NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



357 



FARMER'S CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 



^lan beiufi; by nature a social being, it is a matter 

 of considerable importance to know how to turn this 

 sociability to the most agreeable and useful account. 

 In every thing which we do, system is better than 

 confusion, because it is more effective in attaining 

 any desired, not to say desirable result. ITie pleas- 

 ure of a social dance is increased by observing cer- 

 tain rules which art and decorum have prescribed. 

 So, too, the pleasure of a social meeting among farm- 

 ers will be enhanced by the aid of a system, which 

 happily combines the useful with the agreeable, in 

 the intercourse between neighbors pursuing a com- 

 mon profession. A club or society has for its object 

 nn organized effort to promote an interest common 

 among all its members. In this way, by small con- 

 tributions, each member of the club has the benefit 

 of a good agricultural library purchased by its funds. 

 Its wealth becomes the property of all ; for each 

 member of the society is ready to communicate to 

 his associates all new facts which his reading, or his 

 experience, has brought to light. Information is 

 vastly e.Ktended in all directions, and the community 

 becomes at once distinguished for its general intel- 

 ligence and its skilful and profitable agriculture. 



Nothing great and valuable has been achieved in 

 the world without an association of effort. Farmers 

 very generally neglect this element of strength, and 

 hence their advancement is comparatively slow. 

 Military men, lawyers, and physicians have their 

 professional libraries, and study them closely, if they 

 ■would understand the true principles of their re- 

 spective pursuits. This mental training is invaluable 

 in developing human intellect, no matter what the 

 calling. Lawyers fill three fourths of all the impor- 

 tant offices in the United States, from that of presi- 

 dent downwiird ; not because they are the most 

 numerous class, but because farmers and mechanics 

 omit to qualify themselves to command the suffrages 

 oi' their brother farmers and mechanics, whose votes 

 rule every state in the Union. If Congress were 

 filled with honest farmers from our thirty states, 

 they would settle all sectional disputes in a week ; 

 and we trust that before the close of the present 

 century, the cultivators and owners of American soil 

 ■will have a majority in their national legislature. 

 The elevation of farmers in their own estimation, and 

 in reality, by wise intellectual culture, can be effected 

 by the aid of clubs, whose members meet often for 

 the puryjose of mutual instruction. The secretary 

 or president of such a club should be directed to 

 subscribe for eight or ten of the best agricultural 

 journals in the country, and to purchase books relat- 

 ing to rural affairs, to the extent of the means of the 

 society, whether small or great. There is no power 

 equal to that of knowledge ; and it is time for the 

 farmers of the Union to understand this fact, and 

 act accordingly. Most of the natural sciences have 

 a direct bearing on the rewards of farm labor ; and 

 those agriculturists who acquire a competent knowl- 

 edge of these, will have the advantage, other things 

 being equal, in every community. 



All colleges and academies should be encouraged 

 to teach chemistry, geology, physiology, physical 

 geography, and meteorology, in their connection 

 with agriculture. This will soon create a higher 

 standard of popular intelligence on these imjjortant 

 subjects. Farmers' clubs and societies can then be 

 maintained in a Hourishitig condition, without the 

 least difficulty. Horticultural societies will also be 

 equally popular; for all will rejoice in the culture of 

 clioice fruits, beautiful shrubbery and flowers. A 

 refined taste and discriminating judgment will follow 

 all well-directed labors to improve the invaluable 

 advantages which Providence has conferred on the 

 American people. Without labor, nothing useful is 



attainable. Savages never cease to be such till they 

 make an effort to improve their condition. Isolated 

 efforts made by individuals can do something, but 

 infinitely less than well-concerted, associated action. 

 Wise and efficient action is what is necdod. All 

 county agricultural societies should be cheerfully 

 sustained, and new ones established where none 

 exist. The gentle stimulus of numbers does a world 

 of good in the way of kccjjing up a general interest 

 in the cause of improvement. Without this genial 

 excitement, little or nothing is done for the advance- 

 ment of this most honorable and ancient of all 

 human arts. Professional enthusiasm may be in- 

 dulged to a limited extent to decided advantage. — 

 Souther?* Cultivator. 



LIGHTNING. 



So long as lightning is occasioned merely by the 

 action of two clouds, not the slightest danger is to 

 be apprehended. Thunder, being only a report, is 

 perfectly harmless at all times. But when the elec- 

 tricity comes ■within the attraction of the earth, 

 either by a cloud crossing over a lofty mountain, or 

 sinking near the earth's surface, it passes down from 

 the cloud to the earth, sometimes rolling along like a 

 large ball, clearing out of its way every thing that 

 offers resistance to it ; thus it will often teir up 

 trees, set houses on fire, and even destroy animal 

 life, should it impede its progress. This ball is a 

 liquid in a state of fusion, and not (as has been 

 supposed by some persons unac(juainted with the 

 science) a metallic substance called thundcr-bolL 

 There are metallic substances sometimes precipitated 

 from the air ; these are termed aerolites, and have 

 nothing to do with the electricity of storms. As 

 soon as the clouds disperse, which is usually after a 

 vivid flash of lightning, and a very loud clap of 

 thunder, the rain descends, the electric power is 

 destroyed, and the storm ceases. Although storms 

 arise from what may be called the accidents of na- 

 ture, and are of great importance as an effort of 

 nature, by which the atmosphere is cleared of all 

 those impurities it imbibes from their dangerous ten- 

 dencies, and the terrors to which they give rise, they 

 are productive of much advantage. — Hharp's London 

 Magazine. 



NUTRITION IN VARIOUS GRAINS. 



Wheat is one of the most important of all crops. 

 The grain contains from fifty to seventy per cent, of 

 starch, from ten to twenty per cent, of gluten, and 

 from three to five per cent, of fatty matter. The pro- 

 portion of gluten is said to be largest in the grain of 

 quite warm countries. 



It is a singular fact, that, in all the seed of wheat 

 and other grains, the princi|)3l part of the oil lies 

 near or in the skin, as also docs a large portion of 

 the gluten. The bran owes to this much of its nu- 

 tritive and fattening qualities. Thus, in refining our 

 flour to the utmost possible extent, we diminish 

 somewhat its value for food. The j)hosphates of the 

 ash also lie to a great degree in the skin. The best 

 fine flour contains about seventy pounds of starch to 

 each hundred. The residue of one hundred pounds 

 consists of ten or twelve pounds of gluten, six to 

 eight pounds of sugar and gum, and ten to fourteen 

 pounds of water, and a little oil. 



Uijc flour more nearly resembles wheaten flour in 

 its composition than any other; it has, however, more 

 of certain gummy and sugary substances, which 

 make it tenacious, and also impart a sweetish taste. 

 In baking all grains and roots which have much 



