308 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[April 22, 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



AORXCUXiTURAI. SCHOOX.S. 



Roxbury, March 19, 1825. 

 Sir — No great public good can ever be effect- 

 ed without great individual effort. Much is 

 said, and said very loosely too, about (he march 

 of mind, rind the constant progress of society 

 towards improvement, as it the progress ot" im- 

 provement proceeded like the season", by fixed 

 laws : Without either admitting or denying ibis 

 opinion, which is susceptible of many qualifica- 

 tions, I think it may safely be aflirnied, that 

 this progress has been the effect not of a blind, 

 inevitable course and progress of human affairs, 

 but of individual and con>l)ined effort. It is of 

 very little consequence, fur example, whether 

 the art of printing is due to a Dutch or a Ger- 

 man artist ; all admit, that it was owing to some 

 one or two individuals, and that its effects upon 

 society and upon civilization have l)een incal- 

 culably great. In other terms, it is to a lew 

 individuals, seconded and supported by the good 

 sense of the ages in wliich they lived, that vve owe 

 all our improvements in the ails and sciences. 

 Every art exce[)l that of agriculture hiis been 

 patronized and supported t)y rulers and by men 

 of science — It is only within the last halt' centu- 

 ry, that this art has attracted the attention of 

 enlightened men. It would not be ditlicult to 

 point out the cause of this neglect. The actual 

 exercise of the art was confined fill very lately, 

 in Europe, entirely to slaves, or to a class of 

 men just emancipated from slavery. The em 

 ployments of agriculture were c(iiisidered de- 

 rogatory, and no attempt was made U< apply to 

 that art, the foundation and su[)porl of all oth- 

 ers, those sound principles of philo~o| hy and 

 science, which had earned forward all the ulb- 

 er arts to the highest degree of improvement. 

 I know very well that it is denied that agncnl 

 ture is the foundation of all other art.s, but 1 

 think if sp plain as ni't to requiie argument to 

 sustain it. Even at (/as day, this moment ot un- 

 exampled light and tearless inquiry, there 

 were found young Genlleinen in our Legislature, 

 who denied the usefulness of the exertions 

 which have been made simullaneously in Europe 

 and America (o vindicate the rights of farmers 

 to publick patronage, to establish the impor- 

 tance of an improveil system of agriculture. 

 Who denied the value of all the past and pres- 

 ent exertions. Who doubted the benetils of 

 making the agricultural class a reasonable and 

 thinking part of our population. 



Sir, 1 can only say, 1 look upon this short- 

 sighted effort to arrest the certain fnture ad- 

 vance of the agricultural classes of society as 

 most unwise and injudicious. To proceed up- 

 on the presumption, that three fourths of our 

 whole population are not susceptible of improve- 

 ment, appears to my mind most rash and ill-ad- 

 vised. 



It is true, that neglected and chilled by the 

 want of public patronage, which has warmed 

 and revived all olber classes, they are neither 

 so ready, nor so zealous as the others to vindi- 

 dicate their rights ; but 1 fearlessly atiirm that the 

 measures adopted under the patronage of Sir 

 John Sinclair, the correspondent of Wasiunoton, 

 the efforts of YouN(i,and Ijedford, and Hobiiouse 

 and Knioih, in England, have made an entire 

 change in the course of British agriculture, and 



however feeble may have been ihe first exer- 

 tions in the same cause in our country. I can 

 have no doubt that the effects have been re- 

 cently comparatively as great. 



1 have no doubt, that the Farmers, as a class, 

 now have and enjoy a degree of importance, 

 and a self-respect, which nothing but these 

 efforts could have produced. 



When we can enumerate among the friends 

 of agricultural improvement and encourai^ers of 

 its cultivation, such men as Washington, .Teffer- 

 soN, Ai;ams, Pickering, Maoison, Jay, Harper, 

 and a thousand others, 1 think it is too laie to 

 inquire whether agriculture either needs or is 

 susceptible of impro\ emcni. 



But 1 should not have troubled you with these 

 remarks, if they had not been connected with a 

 question of the last importanct- to Farmers. — 

 Men may write intelligently and learnerlly, as 

 much as they please, but if they write to men 

 who do not comprehend them, their labour is tost. 

 The question has recently been started in 

 Europe, and has been revived in our country, 

 Can we mt adopt a coHcse o/ crfiicoa'ort peculiar- j 

 ly adapted to farmers ? 



Alter the dark ages, the first efforts of an im- 

 proved stale of society were directed to the ed- 

 ucation of laivytrs, divines, and physicians — but 

 no man evi r dreamt of shedding the smallest 

 portion of liglit m\ farmers. They were consid- 

 ered as being entirely out of the pale of intel- 

 lectual cultivation. This was not only natural, 

 but perfectly right, ll was necessary, that those 

 classes of society upon whom depended the 

 general advancement of knowledge should be 

 tirst improved, but we can see no reason why 

 the agricultural class should continue to he neg- 

 lected, unless if be assumed as an axiom, that 

 tbey are incapable of improvement, or that 

 their intellectual advancement is incompatilde 

 with their ethcienry as farmers. 



This vvff do not believe — the experiment has 

 not tieen tried. I am ready to admit that they 

 cannot become [irolound scholars without es- 

 sentially impairing 'heir capacity as farmers. 



Their haliits would be so changed, that tbey 

 could not submit nor indeed be fitted lor the 

 labours of the plough. But we cannot perceiv(> 

 why they should not be able to acquire surb 

 a degree of knowledge of their own art, of its 

 state and progress in other nations, of the gen- 

 eral principles on which it is founded, in the 

 same manner ar.d to the same degree in which 

 practical navigators and manulacturers improve 

 their own natural sagacity without impairing 

 their capacity for actual and profitable labour. 

 It is said that our farmers cannot afford to 

 devote the time and money required for such 

 an improvement of their skill. Yet they fini! 

 the means in every small town, of sending < ne 

 or more deputies to the learned professions, and 

 they prove often to be among the ablest and 

 most efficient luminaries of the country. Adams, 

 Ames and Webster, and a thousand other exam- 

 ples, might be cited in New-England only — 

 in tact, our agricultural population have lurn- 

 ished and will forever continue to furnish the 

 men, who will form the great support of our 

 nation. Can they not then send a/cKi, who, at 

 a moderate expense, without aiming to be 

 ■statesmen, may acquire more enlarged view-^ 

 of their own art, and refuin to their f.irms wIlli 

 enlightened minds, and better capable of filling 



the various offices of a municipal and publick 

 nature, than they can no'u^ do ? 



I believe it to be a feasible plan, and think 

 it worthy of trial. For this purpose, semina- 

 ries such as that proposed by the trustees of 

 the B) field Academy — such as that in success- 

 ful operation at Gardiner — should be founded, 

 and a fair experiment should be made. Should 

 the experiment fail, we should always have 

 the consolaiion of having made a meritorious 

 effort. But it rici// not fail. Those ivho shall 

 enji y the privilege of seeing the progress of 

 our counlry filty years hence, will find that this 

 scheme is not a visionary one, that we shall not 

 limit the education of our farmers to the simple 

 capacity of writing indifferently th.-ir own lan- 

 guage, and to the firsl rules of arithmolir, but 

 that ihey will insist upon having a portion of 

 that knowledge which is diffused and is hourly 

 diffusing among all other classes of our citizens. 



I am aware, that the views which 1 have pre- 

 sealed will appear to some minds visionary. 

 So appeared 50 years since the idea, th.it the 

 expantive power of steam well understood 200 

 years ago, would be so successfully applied as 

 to enable the little island of Great Britain, 

 scarcely a speck in this globe, to undersell in the 

 markets of India, the manufacturers of that 

 Cduiitry who had for 2000 years been concern- 

 ed III that branch of industry, and who are in- 

 dividually supported by rice and water alone, 

 at an expense ol' one hundred rupees or 50 dol- 

 lars per year only — \ el such is \\n' fact — Such 

 the »vonders produced by the skill ot' a Scotch- 

 man tiy the name of Wall, whose fame is much 

 m.re deserving of public veneration than that of 

 all the cowardly conqiierers, who safe themselves 

 in most battles ha>e carried desolation through- 

 nut the globe for many Ihnusantis of years. If 

 there was ever any country which was invit- 

 ed by its free-institutions, its unlramelled good 

 sense to set the example of improving the char- 

 . icier of the cultivators of the soil, and of hold- 

 ing in contempt all the arts which abridge hu- 

 man enjoyments, ours is that nation. 



Give our fanners a cheap, but sound educa- 

 tion, and we shall soon see, that the intelligence 

 wtiich has been so amply displayed by our 

 Art sts, Mechanicks, and Werchanis, will be per- 

 ceived ti> exist in as full lurce and energy among 

 our larmers. 



Shall we admit, lliat the most healthful, in- 

 dependent eni|diiymcnt debases our citizens, 

 and renders them incapable of intellectual im- 

 provement !" Heaven forbid! — There never has 

 been a fair experiment of tiieir capabilities, and 

 we sught to be grateful to such men, as Mr. 

 Gardiner, of Maine, and to the Trustees of the 

 Dummer Academy for setting an example so 

 honorable, and we hope in the event, beneficial 

 to our country. 



Those who read the Scotch reviews, must 

 be struck with the remaiks of the reviewers 

 in iheir last number on the highly beneficial ef- 

 fects, not hypothetical, but practical, of similar 

 institutions in Scotland. 



Let us imitate the example. We have a 

 better soil to cultivate — Sure, that we liave 

 belter materials on which such a system can be 

 iiiunded — Ai Hiiy rate, if we tail, we shall fail 

 in a noble efi'ort. 



