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NEW ENGLAND FARxMER, 



JAJV. 13, 1840. 



THE GOOD WORK ADVANCING. 



Nothing can have a greater tendency to encour- 

 age the fiiends of an enlightened and judicious sys- 

 tem of agriculture to persevere in tiieir praisewor- 

 thy effjrts, tliaii ihi; spirit of injprovenient which 

 appears to be widely diffusing itself throughout our 

 land. The results of the late Cattle Shows and Ag- 

 ricultural Exhibitions held in various parts of the 

 Unio I during the present season — the increasing 

 interest manifested by members and others — the 

 fine condition of the stock exhibited — the great va- 

 riety and value of new agricultural implements, and 

 the determination of the tillers of the soil not to 

 rest short of every attainable improvement to 

 bring their farms to the highest grade in the scale 

 of fertility, and of consequent profit to themselves, 

 and great advantage to the community at large — 

 are full of promise. 



During the present year a large number of .Agri- 

 cultural Societies have been organized, possessing 

 within themselves the elements of great good. Be- 

 sides, several societies formed long since, and 

 which were permitted to languish through the luke- 

 warmness of their members, have been r'^.'^uscitated 

 — many new societies have been formed, number- 

 ing among their members many of tlie most enliglit- 

 ened and public spirited agriciilturists of our coun- 

 try — and far greater attention has been paid to the 

 interests of agriculture in all its various depait- 

 meiits, than at any previous time. E.xperiments 

 liave been made, if not on the great scale, at least 

 very extensively — and in this matter the farmer has 

 a decided advantage. Knowledge has been great- 

 ly increased, and our brother farmers, many of 

 them at least, are pi'opared to enter in good spirits 

 and in somewhat improved circumstances, on the 

 labors of another year. 



The raising of roots for the purpose of feeding 

 cattle is no longer a matter of experiment. The 

 great importance of this crop is now established, 

 and we presume that those persons who have put 

 in their winter grain, where the sugar beet has been 

 last raised, and especially if two sncce.'Jsive crops 

 have been taken from the same ground, provided 

 the earth has been properly turned up, and the 

 grain sown of a good quality, will bo abundantly 

 satisfied with the results of the ensuing season. — 

 The sugar beet especially, and the root crop in gen- 

 eral, has a tendency to loave the ground in admira- 

 ble order for any of the small grain crops to suc- 

 ceed. While we recommend to every farmer to 

 put in a full supply of roots the ensuing season, 

 sufficient for his cattle during the next winter, we 

 would advise him not to entertain the opinion, or 

 even to attempt the manufacture of sugar from the 

 beet. It is not the province of the farmer — and in 

 the present state of chemical and agricultural sci- 

 ence, it cannot become a profitab e subject of house- 

 hold fabrication. To be successful, its manufac- 

 ture must be conducted on the great scale, then 

 there is neither risk nor difficulty. The farmer 

 should be content with raising, at the present, a suf- 

 ficient quantity of roots for his own use, and the 

 keep of his stock, and when sugar minufactories 

 and refineries are established, then it will be tinio to 

 think of raising beets for the purpose of sugar-mak- 

 ing ; and no doubt, if the business is properly com- 

 menced — with a competent head, sufficient capital, 

 and the right kind of machinery — a ready market 

 at fair prices will be found for all the beets that can 

 be raised witliin the proper circle of each manufac- 

 turing establishment. But, admitting that a pound 



of sugar is never made from the beet, still, its in- 

 troduction into the country, and its almost univer- 

 sal culture, must be regarded as a national benefit. 

 Tlie large return it renders, the eagerness with 

 which almost all kinds of stocks feed on it, and their 

 disposition to fatton on it — its peculiar adaptations to 

 dairy stock, not merely increasing the quantity but 

 also the quality of the milk and butter, together with 

 the excellent order in which it leaves the ground 

 on which it is grown, all concur in pointing itout as 

 one of the most eligible crops the farmer can raise. 

 We would by no means have the sugar beet raised 

 to the exclusion of other root crops, especially such 

 as the ruta baga, carrot, potato, &c. ; as a change, 

 even for stock, is both good and desirable. 



The more general introduction among our far- 

 mers of impioved implements in agriculture, has_ 

 not been wi.hout its efflsct. Many of these ma- 

 chines are calculated not only to lessen the labors 

 of the field, but also perform the work in a more 

 perfect manner than it can he done by hand. 



The stigma so long attached to this, the most 

 noble of all earthly pursuits, is washed away — the 

 strong prejudices have been dissipated, and agricul- 

 ture is now regarded by the truly intelligent, as 

 not only the first of arts, but the most dignilied call- 

 ing that can claim the attention of ni7.n. — Far- 

 mtrs' Cabinet. 



nently distinguished and eminently useful, if you 

 will persevere in seeking after knowledge and ma- 

 king a proper use of it. The Medici— Necker — . 

 Ricardo — were merchants or bankers : Franklin 

 was a mechanic : Washington was a farmer. By 

 far the greater part of our countrymen are and must 

 be farmers. They must be educated ; or wliat is 

 the same thing, educated men must become far- 

 mers, if they would maintain their just influence 

 and ascendency in the State. I cannot wish for 

 the alumni of Cumberland College a more health- 

 ful, independent, useful, virtuous, honorable, patri- 

 otic employment, than that of agriculture. Nor is 

 there any condition in life more favorable to the 

 calm pursuits of science, philosophy and religion; 

 and to all that previous training which ultimately 

 constitutes wisdom and inflexible integrity. Should 

 our college eventually become the grand nursery 

 of intelligent, virtuous farmers, I shall esteem it 

 the most highly favored institution in our country.' 

 I have long thought that our college graduates of.' 

 ten mistake tli« true path to honor and usefulness, 

 in making clioice of a learned profession, instead 

 of converting agriculture into a learned profession, 

 as it ought to be, and thereby obtaining an honest 

 livelihood in the tranquil shades of ihe country." 



CHOICE OF A PROFESSION. 



It hr.s frequently occurred to us that our young 

 men, on completing their studies in our colleges, 

 mistake the road to usefulness and comfort in pre- 

 ferring the study of some fashionable profession to 

 the pursuits and occupations of rural life. As soon 

 as a young gentleman is admitted to the degree of 

 Bachelor of Arts, his thoughts are turned on the fu 

 ture, and perhaps the first resting place they find is 

 upon the acquirement of professional knowledge of 

 some kind, which to him seems the only road to 

 wealth or distinction. Thus we see the science of 

 agriculture neglected by those who are capable of 

 investigating it as it should be ; and every possible 

 inducement to engage in the improvement of the 

 soil, and to assist nature in what she is wont to do 

 for man is but a feather in the scale of reasoning. 

 And through fear of adopting some pursuit that is 

 attended with a little labor, and, as some call it, 

 drudsery — but which is the greatest conducive to 

 good health — resort is had to the study of some ^ro- 

 Jession — which has done, and we fear is doing 

 great injury to our country. We wage no war 

 against professions of any kind; on the con- 

 trary, they are indispensable, but it is a fact that it 

 is considered an unpopular step nowadays for a 

 young man on completing his academic studies, to 

 devote his time and talents, if ho possesses any, to 

 the advancement of the cause of agriculture. 



We hav6 beforejsp't an o.ddress, delivered before 

 the young gentleme-n admitted to the degree of 

 liachelor of Arts, at the first commencement of the 

 University of Nashville, by its venerable President, 

 Dr Philip Lindsey— which deserves to be more ex- 

 tensively circulated than we fear it has been — and 



from which we make the following extract SoiUh- 



em Cultivator. 



"I know not what are to be your future profes- 

 sions or occupations. Every honest calling ought 

 to be esteemed honorable. I address you as mor- 

 al and intellectual beings — as the patriot citizens 

 of a great republic. You may be merchants, me- 

 chanics, farmers, manufacturers- — and yet be etni- 



A HiivT. — A soil may be forced, by extreme 

 care, enormous expense, and the ii;e of manure 

 without measure, to jiroduce all sorts of crops; but 

 it is nut in such sort of proceedings that the sci- 

 ence 'of agriculture consists. Agriculture ought 

 not to be considered as an object of luxury, and 

 whenever the produce of agricultural management 

 does not amply repay the care and expense bestow- 

 ed upon it, the system followed is bad. A good 

 agriculturist will, in the first place, make himself 

 acquainted with the nature of the soil, in order to 

 know the kind of plants to which it is best adapted. 

 This knowledge may be easily acquired by an ac- 

 quaintance with the species of the plants produced 

 upon it spontaneously, or by experiments made up- 

 on the land, or upon analogous soils in the neigh- 

 borliood. — Farma-^s Cabinet. 



The Farmers. — The following just and eloquent 

 tribute to this meritorious class of American citi- 

 zens, is from the pen of an eminent New England 

 clergyman. — ]bzd- 



"There is one class ef men upon wjiom we can 

 yet rely. It is the s?.me class that stood on the lit- 

 tle green at Lexington — that gathered on the lieights 

 of Hunker Hill, and porired down from the hills of 

 New England — which w'ere the life-blood of tlio 

 nation when the English lion was ready to devour 

 it, — I mean the Farmers. They were never found 

 to trample on law and right. Were I to commit 

 my cliaracter to any class of men, my family, and 

 my country's safety, it would be to the farmers. 

 'I hey are a class of men such as the world never 

 saw for honesty, intelligence and Roman virtue, 

 sweetened by the Gospel of God. And when this 

 nation quakes, they and their sons are those that 

 will stand as the sheet anchor of out liberties, and 

 hold the ship at lier moorings till she outrides the 

 storm." 



Agriculture is the theme of the day. The most 

 enlightened of our citizens are embarking in its 

 pursuits, which give assura'nces of its being ulti- 

 mately established on a basis concomitant with its 

 merits. 



