\^o. 6. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



91 



IJ eminence which hnealwnyB been found, itissnid, 

 L.! o ** narrow for friendship, nnd too slippery lor enfe 

 ," for ihis is a logitimale, though aloe, a dnziling 

 )ject of pursuit. But 1 epeak of those who ninkr 

 ilitic.il pursuit a mere qucetion of profit and loss. 

 'i|osuch men we can point out s field of exertion, 

 here at Uiast " for a portion of their life, their pow- 

 ■8 would be employed in a manner less revolting to 

 >necience ; and with rcsulta quite as useful to their 

 juntry und to the world." 



It ia important therefore to do away the erroneous 

 nprcasion thnt ihore is no other pursuit worthy the 

 llention of an cdnoiitcd man, than the so called lenrn 

 d proferisions, and that a lihernl educali^ui is thrown 

 way if bestowed upon a farmer. If the larmer must 

 f necessity be a mere rustic, and any one who en 

 ngee in the pursuit, will allow himself to sink to this 

 nglorions level, then will a very humble education fit 

 im (or his untoward destiny. But if a former is de- 

 rous of taking rank with the Gaylords and the Phin- 

 leys, of our land, and with men of kindred spirit in 

 •ther lands, their will his calling give abundant occu- 

 '■' raiijn to h'S talents, however gifted, and his attain- 

 nente, however profound; This is not all ; a farmer 

 nay be even a man of refined taste and exquisite 

 renins. A good farm should not be characterized 

 done by its trim fence and its straight furrows, hut it 

 hould also be an object of beauty. " Man made the 

 own, God made the farm ;" and it ought to bear ihe 

 mpress of his beautiful workmaiisliip. There are 

 arms too, where, by the skilful disposition of wood 

 ind of shrubbery, there ia, as it were, grouped into a 

 icene of surpassing loveliness, the beetling clifl", the 

 imiling meadow, ond the meandering river. And 

 iUih the claims to taste and genius be denied to a far- 

 mer who can create such a scene, and be awarded 

 iolMy to him who can transfer it lo the living can- 

 '' ?ns9 7 It may be said that these higher acconiplish- 

 Jrnenis, constitute no pan of piaclicalfarming, because 

 It contributes nothing directly to a furmer's prosperi- 

 ty. "To such men," as Cheever says, " (jod him- 

 self, as the creator of the universe, cannot appear as 

 an architect of practical wisdom, for he has covered 

 the earth with objects, tho sky and the clouds with 

 tints, whose surpassing beauty is their or.ly utility. 

 This beauty is eminently useful, because man who 

 beholds it is a moral," as well as a thrifty being — "be- 

 cause it awtkena the soul to moral contemplations, 

 excites the imsginnlion, softens the seruibilities of the 

 heart I because it tells him of hia mortality and his 

 immortali:y, giving him symbols of both, and holding 

 with him a perpetual conversation of the glory and 

 wisdom and goodness of God." 

 ^ " 'ro ecimc. the itieanest flower tliat hlowa can give 

 TboUijlua tbat do oftco lie too deep for tears." 

 If I am auked whether tlie pursuits of literattire are 

 incompotible with the practice of husbandry, I an. 

 ewer that they are at all events incompatible with the 

 Vractice#ff a profession. Whoever would woo the 

 muses must bid farewell to professional eminence. But 

 there are farmers, thrifty lobnrioue farmers, men ex- 

 posed to the summer's heat and the winter's cold, who 

 are well known in the walks of literature. Why 

 ehould it be otherwise 1 There is not an operation 

 of practical husbandry, however humble, that is not 

 immortalized in Thomson's, or Gray's, or Cowpcr's 

 Bong. To such men, how melodious wbb the reoper's 

 song, how graceful the mower's movements, how 

 picturesque the loaded train, groaning beneath the 

 burden of the gathered harvests 1 Much more then 

 Bhould rural pursuits awaken the high souled eloquence 

 of those who are habitn dly engaged in them. There 

 was a time, it was olden time 'lis true, but there was 

 a time when pastoral life was deemed especially favor- 

 able to sublime conceptions ; and one shepherd at any 

 rate has raised thiough many an ago tho loftiest emo- 

 tions, who exclaimed as he stood amid his flacks and 

 raised bis contemplative eye to yonder firmament: — 

 " When I consider thy Heavens, the work of thy fin- 

 gers, the moon and the stars which thou has ordained, 

 ■what is man that thou art mindful of bim, and the son 

 of man that thou visitesthim ?" 



Agriculture then, is not inimical to the pursuits of 

 BCience and literature ; hut still it ia too often deemed 

 a degrading employment. He talks of beeves, said 

 Dr. Johnson sneeringly, of one of his most intimate 

 friends, and yet the ill tempered and ungenerous satire 

 is utterly at variance with even his utilitarian notions. 

 In settling the relative ranks of the various callings of 

 life, it should be remembered that we are governed in 

 our views by old and inveterate prejudices. The 

 Bcole by which they are graduated, was formed in the 

 ages of ignorance, when men of the learned profes- 

 Bions were monks ; men of ambition, soldiers ; and 

 husbandmen, serfs. But the times are altered ; the 

 pathway to fame no longer leads exclusively to fields 



covered with cnrnngc and shusihter, and may yet 

 lend to fields amiling with tho gifts of Ceres and Po- 

 mona. 



We, therefore, who arc ardendy attached to our fa- 

 vorite pursuit, who are aware of ita privileges and ac- 

 quainted with its delights, should do all in our power 

 to disabuse the public mind of its mistaken prejudices, 

 and to raise it in the public estimation to the level of 

 the liberal professions, so that he may have no fear of 

 losing cnato, who exchanges the merchant's couiuing- 

 rooin and lawyer's dcok, for the pursuits of agrirul- 

 lore, 



"Nnr ya who live 

 In liixBry anil ease. In pomp and prirfe, 

 Tliink ihone l,?«t theme? unworthy oi' your oars. 

 Such sccncH as Ihrsc the rural Mnrasnng 

 To wlilc ImperiBl Itomr, in the full hciuhl 

 or eloiiiicnrcnnd mstr, liy Orcrxc refinril. 

 In ancient limes the Fftcrcd plow emploj pd 

 Ihc kiiiES ^nrl nwAil rmlicra of mniikinil ; 

 Anil some, with wlioni compared ynur iiiafct trpic* 

 Arc l)iu the hcinirs of a suinmorfl clay. 

 Have hdJ the scale of empire, ruled iheatorra 

 or miphty war ; then with unwearied hand 

 Disdnlniiig liule delicacies, seized 

 The plow and greatly independent lived. 



Venerntc the nlow, 

 And o'er your hilla and long wiljidrawing velea 

 L,-! Autiinin spread hi»trco»urc» to the sun, 

 LuxDrinnt and unbounded. A 

 Fur through his nzur« turbulent do 

 Voiir empire owns, and from n thousand ehores 

 ■\Vafts all the pomp of life into your ports 

 So with superior b»on may you 

 Exuherant Nature's betttr blessings pour 

 tv cr evcrj- land, the imke^i nations clolho. 

 1 be Uie elhau-^Uess graniir 



ddrcss ddircred lefore the Essex Agricultural Soci- 

 ety in Massachusetts, Srpt.^Qth, 1811. By Alon- 

 s^zo Gray. 



This address is very creditable to the author. Its 

 main object is to show the advantages and importance 

 of science to agriculiuie ; its connection with the im- 

 provement of the art, with its prodnctiveneBS and with 

 tho dignity and respectability of the agricultural pro- 

 fession. In the main we agree in all the sentiments 

 expressed. If the farmers would elevate their art, 

 they must elevate themselves. 



Mr. Gray speaks of an establishment in connexion 

 with tho theological and literary institutions at Ando- 

 ver, designed to furnish instruction in gardening and 

 agriculture. These institutions have bee."-! endowed 

 with a most extraordinary liberality for the ejiecific 

 purposes of their establishment, and euch an addition 

 to their other means of improvement will doubtless 

 prove of eminent utility. 



There are particular branches of study directly con 

 ccrned in agricultural improvement. These should 

 of course he objecH of pursuit ; and to practise farm- 

 ing with success, a man should become familiar with 

 all its operations ; and if not himself capable of per- 

 forming them, yet capable of determining when they 

 are done and exactly how they should be done. But 

 very much more than this is desirable. The most 

 humane and liberal education will not be lost upon a 

 farmer, unless it should, as is alas! but too often its 

 effect, inflate his mind with foolish pride and selAon- 

 ceit, and lead him to disdain labor and its humbre ac- 

 companiments. In all great improvements in any 

 thing connected with human life, society, or the arts, 

 mind is tho propelling power. The cultivation and 

 strengthening of the mind, the creating within it a 

 thirst for universal knowledge and continually stimu 

 lating this appetite, is the great instrument of success 

 in any and every valuable art or profession. Educa- 

 tion for the formers, as for every other class in the 

 community, ehniUJ be regarded in its most compre- 

 hensive seme, not so much as the imparting of knowl- 

 edge, this is hut a small part of education, but as teach- 

 ing man the proper use and application of all his in- 

 tellectual powers, and exciting him to their constant 

 and highest exertions. While, therefore, we rejoice 

 in the establishment of schools designed to teach the 

 practical operations of husbandry, and all the arts and 

 sciences more directly and specifically connected with 

 it, we should insist, wherever we had the power, as 



is suggested in Mr. Gray's Address, ilint there should 

 be nesociaiod with euch insliiuiions the fullest course 

 of instruction in all liberal arts and in general knowl- 

 edge. 



We should be glad to quote liberally from this ad- 

 hfee, but at the present wo mnst restrict ourselves to 

 a small portion. 



" It is one of the most glaring defects in our syatem 

 of popular inetruetion, thnt no provision ia made for 

 the study of thote branches which are intimately con- 

 nected with agriculture, and a knowledge ot which 

 is necessary in order that the science itself nmy be 

 understood; we are therefore met with an obstocle 

 which it is not easy to surmount, whenever we attempt 

 to instruct the community into tho principles of the 

 art. There is wanting not light on agriculture, but a 

 recipient poiocr in the general mind to collect ibc light 

 which actually exists. There is knowledge enough 

 in the world lo save it, if it could be brought to bear 

 upon the popular mind ; hence what we need is such 

 an elementary knowledge of mineralogy, botany, 

 chemistry and natural philosophy, w ith their applica- 

 tion to the arts, that the ecienee of agriculture may 

 be understood, and such a dirciplino of the popular 

 intellect that (his knowledge may he practically ap- 

 plied. 



For want of this recijricnt pcncer, the press, that 

 great engine of popular instruction, is deprived of the 

 greater part of its efficacy, Popular lectures, the ef- 

 forts, the discoveries of scientific men exert but a (ee- 

 hle influence. The fostering care of the Leoislature 

 and the indefatigable labors of agricultural societies 

 scarcely reach the general nines of farmers. The con- 

 sequence is that no preparation is considered desimbla 

 to become a farmer, as if men were endowed for this 

 employment with an instinct like the bee or beaver 

 which is perfect in itself and could not be improved by 

 education. 



While some degree of preparation is deemed ne- 

 cessary to practice the rudest trade, that of a cobler or 

 common 7>e(fi«r, the most ditticult and important of all 

 trades moy be carried on, it is suppi-sed, without any 

 preparatory or professional knowledge. What should 

 we think of the wisdom or sense of that community 

 which should encourage all its physicians, lawret^t 

 ministers, merchants and politicians to engage in 't?»- • 

 respective professions without any professional knowl- 

 edge whatever t And yet there is aa much propriety 

 for a young man to engage in the profession of law, 

 medicine, or theology, without professional knowl- 

 edge, as in that of farming without a knowledge of 

 it^ fundamentol principles. True, he might do more 

 injury to society in the former case, but he would have 

 nn equal title to the character of a quack in both ; 

 and quackery in (aiming has many striking analogies 

 to quackery in medicine, and were it not so common, 

 would meet with similar ridicule end rebuke by all in- 

 telligent men. 



But how can this recipient power he supplied, anil 

 how can this professional knowledge be acquired, un- 

 less agriculture be made a subject of study ? As our 

 common school system excludes those kindred branch- 

 es of notural science which are necessary to a profes- 

 sional knowledge of agriculture, the commencement 

 of improvement must be made in our academics* and 

 higher seminaries. Our colleges have a different ob- 

 ject, their course of study has become too ritjidly fix- 

 ed to be altered, and it is doubtful whether any success 

 could crown the clTort if tried. But this is not the 

 ease with our academies, and scientific agriculture 

 may be introduced into some of them and taught suc- 

 cessfully to those tvho are to be the future cultivators 

 of the soil. With an institution liberally endowed, 

 with' proper aids, text books, lectures, apparatus, antl 

 experiments conducted in the field, the young farmer, 

 after having received a thorough discipline in a pre- 

 paratory course, may finish his education by obtaining 

 aecientific knowledge of agriculture previous to enter- 

 ing upon the great business ol life. ._ 



We would not establish institutions for the mere 

 study of agriculture, but would connect it with an ex. 

 tended course of English education. We are no ad. 

 vocates of a superficial course of training. We woul j 



* After the subject has. been inlriiduced into n few of our 

 higher seminaries, for the i)urpoae of preparing the teachers 

 of ourcommon schotls to instruct intbe v.irious departments 

 of Natural History, the subject may then be introduced into 

 them; but until we have teochers qualified for such instruc- 

 tions, we must contiiie our efl'orts to higher seminaries, 

 where those facilities may bo furnished which are reiiuired 

 for Icachiuf! the first principloj of Ciicinislry and Niitural 

 History. Thcjreot difficulty now is Ihatwc h:ivc niulher 

 qualified teachers, uor books, nor cabinets, nor opparaluB. 

 which are requisite to prepare men in nur common ecbools 

 for the theoretical and practical parts of agriculture nnu the 

 various other arts and trades. 



