w 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aoricoltobal Wabehoobe.) 



KXH.I 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 3, 1844. 



[NO. ST. 



N. E. FARMER 



For the New England Farmer. 



ADVANTAGE OF SCIENCE TO AG- 

 RICULTURE. 

 Breck — 1 recollect seeing in a recent niiin- 

 yoiir well-conducted journal, an arlicle rom- 

 ig fin an extract from one of the agricultural 

 , in wliicli the writer treated in a epirit of 

 e the idea of any advantage accruing' to ng-- 

 re through the agency of "ammonia, alkali," 



I strange, passing strange, to me, that men 

 iaront intelligence should he disposed rather 

 Ic the prejudice and bigotry of the illiteiate, 

 10 commend and encourage the enlightened 

 of tliose whose researches have resulted in 

 ping such important improvements — or truths 

 are the Piouients of improvements — as those 

 have be-:n brought to bear so successfully 

 gricuifj-e within the space of the last quar- 

 a cei.'L'jry. 1 say it is strange that such 

 be the fact, yet it is not uncommon. There 

 )se among us — writers for the public press, 

 vho, as soon as a principle or deduction of 

 3 is recommended to the farmer for lo.st, to 

 it may not be of benefit to him in some par- 

 case, are ready to prejudice him against it 

 cry of " moonshine" or " humbug." 

 mkly confess I have no charity for such per- 

 Iftlicy are sincere in their detraction, it 

 r ignorance »hich prompts it — and arrogant 

 nee destrvet no charity :--if they are not 

 5, and think different from what they sny, 

 ley are hypocrites, and of tlie worst kind, 

 r they serve as false lights that may lead otli- 

 ray. If, however, in most cases, these per- 

 nd ahilily and honesty in the proportion that 

 ave arrognnce and bigotry, they might com- 

 what tlioy now denounce; — but, happily for 

 use of aor.cultural improvement, the influence 

 h individuals can constitute no very serious 

 iment to its progress — for, what is truth, will 

 tselfso, and must ultiinatc'ly triumph, 

 tve bt^en led to these remarks, Mr Editor, by 

 recorded in your last paper, which seems to 

 cibly to illustrate the advantage which may 

 derived from the application of science to 

 Iture. I allude to the statement in the arti- 

 aded "Skilful Agriculture and Horticulture," 

 r Pell, of Ulster county, N. Y., had, by the 

 ition of charcoal to his land, raised upwards 

 '.ntyeiohl hushtls of wheat to the acre — a crop, 

 eve, unpr'xedented in this country. It is 

 upon good authority, that the wheat-growers 

 nee have succeeded in doubling tlie product 

 :at in that kingdom within the last ten years, 



through the agency of charcoal. 

 V, who discovered the value of this important 

 in efTecting such results? Was it the con- 

 1 of any of that class just alluded to, who 

 t science because its application to agricul- 

 new, or who ridicule it out of pure igno- 



rance and bigotry, or to cater for the gratification 

 of deep-rooted prejudice and sapient self-conceit? 

 Was it the discovery of any of the family of 

 Knoiv-tnovghs — the frothy declaimers against 

 " hook-farming," who are satisfied with knowing 

 as much as their fathers knew, and glory in know- 

 ing no more '7 No — no. Agriculture is indebted 

 to Science for this important discovery. It was the 

 suggestion of French chemists that led the wheat- 

 growers of France to adopt the use of charcoal on 

 their fields — and the acquaintance with this fact 

 and the theory, no doubt, that led Mr Pell, also, to 

 use it for the same purpose, and wiih such signal 

 success. 



To whom are wc indebted fur the great advan- 

 tage which has accrued to our farmers from tlie 

 knowledge of a remedy for so'jr soils, and of the 

 valuable properties of lime as an amendment to va- 

 rious grounds ? Do we owe these discoveries to 

 any of those boastful "practical men," who sneer 

 at science and the learning of books ? No: — this, 

 too, IS to be charged to the credit of science. 



Such facts as these — these atone, indeed — are 

 sufficient to cont'ound with shame the shallow de- 

 tractors of science as an aid to the farmer — and 

 until they can originate discoveries by their boasted 

 "practical experience," as important as these, they 

 will better act the part of wisdom in holding their 

 speech, than in betraying their stupidity in sense- 

 less slurs at that which is above their comprehen- 

 sion or too exalted to suit their grovelling inclina- 

 tions. Very truly, yours, 



D. 



For the New England Fanner. 



"BORROWING." 

 Mr Breck — 1 was pleased to see by your last 

 paper that 07ie of the aggrieved by the practice of 

 " borrowing," has had the boldness to come out 

 and state his wrongs, — and though the editor of 

 " The Cultivator," (from which you copied,) gives 

 the sufferer no very profitable consolation, (albeit 

 the best the case admits of,) still I think good mav 

 come to others " afflicted in like manner," from his 

 statement of his grievances, as it may "hold a 

 mirror up" to some, that will enable tliein to "see 

 themselves as others see them." 



The habitual borrower is an "intolerable bore." 

 I refer more particularly to those who, having the 

 means of supplying themselves, are too parsimo- 

 nious to purchase, but depend upon their neigh- 

 bors — even for articles which are in freiiuent use 

 on the farm. I knew one of this class, who, rath- 

 er than buy a grindstone, used to go near a quarter 

 of a mile to a neighbors, whenever he wanted to 

 sharpen a tool. If, as Franklin said, " time is 

 money," it would be amusing to calculate how 

 many grindstones the time would purchase, winch 

 this person had spent, in the course often years, in 

 going from his own to his neighbor's premises to 

 sharpen his tools. And yet this man was the pos- 

 sessor of an unincumbered estate valued at seven 

 thousand dollars. If tlicro is any sort of economy 



'n such policy, it must be of a piece with that of 

 •' saving at the spigot and letting out at the bung." 



T le practice of borrowing articles for which one 

 has frequent use, is indefensible; and he ought nal 

 to forfeit the name of being obliging and neighbor- 

 ly, who should take a firm stand against it, and re- 

 fuse to lend, except in cases where the propriety 

 was obvious. 



It needs all the philosophy and equanimity of 

 temper of an Uncle Toby, to bear without "growl- 

 ing," the constant annoyance of some borrowers. 

 Articles even which they could make themselves 

 at their leisure, without the outlay of a copper of 

 their dearly-loved cash, they frequently depend up- 

 on their neighbors for. A neighbor to one of this 

 class, once told ine an expedient he adopted to get 

 rid of his annoyance. The "borrower" in ques- 

 tion, had occasion for frequent use of a tub-tunnel, 

 for filling casks — and for this simple convenience 

 he had for years depended upon his neighbor ; 

 and the article not unfrequently came home (upon 

 being sent for,) in a somewhat worse condition than 

 "hen it was taken. The lender bore this till " for- 

 bearance ceased to be a virtue" — and to put a stop 

 to it "as easily as he could," (I quote his words,) 

 he sent three times a week for the aforesaid bor- 

 rower's shaving apparatus, stating that his own was 

 out of repair, and invariably kept it till the owner 

 sent for it. This so provoked the latter, that he 

 finally refused to loan it again — and, in conse- 

 quence, there was no interchange of civilities be- 

 tween the two neighbors for some time. In the 

 meanwhile, the borrower aforesaid, made a tunnel 

 for his own use, and his former friend, the lendrr, 

 having learned the fact, sought an interview with 

 his offended neighbor ; "explanations" were mutu- 

 ally given, and their former friendship renewed, 

 with a hearty laugh, over a mug of " old orchard." 

 Truly yours, D. 



The late venerable Judge Peter.s, former Pres- 

 ident of the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion 

 of Agriculture, speaking of the original members 

 of thai Society, says — "Their task was dilKcult; 

 for their influence among practical farmers was 

 neutralized by almost unconquerable prejudices. 

 Few believed that those who did not follow the 

 plow, could possibly advise the tillers of the soil. 

 They persevered, however, with unremitting en- 

 deavor, until many among the intelligent fanners, 

 not only in our own, but other States, were con- 

 vinced of, and asserted their usefulness." 



.^t that time, he continues, so blind were men 

 to their own interests, that even that eminent agri- 

 culturist, as well as statesman, the immortal Wash- 

 ington, failed in his endeavor to prevail upon the 

 National Legislature to cstahlish " a National Pro- 

 fessorship of Agriculture," and Madison labored, 

 without success, to cause a similar Professorship 

 to be engrafted upon the plan of the Virginia Uni- 

 versity. 



Swift said he never knew a man to attain emi- 

 nence who loved to lie in bed in the morning. 



