out of the pen. On the bottom of this pen, and run- 

 ning lengthwise through it, set up a couple of laths 

 on edge, and fasten them about the same distance 

 from each other and from the sides of the pen. Run 

 a small perch across the pen and the work is done. 

 When a hen wishes to set, put her in there. She 

 will soon find that she can walk leisurely upon the 

 floor, or roost comfortably upon the perch, but she 

 can't set without " riding on a rail," and that, they 

 seem to think, isn't decorous. The length of time 

 for which ^they will have to be confined will vary 

 somewhat, and in obstinate cases it may be necessary 

 to put a few pegs or tacks into the edges of the 

 laths. N. 



WHY DO SO FEW FARMERS WRITE FOR AGRICTJL- 

 ITJRAL PAPERS! 



Being a farmer myself, and the son of a farmer, 

 and having always resided among and sympathized 

 with the humble cultivators of the soil, I may be 

 permitted to give some of the reasons why so few 

 farm.ers write for agricultural paners. 



Let me premise, that to be able to express one's 

 ideas with ease, and elegance, and perspicuity, upon 

 paper, requires no inconsiderable mental discipline; 

 and that, in years gone by, when the experienced 

 farmers of to-day were educated, the common school 

 Bystem was not matured as it now is, and they finished 

 their studies without becoming expert and correct 

 •writers. In fact, in those days, none but students of 

 the higher schools were taught to express their ideas 

 npon paper, and those but indifferently. The writer 

 of this Essay has found, within a few years, while 

 teaching in Western N. T., men who refused to per- 

 mit their children to devote any portion of their 

 time to writing Essays, on the ground that it was a 

 useless expenditure of time among farmers. This 

 class of farmers are usually healthy and muscular, 

 with active and practical minds, and frequently quick 

 to discover any improved process adopted by their 

 neighbors, and ready to investigate and appropriate 

 to their own use any new labor-saving machinery 



which they may see or hear of; but they never write 

 for agricultural papers because of their inability to do 

 so with perspicuity and elegance. Our fathers who 

 write for agricultural papers, are mostly those who 

 have not always been practical farmers. 



But there are only a few of the younger class of 

 farmers who write for agricultural papers. Why is 

 that? They received, many of them, a better edu- 

 cation than their fathers. Some of them at school 

 were polished writers, and close, accurate thinkers. 

 They have been cultivating farms for ten or fifteen 

 years, generally successfully, with profit and pleasure. 

 They study agricultural works, read the periodical 

 literature upon the subject, adopt the improvements 

 of the day, and in fine are industrious, intelligent and 

 wide awake farmers. But they seldom or never 

 write for the press. At first they will plead a want 

 of time. Their farm demands their attention and 

 labor every fair day during the season adapted to 

 the cultivation of the soil. The rainy weather finds 

 them occupied in the barn or the work-shop. Their 

 odd moments are all occupied in reading. They 

 have a farm to pay for; cannot afibrd to hire their 

 work done or to be idle themselves. During this 

 season they have no time. How is it in colder 

 months? Do not the agricultural journals point out 

 en^gh "work for the month" to keep the farmer 

 bi^ each of those cold and dreary months? You, 

 who read so many exchanges, cannot doubt this. 

 Besides, this is the only season of the year which 

 can be devoted to the cultivation of the social vir- 

 tues. Friends and relatives must be visited; societies 

 attended; social re-unions held; lyceums formed; 

 lectures listened to, and libraries read. The family 

 circle, too, drawing them by the most sacred bonds, 

 demands their attention during the long evenings. 

 Home must be made pleasant and profitable. The 

 bonds of love and friendship cemented more closely. 

 The wife must be relieved from the care of the prat- 

 tling infant. The husbandman must be a Peter 

 Parley in giving amusing instruction to the child- 

 ren, and pleasing, intellectual entertainment must be 

 afforded to the elder sons and daughters. At this 

 season of the year, even, he finds no time to write. 

 It is emphatically true that, commencing with mod- 

 erate means, 



" He, who hj the plow would thrive. 

 Himself must either hold or drive." 



After a few years, if the young farmer succeeds by 

 industry and economy in obtaining a competence, 

 and has more leisure time, he has lost his inclination 

 to write. His muscles have become hard and fixed; 

 his fingers have lost their former pliancy, and the 

 mechanical portion of writing becomes irksome. He 

 even neglects to correspond with his old friends and 

 his aged parents. You would not expect him to 

 write for the press. 



Again, farmers are a modest and unassuming class 

 of men. They doubt their ability to impart useful 

 information. They prefer to receive instruction. 

 They look to those who make a business of writing 

 and speaking for their daily supply of mental aS- 

 ment, to the editors of agricultural periodicals to 

 keep them posted up in the agricultural improve- 

 ments and experiments of the time. 



Such are what I conceive to be some of the more 

 prominent reasons why so few farmers write for agri- 

 cultural papers. 



I think it would be better on all hands, were they 



