158 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



July 



may be in hook proscriptions. High farming is daily 

 gaining new converts. The day is coming wlientlie 

 farmer will know how to overcome most of the dis- 

 advantages of adverse seasons, and to obtain good 

 crops from an improved and improving soil. S. W . 

 — f Waterloo, JV. Y., June, 1851. 



THE OAUSB AND THE REMEDY. 



Ens. Gkn. Farmer : — Tiie sentiment expressed by 

 Professor Johnstom, and published in tlie January 

 nnmber of your paper, "That the farmers of New 

 England are eighty or ninety years behind those of 

 Scotland, in tlie state of agricultural improvement," 

 seems to be corroborated by other very intelligent 

 tourists. That such should be the fact will appear 

 most extraordinary, when it is considered that the 

 soil and climate of New England, if not superior, 

 is certainly not inferior to that of Scotland, her yeo- 

 manry equally intelligent, education more generally 

 diffused among them, and being proverbial for ingen- 

 uity, industry, and enterprise, are not inferior to any 

 people in any of the arts of war or peace ; that there 

 exists a radical cause for the inferior state of agri- 

 culture in New England as compared with that of 

 Scotland, there can be no doubt ; that that cause may 

 admit of a remedy, we have reason to hope : but 

 that the true cause must be discovered before the 

 remedy can be applied, is too evident to admit of con- 

 troversy. Professor .Tohnsto^j gave his 0|iinion as to 

 the cause, other travelers have given theirs ; each dif- 

 fering from the other, and all, in my opinion, erroneous. 

 As you had promised, I waited with solicitude and 

 read with interest your opinion on the subject, as 

 published in the February number of your paper ; 

 and though I heartily accord in much you say in that 

 number, I do not think you have given us the reason 

 why the state of agriculture of New England should 

 be inferior to that of Scotland. I would like to see 

 a further expression from you and your correspond- 

 ents upon that subject, and I will then hazzard an 

 opinion upon it myself. I am a subscriber to your 

 paper, and am, and have been for a long period, a 

 subscriber to other agricultural papers ; and while 

 yours is the cheapest, 1 believe it not to be inferior 

 to the best published io our country. I concede that 

 jour columns are filled with matter of the highest 

 interest to the farmer, and yet I think there is no 

 subject to which you can more profitably give a 

 place, than to a discussion of the subject under con- 

 sideration. An Old Farmer. — Hillsdale, 1851. 



That the people of New England, and of the States 

 generally, are at least as intelligent as those of any 

 other portion of the globe, is a fact in regard to which 

 there can be no dispute. But the subject of agricul- 

 lui-e has been long neglected. . It has been consider- 

 ed a matter of too little importance to attract the 

 attention of scientific men. And when the light of 

 science has shone on the farmer's path he has too often 

 treated it with contempt, preferring to continue 

 groping his way in darkness. Farmers have had no 

 respect for their calling — no just notions of its im- 

 portance. If a farmer has a son of an inquiring 

 mind, who wishes to search out the ichi/ and the 

 wherefore — who will not rest satisfied without 

 searching for the cause, when he observes the effect, 

 he is too smart for a farmer, and must be sent to 

 some city, for a lawyer, or a doctor, or to engage in 

 commercial speculation. Indeed, the young have no 

 relish for a blind system of farming. But when our j 



young men see that the operations of the farm call 

 for scientific acquirements, as well as for practical 

 skill — that it affords scope for the closest observation, 

 and the greatest powers of the greatest minds — and 

 that distinction, honor, and wealth await the skill- 

 ful farmer — then they will engage in it with an en- 

 thusiasm that will elevate American Agriculture to 

 its true position. — Ens. 



FOREST TREES. 



Messrs. Editors : — I read the Farmer with much 

 interest, although not engaged in agricultural pur- 

 suits. It is a satisfaction tome to know that "there 

 appears to be no abatement of the tree-planting 

 spirit," although it appears to bo. mostly confined to 

 fruit trees. Not that I am averse to the multiplica- 

 tion of fruit trees, to any extent that may be desired, 

 but I should also rejoice to see public attention turned 

 more than it now is, to the cultivation of forest trees, 

 especially in situations in which they now appear to 

 be growing scarce. 



The idea of a country being stripped of its forests, 

 is horrifying to me. I have lived to see that part of 

 the country in which I was born, changed, not " from 

 a barren wilderness into a fruitful field," but from a 

 beautiful wilderness into an almost barren field. I 

 refer to the destructive tvaste, not the necessary use, of 

 timber, and the subsequent ruinous system of farm- 

 ing. The little remaining timber is almost the only 

 thing convertible into money, and yet there is less of 

 that than will be necessary to supply the present and 

 coming wants of the inhabitants. 



And yet my native place is not the only place 

 where the same selfish, injurious, and ruinous policy 

 has been pursued. In almost all parts of the country 

 the land is fast becoming stripped of its "glory," not 

 to satisfy the necessary wants, but to gratify the 

 cupidity of men who seem to think that the only ob- 

 ject of life is to hoard up wealth, fegardless of con- 

 sequences to the world. But I have neither time nor 

 inclination to pursue this subject in all its legitimate 

 details. Suffice it to say, that it is no longer a dis- 

 puted point whether a country suffers from the de- 

 struction of its forests. 



Before I close, allow me to address myself briefly 

 to those who have it in their power to remedy the 

 evil, both by prevention and cure, viz.: 



TO LAND OWNERS. 



The growing scarcity of timber is beginning to be 

 felt, and the inquiry is sometimes made, "What will 

 be the consequences to coming generations ?" T need 

 not stop to answer this question, but will simply re- 

 mark, that it is well known that in very many por- 

 tions of our widely extended country, timbered lands 

 are far more valuable than those under cultivation. 

 Hence the owners of land have it in their power to 

 increase its value bv making provision for the wants 

 of future generations. This ability consists in two 

 things : 1st, In avoiding all unnecessary waste and 

 destruction in the use and management of timber ; 

 2d, In cultivating a new growth, by sowing or plant- 

 ing the seeds, and preserving young trees of all those 

 varieties of forest trees that are usel'ul for fuel, build- 

 ing, or other economical purposes. Wherever a tree 

 will grow without absolute detriment, there set a tree 

 or plant a seed. Trees will grow while you sleep, 

 and will be like money at interest. Plant them, then ; 

 your children will be benefitted, if you are not ; and 

 coming generations will bless your memory. Coin- 



I 



f 



fl 



