THE NEW GENESEE F A R M E "R , 



Vol. !. 



From tkt All* Er.ffland faTin*r. 



THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE. 



AGRICTLTLRAL PAPi:RS, &c. 



Mn. EiiiroR, — Tje6fongc;tclj9ractcriflticoflhcage 



, wc live in, IS the Bpirii of iirogress «nil improveiiicm 



■wbicbpervnJcsiliocomrnuniiy : improvomciit in every 



thing euocvptible of it ; — ;;r.privement in art — iin- 



' pruvcmcnt in (-cienco — mid, inr.y Inn odd, iniprove- 



jneni in Linmnii r.i:urc 7 'i'iicrc exiaw, in fnet, n pro- 



^ressire exriUntt-nt — and an long 03 its c^Fccis ebail be 



t*) sub^lilut'; righ* f>r wrong, tit develop mind ond etini- 



ulite genius lo invcn'.ion, ii is to ba hoped it inoy not 



subside. 



Aniing the arte and Bcieneea which bave felt, indif- 

 , ferentdcgree'5, the beneficial influpnoc of thift improving 

 ■pirit, is to be nnm'-d Bgricul!iir\ (I niliiile perticii- 

 t Lvlytoour own.) Tiic->bnac!e3 whi[:b have herct if >re 

 I prevented this great notional interest from being, a^an 

 «rt, b.'itor und.-rsto kI, on.l, as a ecicnce, orrectly 

 i practised, are fast being removed: aged error is re- 

 ' c:;ding before the qu ckcncd march of mind, the light 

 ' of fcicncc. an I the convincing deriiictiona of reason 

 und philosophy; — lecp-roon-d prejudxcB, venerated 

 Tithev fir their antiquity than their worth, arc giving 

 M"ay to the enriching trntSig of modern diec3vcry: — 

 tw;n-fi;ilKred igmranee and enpnrstitution are fa.^t los- 

 ing their bilcftil inilucn-'e over human atlnirp, and men 

 are beginning to see and opprec.ate the migbt of mind 

 wSen enlightened by eciencc. 



h is weil for tha pro..';)''^rity of o.ur CT.intry and its 

 <^v '-y interest, thai the improving spirit.'ib.-'ini] is elTt^ct- 

 ing a revoltitioa in onr hiisbindry, — a revolution of 

 )n:nd and a revoUition of niacter; — ind, as these m'gh- 

 ly agents of g,-»od or evil 'never go back,' \ve can look 

 .with confidence for th3 consmnuiaLion of the deaired 

 jof-irm wh cii hat etinmoncedand ierapidly propre^.?ing 

 .in tho,?e parn of our country where liglit had rcach- 

 *'l, Kawn convinced, and .preciice demonB:ra:ed. 

 Throtigh all the clonds whch yet hover around, the 

 attracltva iib',ervor cannot fail to diseeni ' tiie dawning 

 of a brigif.or day for Americin Agri.-al'me,, — a day 

 which shall g vs the modern eyste-n of fanning the as- 

 cendancy ovortho old 'c.xhansi'ngsyatein,' whose only 

 honor is in age. We do not believe that error can 

 long (lourieh when rigiit is abroad to combat it: 

 *' Truth i'rtnl;e I to ear'.h will rise n^ain i 



'ril-- eteoiiil yea-s iif Goil r.re h*ra ; 

 Wtiiie r'rror writiiOijr, tiC-i? in I'.nln, 

 Or dies ami, I her worihlppers.'' 



The o!d eystem of ciiltiviting the earth has little of 

 right in any of its procossus; — it was conceived in 

 error on 1 brought fjrih in ignorance: — :he modern ftys- 

 tem i4 the olK^piing of ficieucc, and bears on its front 

 Iheimiirc's of right: it is supported by reason, by phi- 

 losophy, and by the experience of the intelligent- and 

 MSonias It is g'aerally undi r.stood it wiil he generally 

 Jopted: its Id lepend'^nee calh lor it; and t may be 

 .oeceseary for the perpetuity of our exiB'.cnrcas n free 

 lotion: fir, judging from the 6aJ history of p.ast re- 

 inblioa, liberty finds sup|X)rt in og:icH!tural strength, 

 md danger in commercial grentne^.* 



What are the ciuses which have eimhined to pre- 

 'ent agriculture fr.om odv.oni- ng v.'iih the other arts 

 md RCionces ! They ore to be found in the prejudices 

 if ths farmer Sir ancient eust-oms: in tiieir (seeming) 

 inb;llef in the progress of mind, and cinseqnent aver- 

 ion to improvements; in their hopt lity to what they 

 erm 'linokf.irTnin^,' which may be defined the prac- 

 isingof Bcentilic iraths and the recommendaiions of 

 iio intelligent, promulgated through thepress. Tiie^e 

 ra the priHC P'il causes wh eh have opeiae 1 f retard 

 13 progre.s of improvement in the rn b1 art. Thanks 

 1 agrii-tiliural newspapers, they do not now e.tist to 

 le ettenl tlfy did a fvw years since, biii their prc- 

 alence is still extensive — by far too mucij for our na- 

 onal in Icjien dene--, t f >r the pecuniarr interest of the 

 ii'ban Ininn, and for every infrest of the community, 

 low shoU it be lesseuod? Di/ therlisxrminalion nf 

 aowlcrlge (rmong- the yromniy/. Knowledge, is 

 )W.".r' — t « infers the power whit.h the farmer needs 

 -'.he power of making every inch of land productive^ 



id to pro luce to the extent of its eapnhility, the 



jvver of nvcrnming, by art, the ohBtnieiions of na- 

 re. The knowled;;e which will cive this power, is 

 ost •asdy found and e invi-yed in agriciilturnl papers. 

 iie»e are within the reach of cvurr cultivator, and 

 .ou!d be patroni^^l by a'.l— as well by the indigent as 

 e opulent; far tlieir tendency is, not to make the 

 •,h richer at tha expense of the poor, bat to make the 

 .or happier in on increase of their crops, and show 



> 1 ine.in to he, uailei-ilnoil that ihe r-ecilom of a ennntrv 

 ricul'urally i:r»nt. m more secure than that of acountrv' 

 mt oniv in a comme'rial sease. 



■ However independ'at w- mnv think nnrnelve*. we ean- 

 •_ in ti-iitil. ho «tyle.1 Inlepenilent, till w»i roue to rely 

 in faixifc u^I'M! fot «oijie nf t»ie enentlnl. af lift 



them huw to became independent of the rich. There 

 IS not a whit of economy in refusing to become a Bub- 

 scribcr to one of these pnhlicntions. He who has but 

 one acre might be Itarned through this means how to 

 cultivate that i-o as to treble bio u-ital products, alike 

 with him of his hundred acres: at any rate, either 

 could not fail to be binelitt"'il by o year's reading of a 

 paper, to mo:c than treble the amount of the eubijirip- 

 lion I ric ;. This is proved in the case of thotc w ho 

 are tuhscr.bers. It is a fact worth noting, that you 

 seldom, (I might, probably, tay never,) meet with 

 a siibscrtber to on agricuUuial po])er who does not set 

 a high value upon it, ur who is in the lea^t diseatiefied 

 w th iioymg a dollar or two a year for its pcrufal. 

 Such an luve-tmcnt of money is, in their ojiinion, the 

 b;6t they could potsibly make, as none other, to them, 

 yields so great an inlensl. 1 was told by a farmer, 

 (a subscriber lo Judge Bucl's Cultivator,) that a plan 

 which ho found in that paper for steaming apples, 

 potatoes, (S:c., for his swine, had been of vastly more 

 consequence lo him than a dozen year's subncription 

 money. Such instances are common, — in fact, it i? 

 absolutely impossible, in our view, that some useful 

 inf-irmalion orvaluahie hint should not be acquired in 

 the course of a year's reading, wh;ch wdl not repay, 

 many fold, tho price paid fir the paper. Farm- 

 ers need to be matic aware of these facts, and to be 

 "hown, through the convincing means of experiment, 

 how falsely founded is their notion of economy, in re- 

 fusing to take a paper devoted exclusively to their in- 

 terccta. 



Thei^e vehicles nf knowledge arc productive of good 

 in another re.^pec; — they take with the yotiiig — with 

 tliOrse whose minds are not yet warped by jirejudice, 

 nor fully imbued with false notions, — with wdinm any 

 thing n ivel and jilausible in theory, begets a passion 

 for experiment. I will state on instance, the better to 

 iihistiato my meaning. — A farmer, of myacqiinintance, 

 in New Hainpr-hire, was bitterly prejudiced against all 

 other modes of farming than liiot procliEcd by his an- 

 ccptors from the earliest generation, and transmitted 

 unimpaired (and hniviprorcdj to him. ile was loud 

 in his abuse and rid.cule of 'book farming,' absut 

 which he talked as learnedly as he could of other nmt- 

 ters whose disciK-sion renders something more than 

 hnoxclr.df^e f^f 'Ji& al-phahcl and Uco ideas neeesfary 

 — (lee'aring. in bis wisdom, that it was 'intended for 

 the woallby o;id college liirnt,' and that 'he was'nt 

 f lol enough yet to plant his land with mvlljcrti/ trees! 

 and buy com to hve on,' cVc. This man had a sen 

 — n lad of some ninel'ren year.- — who was much inclin- 

 ed to reading, and who iiad often endeavored to in- 

 duce his father to subscribe for an ogriculiiirol paper, 

 but without cffoet. The father had the misfortune to 

 bo stricken witli a dangerous sickness, and the man- 

 agement of the farm devolverl ujion the ton, who had 

 oinnne 1 the father's consent to conduct it as he pleas- 

 ed, \viih the proviso that ho should [ilant no mntbcmt 

 trees. Asa iirclim'nary step to the reformation con- 

 templated, the son siibicrihod for on agricultural paper, 

 and folIi>wed 'hook farm-ng' to the extent of his means, 

 the swamp was resorted to for iiiaierials or comiioct. 

 (an idea which never entered the head of the father,) 

 lime W.1S purchased for manure; the swine were in- 

 creased to incicase the means of fertilizing the soil: 

 root cu'ture was adop'.c! — .ollernnte crop» — manuring 

 by turning in ^reen crops — (forwhich last act, in par- 

 ticular, he incurred the ccnoiire of his neighbois, who 

 were unanimous in prononnc ng him a 'fool,' 'no- 

 tion,' 'crack-brained boy,' Ac.) — and spch other im- 

 provements made as he found suggested in his paper. 

 The beneficial change which had been wrought in 

 the order of thincrs on the farm, was so palpable and 

 manifest as to excite the wonder of the fatherat his son's 

 unexpected success, and he could not help acknowledg- 

 ing that his pri^judiccs against 'book farming* nnd 

 agricultural papers were ill-fMinded and supremely 

 foolisb. This fnrin, under the father's exhausting cnl- 1 

 ture comparatively a desert, and yielding but a poor 

 return for to, I, has, by the scientific and skilful rron- 

 agement of the sun, been made to teem with plenty 

 and will reward for the sweat of the cultivator's brow. 

 I have heard this farmer declare that his yearly profits 

 did not exceed .$100, and grumble at his 'hnrillot.' 

 Under his eon's administration of affairs treble this 

 amount is annually 'cleared.' 



This case is no fiction — and if it were, it would be 

 a faithful representation of many unwritten instances 

 of like results. 



If agricultural papers, then, are productive of so 

 mnch good — if their tendency is to 'make two spears 

 of grass grow where but one grew befire,' no means 

 should be sporsd to extend their circulation, let the 

 farmer who is a subseriber induce his neighbor who 

 is not, t« bec'^me "nr also ; — lot ogrieultnral e-icietiee 

 lend all pMsible aid ia the •u,ti>«. I ess Mn^sivt «f 



another method for advancing my object; — In every 

 village there are generally two persons upon whom 

 the citizens bestow extrcordinor>' respect, or a eurt oi 

 voluntary reverence, on account of their (stippoeed) 

 superior intclligonce — I mean the minister and the 

 phyeician. Suppose these iniportonl personages should 

 cxerc ec the influence they are capable of, to the end of 

 improving tlie agriculture of their towns, by induc- 

 ing their fellow citizens who follow the plough, to 

 read — to improve the mind in order lo improve tho 

 soil, — could not the great object of enlightening tha 

 yeomanry — the hard-handed, honest-hearted yeoman- 

 ry — be furthered by euch a proiee-wortby movement t 

 It is, chieHy, to the influence of such papers as th« 

 New England Farmer, theAlbany Cultivator, the Gen- 

 esee Former, and others of a like character, that oar 

 improvements in rural economy are lo be ascribed; — 

 that iiifiuence needs encouragement, — encouragcmeni 

 from States as well as individuals — it needs to be mor« 

 widely difi'iised; for, in proportion aj* it is extended, in 

 nearly that same propoition will the profession of agri ■ 

 culture be exalted in the public estimation, iis opera 

 tions facilitated, and its products incrcaocd. 



J. H. D. 



I'rcm tlic Actr England rarw.tr, 

 Labor, and Labor-saving Machines. 



We conceive that many American writers, in urgi* 

 ing the adoption of foreign agriculiuial improvements, 

 overlook one very impoiiant ingredient in European 

 farming, essential to a high standard ol hutbandry, and 

 that is the extreme low rale of wages abioad conipaied 

 with what it is in this country. In the old and fully- 

 peopled countries of Europe, is a large surplus popula* 

 lion, incajjable of being landholders, or entering inta 

 commerce and the trades, fiom the arbitral y lulesthat 

 govern them, ajid who muft content themselves with 

 the smallest daily pittance or starve. Sueh a popuia- 

 lion is more at the di&posal of the farming than any, 

 other intere.it in society, and is one of the main pillars 

 ol the high and improving state of English, Scotch, 

 and Flench agriculture. With us the farmer has no 

 such re-source. Ours is a new countni', and, from 

 the fj eedom and einslicily of action engendered by our 

 instilutions. and ihe inducements held out lo exeilion, 

 all are ftiiviug to outsliip each other in the acquisi- 

 tion of wealth and rt-putotion. Land is cheap and 

 abundnni, and iheie is ample room for action; and 

 every man who bus a common degree of intelligence 

 and industry, may become a landholder. Slcn follow 

 ihcirnatural incl. nations, and picfcr being indeiendent 

 cit.zciis and their own masters, to being in the emploj'- 

 mcnt of other individuals. Under this slate of things, 

 ihocc pursuits that are carried on with much manual 

 Ir.bor, are attended with the most eXj-ense to those 

 eni^nged in them, nnd meet with no small obstacle to 

 their success in the faot, that they create a demand, 

 for which the supply is by no meant adequate. Amer- 

 ican fnimingisonc of these puri-uils; its various opft' 

 rations being ainio.st entirely peiformcd I y bodily labor, 

 una.S! iatcd in a groat degree, by nature or ait. To 

 every puisuit and profcrsion among us have 'be sci- 

 enees and arts lent more rssisiance than lo our hus- 

 bandry; nnd we be'ievethat this is one \iry grcjil ic»- 

 son v.h\ all other iiureuils aie so much in advance of 

 it. The inmimeialile results of human invention, ths 

 application of the laws thai govern the opciaiions of 

 na'.ure, to the daily avocations of man, ba\c carried 

 us forv.aid with an inciedililc rapidity as a commer- 

 cial and manufacuiring people. Tbcy have been capital 

 and labor to us, amply supplying the deficiencies of 

 both. 



Amid this hurrying forward to perfection of almost 

 every calling aniongn us, we would i.ot ray that our 

 ngiicultui-e remains where it slood fifty years ago, for 

 webeliete it has advanced within that period — but we 

 find itcrccpingon at a (comparatively) snail's pace, un- 

 afsisied, in a great measure, by art or science, and 

 harrasKcd by the some impeihmenls, that hampered it 

 in the days of our fathers. We speak, of course, of 

 the general stale of American farming, as manifested 

 ihrousrhout the country, and would not include those 

 exceptions in distr cts nnd individuals, that, fromthoir 

 rarity, do us the more honor. 



AVith nothing have our farmers had to contend mora 

 than this scarcity of labor we have rcferied lo. The 

 high rate of wages has eaten up the profits of the farm, 

 and debarred them from making many improvements 

 in their husbandry; nnd this the more so, inatniuch as 

 the raising of crops for the market, requiringmtich and 

 constant manual Inbor, has been the prevailing agri- 

 cultural interest. This nbstnele lo their more rapid im- 

 provement and success has been so prominent and pal- 

 pable, that we have often wondered at the neglect and 

 indifTerenee manifested by many of our farmers towards 

 those impleniMts and maohjnee tbat bar* bees •flared 



