1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



529 



For Vie New England Farmer. 

 EETBOSPECTIVE NOTES. 



"How Shall the Farmer Improve his 

 Mind ?" — This is the caption of an article in the 

 Fanner of Sept. 20th, and in the monthly issue 

 for Oct., at page 478. It appears to have been 

 called out by a few remarks which were made by 

 the writer of the present communication upon an 

 excellent article on "Mental Culture," which may 

 be found at page 315 of current volume of the 

 Farmer, but unfortunately upon a misinterpreta- 

 tion of them. If Mr. White, the author of the ar- 

 ticle on Mental Culture, will once more refer to 

 the remarks made by the present writer, on page 

 386 of current volume, he will find that what he 

 calls a "pretty severe criticism" is in reality a very 

 mild one. He will find that his article was cred- 

 ited as containing some very good thoughts, while 

 only a small portion of them was considered as 

 "not well adapted for use among common (that is, 

 hard-working,) farmers." His ideas concerning 

 the cultivation of the farmer's mind were not con- 

 sidered nor called "Utopian and impracticable," at 

 least not in toto, and at most as only not well 

 adapted for use among hard-working farmers. 

 The present writer vecollects very well that he 

 highly appreciated and approved Mr. White's re- 

 marks on mental culture, when they fu'st ap- 

 peared, and most earnestly wished that the whole 

 fraternity of farmers would read and give heed to 

 them, as far as it might be possible for them, be- 

 ing confident that if farmers generally would give 

 heed to such suggestions, heaecolenUy submitted 

 for their profit and improvement, they would not 

 only secure an increase of power, of enjoyment, 

 and of self-satisfaction, but also contribute to the 

 elevation of the fraternity in the general estima- 

 tion, and to an increase of their influence, — usual- 

 ly a good one, and of a higher moral tone than 

 that of some other classes of society — upon the 

 choice of men for office, and upon the administra- 

 tion of public as well as all other afi'airs. Mr. 

 White's remarks were appreciated and credited as 

 highly meritorious, not merely for the aim or ob- 

 ject which he obviously had in view, viz., the im- 

 })rovement, advancement and elevation of the 

 arming fraternity, but also for the excellence and 

 utility of the suggestions and thoughts presented. 

 Such was the impression made by the bulk of the 

 article of Mr. White, and it was only feared that, 

 in recommending, as one essential requisite to 

 mental improvement among farmers, that they 

 should have a study or room by themselves, in 

 which thej' were to devote an hour or two of every 

 day to mental improvement, Mr. W. had not made 

 due alloicance for the difficulties and often insur- 

 mountable obstacles which stand in the way of 

 carrying out such a proposal into practice. Tired 

 and sleepy as most working farmers are in the 

 evening, how very few of them would think it 

 worth while to kindle up a fire in a study or sep- 

 arate room for any such purpose, and how few of 

 them would be able to keep from falling asleep 

 over their books or papers even if there were a 

 room already warmed and ready for use ! Here 

 and there, there may be one or a few, to whom 

 such advice is sufficiently well adapted, but for the 

 mass of hard-working farn-^ers it is still thought 

 that that one portion of Mr. White's suggestions 

 was "not well adapted for use." No one would 



more heartily rejoice, or be more ready to indulge 

 in high hopes of a good time coming, than would 

 the present writer, if only he could banish such 

 fears, or even half persuade himself that a large 

 majority of his brother farmers were so resolutely 

 bent on the increase of their mind-power, and on 

 the elevation of themselves and their brother far- 

 mers to a higher rank, and reputation, and influ- 

 ence, that they would allow no winter evennig nor 

 any other leisure hours to pass without being 

 made to ccmtrilmte in some way to these worthy 

 objects. Were the farmers generally but fired 

 with such an ambition, and resolutely bent upon 

 making every day and every hour contribute more 

 or less to the accomplishment of the objects just 

 specified, they would then either adopt such a plaa 

 of separate study as that proposed by Mr. W., or 

 they would make the common sitting-room for the 

 family a scene like a school-room where either 

 some one read for all, and all made remarks on 

 what was read ; or the father heard some of the 

 children recite some appropriate lesson, or ques- 

 tioned them as to some study or course of read- 

 ing ; or each was busy in reading, writing, con- 

 versing and comparing ideas, or other mental ex- 

 ercise : — and all this mental activity and busy em- 

 ployment of leisure hours would naturally follow 

 as a spontaneous outflow from the fire of ambi- 

 tion and resolution within. Once let the love of 

 improvement, and the desire of possessing a well- 

 stored and a vigorous mind, be kindled up within, 

 and though individuals may here and there adopt 

 the plans proposed or followed by others, yet usu- 

 ally each individual and each family will have some 

 peculiarity in their methods of employing their 

 time and the materials at their command, accord- 

 ing to peculiarities in their circumstances, the 

 tastes, the means, the literary helps, &c., of such 

 individuals or families. 



TJte great pre-requisite of mental culture is, 

 therefore, a deep, fixed, persevering, all-conqxier- 

 ing love of knowledge and of mind-power ; with 

 this each individual, family, or mutual-improve- 

 ment club, will readily devise or soon discover the 

 methods best adapted to their particular circum- 

 stances, better than an outsider could prescribe a 

 well-adapted plan ; and without this love of im- 

 provement and of knowledge as a mainspring 

 within to keep the mental machinery in motion, 

 the best plan that may be proposed will be un- 

 heeded and fruitless. Thanks and praise are due 

 to Mr. W. for his eff"orts to improve and elevate 

 the farming and laboring classes. 



P. S. — The writer of the foregoing regrets very 

 much that, owing to a limited amount of space 

 and time at his command when he penned the 

 brief comments made on Mr White's article on 

 Mental Culture, he should have expressed his 

 views so incompletely, as to leave any room what- 

 ever for the construction put upon them by Mr. 

 W. He regrets that Mr. W. should have had any 

 occasion whatever for deeming the writer's re- 

 marks as "severe criticism," or for having his 

 feelings wounded in any degree whatever. Still, it 

 seems that, after perusing the foregoing remarks, 

 Mr. W. will perceive that he did not exactly un- 

 derstand the purport of the criticisms which to him 

 seemed severe, and that they were not so unap- 

 preciative or condemnatory as he seems to have 

 supposed them, most probably from a hurried 

 silance. 



