20r 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



said truly, for it left a cultivated mind behind, in- 

 stead of wee[)ing widows, desolate orphans, and a 

 wasted country, — the general results of conquest. 

 But the pleasure to a cultivated taste arising from 

 reading, is as open to the peasant as the prince ; 

 nay, more so — no vexatious cares of State to annoy, 

 no volu[)tuousness to degrade, no schemes of con- 

 ([uest or aggrandisement to rack liis brain, no wild 

 speculations or visionary projects to disturb him, 

 wiiere is the man who has the leisure or the oppor- 

 tunity a farmer has in winter of amusement or in- 

 struction from books? When his day's work is 

 over, seated in his house, surrouded by the me tu- 

 bers of tlie family, how agreeably can the evening 

 be employed in reading a good or an interesting 

 book. By reading the histories of other countries, 

 and comparing the moral and social condition of its 

 inhabitants with his own, he is capableof more fully 

 appreciating the privileges he enjoys. By improv- 

 ing his leisure, he may become useful and respected, 

 lie will learn his duties as a 'ibject, a citizen, a 

 neighbor, or a parent, more truly, and thus be ca- 

 pable of discharging them more efficiently. 



By reading, we can make ourselves acquainted 

 with the choicest thoughts of the most eminent 

 men ; we can, as with the fabled wand of enchant- 

 ers, conjure up the spirits of departed worth ; we 

 can make the jjatriot plead with all his soul-stirring 

 eloquence before us, the lawyer with his accustomed 

 and peculiar sophistry, the philosopher with his 

 profound research, and the piilpit with its sublime 

 and sacred truths ; we can see Paul, in all the zeal 

 of his high and holy calling, pleading before Agrip- 

 pa, or follow him through his many and various 

 wanderings, and listen to the glorious truths he 

 enunciated, and the heavenly eloquence that felt 

 from his lips; or are we in a "lighter mood," we 

 can take the works of the most eminent poets, the 

 sweet and sentimental lyrics of Mookr, the plain 

 rusticity of Burns, or the lofty conceptions of tlie 

 inimitable Byron; while among the numerous po- 

 etical works extant, the most fastidious taste can 

 revel to satiety. When we tlius make these highly 

 gifted men our companions, will aiiy one say we can 

 make better use of our time than by conversing with 

 thejn ; for when we have their works, any time we 

 read them we are in fact conversing -with them, 

 yet how many are there who care but Mttie for the 

 rich intellectual banquets thus prepared for them, 

 and ditfused, we were going to say, with a prodigal 

 hand. Were the youth of our country to consider 

 their true position — to consider that the progress 

 of nineteen centuries is in a few years to be handed 

 over to them; that every office of honor or emohi- 

 ment is open to their competition ; that fnMn among 

 their ranks must inevitably be selected the very 

 men who will adorn the page of future history, or 

 become profound divines, stand high in the legal 

 .profession, prosperous as merchants, or ejninent in 

 •arts and sciences, or rise to the highest honors of 

 the state — but the idea is unlimited, — were they to 

 consider this, surely they would think preparation 

 necessary, and, youth and leisure improved, would 

 be" far, very far, from thrown away. 



Let not the farmer, then, spend his evenings in 

 sloth and carelessness, but improve his mind by 

 reading, and he will find it the most profitable and 

 agreeable method of spending his winter evenings. 



Goi^nch, a W. J. p. 



ADVANTAaES OF AN AGRICULTUBAL LIBSARY. 



The man who guides tlie plow is no longer a 

 slave — he thinks. lie turns up the soil in unques- 

 tioning silence no longer — he reasons — he inquires. 

 The sun is to him no longer a i evolving meteor shoot- 

 ing through the heavens at the rate of more than 

 three hundred millions of miles per day; the earth 

 is no longer a vast plain, unstudied and unknown. 

 The man w ho guides the plow is no longer the most 

 deplorably ignorant of all the sons of men : he no 

 longer considers mind-culture, oi)posed to agricul- 

 ture. Such has not always been the case ; farmers 

 have improved as a class. The cause of their im- 

 provement is the reading of printed matter, promi- 

 nent among which stands that relating lo their own 

 pursuits. 



The reading of agricultural literature, like the labor 

 of agriculture, is without any contaminating in- 

 fluences. The heart of him' who reads of agricul- 

 ture, is elevated, instructed, and refined. The re- 

 sult maybe favorable to the cultivation of the farm, 

 but its greatest value is in the cultivation of the 

 mind. The day when the farmer is ashamed to be 

 an educated man only in " figgers," has passed away; 

 he now has books of his own,, papers of his own, 

 thoughts of his own, and libraries of his own ; and 

 only supported by him. The day of his abasement 

 is gone. That antiquated annual, provided to tell 

 the changes of the moon, the sun's rising and set- 

 ting, and the day of the month, is less consulted, — 

 superstition is losing in the number of its slavish 

 followers. The plowman dares to inquire, to doubt, 

 and to reason. 



There has been a manifest improvement ia the 

 mass of taruiers, since our early memory. A change 

 for the better,brought about by the reading of agricul- 

 tural literature. The agricultural library has its uses 

 as well as the plow. The mind has to be cultivated 

 as well as the broad acres. The library of the man 

 is an index of the man — it shows the currents of his 

 thouglit — theVlesires which ])rompt him and the am- 

 bition, the success of which would reward him. — 

 For the great conflict of life, a knowledge of ag- 

 ricultural science is worth more than all that may 

 be added in a college course, and a full knowledge of 

 (^diemistry is of more value than all the dead 

 languages. The value of the latter is lilliputian,, com- 

 pared with the former ; and chemistry is feeble in 

 its claims, compared with strictly practical agricul- 

 tural literature. 



In speaking of agricultural literature, we con- 

 sider horticultui-e embraced in the subject. The 

 two comprise the most ennobling subjects to be 

 found within the whole republic of letters. The 

 names of Buel and Downing, untarnished in fame, 

 are written upon our list of men of noble deeds. 

 The laurels won by them are not oiily recorded by 

 man, but are reproduceKl in the earths history in an- 

 nual editions as the seasons revolve by the unchan- 

 ging hand of the Almighty. Their hearts were 

 such hearts as agricultural literature forms ; their 

 love was such a love as their occupation taught — a 

 love of the highest perfection in the creations of 

 God, prominent among which is man. The whole 

 genius of their recorded thoughts is ennobling — ap- 

 pealing to the unsullied and the pure in man. 



The influence or the advantages of an agricultural 

 ibrary are beyond mention. Farmers' childrea 



