264 



NEW ENGLAND. FARMER. 



JlftTE 



lines of all other articles are "close" together. At 

 the head of each eommanication is this annonnce- 

 ment, '^For the New England Farmer;''^ which is 

 as much as to say, "this article was written for, 

 not /)y the Farmer, and therefore the responsibility 

 thereof belongs to the writer," whose name, or 

 "mark" at least, is appended. As to selections, 

 we find their source or»>"credit" distinctly giv- 

 en. 



While some readers confound or overlook all 

 these distinctions, and regard the Farmer as an 

 indivisible whole, for wliich the editor alone is re- 

 sponsible, there are others who do understand 

 them, but hold that the editor ought not to allow 

 space to be occupied in the propagation of what 

 they regard as heresy. Alas, poor human nature ! 

 That same old leaven which fermented society 

 when the Copernican system was announced, when 

 the first saw-mill was mobbed out of England, 

 when men sneered at Fulton's steamboat, still 

 lurks in the whole lump of humanity ; so that the 

 editor of the Farmer, in the number before us, 

 finds it necessary to announce, in a note to his ac- 

 count of a Legislative Agricultural Meeting, that 

 "the reports of agricultural discussions at the 

 State House, give opinions for which we feel no 

 sort of responsibility. This is the case with com- 

 munications which we publish." And why should 

 you ? Who ever thought of holding the President 

 of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, or the 

 reporter of either body, responsible for the opin- 

 ions stated in debate by the members'? Why then 

 the editor for those of his correspondents, so long 

 as they do not transgress tlie "rules of order," 

 which he should see to it are always observed ? 



The importance of the utmost freedom of dis- 

 cussion on the subject of American agriculture, 

 must be an apology for these remarks. In our ef- 

 forts to build up an American system, we may find 

 it necessary, to pull down some of the principles 

 of the European one brought over by our fathers. 

 We have not only to establish principles, but to 

 root out prejudices ; not only to learn things new, 

 but to unlearn time-honOred practices. One of 

 the committees of the Massachusetts board says : 

 "We are practising on principles and theories 

 originating in a country, in some respects widely 

 .different in climate, soil, products, and the social 

 condition of its laboring population. In England 

 the farmer has to guard against excess of mois- 

 ture ; here he has to guard against the want 

 of it. There, land is dear and labor cheap ; here, 

 labor is dear and land cheap. Yet our agricultu- 

 ral works are mostly of English origin." We need, 

 therefore, a system adapted to our situation. The 

 exercise of our own eyes, experience, and judg- 

 ment, is required, in its construction ; and a pret- 

 ty large margin must l)e allowed for the various 

 opinions of those who are lieartily engaged in this 

 great work. The principle that holds correspon- 

 dents amenable to editors, would hold the editor, 

 also, responsible to some "higher power," and 

 must result in nothing sliort of tliat censorship of 

 the press which has always checked progress and 

 improvement, and bound the people to ignorance 

 and servitude. How disastrously this principle 

 would affect the character of tlie Fariner. It would 

 destroy that independence, freedom, originality, 

 and spirit, which now mark every page, and give 

 interest to the whole. 



Make the editor, or any one of his correspon- 



dents, responsible for all the opinions advanced in 

 the April Farmer, and what a fluttering there 

 would be among the "articles" of which it is com- 

 posed. 



Notwithstanding, for instance, that the editor 

 has often expressed his belief that "successive im- 

 provements'" have been made in plows, on page 

 158, "Bachelor" is allowed a "confab," in which 

 preference is expressed for one 20 years old, and 

 the "cold shoulder" — a habit of all bachelors — is 

 given to modern "improvements." 



On page 168, the editor gives tables, from vari- 

 ous analyses, of the nutritive value of roots com- 

 pared with hay ; by which it appears that 1000 

 parts of carrots contain about the same amount of 

 nutritive matter as 1000 parts of herds-grass, or 

 2000 parts of clover hay. Yet on page 183, ex- 

 periments are given which place the value of car- 

 rots at "between one-third and one-half that of 

 good English hay." On page 195, Mr. Clark es- 

 timates the cost of dressing an acre with barn-yard 

 manure at $42, with guano only $7,50; yet the 

 editor finds it necessary to caution formers against 

 a "guano fever," and recommends it only aa an 

 adjunct. 



Similar instances, to almost any extent, might 

 be adduced, but the foregoing will suffice. Truth, 

 not agreement, should be the object s'livrht. 

 "Many men of many minds," is an old Bayiug ; 

 and all the inquisitions, racks, censors, auu oj^.ies, 

 yet invented have failed in making men think, 

 speak and write alike. As we have done, so let 

 us continue to do — "agree to differ;" and each 

 one bear the responsibility of the reasons given for 

 the faith that is in him. 



Having said thus much in relation to the April 

 Farmer, in general, we have space for but a few 

 remarks upon the articles in particular. 



The suggestions in "the calendar for April" re- 

 specting flans, would furnish woof for the whole 

 web of a volume. Who can give a better state- 

 ment of the difference between great men and lit- 

 tle ones, than that the one can, and the other can- 

 not, form distinct plans of action? 



Until '■'■Nexv England Houseieives^^ bemoan their 

 lot as they "compare their state with the imagi- 

 nary comfort" of those who have slaves 



-"to fan them while they sleep 



And tremlile when ihey wake," 



it may be unnecessary' to discuss fiu'ther this for- 

 bidden topic, especially as it would seem that those 

 who "love" slavery are already engaged in "com- 

 batting" and "exhorting" "matrons" at home. 



^^ Shell Lime.''' — The writer, or printer, has put 

 an extra "bushel of salt" into the directions for 

 preparing this article. Has this composition been 

 ti'ied extensively ? 

 "J. New Grassy — We have here a very sanguine 

 recommendation of a new grass, particularly for 

 light soils, which the writer obtained from a sin- 

 gle plant found among turnips raised from English 

 seed. The committee on Farms of Worcester Co., 

 who examined this grass, is rather less sanguine 

 than Mr. Willard appears to be. On the pine- 

 plain pastui-e, they found "much white clover in 

 blossom, and some of the brome grass." As hay, 

 they speak of it as "coarse," and reserve their 

 recommendation of its general use until a "jury of 

 cows" shall have passed upon it. {Trans. 1851, 

 p. 153. Is it not time this verdict should be ren- 

 dered ? 



