302 



i\Ji;W ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARC 



The discovery of silver and gold mine^ ,n the south, 

 the curse of an ignorant priesthood, and a despotic 

 and rapacious g-nvernment, had proved fatal in 

 Spain to the prosperity of agricnlture. 



Happy would it be for us if our men of wealth 

 and intelligence would copy the briirht example of 

 the gentlemen of England. If our men of wealth 

 after having accumulated immense fortunes in cit^ 

 ies, would ci«-ry their wealth and science into the 

 country, and seek to reilaiin, to improve, to render 

 it productive, and to embellish it, Massachusetts 

 might be transformed into a garden, and rival the 

 best cultivated districts in the world. 



It is an inexplicaV»le fact that even men who 

 have grown rich by trade or other means in the 

 country, should rush into the city to spend their 

 wealth. It is as inexplicable that men who grow 

 rich in the city, should shudder at the idea of going 

 into the country, where wealth might be safely and 

 securely appropriated to purposes of the highest 

 utility, pleasure and taste. 



There prevails in tliis matter a great deal of false 

 sentiment and of ignorant and unworthy prejudice. 

 These men anxiously inquire it they go into the 

 country, how they shall pass their time; and what 

 is to relieve the solitariness and tedium of their 

 evenings .' To the active and intelligent fanner 

 living in the country, and actively engaged in ru- 

 ral labors and improvements, during the season of 

 vegetation no day is long enough for labor ; and in 

 winter no evening is long enough for domestic 

 pleasures, and intellectual cultivation and the pur- 

 suits of science. 



If the rich were not swallowed up inavariceand 

 that narrowness and selfishness which the pursuit 

 of money too often creates and too strongly ma- 

 tures, they would find a liberal and delicious satis- 

 faction in cultivating and embellishing a farm, in 

 multiplying the productions of tlie soil, in introduc- 

 ing the fruits of warm climates and in protecting 

 and naturalizing them here, and encoifraging useful 

 labor and promoting by the liberal reward of iitdus-'' 

 try, the comforts of many around them. 



Every one knows that the retirement and quiet of 

 the country are favorable to the cultivation of sci- 

 ence. Astronomy is best studied in the country, 

 and in tlie clear sky and open horizon, men become 

 familiar with the aspects of tlie stars as with the 

 faces of valued friends. They see in the heavens, 

 in the influence of the natural agents above and 

 around them, in all the progress and stages of vege- 

 tation, and in the multiplied forms of animal and 

 vegetable life, continued and instructive proofs of 

 the universal and unwearied agency of the great 

 Husbandman. ^eo'logy, mineralogy, chemistry, 

 botany, and all the liaifural sciences are pursued 

 with peculiar advantagoin ihe country. 



An important branch of nattifa! iphiiosophy, the 

 scioncT of hydraulics, may he :p'ursued to great-ad- 

 vantage, and bears direCi^ly •and most essentially 

 upon agricultural improveiitent. Irrigation is one 

 of the most important means of enrichini; land and 

 rendering it productive. Damascus was celebrated 

 for its fields and gardens as well as for its com- 

 merce. The fertility of Damascus was created by 

 artificial irrigation. A traveller found a stream 

 from the mountains which, by artificial canals, was 

 spread over the land. Wherever this water came, 

 vepetation exhibited its luxuriance. So distinctly 

 marked were the limits of iiu'provement, that you 

 could stand with one font on a highly cultivated 

 and productive territory, while the other rested up- 

 on a barren sand. All these extraordinary improve- 



ments came from irrigation. It was so with all the 

 countries bordering on the Euphrates. It was so 

 in Egvpt, excepting the Delta, which was enriched 

 by the overflo-vings of the Nile. 



.As populat'on multiplied in Egypt, it became 

 necessary by artificial irrigation, to increase its pro- 

 ductiveness. The canal of Joseph has been the 

 sidiject of ancient tradition, and is supposed to 

 have been made for purposes of irrigation when he 

 was governor of Egypt, The waters were drawn 

 off in the higher parts'of Egypt and were used fpr 

 the enriching of the land. This it was that made 

 Egypt the grana'ry of the world. 



In Spain the agriculture is miserable. Yet the 

 canal of Zaragosa, which was dug to open a com- 

 munication between the Bay of Biscay and the 

 Mediterranean," was designed likewise for the irri- 

 gation of the country. The experiment here was 

 so successful that a canal sixty miles in length has 

 watered a surface of thousands and thousands of 

 acres, which have thus been rendered productive in 

 wheat. The revenue paid by the farmers to the 

 government for the use of this water, is equal to 

 ^.5,000 dollars per year. In many places fountains 

 are erected and reservoirs opened, by which the 

 water is spread by various channels over a large 

 territory. 



Such operations as these, wlien pursued even on 

 a small scale, must prove a source of rich gratifica- 

 tion to a cultivated mind. The country is friendly 

 to the cultivation of all the beautiful and the use- 

 ful arts, for here all find their place and use. In 

 the erection of his buildings, someskill in architec- 

 ture in respect to their strength, their comfort, their 

 endurance, and their convenience is necessary, and 

 the humblest erection on a farm may be made a 

 pleasing object, when framed and fashioned by a 

 cultivated taste. For all the mechanical arts, both 

 the science and the practice, there is on the farm 

 an almost iiWy use and demand. 



The country is favorable to the cultivation of lite- 

 rature and general science. Persons not familiar 

 with the subject are not aware how large and in- 

 teresting a library might be formed of -books e.xolu- 

 sively devoted to agriculture and its twin sister, 

 horticulture. These sciences are adorned likewise 

 with the brightest names which shine in th.e an- 

 nals of knowledge — those ofBacimand Duhamel. 

 The former sought to interest his countrymen in 

 rural labors and pleasures. The latter, a man of 

 kindred mind, has given to the world tlio best work 

 on trees and other subjects of agricultural improve- 

 ment, which is extant. 



There is a constant demand in the country for 

 mechanical skill, and the exorcise of the most cul- 

 tivated taste in the laying out and einbellisliment 

 of grounds, in the forming of roads, in the planting 

 of trees, in the conducting of water, and in the 

 countless circumstances of ornament or utility, 

 which to a mind bent upon useful eccupation, con- 

 stantly present themselves. 



Ornithology is a study which can only find its 

 true home in the country. Who would not wish to 

 become acquainted with the birds that cluster 

 around his habitation, und make .their home in his 

 groves and gardens, and welcome him with their 

 cheerful notes, and charm him with their melodious 

 morning and evening hymns of praise ? Who 

 would not wish to live among them as friends; and 

 to understand their habits and gather instruction 

 from their beautiful examples of domestic affection 

 and duty ? Natural history in all its branches is a 

 proper study for the country. Not an insect visits 



the territory of the farmer but he should learn I 

 character and habits. Some are his enemies. Sot 

 of these, the bee and the silkworm, are eminent 

 his friends and bi.'nefjctors. 



The silk-worm by his industry furnishes a lar, 

 portion of the clothing of mankind. Take the ci 

 ilized population of oiir whole country, and there 

 scarcely a man, woman or a child whose dress h 

 not received some contribution from the labors 

 this humble operative. 



Gen. Dearborn continued by eaying that he h 

 barely alluded to these subjects for the sake 

 showing that there is every thing in the country 

 call into healthful exercise the physical and thei 

 tellectual powers of man; a bounteous table 

 there spread; and there is rich and abundant fo 

 for the body and the mind. 



The city must, of course, he regarded as t 

 proper seat of active business and commercial li] 

 But wlien a large portion of life has be^ spent 

 these harrassing pursuits, and men have accumul; 

 ed the nieans of competence and independence i 

 tilt; country, why they should not seek to enjoy 

 refreshing labors, its delightful recreations, and 

 avail themselves of its privileged hours of retii 

 ment and reflection, was to him a mystery whi 

 he attempted in vain to solve. 



For himself he could say, with the exception 

 three years spent in Washington, which then i 

 deed could hardly be called a city, excepting 

 one traveller denominated it, a city of raagniflce 

 distances, his home had always been in the cou 

 try. There he had found his most agreeable labc 

 and his richest pleasures, and the progress of tii 

 had served only to strengthen and rivet his attac 

 meuts to rural life and scenes. He had somctim 

 been compelled to visit cities in which he was 

 stranger, and there he had often felt a deaolati 

 of heart like that of Marius sitting on the ruins 

 Carthage. 



The return even to a forestj which was t 

 Scene sf his childhood aports and visits, was li 

 the meeting again of old friends: — in the trei 

 which lie remembers having often seen, and in t 

 birds, which seemed in their cheerful notes and qui 

 apprnacli to bid him welcome. In visiting a cil 

 he has often felt like the noble-hearted Jenr 

 Deans, who when she went up to London to obta 

 the pardon of the Queen for her misguided sisti 

 passed the night with her cousin who kept a sm< 

 shop and was a dealer in Scotch snuff. The sit 

 pie girl wondered that for such a residence and o 

 cupation her cousin was contented to leave " tl 

 bonnie green braes of her own land." 



It was not merely the unfavorable influence 

 city life, as he so considered it, upon health, cor 

 fort and enjoyment ; but he had often deplored i 

 pernicious moral influences. Many an uncorrup 

 ed young man from the country, impelled by tl 

 insatiable and too often reckless passion for gai 

 ha« there early found the grave of his virtue. B 

 too many instances might be pointed out in whic 

 the acquisition Tif property has proved as great 

 ourse as could befal tlieni. The chances of trac 

 are likewise much more numerous and uncerta 

 than men believe or are willing to allow. After 

 pretty extensive acquaintance with business me 

 and no limited observation of the common cours 

 of things, he was satisfied .that among one hundre 

 merchants and tradosinaa, not more than three i 

 the city ever acquire independence. It was wit 

 great distrust that he came to this conclusion, bi 

 upon consultation with an experienced merchan 



