59S 



NEW ENGLAND FARJ-vIEK. 



Sept. 



agreeable to many individuals, but who does not 

 enjoy the blessings of his OAvn labor, or that of 

 others ? But the exercise and improvement of the 

 mind is not always irksome and unpleasant. What 

 seems, at first, a hard and wearisome task, if per- 

 severed in, finally becomes a positive and fascinat- 

 ing pleasure, beside which all physical enjoyment 

 is dull, insipid, and unsatisfying. 



Mental culture brings along Avith it so many 

 advantages, blessings and enjoyments that they 

 cannot be numbered ; and in attempting to describe 

 tliem faithfully, I should be at a loss to know 

 where to begin or end. My limits Avill not permit 

 me to mention, only in general terms, the advan- 

 tages which individuals and nations, of cultivated 

 intellects, possess over the ignorant and illiterate. 



In the common afi'airs of life, we all know and 

 have felt the importance of knowing how to do a 

 thing ; indeed, without the requisite knowledge, 

 we can do nothing in a proper manner, but are ex- 

 tremely liable, and almost always do fail in every 

 undertaking. "Knowledge is power ;" and he, 

 M'ho possesses the greatest amount and variety of 

 it, and knows how to apply it to practical and use- 

 ful purposes, has an advantage over the ignorant, 

 similar in kind, if not in degree, to that Avhich man 

 holds over the brute creation. A thorough knowl- 

 edge even of the most familiar natural objects, or 

 of the most common pursuits of life, cannot in 

 every, if in any, instance, be acquired simply by 

 our own observations, or by the verbal communi- 

 cations of others. In the acquisition of any par- 

 ticular kind of knowledge, avo must not only ob- 

 serve, study, and think ourselves, but make use of 

 the thoughts, observations, and discoveries of oth- 

 er minds upon the same point ; and this, in most 

 cases, can be done only through the medium of 

 books. 



I will now turn from individuals to nations, and 

 behold the effects of knowledge and mental im- 

 provement. It is a well-known fact, that through- 

 out the northern portion of the United States, ed- 

 ucation is much more generally difi'uscd among 

 the common people than it is in any other land. 

 Here, those who cannot read and write are an ex- 

 ception to the general rule ; but among the work- 

 ing classes of every other nation under the sun, he 

 who has taken this first step in th« rudiments of 

 knowledge is an exception, and not the rule ; and 

 is regarded by his neighbors as a fortunate man. 



And what is the effect upon our nation, of this 

 acquirement, and of the power which it gives to 

 enter the unlimited realms of knowledge ? The 

 question is easily answered. It has made us, as a 

 peojjle, capable of creating, and, I believe, of sus- 

 taining a form of government greatly superior, in 

 every respect, to all others that exist, or that ever 

 existed upon the f;ice of the globe ! A republi- 

 can form of government like our own, cannot exist 

 Avhcre ignorance prevails among the people. Such 

 a government is founded ujion the knowledge, vir- 

 tue and Christianity of the people who sustain it. 



Ignorance is as much opposed to true republi- 

 canism, as slavery is opposed to freedom, or dark- 

 ness is to light. That there are imperfections in 

 our present form of government, we must admit; 

 but when slavery, that vaminre upon our national 

 prosperity and ha])]nncss, is ui)rooted and utterly 

 anniliilated, it will be as perfect as we can reason- 

 ably hope to make it, in the present age of the 

 ■world. 



The most important effects of knowledge, or 

 mental illumination, are to be seen in its moral 

 bearings, and the ability which it gives an indi- 

 vidual to worship the Most High in a more intel- 

 ligent, and, consequently, in a more acceptable 

 manner. Every kind of knowledge confers advan- 

 tages and blessings upon a cultivated, or well-reg- 

 ulated mind ; but a knowledge of the natural sci- 

 ences, or of the visible manifestations of God's 

 power, wisdom and goodness, as displayed in the 

 works of creation, is a special and powerful in- 

 centive to rehgious thought and feeling. But I 

 must close, and yet the field which this subject 

 opens before us has scarcely been entered. Who 

 will lead us over its boundless expanse ? 



S. L. White. 



COMPAEATIVE NOUEISHMENT IN 

 VEGE5TABLES. 



So far as regards the nutrimental proijerties of 

 diflferent root crops, when fed as food to animals, 

 there has been, as doubtless there always will be, 

 considerable difference of opinion among practical 

 men. The following table by the distinguished 

 chemist, Boussingault, shows the relative value of 

 the several articles named, so far as their nutri- 

 mental properties are involved. One hundi'ed 

 parts of the White French Bean, at a standard of 

 100, are equal to the following : — 



Yellow Peas 120 



Farina of Cabbage 140 



" " Carrots 170 



" " Wheat 175 



Wlieat 191 



Freuch Wheat 193 



Rye 200 



Farina of Barley 210 



" " Potatoes • , 225 



Barley 232 



Indian Corn 246 



Potatoes 1096 



Carrots 1351 



White Cabbage .1446 



Turnips 2383 



The author observes that, on a comparison of his 

 experiments with the practical experience of farm- 

 ers in feeding cattle, he found a most remarkable 

 coincidence between the theoretical and practical 

 inference. We present the table as we find it, 

 leaving the reader to deduce his own conclusions. 



Flies on Picture Frames. — There is no bet- 

 ter preventive of flies soiling gilt frames than by 

 covei'ing them with gauze. It must be admitted, 

 however, that many persons prefer leaving the 

 frames exposed rather than hide them under the 

 usual gauze covering ; I Avould therefore suggest 

 to manufacturers the advantage of improving the 

 material. As at present made, the fabric is wov- 

 en much closer than is necessary. The finest and 

 most open work gossamer that could be woven, 

 would prove ettectual in preventing flies settling 

 near any object that was covered Avith it. A fly's 

 instinct prevents it going near a cobweb. I Avould 

 say, then, Aveave your gauze as fine and as much 

 to resemble a spider's Aveb as possible. This 

 Avould prevent the evil the houscAvife dreads, and 

 at the same time avouUI not hide any of the gilt 

 and carved frames. — S. Piesse. 



