1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



18& 



and shrubs ere it reaches and warms the earth — 

 and 60 with knowledge; it seems generally to 

 fasten first and thrive best in its dawn upon pro- 

 fessions and interests less substantial and useful. 

 But the sunshine must warm the vallies, and its 

 light and heat fertilize the earth, ere it will 

 yield its riches; and so intelligence and knowl- 

 edge must reach the farmer, and spread among 

 the laborers of the country, before the full ad- 

 vantage of their blessings can be realized, and 

 their mighty influence felt in their length and 

 breadth. 



That farmer little values his calling, and is 

 ignorant of the chief element for its improve- 

 ment and progress, who treats lightly the Agri- 

 cultural Publications of the Country. They are 

 doing, to-day, more to elevate and advance his 

 interest and secure him respect and influence 

 than any one agent. They tread noiselessly 

 over the land — they silently visit the firesides of 

 the people — they speak words of wisdom to them 

 in their hours of retirement, and whisper the re- 

 sults of experience to the tired husbandman in 

 his moments of refreshment and rest. They are 

 companions which the laborer can carry with 

 him to the field and the forest, and they will 

 speak to his heart and understanding when far 

 away from society; they have a word for all sea- 

 sons, and rules for all circumstances; they are 

 good school-masters for children, as well as sage 

 councillors for grown men; and no farmer should 

 be without one or more in his family, and no la- 

 borer, fail to read and study them. 



Men may say they can learn nothing from 

 Agricultural papers, and many doubtless honest- 

 ly imagine it is time and money thrown away 

 to take and read them; but how little do such 

 men comprehend their own nature and charac- 

 ter. It is a moral impossibility for a thinking, 

 reasoning man — one who has a mind with mem- 

 ory attached to it — to read the Genesee Far- 

 mer one year without advantage; that person 

 must be low in the scale of intelligence, who 

 would not be wiser and better fitted for his busi- 

 ness from such a practice. Books are valuable, 

 nay indispensable; but they are of little worth 

 without the newspaper. The one is to be stu- 

 died, and is invaluable in the library of the man 

 of leisure, the scholar, the writer, and in the | 

 professor's laboratory; the other is for the mil- j 

 jions to read, little by little — they are printed in | 

 a form and at intervals, just adapted for the mas- j 

 ses, and they can be taken up at the dinner table | 

 and at the fireside, in the workshop or the barn, I 

 and read and reflected upon — and no truth is | 

 more sure than that they exercise a mighty in- 1 

 fluence on the public mind. Politics has been j 

 the great field for newspapers in this country, j 

 and the subject, as well as the Press, has been 

 most foully abused in the course political dis- 

 cussions has too often taken. But there is a 

 broader and better field where the printing Press 



may exert its power, without fear of evil, and 

 where it may scatter broad-cast its seeds of 

 knowledge, with a perfect assurance that they 

 shall vegetate and produce fruit. 



It is 'la cheering fiict that Agriculture ha5, in 

 almost every State, its distinct organ — while 

 scarce a village ) ^per but has its page or its col- 

 umn devoted to i .at noble calling. The last ten 

 years has produced a wonderful change in this 

 particular. There are ten Agricultural papers 

 now published, where, fifteen years ago, one was 

 issued; and what is more, each now printed has 

 ten times more readers than the one did then. — 

 I speak on this subject from personal knowledge. 

 The Post Ofiices of the state will show a wider 

 circulation of Agricultural papers than of any 

 other class, with the exception ot a few city 

 weeklies. And this circulation of newspapers 

 devoted to the subject of farming is rapidly in- 

 creasing. Nothing more clearly evidences an 

 increasing intelligence among farmers, than this 

 fact. No enlightened farmer will be without his 

 paper, and many men who ten years ago ridi- 

 culed the idea of "book farming," and Agricul- 

 tural publications, now do not plow or sow 

 or build without consulting that truest and 

 best friend, his Agricultural paper. Prejudice 

 is wearing away — intelligence is spreading far 

 and wide — and slowly but surely the great in- 

 terest upon which all others are based is rising 

 up to its real dignity and importance. 



The Press is the great agent in this progres- 

 sive movement, and every farmer \\>\\o loves his 

 calling, and who respects his interests, should 

 encourage and sustain the Agricultural publica^ 

 tionsof the State and Nation. He who will not do 

 it is recreant to his truest interest, or has butalim- 

 ited view of his duty to himself and his fellows. 

 No man can plead poverty. In this land of 

 health and plenty none can say "I am not able." 

 The Genesee Farmer costs, postage and all, 

 but four shillings a year, and none are so poor 

 as to be unable to raise that sum. But some may 

 say, '■ I do not wish to read it; I can farm with- 

 out a newspaper." That man must be very wise 

 who cannot learn more than one, ten times 

 over, who will not — who lacks not t!ie ability, 

 but the disposition. Well, my wise and unim- 

 provable farmer, go on, and till your soil your 

 own way. But you have a family — children 

 who are growing up, and for their sakes sub- 

 scribe for some approved Agricultural paper. — 

 Do not shut them out from the means of im- 

 provement; do not dwarf their minds, by deny- 

 ing ihem light and knowledge. The cost is 

 nothing; it may, it will do good, either to your- 

 self or family. Let no householder be without 

 a newspaper, and no farmer without one devoted 

 exclusively to Agriculture. 

 Penn Yan, July, 1847. D. A. Ogden. 



Warm.— The Thermometer, to-day, (July 19,), 

 at 2 P. M., stood at 96 degrees, in the shade.. 



