1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



347 



For the New Enslnnd Farmer. 



PREJUDICE AGAINST FARMINiJ. 



Messrs. Editors : — Having taken your paper 

 for a year or two, I have liecome much interested 

 in agriculture, and loncj for the day when I can 

 leave ray office and give to it my energies, care 

 and thoughts. To me, no employment seems 

 more ennobling. None, I am satisfied, is more 

 conducive to true manliness, citizenship and 

 strict morality. With the farmers rest the wel- 

 fare of our nation ; with them rest sound morali- 

 ty, patriotism, — all the cardinal virtues and the 

 well-being of the republic. Oh that they were! 

 fully aware of all this. Could tliey realize it so, 

 ?inA feel its truthfulness in all its length andi 

 breadth, a great change would be manifest.] 

 Formerly it was thought dishonorable, low and 

 stupid, to till the soil. A farmer was an ignora- 

 mus, a mere "plow jogger," one with "huge 

 paws" who knew but little, was rough, un- 

 learned, and half-civilized. This iTipression pre- 

 vailed to a very great extent. Prejudice had its 

 full sway, and the farmer was spoken of with 

 ridicule and sneers. This silly notion, which 

 prevailed extensively, had a most powerful and in- 

 jurious influence. No farmer's sons would be a 

 "plow jogger." They were too ambitious to be 

 called dumps, blockheads and ignoramuses. Too 

 proud to till the soil amidst the sneers and jeers 

 of these who "put on airs," and made it in their 

 line to "look down upon them," they sought 

 other employment. The consequences have been 

 manifest, viz : too much competition in manufac- 

 tures, in merchandizing, the professions, and so on, 

 and a great scarcity of the real and absolute ne- 

 cessaries of life. These things will, in time, regu- 

 late themselves. The prejudice which has exist- 

 ed against farmers and farming is rapidly pass- 

 ing away. Ten years have accomplished much ; 

 ten more, with the aid of the press and with 

 high prices of products, will do still more. There 

 is, occasionally, however, a deep prejudice against 

 "book" or "newspaper farming." Tliis prevails, 

 in many places, amongst "old fashioned" far- 

 mers, and to me it appears so unsatisfactory and 

 so unsound, that I am half inclined to read them 

 a "Caudle lecture" upon it, for it is tantamount 

 to saying, there can be no improvement, no pro- 

 gi'ess ; that one man's mind contains all the 

 knowledge there is, suggestions from others are 

 of no account, "we know it all," and therefore 

 shall continue in the "old l)caten path", as we 

 have done for years. Our fathers did so and so. 

 Mr. So-and-so did so, and Capt. Success did 

 so too, and what more do you want ? "Let well 

 enough alone." Continue to put the grist in 

 one end of the bag, and a stone to balance it in 

 the other, because our fathers did, or Mv. Snipes 

 or Smith did so ! This is a changing world, one 

 of progress and real improvement. We mever 

 stand still, be assured of this, and he who through 

 prejudice or ignorance perseveres in "old no- 

 tions," when new and better ones are apparent, 

 is, it seems to me, "a little behind tlie times." 

 Mr. Progress will, you may be assured, outstrip 

 you. Wliy not freight by four horse teams at a 

 dear price your produce hundreds of miles instead 

 of availing yourselves of cheap transportation by 

 canals and railroads? Wiiy not cut all your 

 grain and grass with the hand scythe, — the "old 



and good fashioned way," instead of using the 

 mowing or the reaping machines'? Why not 

 thrash with the frail instead of using any of the 

 modern inventions to accomplish the same result 

 within one-fourth of the time, and with one-half 

 of the expense? Why not sow all of your seeds 

 by hand, instead of using machines? This list 

 might ))e greatly increased, but enough for the 

 illustration. 



Give me, 1 say, suggestions, give to me the re- 

 sults of others' watchfulness, vigilance, industry 

 and knowledge, give to me the result of many 

 valuable c.rpcriments by others, which may have 

 cost them hundreds and thousands of dollars to 

 test and make sure, and which are given to us in 

 return for the merest trifc. 



Let no one get so well-informed as to reject 

 suggestions, none so ignorant as to fear to read, 

 reflect and digest. The bee gatliers sweet from 

 every flower. jMay we not, in the like manner, 

 gather valuable ideas from others' suggestions and 

 experiments? Like the bee, we can extract the 

 sweet, leaving tlie bitter and poisonous. 



Burlington, Vt., June. A Subscriber. 



THE RAm CONCERT. 



Millions of tiny rain-drops 



Are falling all aronnd; 

 They're dancing on the house-tops, 



They're hiding in the ground. 



They are fairy-like musicians, 

 With any thing for kei/s, 



Beating tunes upon the windows. 

 Keeping time upon the trees. 



A light and airy treble 

 They play upon the stream. 



And the melody enchants us 

 Like the music of a dream. 



A deeper bass is sounding 



Where they're dropping into caves, 

 With a tenor from tlie zejilij'r, 



And an a!to from the waves. 



'tis a shower of music, 



And Roljin don't intrude 

 If, when the rain is weary, 



lie drops an interlude. 



It seems as if the warbling 

 Of the birds in all the bowers 



Had been gathered into ruin-drops, 

 And was coming down to showers. 



The blossoms are all bathing 



In the liquid melody, 

 Breathing thanks in sweetest odors. 



Looking up into the sky. 



To Correspondents. — We have now on hand 

 numerous articles from correspondents, discussing 

 with ability a variety of subjects, togetlier with 

 many inquiries, which will all be attended to us 

 space in our columns and opportunity to reply 

 permits. These attentions, by correspondents, 

 are a constant source of encouragement to us, 

 and must result in great benefit to tlie reader. 

 The Farmer was never so prosperous as at tiie 

 present moment, and we may reasoniil)ly impute 

 much of this to the ability and constancy of its 

 large and able corps of contributors. 



