NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



31 



PATENT OFFICE REPORTS. 



In a brief notice of this document in a former 

 number of the Farmer, we had barely time to ex- 

 press our vexation that the mechanical execution 

 of the work is so miserable. We trust that the 

 character of this country, abroad, will not be esti- 

 mated by this part of the government work. We 

 should be sorry to see so poor a specimen of Amer- 

 ican printing, binding and paper-making, away 

 from home. Having relieved our mind on this 

 point, we are prepared to say something, less in a 

 fault-finding humor. 



And first, we feel thankful that Agriculture has, 

 at last, been thought worthy of some attention by 

 the government. Washington thought the subject, 

 in his day, called earnestly for the aid of legisla- 

 tion. President Fillmore, in his recent message, 

 calls upon Congress to establish a Bureau of Agri- 

 culture. How far the general government should 

 go — precisely what measures should be adopted, 

 to aid the branch of industry which occupies four- 

 fifths of our whole population, we will not now un- 

 dertake to say — not far enough, at all events, to 

 raise any questions of a political character. 



To the establishment of some system, by which 

 the agricultural wealth and resources of the country 

 may be ascertained — by which knowledge of the best 

 modes of husbandry of the various crops may be 

 disseminated, and by which the statistics of Ag- 

 riculture may be collected — no objection can be 

 urged. 



No man can attentively examine the report be- 

 fore us without being struck with the importance 

 of some such system. A very small amount has 

 been appropriated for the purpose, and we are in- 

 formed, not a single dollar has been paid for con- 

 tributions to the report, and yet by the communi- 

 cations voluntarily furnished, a mass of valuable 

 information has been collected, which can be found 

 no where else. The want of some .central point 

 where interesting agricultural facts and theories 

 may be collected and compared, has long been felt. 

 In several States, attempts have been made to estab- 

 lish agricultural schools, but as yet, no single 

 school has been established in the United States. 

 In New York, the subject for thirty years has been 

 before the legislature, but without success, and in 

 Massachusetts, where education in all other branch- 

 es has received so much attention, no great fayor 

 has yet been shown to agricultural education. At 

 page 115 of the Report may be found an interest- 

 ing article on this subject, principally from the 

 report of Hon. M. P. Wilder. 



An article by Daniel Lee, M. D., upon "The 

 Study of Soils," occupies about sixty pages of the 

 report, and is worthy of its conspicuous position. 

 Then follow treatises upon Fruit Culture — Wheat 

 — Neat Cattle — Manure and Sheep Husbandry , with 

 numerous communications upon miscellaneous sub- 

 jects. 



A comparison of the expense of raising the va- 

 rious crops in the several States of the Union, and 

 of the costs of rearing domestic animals, affords 

 some curious results. While, for instance, in Mas- 

 sachusetts, it cost about twenty-five dollars to rear 

 a calf till it is three years old, in Wisconsin it costs 

 but eight, and in Texas nothing but the expense of 

 marking them, to raise a whole drove of cattle ! 



But we find it impossible to glance even at the 

 contents of this report. Defective as it is in execu- 

 tion and arrangement, it is still of great value to 

 the farmer for its practical details — and to the 

 cause of agriculture generally, for the evidence it 

 affords of the value of systematic effort in gaining 

 accurate knowledge. 



The great obstacle in the way of the advance- 

 ment of agricultural science, is the inability of far- 

 mers to compare their results. The same experi- 

 ment is tried a thousand times, and no results are 

 published, when perhaps the whole matter might 

 be set at rest by a single course of experiments, 

 carefully conducted by competent men, were the 

 facts made known. Some remedy for this evil 

 must be devised. Whether it shall be an Agricul- 

 tural Bureau at Washington, or Agricultural Col- 

 leges founded by State legislation, or by both in 

 concert, or whether it should be left to the volun- 

 tary association of those interested in the cause, 

 are open questions. One thing is certain, the far- 

 mers of the country are beginning to understand 

 and assert their rights. 



The end in view will be, ere long, attained, and 

 we will conclude our rambling remarks by a word 

 of advice to political men. If you intend to main- 

 tain a quiet conscience, and keep ivith the majority, 

 be careful not to vote against the interests of agri- 

 culture ! 



For the New England Farmer. 

 LABOR NECESSARY TO HEALTH AND 

 HAPPINESS. 



BY A. TODD. 



It is an undeniable fact that no class of mankind 

 enjoy so good health, or possess such an amount 

 of real happiness, as the working class. The 

 man who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow, 

 is the best calculated to live in the enjoyment of 

 that health and happiness which make his journey 

 through life pleasant and cheerful. The Creator 

 has so constituted man, that it is as necessary for 

 him to labor, in order to enjoy health and happi- 

 ness, as it is to have refreshing rains to give lite 

 and nourishment to vegetation. Man was never 

 designed for a life of inactivity and consequent 

 ease ; and that individual who seeks for happiness 

 and contentment in the lap of ease and indolence, 

 must ever expect to be perplexed and troubled in 

 body and mind. 



It is impossible for an individual to live in the 

 enjoyment of health without engaging in some sort 

 of labor, whereby he can exercise himself bodily 

 and mentally ; because it would be contrary to the 

 laws of nature to have a man in full possession of 

 bodily health without it. And it is impossible, 



