194 



subject, it matters not much how he wcara his hair 

 It would be very pleasing, liowever, to s.-o onr beys 

 dressinij in n. style becoming the relotinn they sus- 

 tain to society, and giving fair promise that they 

 will prepare, in the best manner, for the high and 

 responsible destinies which await them. They 

 Irtle think with what deep afTection and absorbing 

 interest they a'C regarded by their seniors and pa- 

 rents. 



I am an ardent friend of the boys: 1 could most 

 eordially wish them to be laboriously preparing for 

 the theatre of manhood, and for incomparably sur- 

 passing the deeds of their fathers. The example 

 of Phaeton is too \ividly recollected to trust them 

 as yet with the reins. When they get ready, 1 

 shall most heartily unite in cheering them into the 

 ranks. 



For the girts, I feel the most dclinnte and the 

 deepest anxiety, and am assured, that whenever 

 their fathers and brothers shall fall into the right 

 track, Ihsy will sweetly glide into that coi:r.se to 

 wliich tlie puhlic welfare so loudly calls them. 



Tlic conclusion of the whole matter is, that the 

 best agricultural periodicals may be published, the 

 best essays may be written on the improvement of 

 farming, tho best implements of husbandry may be 

 wvented, the best races of slock introduced, phi- 

 losophers may speculate, the ministers of our holy 

 religion may preach, yet after all, appalling as the 

 thought may be, we must WORK ! Yes, we must 

 WORK ! !" 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



followed after, with a hold of the stilts, and in this 

 formidable and ludicrous manner, they repealed 

 their attacks on the soil !" 



DFC. »». 



EXTRACTS FROM SLEEPER'S ADDRESS. 

 Smalt Farms. 

 " A vine-dres.ser (in ancient Rome,) had two 

 dnughtors, and a large vineyard. When his eldest 

 daughter was married, he gave l^u^^rd of the 

 vineyard for her portion, not^vith^^^^^Kh^ch he 

 continued to have ;iie same .;: vntity oF^B as bo- 

 foTC. When his y'lfigest iI.d .bter iif^Pnarried, 

 he gave her half ct i*hat remained, and still the 

 produce of his vineyard was undiminished.' This 

 e.xlraordinary result was the consequence of his 

 bestowing as much labor on the third part loft af- 

 ter his daughters had received their portions, aa 

 he had been accustomed to bestow on the whole 

 vineyard. 



.'\ good moral may be drawn from this apologue, 

 even by the farmers of New Kngland in this en- 

 liglitened age. Cultivate a little land well, and 

 it will be more ptofitable in proportion to ll>e 

 labor expended, than the cultivation of much land 

 in a careless and unfaithful manner. This self- 

 evident truth lias been repeatedly urged upon the 

 attention of the agricultural comuiunity, and it 

 cannot be too often repeated, until small farms bc- 

 couie the order of the day, and tho land of New 

 England is cultivated as il should be, and trebled, 

 nay, quadrupled in population and value." 

 Plowing as it tens. 

 "It is not many years since, that in some parts 

 of Scotland the plows used to be drawn by four 

 horses abreast, and required the attendance of three 

 men. The businefs of one man was to drive. For 

 that purpose he placed himself between the middle 

 horses, with his face towards the plow to guide it 

 straight, and in this position he stepped backwards 

 with the reins in his hand. Another walked before 

 the horses with a flecked statf, which ho fastened 

 in the front of the beam, and by this means regu- 

 lated the depth of the furrow, by raising or lower- 

 ing the plow, as occasion required. The plowman 



Is the Old H'a;/ alwuys the Best ?■ 

 "Once upon a lime there was a certain ancient 

 vender of fish, who was in the habit of tramping 

 from place to place, carrying his merchandise on 

 an old fiorse, with a couple of baskets, into one of 

 which the old man used to pack his fish, while in 

 the other, by way of counterpoise, ho would stow 

 an equal weight of stones; One day a neigiibor 

 who had some brains in his head, remonstrated with 

 our itinerant hawker of marine merchandise, on 

 the absurdity of his conduct, and endeavored to 

 prove to him that it would bo much hettor to put | 

 fish into both baskets, and altogether dispense with ! 

 the stones, as the horse then would be able to car- 

 ry double the quantity of fish, or the same quantity 

 with twice tho ease. 



The fishmonger, who, by the way, was a great 

 stickler for good old customs, and had a profound 

 veneration for the wisdom of our ancestors, either 

 would not, or could not, comprehend the logic of 

 his reforming neighbor; and gruffly told him that 

 his plan might do, for any thing he knew, but that 

 his father and grandfather used to carry fish in one 

 basket and stones in the other, and he was deter- 

 mined to do the same as long as he lived, as he 

 hated all new-fangled notions from the bottom of 

 his heart I 



Now we are, all of us, ready to condemn the 

 conduct of this man, and to wonder at the stupidity 

 and force of prejudice which are so strongly exhi- 

 bited in his conduct. But there are few, very few, 

 among us, who are not, unconsciously perhaps, 

 pursuing a similar course ; that is, contemning the 

 light of experience and intelligence, and following 

 the track of our ancestors, wlio may have erred 

 through a want of practical knowledge. 



It is common to cry out against -itinovalion ; but 

 it has been well said, ' there can be no improDfmf n( 

 without innovation.' And there is probably no 

 business in life which is more susceptible of im- 

 provement, which will derive more advantages from 

 experience, from facts, and from experimental sci- 

 ence, than Agriculture. As.'iociations like the one 

 I have the honor to address, where intelligent hus- 

 bandmen meet and compare notes, and stale facts 

 or express opinions, all tending to enlighten or in- 

 form, must therefore be highly ben(-ficial. And 

 every man, however humble in his own opinion, 

 however uneducated, is capable of acquiring valua- 

 ble knowledge by observation, which it is his duty 

 to add to the general stock." 



him, in accents of commisseration, ' My frien 

 pity you from the bottom of my heart.' ' Oh, ^, 

 said the other, while a smile of pride and exultf' i^n^ 

 played around his mouth, and for a moment illu ■ 

 ed his wo-begone countenance, 'I am not so n 

 to be pitied as you imagine; for neighbor Jen 

 lives just over the hill, owns one half of 

 land ." " 



From the New Genesoo Farmer. 

 A CARD. 



jitJ 



If I 

 (It* 



IfTOl 



jVot so Poor as you think, Sir. 



"Men forget that the intrinsic value of a farm 

 does not consist in its number of acres of barren 

 land, but in its productiveness, in the excellence of 

 the acres of which it is composed. 



And this reminds me of an anecdote, with which 

 many of my audience are doubtle-ifs familiar. A 

 good practical farmer, one day, travelling through 

 a part of New England, came to a spot, where two 

 large farms were situated. He gazed upon the 

 half-tilled soil with a feeling akin to sadness. At 

 length, seeing a man with a physiognomy betoken- 

 ing a broken spirit, busily employed in tho liope- 

 iess task of destroying the weeds wliich overtopped 

 an immense field of yellow looking corn, and be- 

 lieving, of course, that he must be the owner of 

 this extensive but barren tract of land, ho said to 



At the desire of Mr Bateham, [the propria 

 the subscriber announces to the friends of the 1 

 Genesee Farmer, his engagement to remov 

 Rochester, and take, on the first of January e . 

 ing, the exclusive editorship of this work. I! 

 no"t without a just diffidence that he undert 

 this enterprise ; but, with honorable intentioni' . 

 is persuaded that in the generosity and public B< j|'^ 

 of the New York Agricultural community, he i' 

 find a welcome. He leaves the good old 

 State, the land of his nativity and the sepulchi 

 his fathers, not without many strong emotions; 

 he does not feel that in going to New York II 

 I going from home. He has been long acqu«ii 

 I with^New York and her citizens ; and has ti 

 always the deepest interest in her enterprizes- 

 improvements. He has always regarded her h 

 cultural progress and success with admiration ; 

 now that in addition to the common tes of fril J^ 

 ship nnd political fraternity the two Slates ai 

 he linked together by iron bom's in the great 

 tcrests of internal trade and coi imercc, he da 

 his removal much less a separation from home* 

 the friends of his youth. 



In coing into New York, he feels that he is 

 ing among old acquaintances. He had many y 

 the pleasure of an intimate friendship with the 

 lamented Buel ; and he is happy in standing iO' 

 same relation of mutual respect and esteem 

 the present enlightened and indefatigable editt 

 the Cultivator. Her Aliens and 'I'liomases, 

 VVadsworth and Gaylord, and Rotch and V 

 and Ball and Blydenburgh, and Beekman 

 Grove, and Bement and Hall, ar.J \V«lsh and 

 Rensselaer, and Dunn and Corning, seem to 

 like old and tried friends, united by a bond too 

 cred to be polluted by any base and selfish inta 



tlie bond of a common devotion to the advai 



ment of an improved husbandry, and the social, 

 tellcctual, and moral elevation of the rural and 

 boring classes. 



He goes to New York to continue the labon 

 which forty years of his life have been dcvot 

 and to unite his humble efforts more clo.sely l 

 thciiK in this common cause, the cause of hoi 

 comfort, of good morals, of private and public g( 

 He will be most happy to be recognized as a > 

 laborer. He goes to New York with no assiu | 

 lion of authority cither to leach or to lead. N( i 

 ing is farther from his thoughts. Ho goes nd 

 (li-ire the team, but to draip in the team ; and wl 

 ho has wind enough left, lie promises, with 

 goading or whipping, to do his best to keep 

 draft steady, and his end of tho yoke squnre. 

 has no higher earthly ambition than that it may 

 said of him, when the bow is pulled from his ne 

 " he has done a good day's work." 



The object of the present nolo is merely to mi 

 his bow to his New York friends, and to say ll 

 he hopes for their better acquaintance ; and tl 

 when he calls again, somewhere about New Ye 



