ESSAY ON AGRICULTURAL LIBRARIES. Ill 



And would not a library, like that here contemplated, be the means 

 of conveying this, as well as other valuable works, to many farmers, 

 who would not otherwise be able to obtain them ? 



But should only a few farmers repair to your library, what then ? 

 Is it not worth the expense to give to these few the means of infor- 

 mation ? Will these men, men of reading and reflecting habits, be 

 likely to hoard up the knowledge they thus acquire ; or will they 

 not rather dispense to others the information derived from this 

 source, either by conversation or the example of an improved hus- 

 bandry ? It is thus that most of the improvements in farming make 

 their way into general use ; not by any new idea, suddenly promul- 

 gated and as suddenly adopted, but gradually and almost impercep- 

 tibly, as they are commended to others by the successful practice of 

 a few intelligent and enterprising men. Place in every farming com- 

 munity but one reading, reflecting and go-ahead farmer, a Buel or a 

 -Phinney, and the influence of his superior knowledge as developed 

 by his husbandry, will show itself after a time among its whole farm- 

 ing population. If then the advantages of these libraries should be 

 in the first instance, shared only by a few, it would not necessarily 

 constitute a sufficient objection to their establishment. 



A small number of books, judiciously selected, would suffice for a 

 beginning, and it would soon be ascertained whether or not an in- 

 crease were demanded. Let the experiment be fairly made ; let the 

 farmers know that it is for their special use and enjoyment ; let them 

 know that it requires no competition, nor the winning of a premium 

 to share in its benefits; that it is free to every member of the society, 

 «,nd to all alike ; — and then it will appear whether there are farmers 

 who have a taste for reading, and a desire for the acquisition of 

 knowledge, and who can find the time, however pressing their labors, 

 for this agreeable and profitable employment. 



