10 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan 



and value the millions of volumes of the current 

 literature, as the skilful cultivation of the earth is 

 of more importance than the skilful playing of a 

 game of foot-ball. Without going back to the an- 

 cients, who seem to have been well-informed in 

 terra-culture, but as a general thing, knew little 

 of the atmospheric influences upon crops, or of the 

 importance of mineral manures, we will mention a 

 few of the modern writers who have devoted their 

 thoughts to the cultivation of the earth, and add- 

 ed dignity, grace and interest to the pursuit. Sir 

 Humphrey Davy's lectures on agi-icultural chemis- 

 try were commenced before the Board of Agricul- 

 ture in England as early as 1802, but never pub- 

 'lished till 1813, and to this day are scarcely known 

 to one in a thousand in this country. Loudon's 

 voluminous works are monuments of learning as 

 well as of usefulness. Johnston's agricultural 

 chemistry, Boussingault's Rural Economy, Ste- 

 phens's Book of the Farm, and Rogers's Scientific 

 Agriculture, are full of the most useful and prac- 

 tical information. 



But there is another, and if possible, still more 

 attractive phase in the literature of agriculture, of 

 which Duncan's Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons, 

 and Hunt's Poetry of Science, are representatives. 

 While the first class enters into the great laws and 

 operations of Nature, showing us how to subdue 

 the wilderness, gain fertile fields, and cover the 

 hills with flocks, the latter analyzes these laws and 

 illustrates the goodness and wisdom of God in the 

 beautiful arrangements of His creation. These 

 show the Poetry of the great art ; and to a mind un- 

 tainted by morbid sensibilities, they have an inex- 

 presssible charm. They uni-avel a thousand mys- 

 teries in the grass of the field, or the trees of the 

 forest, — in the drop of water that hangs and trem- 

 bles on the petal of the flower, or the rugged rock 

 on which it is soon to fall. They show that in 

 agricultural employments there is room for the ex- 

 ercise of all the high and noble feculties of the 

 mind. If the vocation has become one of drudgery, 

 it is because the mind is slavish and dull, and not 

 that the subject is not endowed with all the inher- 

 ent qualities of beauty and grandeur. To the stu- 

 dent, this class of literature will possess many 

 pleasant attractions, more than compensate for the 

 unpoetic part of farm work, and draw numbers 

 away from the crowded professions. This is a fea- 

 ture full of encouragement. 



We do not mean to say that heretofore agricul- 

 ture has had no literature ; for even among the 

 ancients there were a few who seemed to embrace 

 within their compreliensive grasp most that is 

 known -to us now. But that in this age the sub- 

 ject has been brought into well-defined and scien- 

 tific principles, which are becoming widely-diffused 

 among the masses who are occupied in the cultiva- 

 ^on of the earth. At no period has there proba- 

 bly been more active minds engaged on any topic, 



than may now be found on the subject of farming, 

 including all its various branches. For the next 

 half century, at least, it promises to be the popu- 

 lar profession ; and as our national safety and con- 

 tinuance depends on our being an agricultural 

 people, producing within ourselves, as far as pos- 

 sible, the means of supplying our own wants, we 

 are glad to see the young and zealous engaging in 

 its healthy and jennobling pursuits. And -while 

 we urge upon them, the more modern literature 

 of the farm, we would by no means exclude the 

 Georgics, the writings of old Cato, Columella, or 

 those who have occasionally appeared and written 

 on the subject since. 



With regard to new plans in the prosecution of 

 our enterprise, we have scarcely a suggestion to 

 make. The New England Farmer is already es- 

 tablished on a firm basis. Its publishers will 

 spare no reasonable expense to make it hereafter 

 what the farmer needs, in doctrine and spirit, and 

 in such a becoming style in its appearance as shall 

 do no discredit to the great improvements in the 

 Art of Printing. 



We have no important changes to announce — 

 we contemplate none. Our Associate Editors will 

 remain in the harness and fill their parts with 

 their accustomed promptness and ability. 



One fact we will mention before we close this, 

 our first talk with you in the New Year. Out of 

 the thousands of communications, (sometimes 

 amounting to scores in a day) which have been re- 

 ceived during the past year, in relation to all the 

 business of the establishment, there has not been one 

 finding fault with our course, or ordering a dis- 

 continuance from motives of ill-will or dissatisfac- 

 tion. The mantle of your charity has fallen over 

 our errors as silently as the night-dew upon the 

 flowers. 



And now may He who sustains us, each in his 

 position, grant us another year of usefulness and 

 kindly intercourse wdth each other. 



A VALUABLE BOOK OF REPERBNOS. 



Some of the characteristics of the Monthly Far- 

 mer are, — 



1. The elegant manner and convenient form in 

 which it is printed ; making a handsome volume 

 for the library when bound. 



2. The expensive engravings which illustrate 

 the stock, plants, fruits, flowers, machines, build- 

 ings and fences which are described in its columns. 



3. The absence of long catalogues of premiums- 

 and programmes, which are only of temporary in- 

 terest. 



4. Its articles sjiring from leading principles in 

 the art of agricultui-e, and will, therefore, be as 

 valuable to the learner any future year, as at the 

 present time. 



5. Its writers are nearly all men of practical 

 acquaintance with the business of the farm. 



