THE GENESEE FAinEER. 



11 



THE POTATO DISEASE. 



The Royal Agricultural Society has awarded a 

 purse to Dr. Lang, of Ipplepen, for a paper ou the 

 Potato, its cultivation, production and disease. The 

 conclusions at which he arrives are : 



"That the disease is of a fungoid nature, in. 

 creased in virulency by atmospheric causes. That 

 all manures are injurious, saving only lime and salt. 

 That the earliest Potatoes in ripening should be 

 exclusively grov?n. That earthing up repeatedly 

 with fine earth is the only effectual preventive to 

 the ravages of the disease." 



" These opinions," says the Gardener's Chron- 

 icle^ "are much the same as those which have been 

 repeatedly expressed by ourselves, with the excep- 

 tion of recommending lime and salt as a manure, 

 and trusting to frequent earthing up. But we must 

 express our entire disent to the author's statement 

 that disease never originates in the lower portion 

 of the stem where it adjoins the root. "We can 

 only say that during 13 years that we have studied 

 the phenomena of this singular malady we never 

 saw an instance to the contrary." 



FAEMING AS A VOCATION. 



** For the best essay calculated to give farmers an adequate con- 

 ception of the nature and worth oi their vocation." 



The life of the farmer has ever been considered 

 by himself^ one of toil and drudgery, but with 

 how much reason, it may be well to ask, to inves- 

 tigate, and to become satisfied. It is the lot of 

 man in general to liave an occupation. If not 

 necessary for a living, it is made a means of ob- 

 taining wealth, fame, or power, A few, born to 

 wealth or titles, pursue no calling but that of 

 pleasure. Such lead miserable lives, and do little 

 or no good in the world. It is appointed unto all 

 men to icorh. It is necessary to health, strength, 

 comfort, and happiness. But to work, it is not 

 necessary to guide the plow or harrow, to wield 

 the axe or scythe, to sow or reap. There are other 

 kinds of work, equally laborious and fatiguing — 

 other occupations more wearing to the system, and 

 attended with less pleasure. In this country, there 

 < are more men engaged in farming than in any other 

 occupation, and in the rural districts, they consti- 

 tute a large majority of the inhabitants, and, as a 

 consequence, see and know little of the drudgery 

 of other occupations. In their visits to the me- 

 chanic, or manufacturer, they see him slieltered 

 from the storms and cold, they notice that his skin 

 is less tawny, his hands softer and whiter, and his 

 clothes perhaps less soiled and torn ; and it is but 

 natural that they should think his labor less hard 

 than theirs. They see the merchant behind his 

 counter smiling to his customers, or at his desk 

 counting his money, and they cannot think he 



worJvS ; and they go away wishing that Providence 

 had been as kind to them. They see the lawyer 

 advocating the cause of his client, uttering with 

 eloquence witty or grave sentences, bringing tears 

 to the eyes, or laughter to the countenances, of 

 judge, jury, and spectators; and they go away, re- 

 pining that tlie gifts of Providence are so partially 

 bestowed. Tliey see not the mechanic at work by 

 his lamp, wliile farmers are reading by their fire- 

 sides; they see him not with his accounts, 

 anxiously looking forward to the time when his 

 payments become due, or his flour barrel empty, 

 or his pork barrel out ; they see not the anxious 

 and care-worn countenance of the merchant, while 

 alone in his otfice, just before his bank note be- 

 comes due, and no money to meet it ; and they 

 see not the lawyer in the still hours of the night, 

 with aching head and wearied eyes, looking up 

 authorities to sustain his cause on the eve of trial. 

 It is they themselves — the farm&i's — that have 

 set the stamp of drudgery upon their occupation. 

 No one else admits or l)elieves it. The lawyer, the 

 doctor, the merchant; and the mechanic, envy the 

 farmer his farm and his happiness — his bread, 

 butter, and cbcese — his fruits, meats, and his 

 grains, the product of his own labor, that he can 

 eat witli an appetite sharpened by muscular ex- 

 ercise, and knov.ing that tliey are pure and liealthy. 

 Ask the mechanic what he is striving for, and what 

 is his aim. For a home^ a piece of land that I can 

 cultivate, and eat the fruits of my own raising ; 

 the merchant will tell you that he hopes to end 

 his days upon a farm ; and the lawyer and doctor 

 will tell you the same. What if their faces are 

 blanched wliile the farmer is tawny — their fingers 

 delicate and suple, while the former are dingy and 

 clumsy — their garments fine and clean, while his 

 are soiled and coarse. Each is appropriate and 

 equally respectable. A chimney-sweet in white 

 linen, or a farmer at his plow in fine broadcloth, 

 would be an object ot ridicule, equally with the 

 lawyer in rags. More men make themselves 

 ridiculous by overdressing than the reverse. If 

 the farmer has not delicacy, he has strength, and 

 power of endurance — far more valuable. If he is 

 not educated and refined, it is no fault of his occu- 

 2)atio}i, did he himself not think so ; for no one 

 has more leisure for reading and study. If he 

 mingles less with the world, and learns less of 

 etiquette, he has opportunity for thought, and 

 learns less of deception, intrigue, and chicanery, 

 which make no one happy. Whose sons make 

 the most enterprising and successful merchants, 

 the most profound statesmen, the most eminent 

 engineers, and the most learned lawyers and di- 

 vines? The Farmer^s. They go forth from the 

 farm, with healthy blood in their veins, inherited 

 trom healthy parents, and consequently have 

 healthy and vigorous minds. Who are looked up 

 to as defenders of our homes in case of invasion? 

 Whose names are in our jury boxes, and whose 

 names are sought for (aye, a little too often success- 

 fully), on a bank note ? Brother framers, let us 

 not repine at our lot ; let us not envy others while 

 they envy us; let us honor our calling, and it will 

 konor us. 



" Honor and fame from no condition rise ;" 

 " He that would win, musi labm'fc/r the prise " 



' QorlMm, 2r. Y., Nov., 1858. S. B. P. 



