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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



"WHAT CAN FARMEKS DO TO ELEVATE 

 THEIR CALLING? 



Eds. Gexesee Faemee : — Having been brought 

 Dp a farmer, and having voluntarily chosen farming 

 for my vocation in life, I have always felt desirous 

 that the agriculturist should assume that position 

 in society to which the nobility of his calling justly 

 entitles him. I have, therefore, earnestly pondered 

 the question, What can farmers do to elevate their 

 calling? I am confident that, if fanning is ever 

 exalted to its true dignity, farmers themselves 

 must do it. The fiatteries of those outside of our 

 calling can never make us respected by mankind, 

 until we assume a position that will command their 

 respect. 



The first thing to be done toward elevating our 

 ealling, is to cultivate our minds. Illiterate persons 

 can not receive the sincere respect of the intelli- 

 gent and the refined, A man's material creations 

 are generally a pretty faithful transcript of his ideal 

 ones. If ever we see a perfect model of a farm, it 

 will be the oflspring of a thoroughly and symetri- 

 caUy developed mind — a mind well stored with a 

 knowledge of the arts and sciences. Every farmer 

 has it in his power to acquire a good education, if 

 he improves his advantages, even though his school- 

 days, so called, are past. During one-half the year 

 "we have several hours every evening to devote to 

 study, which, if duly improved, will enable us to 

 master those sciences which reveal all that is now 

 known of agricultural theory. If we will read a 

 few of om- be,>t agricultm*al papers, we may keep 

 pace with the discoveries and improvements in the 

 sciences, and at the same time imbibe a little of 

 that enthusiasm so necessaiy to give zest to any 

 pursuit. 



Every agriculturist should also be a horticulturist. 

 Horticulture renders the tilling of the earth a more 

 attractive employment. It is more elevating and 

 refining to the mind. It qualifies us to surround 

 our homes with those ornaments and luxuries which 

 render the farmstead so in-viting. By a knowledge 

 of horticulture we may produce such an endless 

 succession of fruits and vegetables as to almost 

 reproduce the Jirst garden. Then let us combine 

 agriculture w^ith horticulture, and we may render 

 our farms and dwellings so beautiful and attractive 

 as to win the hearty respect of aU classes. 



Xo one can look upon the homes of the more 

 intelligent and progressive farmers — the elegant 

 and substantial dwellings, the convenient barns, 

 sheds, corn-houses, piggeries, heneries, &c., the 

 tastefully arranged door-yard and parterre, the 

 cleanly cultivated and weU-filled garden, the fruit- 

 yards and orchards, and the well-planned, well- 

 drained, well-fenced, and weU-cultivated fields, — 

 without feeling an involuntary respect for the 

 owner — without acknowledging that he is a true 

 nobleman. 



Would that the number of such homesteads were 

 multiplied indefinitely. Then would the farmer 

 be awarded by general acclaim his true position in 

 society. Then no longer would the farmer's son 

 seek a more honorable career in commerce or in 

 the learned professions, nor the farmer's daughter 

 hope to exalt her condition by an alliance with a 

 city gentleman. p, c. eeyxolds. 



2^eor Palmyra, Dec. i<L, 1857. 



DUTIES OF LANDLORD AND TENANT, 



To cultivate confidence and good feeling by doing 

 as we would wish to be done b\-, is the greatest of 

 all duties, in a social point of view, and applies 

 very forcibly to both landlord and tenant in their 

 relations to each other. Legal contract or lease is 

 considered to be the chief basis of these relations ; 

 and it sometimes happens that the landlord finds 

 that he can construe a sentence or two of the lease 

 to his advantage,' and take more labor, produce, or 

 money, than was originally intended. This the 

 tenant contends against, and with his legal advisers 

 searches for some property which the lease does not 

 require the tenant to protect, and commits depre- 

 dation upon it. Litigation is the issue, lleuoe, 

 landlords are often forced to sell their dilapidated 

 farms which thej- had in reserve for their sons. 

 The consequence is, that these sous are compelled 

 to resort to some other means to obtain a liveli- 

 hood; or by neglect become inebriates or highway- 

 men, and in the end are the intnatcs of ^irinons. 

 The tenant, cried down on account of having difli- 

 culties with his landlord, can not get another farm, 

 and not unfrequently takes the road with the land- 

 lord's sons, and his family falls under the charity 

 of the almshouse. 



It is the duty of the landlord, as he is generally 

 the most gifted, to carefully study the leading pro- 

 pensities of his tenant; and, if he is industrious 

 and careful, to give him an opportunity of making 

 a few dollars more than the contract allows, and to 

 let him know that if he does well he wiU be well 

 treated. He should be assisted occasionally, as 

 judgment may dictate or necessity require. A little 

 encouragement and a kind word may make labor 

 sweet and pleasant, and also be a source of profit. 

 If the landlord shows symptoms of oppression, the 

 tenant will think that as good blood runs in his veins 

 as in the landlord's, and avUI resist the tyranny. 



It is the duty of the tenant to guard and protect 

 the property committed to his keeping, and to con- 

 sider that he is not only bound by a ciAil contract, 

 but morally. He has the privilege of drawing the 

 essential elements of fertility from the soil belong- 

 ing to another, and appropriating it to his own use ; 

 and he has a secure home so long as his contract lasts. 



Thus the duties of landlord and tenant appear 

 to be similar to that of the family. Temperance, 

 frugality, and forbearance, are necessary to make 

 family duties pleasant and agreeable, and to insure 

 happiness; and they are just as necessary in the 

 relation of landlord and tenant. In short, the real 

 duties of the landlord and tenant consist "in a care- 

 ful attention to each other's interest and welfare. 

 If this is their aim at all times, those little differ- 

 ences and jealousies which often make this relation 

 so galling, wUl seldom occur. 



There are three kinds of tenants. First : Those 

 at will, who are on their good behavior. Second: 

 Those who rent by the year, or for a term of years. 

 Third : Tenants for life. 



Our soil is as capable of supporting as many ten- 

 ants as that of Russia, if it was improved in the 

 same way. Most of the tenant farms of that coun- 

 try have but four acres each. If the duties of the 

 landlord and tenant were more considered, we 

 should not have so much uncultivated land, nor 

 so many of our workingmen going West in search 

 of homes. J. HETTE>'BArGn. 



