VOL. X* in. NO. a 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



73 



banJmen. Daily events are telling us that the con- 

 sumers vastly outnumber the producers, and that 

 our citizens are forg^etting that our institutions, our 

 soil and climate, mark us out for an agricultural 

 as well as a commercial ai\d manufacturing people, 

 and tJiat we have perverted the operation of those 

 institutions in the fact, thai we cannot feed as well 

 as clothe and protect the body of the people. 



To raise tlie charact^T of husbandry, then, and 

 make it a matter of science us well as manual labor, 

 to turn public attention from the already crowded 

 avenues to the professions ii::d commerce, to the 

 more quiet and at the same time, more republican 

 pursuit of agriculture — to correct the false impres- 

 sions and taste thit lead young men into the bustle 

 of more active life, we urge upon our farmers to 

 educate themselves and tlieirsons. To accomplish 

 the former, they may have daily access to the num- 

 berless periodicals and substantial works upon the 

 different branches of their profession : they have 

 the inducements and assistance of societies and in- 

 dividuals; and they have the ingenuity and slirewd- 

 ness tor which they are so justly noted, to make 

 tlie most advantageous application of these. To 

 make scientific farmers of their sons, they have but 

 to be liberal towards them, in the most extended 

 meaning of the term in their early education, and 

 to put them in the way of acquiring such informa- 

 tion as they themselves feel the want of We 

 hope to see the day when tacilities for the educa- 

 tion of farmers will be alibrded in the existence of 

 agricultural schools, where young men may resort 

 to prepare themselves for the culture of the soil on 

 those well established and liberal principles, that 

 can alone raise and support the character and cred- 

 it of agriculture. We look to their establishment 

 as an era in the farming interest, and we trust that 

 ere long, it can be said, to the credit of Massachu- 

 setts, that she has been the first to found these, as 

 she has other institutions for the education of the 

 people ; and that it may no longer be asserted that, 

 while she fosters the interests of the arts and com- 

 merce, she almost neglects a class of her citizens 

 who constitute a majority of her population, and 

 who are ever watchful of her best welfare and rep- 

 utation. H. v. 



Greenfield, Aug.lQ, 1639. 



Daily vakie of sunshine. — The value of the ag-. 

 ricultural products of the United States cannot be 

 less than $500,000,000 annually. The perfection 

 of this is depending on the weather of four months, 

 June, July, August and Septem'jer, or about 120 

 days. Every one knows that without sunshine the 

 crops would be a failure either partially or totally ; 

 and hence we can estimate its average value 



From the Farmer's Cabinet. 



NEWRE.^PING M.ACHINE: GREAT SAVING. 



On tlio 4th of July the farmers of this neighbor- 

 hood enjoyed the pleasure of seeing the Reaping 

 Machine, invented by Mr O. Hussoy, of Baltimort;, 

 operate upon a field of wheat. Mr Hussey had 

 been invited to exhibit his machine before the " So- 

 ciety of St. (leorge\ and Appaqxiinimink for the Pro 

 motion of Agricuittt.re," and the 4th of July was 

 named as the day ; and true to his appointment, 

 Mr Uussc;y and his patent reaper made their ap- 

 pearatice. Hundreds of farmers were assembled 

 to witness it, and many were the doubts, surmises, 

 and criticisms upon the machine, as it was vii'wed 

 over and over, as it lay in readiness for trial. Some 

 time after Mr Hussey's arrival, the society was 

 called to order, and the Declaration of Indepen- 

 dence was read, while the greatest order and at- 

 tention prevailed ; after which the society adjourn- 

 ed to the dinner table and partook of an excellent 

 dinner, prepared for the occasion. These inter- 

 esting preliminaries being despatched, and all things 

 being in order. Hie two strangers (Mr Hussey and 

 his machine,) were duly introduced to a field of 

 standing grain, ripe and ready for tlie sickle, and 

 in the twinkling of an eye the machine was off", 

 clipping and cutting, and saving the grain in beau- 

 tiful style. A cleaner and more even stubble could 

 not be produced. All doubts vanished in the 

 minds of the spectators. Every head of wheat was 

 saved, and the machine was drav/n with apparent 

 ease by two horses, and cutting at the rate of from 

 twelve to fifteen acres in a day. The machine was 

 forthwith purchased by the society, and reserved 

 for future trial, which has since confirmed them in 

 the good opinion they had of its capabilities. All 

 who have witnessed it express themselves satisfied, 

 and many are Intending to provide themselves with 

 machines for the next harvest. Thus, through the 

 influence and exertions of the agricultural society, 

 we may expect next year to see this valuable labor 

 saving and grain saving machine fairly introduced 

 among our farmers. It is a difficult matter to de- 

 scribe the machine so as to convey a proper idea 

 of its structure ; I hope, however, that many will 

 be induced to see for themselves, and they may re- 

 ly upon having all reasonable expectations realized. 

 Yours, &c. N. 



Wilmington, Del., July 15, 1839. 



family makes soap suds and dish water, in with ev- 

 ery quart of it. Let none of it go elsewhere. It 

 is an excellent plan to consult the road side for 

 rich soil and low places for boggy substances, 

 which have been v.'ashrd down from elevated 

 "•rounds. Cart this home as so much gained, and 

 let your hogs saturate it with urine. Every load 

 of it will come out next spring so nmch excellent 

 manure. Go out too, half a dozen times in the 

 course of the summer, with a stout scythe, and 

 mow down all thistles before they have blossomed 

 or gone to seed — cut up brakes at a great rate and 

 all unnecessary bushes. Then take your hay cart 

 and load up. Bring the collection home and pile 

 it up outside the yard. Every little while throw a 

 lot of this over to the swine. If you occasionally 

 scatter a little corn or oats in the mass, it will do 

 the hogs no harm to root after it, and will do the 

 collection good by producing fermentation. A 

 great many loads of the most valuable manure may 

 be made every year by some care and attention of 

 this sort. 



Barp yards, also, should be constructed on prin- 

 ciples similar to those which we have mentioned for 

 the manufacture of manure by swine. I'hese must, 

 we suppose, be in the open air, whereby much of 

 the gases will escape ; still the deposit of much in 

 those yards, made lowest in the centre, will soon 

 become saturated and prove an excellent stimulant 

 to the soil and food for plants. — Maine Cultivator. 



ACCUMULAIION OF MANURE. 



Manure is the true source of the cultivator's 

 wealth. Every farmer should tax his wits to the 

 utmost, witli a view to the accumulation of this ar- 



Health. — The occupation of the farmer is fa- 

 vorable to health. Man was made for exercise — 

 for toil — and in it he finds not only health but hap- 

 piness. The use of all our faculties, both of body 

 and mind, constitutes the sources of pleasure. .In- 

 action and sloth confer not this treasure for which 

 man lives and toils. The most unhappy individu- 

 als and the most miserable, imbecile nations, are 

 those whom necessity does not compel to labor dil- 

 igently for a livelihood. Therefore let not the far- 

 mer regard his occupation as a slavish one, or look 

 with envy upon the man who toils not with his 

 hands. He has occasion to envy no one — there 

 are some he can despise or pity if he pleases. 



But when ve commenced this paragraph, we in- 

 tended to say a word upon the care which ought 

 to be taken of health, and the means which should 

 be used to preserve it — for it is much easier to re- 

 tain than to gain it, and much more pleasant. The 

 principal preservatives of health are, in the lan- 

 guage of a cotemporary, "pure air, pure drink, 

 plain food, exercise, cleanliness, protection, regu- 

 lar rest, occasional abstinence, and an active and 

 well governed mind," and we would add, temper- 

 ance in all things. Each of these might be made 



