222 



NEW ENGLAND" FARMER, 



JAAiUAJtT 16, 1830. 



AND carde.ner's journal. 



BoaTON, Wbon£90AV, Januabv IC, 1839. 



adverliseinents of any kiiitl in any case ; and in llic next 

 I place, we have felt at lilierty to give our own llie prefer- 

 I ence, and Ijave nut always had room enough t<»r them; 

 but have many times been under the necessity of sus- 

 pending or excluding our own for the sake of giving our 

 subscribers more editorial matter and more general rcad- 



NOTICE. 



The subscriber, Commissioner of Agricultural Survey, 1 



We will say in justice to ourselves, that we have no 

 bus taken, for the winter, an office at No. S'J North Mm'- I P'-''J"<il<=e nor ill-humor towards any of our conlempora- 



ket street, over the office of the New England Farmer j '""^ *'"S='S'"' '" ""> ^"'"« ''"<= °^ ''"«'"'^^' "-'"> ""■"selves 

 and Agricultural Seed store, where he will be happy to ! ^^'^ =*'•=■" "°* beg™Jge 'I'cn any honest success; nor 



see his agricultural friends on the business of his ap]ioint- 

 mcnt. 



He may be ordinarily found at his office from 9 to 1!J 

 M. ; and his agricultural friends will find his office open 

 at all times of day, and the agricultural publicatiui]s and 

 papers of the country at hand for their perusal. 



HENRY COI.MAN. 



Jan. ^ , 1839. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, AND SEED STORE. 



We regret to find, that, with some of our friends, mis- 

 apprehensions have prevailed as to the course whi^h the 

 Farmer has pursued in notices of or omissions to notice 

 agricultural improvements, and that unfavorable inferences 

 liave been made as to its impartialily and disinterested- 

 ness in the great cause to which it has now been for si.\- 

 teen years steadily devoted. W6 are happy to go into 

 this subject ; and ask only a candid and just verdict, after 

 all the evidence of the case is in. 



It has l)cen said, that the New England Farmer has 

 refused to notice improvements made in ploughs by some 

 of their cortcrnpoiari«s, and to publish communications 

 respecting thorn, lest the commendation of some other 

 plough might injure the sale of Howard's plough, of 

 wliich the proprietors of the New Engluad Farmer are 

 the oianufacturers, and the owners of the patent right. 

 This IS ail en-cr. It is not true that the New Eflgland 

 Farmer has ever declined or refused tolpublisli cooimimi- 

 /cations of an intelligent character, and respectable in 

 manner, in rcttrcnce to any plough, to ariy,ngr.;cultura) 

 implement, or to any agricultural improveiiient whatever. 

 It has not done it. It (Joes not wish or deaigfi to do it. 

 On the co!X',«»iy lit invites puch .cnmmunierUions ; and 

 mrauiises a fair field lo any temperate discussion of any 

 subject connected with agriculture., seeking to correct 

 error; to remove prejudice; and in any and -eyery way 

 to advance science and improvement. So far from wish- 

 ing to stifle Jight on these subjects by covering it will) a 

 bushel, we would ansiousjy lift it aa high as our little 

 candlestick will enable us to raise it, that it may give 

 light to all thai are iii llie house. This was tlie course 

 pursued by the eminent and lamented founder of this 

 journal, who belonged emphatically to the&njily of the 

 Searchers and Inquirers aftei' truth ; and who iiad not 

 only t>o connexion by blood or affinity with the Knowiill 

 family, tut as far us iiis exemplary benevolence and cour- 

 tesy would permit iiim to do it, he eyea disdained their 

 acquainlioqe. If we therefore should bp recreant or 

 faithless in any measure to the cause of free discussion 

 and free inqnify in relation to all agricultural matters in 

 the New England Farmer, we should be afraid that we 

 should sec his ghost at the foot of the bed frowningupon 

 us after we had blown out the light ; and we should get 

 no sleep that night. 



The ground of the misapprehension we suppose has 

 been this. We have in some cases declined inserting in 

 our journal the business advertisements of other agricul- 

 tural publishers and seed and machine dealers. As the 

 New England Farmer is not an advertising paper, ex- 

 cepting incidentally, we have never felt bound to admit 



envy them any success obtained by dishonorable means, 

 if perchance they should in an evil hour be tempted to 

 resort to any such means, an occurrence the possibility I 

 of which we do not mean to affirm or even to insinuate, i 

 We wish them well. Competition is the Ufa of trade; 

 and in an honorable rivalry, who shall do the most and , 

 the best for the cause of agriculture, we are always ready ', 

 to engage. We mean to sell the best seeds and the best i 

 implements that can be had; and on the most liberal I 

 terms. If any will do better than we do in this matter, ' 

 we shall drive the spurs home and lay on the w hip, and 

 see if we cannot keep still ahead. We will not ciowd ' 

 our neighbors fiom the course nor bolt ourselves. The ' 

 horse we ride as seedsmen and machinists is the Ameri- j 

 can Eclipse. He has been long known on the turf; and 1 

 therefore we do f!ut think it necessary to say any more j 

 of his speed or bottom. 'J'hey will speak for themselves. ! 

 We are no jockies and we disdain all tricks. We ask 

 fur the purse only when it is fairly won. 



The New England Farmer as the pioneer of agricul- 

 tural intelligence in New England and. the United Stales 

 will hold its columns open to every intelligent and prac- 

 tical agriculturist, who will favor us with the result of his 

 inquiries or experience. It will not of course be sup- 

 posed that we endorse all the sentiments, opinions, or 

 theories, which we publish. This cannot be expected of 

 us though we do not always take pains either to deny or 

 refute them. Our opinions shall not be withheld, where 

 the occasion demands their expression, and where they 

 have been made up upon fair inquiry and full evidence. 

 The reports of all committees of Agricultural Societies 

 in relation to anything connected with the subject shall 

 always be cheerfully given to- th« public as soon as re- 

 ceived, without alteration or abatement. We shall be 

 anxious: not to propagate errors of opinion in any form or 

 under any circumstances, where they would do harm. 

 Rather than do this we should prefer at any time that 

 our ♦' whole form should be thrown into pi." Our great 

 object being the advancement of a sound and profitable 

 agriculture, we shall bend all our fijrces to this point ; 

 and cherishing nothing hut gratitude to our benefactors, 

 whose kiiidnc.«s we highly appreciate, and good will to 

 our competitors, whose honest success we hope will 

 stimulate us to new exertions in the common cause, we 

 shall take care whatever happens to our form that nothing 



hall throw our good humor into jjl. 



TflK PnoPniETOns OF THE NeW ENGL.4iNn 



F-iRsiDR, Agricultural Warehouse 

 AND Seed Store. — No. 52 North 



Market Street, Boston. 



the message of the Governor received. It is a document 

 full of interest to the citizens of the Commonwealth. 

 The condition of the finances of the .State are particular- 

 ly commended to the attention of the Legislature. There 

 are i'uw things more perilous to prudence and virtue in 

 States as well as individuals than too much money or too 

 much credit. Improvidence grows up in such cases like 

 weeds from a compost heap. We have got somewhat 

 into debt. The most disagreeable item, and one of the 

 largest, is our county- expenses, which we suppose are 

 occasioned by prosecutions for crimes or infractions of the 

 law. The natural inference from this fact is a pamful 

 one. From an inquiry proposed in the Senate we shall 

 know more of this matter presently. When we know 

 more, we shall say more. We say now only in passing, i 

 that the great object of wise and humane Legislators ( 

 should be to prevent rather than to punish crime. In 

 this benevolent work we console ourselves with the be- 

 lief that the world is advancing. Maya merciful Piovi- 

 dence speed its progress. 



SUMMARY OF THE WEEK. 



Congress. — No measure of importance has yet been 

 matured in either house of Congress. The disposition of 

 tne Smith.sonian bequest, amounting to half a million of 

 dollars, for the purposes of education, has been under 

 consideration. We can only express the hope that a 

 plan of ihu most liberal character will be matured and 

 adopted. 



STATEj.I.Eoisr.ATuuE, — The government of the State 

 for the current year has been completely organized ; and 



THE BOSTON CULTIVATOR. 



We have beerr honored with a notice from the Boston 

 Cultivator, which perhaps deserves a passing remark. 

 Whether the promise in the prospectus was that the Cul- 

 tivator should contain, u quar'.cr inure matter or the sheet 

 be a quarter larger than the yVew England Farmer, does 

 not constitute a remarkable difference. If it were to be 

 a quarter larger it was a fair inference that it would con- 

 tain a quarter more, as the Cultivator would hardly oti'er 

 it as an inducement to subscribe that it was to contain a 

 quarter more blank margiivthan the Farmer. This is a 

 beautiful example of special pleading, which we think 

 could have been learnt nowhere else but at the bar ot 

 some Justice's court. 



The insinuation that we were disposed to steal his 

 title by saying in our address, that the N. E, Farmer was 

 eminently i\ family paper, is admirably well timed when 

 the facts are considered. There is a point in the case 

 which ve think will puzzle his forensic sagacity to dis- 

 pose of. The address to the public in the N. E. Farmer 

 in which it is said that the New England Farmer has 

 been eminently a family paper, was published on the 2Hth 

 of December. The prospectus of the Cultivator first 

 appeared in the Boston Courier of the 28th of December. 

 The first number of the Cultivator was issued the 2d of 

 January. Now how <:ould we know that the Cultivator 

 was to be called a family paper before it was announced 

 to the public. We should like to be informed by what 

 art the sex is to be ascertained before the child "is born. 

 If the Boston Cultivator will teach this philosophy it 

 will (-ertainly contain a good deal more matter than the 

 N. E. Farmer, and we shall cheerfully recommend it to 

 Col. Stone of the New York Commercial and all the dis 

 ciples of Dr Poycn and Miss Gleason. 



We are entirely disposed to keep the peace; and do 

 assure the respected editor of the Cultivator in perfect 

 good humor that we shall not come near him again even 

 with a friction match ; and that at least while the wcatlier 

 remains cool we hope his milk will not sour. We shall 

 he happy to exchange papers with him and will cheer-1 

 fully pay him any boot which either the superior size or 

 character of the Cultivator will iu his own judgment au-' 

 thorize him to demand. Instiucted by his example we 

 will behave as well as we know how When Judge 

 Spooner, formerly ofPlymonth, a man pre-eminent for his 

 suavity and courtesy, in passing through his barnyard one 

 morning, was knocked down by a ram, his politeness did 

 not even then forsake him ; but brushing the dirt from 

 his clothes and taking his bat in his hand he made a low 

 bow to the assailant and in the gentlest tones besought 

 him — Don't butt again, Mr Ramniy ! Don't butt again, 



