!J4 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Fkb. 1845 



and tried to induce them to take agricultural jour- 

 nals ; but the general reply was, that they knew 

 " how to farm it pretty we.!, " and they did '" not 

 think them city fellows could teach them much 

 about it," He at Icngtli, alter much toil, (harder 

 than swinging the axe or guiding the plow, we war- 

 rant you.) obtained one new subscriber ! It was a 

 victory, and if not so bloody an one as those which 

 have given to sanguinary v.arriors a proud and en- 

 during name, it was fraught with far better conse- 

 quences than most of those which have had their 

 birth on fields of human bloodshed. Farmer B.'s 

 papers henceforth, then, came on with farmer A.'s, 

 and their contents, as may be expected, furnished 

 them topics of discourse whenever they met. A. 

 soon found that he had a help-meet in E. in sifting 

 the wheat, and B. found more than the benefit pro- 

 mised by A. in agricultural reading ; and even Mr. 

 C, whose wisdom had formerly seemed invulnerable, 

 began to listen to them, and finally, in a very confi- 

 dential way, he told A. (he being pioneer in the bus- 

 iness, and a very clever man withal) that if he was 

 u'ilUng, be should like to borrow two or three of 

 them papers, and look at them a little, and if he 

 liked them, he took a story paper (his boys liked sto- 

 ry papers best) from FeladeJphy, that he would like 

 to exchange with him. The request was granted, 

 of course, so far as lending. 



Now the reader, no doubt, has thought a dozen 

 times that we have wandered from our text ; but 

 our narrative, like every tiling else, must have a be- 

 ginning ; and so long as the pictures are true, what 

 matter if we inclose two in the same casement ? or 

 perhaps, more projjerly, what harm if, in giving the 

 picture, wo represent more clearly the back-ground? 

 But we are fully aware that newspaper articles must 

 be short as is consistent with fact and general illus- 

 tration ; we therefore pass over many little inci- 

 dents which, if drawn out, may be found in almost 

 every neighborhood, and come directly to that farm- 

 ers' club we spoke of in the early part of our 

 epistle. 



When these institutions were first introduced in 

 this country, farmers A. and B. were wide awake in 

 the cause of agricultural improvement. No won- 

 der, then, that the idea took with them ; but how to 

 establish, sustain, and make one popular in their 

 neighborhood, was a matter wliich raised many que- 

 ries in their minds. At length they resolved, in 

 their own wisdom and strength, that one coidd and 

 should be sustained. They gave the requisite no- 

 tice, with an invitation for all to attend at the dis- 

 trict school-house. The evening of appointment 

 came, and by most of the inhabitants passed unno- 

 ticed ; a few, however, from a curiosity to see how 

 this other new-fangled monster moved, went in 

 merely as spectators — they took no part save to lis- 

 ten, with wiiat motives we shall not surmise, to the 

 confab between A. and B. The evening passed, and 

 A. and B. voted an adjournment for one week. The 

 gossip consequent on new things followed this meet- 

 ing. Some thought they talked well, but need not 

 have gone to the school-house, to burn out the dis- 

 trict's wood, to say what they did. Others declared 

 it all a humbug ; while a third party declared it a 

 thing started by A. and B., to set themselves up for 

 notice. 



The second meeting came : some were tired and 

 could not attend, and others guessed (they were all 

 Yankees) it would run out that night, and they 

 would'at go near 'em ; but, on the whole, curiosity 



had increased her conquests, and there were three 

 more there than on the former evening. This in- 

 creased number, though convened out of no helpful 

 motive, inspired new hopes and new courage in the 

 bosoms of those who had fearfully but resolutely 

 commenced the work. A judicious subject of dis- 

 cussion was introduced between A. and B. — C. con- 

 tinued to lend a helping hand, though rather faintly 

 — D. could not quite see through it all ; the ideas 

 communicated were opposed to those transmitted to 

 him through his ancestors, and, in a sort of vengeful 

 self-defence, he' raised many queries, which were as 

 quickly confuted by his antagonists. In short, there 

 began to be an excitement ; and at the close of the 

 meeting D. proposed a subject, on which he engaged 

 to come out in defence ; and they broke up, ail pro- 

 mising to come again, mostly, however, " to see the 

 sport go on." 



At the third meeting the hcuse was filled to over- 

 flowing. Even Mr. C.'s great boys agreed to sus- 

 pend story reading for one night, for living sport ; 

 and the ladies [as they go, so goes the multitude] 

 all turned out to hear Mr. D. speak — a new thing, 

 quite — they didn't believe he could say any thing. 



The result of this meeting v,-as more flattering 

 than that of any preceding one. Bel'ore the ad- 

 journment, measures were discussed, to secure 

 the permanent existence of a "farmers' club" 

 and a committee, of which the late doubting Mr. 

 D. was chairman, was appointed to report a form of 

 constitution for their adoption at the next meeting 

 — a duty which they performed in a very satisfactory 

 manner, recommending, as an important article, 

 that "no person should be a member of this club 

 who did not take at least one agricultural paper." 



To follow the club from the beginning, which we 

 have shown, through all its operations up to the 

 present time, would be tedious and needlecs. It is 

 enough for us to say, that it has survived the storms 

 of one Vi'inter, and the more tempestuous blast of a 

 host of opposers, and is now si>eec-ssfully passing 

 through the second. It is still l/eld in the school 

 house of an out district, where A. and B. held, al- 

 most in solitude, the first meeting. Every man in 

 the district is now a member, (of course, each takes 

 an agricultural paper,) and many from other parts of 

 the town have associated with them. In addition to 

 the discussions, or talks as they are called, they have 

 frequent lectures on agricultural subjects, choosing 

 the lecturers from among themselves. While, as 

 an additional source of improvement, communications 

 on raising flowers and fruit, rural and landscape gar- 

 dening, many of which are written by the ladies, are 

 read at such meetings. A svibscription is now on 

 foot to procure an agricultural library for the benefit 

 of the club. Farmer C.'s boys have given up their 

 story paper, and now invest their funds in more sub- 

 stantial reading. In short, a general change has 

 come over the face of things in that region, such as 

 would hardly have been supposed possible at the 

 commencement of the cause — a change which man- 

 ifests itself not only in the general tone of reading 

 and of thought, but in the appearance of agricultu- 

 ral thrift in all that neighborhood. D. 



Richmond, Mass., Jan. 1845. 



Loaf Cake. — Take two pounds of flour, one half- 

 pound of sugar and a quarter of a pound of butter, 

 three eggs, one gill of milk, one half tea-cupfuU cf 

 sweet yeast ; clove and nutmeg for spice. 



