322 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY 



study in our military and naval schools, in the sci- 

 ence of war and navigation, ere the student is deem- 

 ed qualified to command. And yet, in agriculture, 

 by which, under the blessing of Providence, we vir- 

 tually " live, and move, and have our being," and 

 which truly embraces a wider range of useful sci- 

 ence than either law, medicine, war, or navigation, 

 we have no schools, we give no instruction, we be- 

 slow no government patronage. Scientific knowl- 

 edge is deemed indispensable in many minor em- 

 ployments of life ; but in this great business, in which 

 its influence would be most potent and useful, we 

 consider it, judging from our practice, of less conse- 

 quence than the fictions of the novelist. We regard 

 mind as the most efficient power in most other pur- 

 suits ; while we forget that in agriculture it is the 

 Archimedean lever which, though it does not move, 

 tends to fill a world with plenty, with moral health, 

 and human happiness. Can it excite surprise, that, 

 under these circumstances of gross neglect, agricul- 

 'ure should have become among us, in popular esti- 

 mation, a clownish and ignoble employment ? 



In the absence of agricultural professional schools, 

 could we not do much to enlighten and raise the 

 character of American husbandry, by making its 

 principles a branch of study in our district schools ? 

 This knowledge would seldom come amiss, and it 

 would often prove a ready help under misfortune to 

 those who had failed in other business. What man 

 is there who may not expect, at some time of life, 

 to profit directly by a knowledge of these principles ? 

 Who does not hope to become the owner or cultiva- 

 tor of a garden or a farm 1 And what man enjoying 

 the blessing of health would be at a loss for the 

 means of an honest livelihood, whose mind had been 

 early imbued with the philosophy of rural culture, 

 and who would rather work than beg ? 



An early acquaintance with natural science is cal- 

 culated to beget a taste for rural life and rural la- 

 bours, as i source of pleasure, profit, and honour. 



