NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



28,0 



1, erty which gives full scope to the exer- 

 of the judgment, and summons all the fac- 

 es of the mind to active and constant excr- 



n that country, too, Ag^riculture is not only 

 cticed as an art, but it is also studied as a 

 •nee. The farmer, as well as the clergyman 

 physician, has his appropriate library- He 

 as knowledge by reading in the closet, as 

 II as by observation in the liekl. The first 

 imist of the age — he to whom Bonaparte 

 gned the palm of excellence — has, at the 

 luest of the Board of Agriculture, devoted 

 ch of his time to making experiments calcu- 

 id to render the science of which he is mas- 

 subservient to that which it is their official 

 y to encourage. The experiments were de- 

 iCd in lectures delivered before the Board, 

 ese lectures have been published in a book, 

 ey have been read throughout Europe and 

 lerica ; and have, by intelligent Agricultu- 

 s, been pronounced liighly useful and instruc- 

 e. That they are the production of a man 

 b is not a farmer, and that they have been 

 nted and published, are not supposed to be 

 curastances which ought to render them un- 

 rthy of attention. 



The prejudice against book-farming, as it is 



led — but to use a more correct expression, 



; prejudice against consulting and regarding 



1 experience of others — exists no where but 



ong the farmers of this country. If we 



( ce it to its origin we shall find that our an- 



( tors deserve less censure for imbibing it, 



( in the present generation for submitting to its 



i luence. When our country was settled, the 



t 1 was rich from the decomposition of all the 



1 jetables which for ages had grown and de- 



< ed upon its surface. It required no skill to 



4 ain from this soil an abundant harvest. Hard 



J 1 constant labor only was requisite ; aniJ 



■ ength of sinews was of course more highly 



J zed by the farmer than experience and sa- 



j city which could profit him nothing. That 



J the agricultural books then existing in our 



! iguage, were adapted to a different climate 



; d to a country where the soil had long been 



; 'jjected to the yearly exactions of the hus- 



uJman, rendered them entirely inapplicable 



d useless here. When consulted and foUow- 



, as they doubtless sometimes were, by emi- 



;ii)ts from the milder climate and exhausted 



:ldi of England, thej led astray those who had 



en accustomed to confide in them. The well 



lucated, intelligent and systematic farmer was 



und to succeed no better than he who was ig- 



r.mt but industrious. Hence arose an opinion 



at all books on the subject of husbandry were 



u only useless but injurious ; that agriculture 



uld derive no aid from science ; that any per- 



n who was able to labor, but unfit for every 



her profession, was yet lit to be a farmer. 



nd what effect could such opinions, long and 



r.i rally entertained, produce, but the deep 



LCiadation of a profession, which, as it is the 



r;t in usefulness, ought to be held highest in 



on or ? 



The circumstances which gave rise to the 

 rejudice and opinions I have mentioned exist 

 longer. Our good soils have, by constant 

 jlture, been exhausted of those properties 

 •hich render them fertile. Nature failing, art 

 mst here, as well as in England, be pressed in- 

 3 our service. The rules and precepts of art 



must be ascertained by experience and observa- 

 tion ; but that they may be extensively useful, 

 fliey must be published, and by (his means be 

 preserved and placed within the reach of all. 

 Will any farmer disdain to consult these books? 

 Will any say that in this country the art of hus- 

 bandry has already reached perfection ? Will 

 any say that he is too wise to profit from the 

 recorded experience of others? This in ctVccl, 

 is the language of those who proscribe the pe- 

 rusal of Agricultural publications; and as it is 

 one of the objects of .\gricultural Societies to 

 obtain materials for such publications, this, in 

 effect, is the language of those who deny the 

 usefulness of Agricultural Societies. 



Believing that these Societies, could they re- 

 ceive sufficient patronage to enable them to 

 produce their full eflcct, would be highly ben- 

 eficial to the country — would conduce to the 

 improvement of husbandry, and add respecta- 

 bility to the profession of farmers, I have en- 

 deavored to refute the principal objections 

 which have been raised against them. These 

 objections have lately been urged with increas- 

 ed zeal and with pernicious elTect. They have 

 deprived our country societies of the public 

 patronage. I cannot but hope that hereafter a 

 different sentiment will prevail — that our intel- 

 ligent farmers, discarding unfounded jealousy, 

 will, by all the means in their power, foster in- 

 stitutions which reason, our own experience, 

 and the experience of otliers concur in pro- 

 nouncing eminently useful. 



( To be concluded in our next.) 



From the Albany Plough Boy. 



Mr. SouTniviCK — In our neighborhood, we 

 have made up a kind of a reading room, and 

 take most of the Albany papers. 



Our attention has lately been a good deal 

 turned to the fate of Agricultural Societies, as 

 we notice some sharp shooting in the papers, 

 on that subject. 



We have heard a report, as how the first 

 Legislature under the new Constitution, will, in 

 all probability, repeal the agricultural law. — 

 Last evening we had a pretty full meeting, and 

 considerable debating on the subject, something 

 like what you call lobby members. 



Squire J s who you know talks a great 



deal, and sometimes he is quite eloquent, aB he 

 was once a considerable of a lawyer, took an 

 active part. Capt. S th was warmly op- 

 posed to these societies. He finished the rem- 

 nant of his glass, and said — " I am not ashamed 

 to own I was at first, when the fever was up, 

 a friend to these agricultural societies ; — but, 

 says he, I've tried three times for a premium 

 on swine, but they were given to rich farmers. 

 My wife carried some excellent flannel at the 

 last Fair, but, because it was not made of meri- 

 no wool, the premium was given to Col. T 's 



wife, who you know is a rich man too. My 

 eldest daughter carried a pair of blue knit stock- 

 ings, and our Polly made a straw hat — but 

 all in vain — we got no premiums ; and, so 

 we are all now determined to pull down the so- 

 cieties if we can ; for it is a confounded shame, 

 that the state should spend ten thoiisa.n'd dol- 

 lars a year, to give rich farmers in silver plate, 

 and we poor farmers must be taxed and ruined, 

 to pay the piper. It is all parade and nonsense 

 be assured." 



Smoking my pipe quietly in a corner — so 

 says I, now 1 sec Capt. S th, that the patri- 

 otism of your family, all lies in your pocket. 



Squire J =, all this time, appeared ab- 

 sorbed in thouttht, with his chin resting upon 

 a well worn-round head of an old hickory staff, 

 " Well, says h;-, gentlemen, I have been list- 

 ening to your debate, on a subject of great im- 

 portance. I thought as Capt. S th now does, 



when these Cattle Shows first began in this 

 country — but I am not such a fool as to shut my , 

 eyes and cars against truth — what I see I be- 

 lieve, although il appears to me like magic, yet 

 so is the fact. Now, let us, in imagination, 

 strike a circle, for instance, of ten miles round 

 this spot ; and then let us fairly compare the 

 general state of the farms within the circle nov/, 

 to what they were only four years ago — also 

 our live stock — and our household manufac- 

 tures ; the answer we all know — well, now hold 

 on there ; and then let us look at the fences — 

 clean barn yards — brushin^up on all sides — 



deny this if you can, Capt. S th — don't you 



■ observe also, that our wives and daughters are 

 brushing up, and are more cheerful than for- 

 merly, when we could hardly iiring both ends to 

 meet. For my part, I am a ^friend to the nev7 

 Constitution, a full blood buck tail, if you will 

 have it so ; and for that reason, I shall be mor- 

 tified, if the agricultural societies should be 

 pulled down the first year of the new Constitu- 

 tion. Besides, said the Squire, rising upon his 

 staff, and brightening up into eloquence — be- 

 sides, gentlemen, it will be as vain to attempt 

 to arrest the progress of these agricultural so- 

 cieties, as to check the descent of the Hudson 

 River in a freshet. 



" The tide of public opinion will roll on — 

 the light of science cannot be concealed — the 

 good sense of the community will eventually 

 predominate — the moment the state is liberated 

 from its canal responsibilities the cause of agri- 

 culture, Mr. H. says, must be sustained with 

 renewed vigor and animation. So say I. En- 

 ough has been done to insure that result — the 

 seed are widely scattered, and sown on a luxu- 

 riant soil — in the mean time they germinate and 

 shoot forth in all their beauty and splendor. 



" Posterity will be blessed by its fruits — and 

 will not fail to revert their eyes to the present 

 day with astonishment, should the law be re- 

 pealed " Your esteemed friend, 



PETER PLOUGHJOGGER, 



PAUPERISM. 

 We have (says the Baltimore Chronicle) al- 

 ready, and on more occasions than one, taken 

 the liberty to remark that the only way to abol- 

 ish pauperism, is to repeal all our poor laws 

 altogether, to cut up the whole root and branch, 

 without any sort of favor or affection ; that the 

 malady resides in the law making provision 

 for the poor, which when abolished will bring 

 the evil along with it. Pauperism may be de- 

 nominated vice, and indolence, put out to nurse, 

 and is it any wonder that both should thrive un- 

 der such liberal munificent patronage ? We 

 make provision for paupers with as much leg- 

 islative gravity, as if it were oar object to es- 

 tablish Colonies all over the Continent, consist- 

 ing of such meritorious individuals. The sin 

 and iniquity of this may be traced to the law — 

 a fact that has been proved, by statistical details., 

 from the most unquestionable documents. 



