VOIi. XVIII. NO. 1. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



pdhown tliat animals can be formed in Uie hands of 

 the scientific breeder to meet tlie wants or remedy 

 the Jefopts of any existing race. Whether it be a 

 lieautifnl form, weight of carcase, aptitude to fat- 

 ten, or all these combined in cattle ; or the same 

 qualities, willi or without wool in sheep ; Bakowell, 

 Cu'ly, Berry, and p',ll:iian, have shown that domes- 

 tic animals in the hands of the farmer who under- 

 sUnds the principles of breeding, are as clay in the 

 hands of the potter, to be moulded and transformed 

 at will. Tlie records of Smithfield market, the 

 roost decisive evidence that can be produced, prove 

 that the average weight of cattle and sheep has in- 

 creased one-third within less than half a century. 

 Not less beneficial have been the resulU which 

 have ensued from attention to improved or new va- 

 rieties of seeds. The most valuable kinds of 

 wheal, barley, oats and other grain in Europe, and 

 of maize or corn in this country, have been the 

 result of careful selection and long-continued culti- 

 vation. Col. Lc Conteur, of the Isle of Jersey, 

 who has paid more attention to wheat, and institut- 

 ed a greater number of experiments in regard to 

 the plant than any other man living, having devot- 

 ed about twenty years and ample means to the pur- 

 suit, states "tliat the only chances of having pure 

 sorts was to raise them from single grains or sin- 

 gle ears, and that tlie improvements he had made 

 in this way had amply rewarded his labor, as the 

 produce of his crops was increased from an aver- 

 age of about twentythree to tweutyfive bushels an 

 acre to about tliirtyfour; and sfncc he had raised 

 wheat from single ears, or carefully selected sorts, 

 he has increased his crops to between forty and fif- 

 ty bushels an acre." Many of the best known 

 kinds of wheat, barley and oats, now grown in Eu- 

 rope, and some of them have been successfully in- 

 troduced into this country, have been produced 

 from single ears or heads of grain, selected by ob- 

 serving men for some valuable qualities they ap- 

 peared to possess. Such was the origin of the 

 White Kent and Whiltingham wheat; the Cheva- 

 i:_- A .„.,.! Ct..;„^. havlov. .nnfl the Potato. 



that matter undergoes in the transformation from 

 inert atoms to organized life. Constantly among 

 plants, and compelled to be familiar with insects, 

 some of both of which lie nuud)or3 among his 

 worst enemies, he is in part a botanist and ento- 

 mologist by necessity ; and were his observations 

 properly directed, there is nothing to hinder, but 

 mucii to render farmers the most successful discov- 

 erers in these sciences. Works which would give 

 a proper course to his inquiries, may be found at 

 almost every bookstore ; and it is not too much to 

 hope, that volumes will be found in every common 

 school and district library which will awaken inqui- 

 ry, and direct observers, in the successful pursuit 

 of these and other sciences. We think that blame 

 may be attributed, in a greater or less degree, to 

 most of the agricultural publications and periodi- 

 cals of the day, in not devoting more of their 

 pages to the discussion and elucidation of these 

 topics. It ' may perhaps be said, tliat but little is 

 yet known with certainty on these subjects ; that 

 chemical analysis, vegetable physiology, and the 

 development of the laws that govern the nutrition 

 of plants and animals, are all as yet in their infan- 

 cy ; still it cannot but be useful to have what is 

 known, spread before the public mind, and if much 

 that is supposed to be certain, should hereafter 

 prove merely theoretical, useful observations will 

 be prompted, and truth eventually e.stablished. 

 Agriculture is strictly a science, and should be 

 considered as such. The principles that govern 

 and control matter, are many of them already un- 

 derstood, and no one has any pretensions to fJie ti- 

 tle of a thorough farmer, who is not able to apply 

 such as are known to his course of practice in the 

 field. We have many men who express surprise 

 at tlie well known fact, that the most skilful and 

 successsful farmers we have in the country, are 

 men who have been bred to other pursuits, and 

 never had tiie management of a farm till they pur- 

 chased for themselves, and assumed the farmer at 

 once. We think there is nothing surprising in this 

 result. These men brought to the business of ag- 



of neatness and order. We cannot expect that a 

 man will spend his capital in beautifying and put- 

 ting his farm in order, in planting, and draining, 

 and repairing, when such expenditures will not re- 

 pay him more than seven per cent., when by pur- 

 chasing more, or new lands, there is a probability 

 that 30 or ,50 may be realized. It requires too 

 great an effort of self-denial to see our neighbors 

 enlarging their domains to the size of a German 

 principality, while we are expected to be content 

 with sonie two or four hundred acres. We have 

 as a body of farmers yet to learn that the products 

 of a small farm in proportion to the capital invest- 

 ed are usually greater than on large farms. We 

 have yet to acquire a taste for small, neat, well 

 finished and well furnished houses, in preference 

 to the enormous ' shingle palaces' which we take 

 such a delight in erecting; and when shall we 

 learn that a few acres, well fenced, kept clean of 

 foul weeds, and growing richer and more produc- 

 tive yearly, is better than many acres, with the 

 fences rotted or thrown down, the fields and the 

 crops choked with pernicious weeds, and the soil, 

 from the wretched course of cultivation, annually 

 deteriorating in value and productiveness. It is « 

 very poor plan in farmers to wear out and impover- 

 ish what land they have, because they can buy- 

 more ; better raise a few acres to the height of 

 fertility, place it in perfect order, and then, if there 

 is a:iy surplus capital, after attending to the moral 

 and intellectual wants of the family, it may be ex- 

 pended in more lands to be gradually brought to 

 the same state. 



Such are some of the most prominent causes 

 that in our estimation have contributed to place 

 agriculture where it now is ; not as bad, it is true, 

 as it wns some twenty-five years since ; but still 

 very far from what it might be, and what it would 

 be, if farmers would awake to their own interests. 

 It is idle to blame the German peasant, or the Rus- 

 sian serf for transmitting to us their surplus. grain; 

 they would never do it if we supplied the market 

 with home grain, as we certainly and easily might; 



