m* mi 



AND H O R T I C U L r U 



k A I. REGISTER 



<i«»# 



^ 



vol.. XI».] 



PUnLfSHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH M.\RKET STREET, (Agricultural Wabehouse.) 

 BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 7, 1840. 



CNO. 14. 



N . E . FARMER 



For the Now England Farmer. 



BOOK FARMING. 



The advantages of the farmer's study of scientific 

 works, and of his attention to those branches of 

 general knowledge which bear on his profession, 

 cannot be too strongly nor too frequently urged. 

 Once it was considered quite inconsistent with his 

 practical good sense, should he give heed to the 

 hints and theories of those works which pertain to 

 the analysis of matter, or which treat of the com- 

 ponent parts of the material on which liis labors 

 are spent, or which let him into the secrets of na- 

 ture, with which his own pnrsiiits are intimately 

 connected. Such studies and the e.xperiments to 

 which they lead were derided, and it is to be re- 

 gretted that this prejudice yet lingers among us. 

 Book farmers, as they are eneeringly called, are 

 yet too scarce. Yet why, let us ask, should the 

 agriculturist be intuitively possessed of knowledge 

 in the successful pursuit of his labors, to a ;,rreater 

 degree than obtains with any other individual? 

 Do we find that any occupation of life has never 

 received from the advances of science and knowl- 

 edge a proportionate benefit .' How can he, to 

 whom the earl h shall yield its wondrous increase, 

 be enabled to say to it, give me the entire compen 

 sation for my labors, without the experience of 

 those who have preceded him in those same labors ? 

 The simplest farmer then, is indebted if not to 

 books, yet to the .material and stuff of which these 

 despised books are made. The very compost he 

 uses in the shape of manure from his barnyard, ex- 

 perience had to tell him was necessary to his cul- 

 ture. And if stern necessity obliges him to have 

 constant recourse to the study of the operations of 

 nature in his own experience, where can be the 

 danger or the harm of employing the experience of 

 a higher character, which the various works of 

 modern science have put into his hands ? 



It has been much the fa.-ihion, Mr Editor, to laud 

 the pursuits of farming, and unlike most fashions, 

 this is an excellent one But we should not for- 

 get, that while farming was the first occupat.on of 

 man, yet it is dependant cm every other pursuit tor 

 its success. To sink it lo the hvel of its primi- 

 tive condition, by denying it all the means which 

 Providence and the enfrijies of the mind have fur- 

 nished, will most assuredly brin„' it speedily into 

 contempt. Every thing else has gene on progres- 

 sively, and why should this, the most curious and 

 wonderful in its details and end, be an exception ? 

 We could wish tliat every young man in our coun- 

 try villages destined for this occupation, was ena- 

 bled to receive that education by which he should 

 become the intelligent;! 11 J inquiring culturist. Then 

 would agriculture rise to the rank to which it was 

 destined, and the barroii rocks and wildernesses of 

 our country would blossom like the rose. 



Modern researches hnvo demonstrated the capa- 

 bility of every naturii! soil, however unpropitious 

 to appearance, of pruuiicing in abundance some 



useful vegetable. Acres of waste land might be 

 thus rendered productive, and increased agricultu- 

 ral means would necessarily promote increased 

 pro.«perity. 



Around me are farms of wide extent and of im- 

 poverished condition. And why impoverished ? 

 Because, first, too much has been hitherto tilled, 

 and, second, because the old-fashioned culture has 

 been pursued. A little book farming, I am cer- 

 tain, would remedy this evil in no slight degree. 

 Why were those old rye fields sutTered to become 

 moving deserts, threatening destruction by their 

 drifting sands .' For years scarcely the value of 

 the seed was their crop. A little book knowledge 

 would have taught my neighbors a better course of 

 culture, and now when it is too late, or their 

 means are dimini'^hed, they begin to see the evil 

 of their ways. Who would have thought, before 

 the times of book farming, of a single farmer's 

 realizing from his orchard some fifteen hundred dol- 

 lars in the sale, not of the old fashion and almost 

 worse than useless cider, but of first rate and de- 

 licious apples for the table. From whence came 

 these varielies of fruit, yes and of grain, but from 

 the researches of book-makers, and whence their 

 produce, but from the book fanners. Let then no 

 heed be given to tho vulgar sneers of the ignorant 

 in such matters, or of the prejudiced and wilfully 

 blind. Thanks to Providence that we live in the 

 age of books and learning, and that the human 

 mind is busily employed in those pursuits which 

 will tend to the benefit, not of individuals, but of 

 mankind. 



The writer, though no farmer in practice, yet 

 esteems himself, (and perhaps this is his vanity,) 

 no idle or careless looker-on the pursuits of the ag- 

 ricultural intere.^ts. To no cUss of his fellow 

 citizens does he accord a more hearty respect, and 

 for their progress and success no one wishes more. 

 Persuaded of the intimate connection of every 

 branch of science with their pursuits, ho anticipates 

 a new era in the cause of agriculture, when the 

 prejudices and errors of the past shall be swept 

 away. f. 



THIO TREATMENT OF SICK ANIMALS. 



There are so many erroneous notions prevalent 

 in the community re-ipecling injured or diseased 

 domestic animals, and such unnatural and injuri- 

 ous practices as a consequence of these incorrect 

 views, that no apol )gy is necessary for an attempt 

 to subserve the cause and interests or these useful 

 creatures, who, if they iiad tongues to speak, would 

 tell sad tales of the wrongs to which tliey have 

 been, and still are, too often subjected. 



We do not propose to give an essay on the par- 

 ticular eases that require attention — our object is 

 rather very briefiy to ask the owners of domestic 

 animals to be guided by a few correct principles, 

 which are applicable to nearly all cases, and which 

 will at least prevent our doing harm where we are 

 not able to efi'eot much good. 



In the first place, then, we would insist, that 

 when an animal is well he never requires any med- 



' icine — and when he is sick, we would ]>rotest 

 against his being dosed with articles that are said 

 to be good for a particular disease, without any 

 reference to its violence or the symptoms, as com- 

 mon sense would dictate ; that remedies the most 

 ; opposite in their character and efl^ects may be e- 

 qually advantageous in different periods of a case. 

 Always distrust the man and the remedy, when 

 your friend declares that an article is always 

 ' good' or a ^certain cure ' for a disease, without 

 reference to its symptoms — prescribing for the 

 name of the disease, rather than the disease itself: 

 this is the very essence of quackery, in man or 

 beast. 



A large proportion of the diseases of animals 

 closely resemble those of the human family, re- 

 quire a treatment conducted upon tho same general 

 principles — with some variations and some peculi- 

 arities, it is true, but none of those outrageous de- 

 partures from common sense which are too frequent- 

 ly witnessed. 



A horse with pleurisy, or inflammation of the 

 lungs, or apoplexy, reqiiiros a widely different 

 treatment from one with colic or with worms. There 

 is no more mystery about the diseases of a horse 

 or an ox than about those of a man, and a viola- 

 tion of natural laws is as productive of pain and in- 

 jury in one as the other. 



There is, too, a great propensity every where to 

 resort to active treatment in all cases — a feeling 

 that is encouraged by the ignorant or designing 

 for selfish purposes. An adviser in sickness is of- 

 ten most useful and shows most skill where he on- 

 ly tells what is to be avoided and waits for indica- 

 tions for more active measures — doing little more 

 than preventing ignorant but well-meaning per- 

 sons from interfering with salutary changes that 

 may be going on. 



Remember that there is a restorative power in 

 nature, to which it is always better to trust, than 

 to direct active remedies without knowing for what 

 particular purpose they are given. 



There is never occasion for the administration 

 of the disgusting combinations which the poor ani- 

 mal is made to swallow, from the whim of an igno- 

 rant liorse or cow doctor. Many a fine beast has 

 been lost by his owner trusting to such prescrip- 

 tions. 



When your animal has fever, nature would 

 dictate that all stimulating articles of diet or medi- 

 cine should be avoided. Bleeding may be neces- 

 sary to reduce the force of the circulation — purging, 

 to remove irritating substances from the bowels — 

 moist, light and easily digested food, that his weak- 

 ened digestion may not be oppressed — cool drinks, 

 to allay thirst, and to some extent, compensate for 

 diminished secretions — rest and quiet, to prevent 

 undue excitement in his system, and so on through 

 the whole catalogue of diseases — but nothing to 

 be done without reason. Carry out this principle 

 and you will probably do much good — hardly great 

 harm ; — go on any other, and your measures are 

 more likely to be productive of injury than benefit. 

 But, as we have before said, our object now is not 

 to speak of diseases in detail — it is rather to en- 



