TOIi. XVIII, KO. 33. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



For the New Ettgland Farmer. 



EDUCATION OP FARMERS. 



Mr Breck — In your notice in the New England 

 I'ariner of the higlily cultivated and productive 

 arm of that very useful and distinguished gentle- 

 nan, E. Phinney, Esq., of Le.\ington, you remark 

 Jiat he assured you that his attention was first 

 ;alled to the subject of agriculture hy reading the 

 N'ew England Parmer, and that at his establish- 

 nent you realized all you had expected to see, 

 vhere the science of agriculture, guided by the 

 lands of learning and practical skill, was brouo-ht 

 the aid of practical farming. 



This recalled to my mind a subject of vast mo- 

 nent, not only to the agricultural interest of the 



281 



Is not agriculture as much a science as law, 

 medicine, theology, or moral philosophy? Is there 

 not as much in agriculture to form a good, u.seful, 

 and virtuous character in our young men, as in the 

 discussion and lectures on mere abstract njurals or 

 modern literature .' 



Had our legislators of the present day enjoyed 

 the benefit of agricultural lectures in the course of 

 their education and been made early in life to real- 

 ize the importance of agriculture as the true source 

 of national wealth and independence, can you be- 

 lieve for a moment that by a partial system of legis- 

 lation, predicated on the superior claims of com- 

 merce, the mechanic arts and manufactures to State 

 and national encouragement, they would have made 

 the country dependent on the monarchies and des- 

 Jnited States, but to every interest and crafl into I P"''^"^" "^f Europe fur the supply of tfieir daily 

 rhich human society ia subdivided : I mean a radi- bread .= Is not our republic, by the annual importa- 

 al defect in our whole system of education, from h'°" °^ '"''O'" ^^ to $'20,000,000 of bread stufts, 

 lie common school upward to the final graduation '■^''"•^ed to the condition of a fanner spending an- 



t our colleges, during the whole of which impor- 

 int period of human life, the attention, the taste, 

 le sympathies of tlie educated class are systemati- 

 ally diverted and estranged from the subject of 

 griculture and the pursuit of the great mass of our 

 eople, as if an evil spirit rather tlian a good and 

 ountiful God, had first assigned to man the culti- 

 ition of the earth as his highest and noblest pur- 

 jit — as if to keep up the humbug importance of 

 le learned professions, as if the statesman, the 

 ;holar, the lawyer and divine, need know nothing 

 - care nothing about agriculture — the pursuit, per- 

 ips, of si.vteen twentieths of our population, and 

 f which all classes " live and move and have their 

 jiag" ; as if national wealth, independence, hap- 

 ness and morality, had nothing to do with the in- 

 eased products of the earth. 



Now, sir, how comes it to pass in this boasted 

 public, of almost boundless- e.\tent, of e»ary vari- 

 y of climate, soil and production, that the princi- 

 e of equality is entirely reversed — that which is 

 lowy takes the precedence of that which is sub- 

 antial — that he who lives by professional quackery, 

 e honest cheateries of trade or gambling specula- 

 5n, is admitted by common consent to a higher 

 nk in the public estimation than the farmer .' I 

 iswer, our system of education lays permanently 

 e foundationcif this very stat^ of things. Admit 

 e science and art of agriculture to an equal im- 

 irtance in our institutions of learning with chein- 

 ;ry, architecture, law or theology : let it be con- 

 lered one of the sister sciences, and let stated 

 :tures be delivered to our young men durino- the 

 riod of their collegiate education, cm the science 

 agriculture as on chemistry, comparative anato- 

 (f, or oriental literature, and a new day would 

 wn on the a^'ricullure of the country and the con- 

 :ionof thehu; bandman. When these young men 



forth through the length and breadth of the 

 id to exert that influence upon society which be- 

 igs alone to education and intelligence, to direct 

 blic sentiment, make laws and rule the land, in 

 ; walks of private life, in the halls of legislation, 

 riculture would find warm and hearty friends and 

 lunch and bold advocates in the learned class, 

 d grants and aid from the States would be as 

 mmon to agriculture as they have been to learn 

 aw, medicine 



nually more than his income, and in case of fore 

 war, unbalanced and diverted from its true and nat- 

 ural channel, as the industry of the country now is, 

 must not famine and distress invade many portions 

 of our glorious and now happy country .' 



It is said by some that the idea of an agricultu- 

 ral professorship is Utopian and visionary. Other 



countries have found it necessary to enlist learning I - - . - 



on the side of agriculture. In despotic Russia ;„ P^^'ed with the beautiful silver vase, is received. 



Inscription on the vase :— " Conscquitur quod- 

 cunque petit. Presented to Col. M. P. Wilder, by 

 a few friends, as a memento of his unrivalled speci- 

 mens of the dahlia, exhibited at the Conservatory." 



On the reverse side— " iJos/o.i, October, 1839. 

 "To Marshall P. Wilder, Esq. 



My Dkar Sir — A few friends, admirers and cul- 

 tivators of the dahlia, anxious to express to you, in 

 some other way than words, how much they have 

 been gratified by your splendid exhibition of the 

 Dahlia, (and more particul.-irly so by your speci- 

 mens exhibited at the Conservatory, in October last,) 

 iiave requested me, in their names, to prepare some 

 token, as a memento of the high estimation in 

 which they hold your successful cultivation. 'I'hat 

 memento is herewith sent you. 



No event, sir, could have given me greater plea- 

 sure than being permitted by your friends to join 

 with them in this humble tribute of respectful con- 

 sideration and regards for your success and future 

 personal welfare, and to subscribe myself, in their 

 behalf, Your ob't, humble serv't, 



S; WALKER. 

 Roihur^j, December 7, 1839. 



"To Samuel Walker, Esq. 



Mr Dkar Sir — Your very polite letter, accom- 



the colleges at Petersburg and Moscow, are agri- 

 cultural professors at the expense of government, 

 and in the common schools and colleges in Prussia 

 agriculture is a part of the regular course of studies : 

 In the German states, in France and Scotland, sim- 

 ilar attention is given to agriculture. 



Now, we have public spirited men among us 

 with untold thousands, designed at last for some 

 public benefaction, to perpetuate the usefulness and 

 beneficence of its present owners, after they shall 

 have passed from the scenes of this mortal life to 

 the rewards of the just made perfect. Now what 

 object to such men can be presented, with hio-jier 

 claims to their beneficence, than agricultural edu- 

 cation ? Very respectfulJy, your ob't serv't, 



H. C. MERIAM. ■ 



PRESENTATION OF A VASE TO M. P. WIL- 

 DER, Esq. 

 Mr Editor — It will, I have no doubt, be grati- 

 fying to your floral friends to learn, that soon after 

 the close of the splendid exhibition of dahlias, by 

 Col. Wilder, Messrs Ilovey, Breck, Low and others, 

 at the room of the Massaclmsetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety, in September, and at the Conservatory at the 

 Botanic Garden in Boston, in October last, it was 

 proposed by a few admirers of this gorgeous flower, 

 to present Col. M. P. Wilder with some token to 

 testify the pleasure they have received (in common 

 with thousands of their fellow-citizens for several 

 years past,) by the brilliant displays which he has 

 so repeatedly made. The subscriber. Chairman of 

 j the Committee on Flowers of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, was requested by the contri- 

 butors to procure a silver vase, and to present the 

 same in their names, to Col. Wilder: this has been 

 done — The vase was manufactured by Messrs 

 Jones, Lows & Ball, in their best style, and bears 

 „ ...., .......... ., theoi^gy'T andTh^e'now^'^i!;! '}''' f°»'--;"g 'inscription. The insertion of these 



ard of donations for agricultural learning, would f'''' '""'"%'." ^r' 1"', P"'''"=''"°"' ^^^h the 

 " °' letter ut Mr Walker and the reply of CoL Wilder, 



will oblige many of your readers. 



Yours, S. WALKER. 



Roxbury, January, 1840. 



I should do great injustice to my feelings, were 

 I not forthwith to express to you, sir, and to your 

 associartes, how fully sensible I am of the honor 

 conferred on me by this distinguished testimonial of 

 your approbation. 



If I have done any thing to advance the interests 

 of horticulture, the reflection, in itself, would be 

 ample reward for all my exertions ; but that I should, 

 in the opinion of gentlemen so well skilled in the 

 science, have attained, in any degree, to such suc- 

 cess aji to merit the motto you have caused to be 

 inscribed on the vase, or- the kind sentiments ex- 

 pressed in your letter, is more than I could have 

 anticipated ; and I must attribute this meed of 

 praise rather to feelings of friendship than to any 

 deserving of my own. 



Be pleased, sir, to receive for yourself, and to 

 communicate to the gentlemen associated with you. 

 my most heartfelt acknowledgements for this token 

 of their esteem; and to assure them, that it will 

 be carefully preserved as a treasure during my life 

 and transmitted to my family as a memento of our 

 mutual love for the productions of Flora. 



Wishing you all great success in the delightful 

 pursuits of horticulture, and happiness and prosper- 

 ity in all your concerns, I subscribe myself, with 

 sentiments of great respect. 



Your obliged, but humble servant, 



MARSHALL P. WILDER. 

 Hawthorn Grove, Dorchester, Jan. 1, 1840." 



come as common, and more honorable and useful 

 in the foundation of professorships of Greek, 

 .tin, oriental or polite litrt-ature. 



Riches — It is a strange delu.sion for men to sup- 

 pose that happiness consists in riches. Content- 

 ment is not to be found in splendor and magnifi- 

 cence ; or why is it that princes have soi;:etimes 

 exchanged the grandeur of a palace for the more 

 simple enjoyments of private life .' Why is the 

 countenance of the rich man furrowed with thought 

 and anxiety, while the poor go on their way shout- 

 ing and exulting in the blessings which God has 

 given them ? Why dues the man who has grown 

 in wealth, look back to the days of his poverty, and 

 ask himself why he cannot now rejoice as heartily 

 over the much as he did over the liltle ? 



