G6 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



"STEALING OTHER PEOPLE'S THUN- 

 DER." 



The above is the title of an article in the Plough- 

 man of the 10th January, under which appears a 

 very singular card signed by Joseph Breck, to which 

 are added some remarks by the editor. The drift 

 of the whole article is to charge the Publishers and 

 Editors of the Farmer with claiming to be the New 

 England Farmer published for many years by Joseph 

 Breck & Co., and never, from the days of Balaam 

 until now, has any performance been better calcu- 

 lated to excite astonishment. 



Mr. Breck uses the following elegant language, 

 " I think it is outrageously gross and ungenerous 

 to take the credit, honor and labor of others to 

 build up themselves " .' And our neighbor of the 

 Ploughman endorses the sentiment as follows : 



" The public as well as the publisher of the real 

 New England Farmer have a right to complain of 

 the confusion which is introduced by one person's 

 assuming the name and using the reputation of 

 another." ! 



" A certain man" who " went clown from Jeru- 

 salem to Jericho" probably was not more sur- 

 prised at the treatment he received from those he 

 ■" fell among," than are we, the Editors of the 

 Farmer, and our Publishers, at this attack. Why, 

 we had really imagined ourselves a very decent, 

 honest set of men, who had in very fortunate times, 

 found oui'selves engaged in a common cause, with 

 a very courteous brotherhood of editors, with a 

 single eye to the prosperity of Agriculture. 

 But we evidently assumed too much, on some 

 points, as the above quotations seem clearly to in 

 dicate. 



Now, although we must take the liberty to offer 

 to our neighbors the use of our dictionary and 

 grammar, before they write any more about us 

 knowing their intention to use what seems to them 

 gentlemanly and courteous as well as accurate 

 language — we will endeavor to make answer to the 

 charges brought against us, and ample confession 

 of our sins. 



And first we do claim that wo publish The New 

 England Farmer, the only paper of that name now 

 published in the world. We do confess that the 

 paper first published by that name was established, 

 edited, printed and published before any of us were 

 grown to man's estate, and that we cannot, by any 

 strict apostolic succession therefrom, trace our 

 right to edit, print or publish our paper. We do 

 distinctly deny that we are in any way con 

 nected by purchase, descent or otherwise, with 

 Joseph Breck & Co., as publishers of the New 

 England Farmer. For Mr. Fessenden, the original 

 editor of that paper, we have a profound respect 

 ;.ii<l veneration, which is well expressed by one of 

 our associates in an article in our weekly of the 

 same dale with the number of the Ploughman re- 

 ferred to, under the title "New England Farmer." 



We have endeavored to infuse into our paper some 

 of his spirit and enthusiasm, to catch some of his in- 

 spiration, to impart to the Farmer the same "charac- 

 ter," to pursue the same " purposes" which always 

 rendered his paper popular and useful. We un- 

 derstand that the parties who revived the New 

 England Farmer, after it had ceased to exist, de- 

 signed to supply the place it had so long and 

 honorably occupied. The "time-honored name" 

 was thought worthy to be preserved, and the plea- 

 sant associations which clustered around it in the 

 minds of so many of our leading Agriculturists, 

 doubtless gained us easier access to their homes 

 and hearts. The number of the years of our life 

 as a paper, is it not printed on every copy of our 

 paper, so that he who can read may at once know 

 the extent of our claims to antiquity? 



Identifying ourselves thus, in name, "in charac- 

 ter," "in purpose," in spirit, with.the NewEngland 

 Farmer as Fessenden made it, may we not properly 

 refer to its former course as part and parcel of our 

 own. If rendering to Mr. Fessenden constantly 

 the honor due to a great and go^pd man, is taking 

 " the credit, honor and labor of others to build up" 

 ourselves, then we must plead guilty to the charge. 

 To Mr. Breck we have not, to our recollection, had 

 occasion to render any such honor, and have there- 

 fore no such sins to answer for. 



As to our neighbor of the Ploughman, who re- 

 gards our youth with so much contempt, we can 

 only say that it is not our fault that we are so 

 youthful. Since we started, we have grown old as 

 fast as anybody else, and shall doubtless mature 

 and become antiques in due season. As to the 

 " confusion which is introduced by one person's 

 assuming the name of another," it would seem 

 that a brain capable of entertaining two distinct 

 ideas at the same time, need not be much confused, 

 should a person or paper assume the name of one 

 departed. It certainly would not come within any 

 definition of original sin, were we to name a boy 

 for George Washington, or Benjamin Franklin, or 

 Wm.Buckminster, or Joseph Breck, nor would the 

 fortunate successor to either appellation be likely 

 to borrow much glory, " credit or honor," from his 

 " illustrious predecessor," through any " confu- 

 sion" that might ensue. 



But the cause of agriculture is gaining nothing 

 by this article, and we cannot consent to spend our 

 strength for that which is not bread, or any other 

 product of the soil. 



We flatter ourselves that we can hoe our row 

 with our neighbors generally, in almost any field, 

 but we altogether prefer fair weather and good 

 company, if we may lie allowed a choice. We 

 trust wo shall not be diverted from our main pur- 

 pose, to improve (he soil — nor from our fixed prin- 

 ciple, *o love our neighbor as ourselves, however 

 Ave may be tempted. 



