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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



From the Christian JiigisUr of.Xorcmber 1. 

 GARDINER LYCHUM. 

 Mr. F.BiTOR — I ob'enerl in the Hallowcll Gazette 

 of the 12th ult. an address to the public Irom th(f 

 Trustees of (he Gardiner Lyceum. The knowledge 

 that such an institution is about to be established, can- 

 not be too widely diffused. That our colleges are use- 

 ful and necessary to those who intend to pursue one of 

 the learned professions cannot be denied ; but they are 

 by no means calculated to supply that particular Uir.d 

 of knowledge which is necessary to the farmer and 

 Mechanic. 



The utility of an institution like the Lyceum will be 

 best shown by a few extracts from the address. 



The small number of m?ch;inics acqiininted 

 with tliose principles of natural philo30|ihy, up- 

 on which the successful o[)cration of their arts 

 depend, has been long a subject of regret. Art- 

 ists, it is true, are found in various de|>arttnents, 

 who, b}- means of uncommon natural talents, arc 

 able to acquire the knowledge of those scientific 

 principles, which are most needful to them ; 

 but those to whom nature has been less liberal, 

 can only execute in the way in which llicy have 

 been taught, and while they adopt the rules and 

 recipes of their predecessors, they arc oldlged 

 to perform much unnecessary labor, because 

 they are unable to distinguish the essential from 

 the accidcnlal parts of their processes. And ] 

 even those of superior endowments are obliged i 

 to spend much labor in acquiring jirinciples, 

 which are among the first rudiments of a regu- 

 lar cduration. jVor have our farmers hitherto 

 had that knowledge which \vould enable them 

 to improve the powers of their soil, or the 

 machines necessary for cultivating it, and pre- 

 paring their produce for the market. The 

 knowledge necessary for these descriptions of 

 persons is confined to colleges ; but science is 

 there taught, not to persons who are to make a 

 practical use of it in after life, but as part of a 

 course of general education to those who are 

 destined for the liberal professions. The details 

 ■of the practical a|)plication of science to the 

 particular arts would be altogether inconsistent 

 ivith the objects of these institutions. Neither 

 could those who are to sup|)ort themselves by 

 manual labor, spare the time or meet the ex- 

 pense of a collegiate course, with its long train 

 ftf preparatory studir,s, particularly when a large 

 part of that course would not only be useless, 

 but would serve to give them a distate for their 

 future pursuits in life. 



The practical utility of science cannot be 

 doubted, in an age where its investigations have 

 produced such astonishing improvements as in 

 the |)resent. There is scarcely an art which 

 bas not directly or indirectly received from it 

 iniiioilant services; for science must necessarily 

 be the foundation of every art. Not that the 

 arts orig.natc in the speculations of the philoso- 

 phi'r, or cannot be practised without an ac- 

 «]uaintance with science. On the contrary they 

 frequently owe their beginning to accident ; 

 and the knowledge of the art is but the know- 

 ledge of a few insulated facts. These fact';, ob- 

 served by the man of science, lead him to an 

 investigation of their nature, and the laws ac- 

 cording to which they are produced. He dis- 

 covers what is necessary and what is accidental 

 in the process, and thus infers an easier and 

 cheaper mode of arriving at the same result. 

 Chemistry, as a science, has scarcely existed 

 half a century, and yet no science can so proud- 

 ly boast its contr.liution to the arts. To many 

 trades, it is absolutely necessary, and to almost 



all, highly beneficial. The lanncr, the bleach- 

 er, the dyer, the druggist, (he manulacturcr of 

 pot and pearl ashes, of soap, of copjieras, and 

 all the salts of commerce, of spirituous and 

 fermented liquors; all these, and very many 

 more, find their arts deiiendent upon chemical 

 processes. The mason needs chemistry to mix 

 properly the ingredients of his mortar, the 

 blacksmith to temper his edged tools, and even 

 the baker to ferment his bread. It is true, 

 these arts may be, and are successfully practis- 

 ed by attentive and intelligent persons, igno- 

 rant of science; but a knowledge of chctnistry 

 would enable men of an inferior class of mind 

 to become skilful ; would make the success of 

 all more certain ; enable them to investigate 

 the causes of occasional failures, and to guard 

 against their recurrence. 



Agriculture, too, depends much upon chemis- 

 try. It is the business of this science to inves- 

 tigate the nature of soils, the causes of their 

 fertility or barrenness, to ascertain the compo- 

 sition of manure, and the kind best suited to give 

 fruiti'nlness to each kind of soil. The experi- 

 ence of Lavoisier, who in a few years doubled 

 his crops, is sufficient to prove the utility of 

 chemistry, when applied to the cultivation of 

 the earth. 



With a view to furnish to farmers and mechan- 

 ics the education here represented as so useful, 

 the Gardaier Lyceum has been established ; and 

 the course of study will be arranged with a ])ar- 

 ticular reference to the wants of those classes, 

 for whose particular benefit it is designed. As 

 soon as a suitable apparatus can be procured, 

 lectures will be given upon the sciences there 

 taught; and the application of those sciences to 

 the arts will be illustrated as fully as the na- 

 ture of the lectures will admit. As fast as the 

 lundsofthe institution will allow, models will 

 be procured of the best machines employed in 

 the useful arts. Specimens will likewise be col- 

 lected of the natural productions of the country, 

 as opportunity offers; and they will be deposit- 

 ed in a cabinet in the Lyceum. 



Candidates for admission to the Lyceum will 

 be required to produce certificates of good mor- 

 al character, and will be examined in the (bur 

 fundamental operations of arithmetic : addition, 

 subtraction, multiplication and division, both up- 

 on simple and comjiound numbers, and in re- 

 duction. It is also very desirable that English 

 Grammar should be understood by those enter- 

 ing the Lyceum ; and although the trustees do 

 not at present consider it as an indispensable re- 

 quisite, yet they hope it will have been studied 

 by persons applying lor admission. The studies 

 in the Lyceum will be — 



For the first year — .\rithmetic. Algebra, Geom- 

 etry, Trigonometry, Mensuration of Surfaces 



and Solids, and Book-Keeping. 

 In the second year — Surveying, Navigation. 



Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, and 



Chcmislry. 



No student will be required to attend to all 

 the branches of instruction for the second year, 

 but only those which are best adapted to his fu- 

 ture wants. He will also be instructed in the 

 practical application of the knowledge thus ac- 

 quired to the particular art which he is to ])rac- 

 tice. Two years will complete what is deem- 

 ed an essential course ; but instruction will be 

 afforded to those who wish to continue their 

 studies another year. 



The studies of the third year will be — 

 Other branches of Natural Philosoiihy, the Iiigh- 



er branches of Mathematics, Natural Historv, 



and the first volume of Stewart's Philosophy 



of the Mind. 



There will be regular exercises in English 

 composition ; and each Monday morning all the 

 clas-ics will be instructed in the principles of 

 natural and revealed religion. 



The trustees consider (he location of the 

 Lyceum in the town of Gardiner as peculiarlv 

 fortunate, from its central position, on a navi- 

 gable river, in a populous neighbourhood and 

 (ertile country, where commerce is continually 

 extending, and in a town possessing uncommon- 

 ly fine mill jjrivileges, ami which already offers 

 to the student in mechanics the exhibition of a 

 •rreatcr variety of machinery moved by water 

 than can be found in any other town in the 

 state.'' 



[The Lyceum was incorporated at (he last ses- 

 sion of the Legislature. The trustees are about 

 erecting a stone edifice for the accommodation 

 of the students, and the institution will go into 

 operation some time in January next, under the 

 superintendance of the Rev. Benjamin Hale.] 



"•The trustees conclude their a.idress wi(' 

 expressing their confidence, as they arc enga^ 

 ed in an object calculated to meet the wants oi 

 a state which possesses all the requisites for be- 

 coming great, and distinguished in agriculture, 

 manufactures, and commerce, that they shall 

 not want the support and encouragement of the 

 public. They are engagad in no private enter- 

 prise. They expect to profit no particular class 

 of men, but to aid those who form the bone and 

 sinew and muscle of the body politic. They 

 aim at the public good, and hope for the public 

 patronage." F. 



From the National iEgis. 

 MINERALOGICAL No. \. 



The objects of an enlightened system of air- 

 riculture are philosophical, so far only as they 

 follow nature. Art may plant, industry may 

 ivatcr, but nature gives the increase. The 

 |i!ough and the cart may have been used, ac- 

 cording to the best modes of improvement, and 

 \ct the tracts of land on which they have been 

 I mployed, may produce but miserable crop=. 

 We seldom have the charity to attribute the 

 sterility of farms, to any thing but the indolence • 

 oi the proprietor; when, perhaps, the true cause 

 i* in the nature of the soil itself. The bus. 

 Iiaiuiman may waste the sweat of his brow, and 

 the toil of bis hands tor years, by perseverance 

 in the same course which, with his neighbour.s, ' 

 gi\c3 a rich reward. To rcmeily any evil, it is 

 first necessary to seek out its cause. Now, a 

 Kttle of that knowledge derived from books, a- 

 g.iin^l which a prejudice ha« been so unreason- 

 ably entertained, would inform the farmer that 

 the reason why his crops were not as good as 

 another's, must be, that he did not adapt the 

 plants to their proper soil. He would learn (hat 

 the same labour which has been bestowed with- 

 out benefit, would, if properly directed, have 

 lilled his barns ^vith abundant harvests, and con- 

 verted his barren plains into a garden. 



How far the same laws regulate vegetable 

 ami animal economy, has not been exactly de- 

 Icrmined. Certain it is, that there is an analo- 

 gy iu llie laws, which regulate both kingdctns. . 



