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VOL. III. 



SPRINGFIELD, JANUARY, 1858. 



NO. 1. 



THE 



iTir 



ij» y> 



mm$h 



Ti • 



PUBUSHED MONTHI.T, 



BT 



Bailliaclie <fe Baker, 



Jon»al Buildings, - • Springfield, Illinois. 



«•. 



S. FRANCIS, Editor. 



.•• 



TKRMS OF BUBSCRIPTIOK. 



One copy, on« yomi, ia adTance $1 00 



KTe copiei, " " ~ 3 75 



Tea " and one to the perion getting np club 7 60 



nfteen copiei and orer , 62>^ centa each, and one to penon 

 getting np club. 



CASH Ki.TU or AsmnnNo: 

 One dollar per iqaare of ten Unas, each Insertion. 



The Praetieal Farmer Uiiting Together Labor 

 and learning. 



The wisdom of tli» '" •< u:r ""tablished 

 on the globe at th' fiibi jier^^.i. ait'tta^l 

 and regetable life, and ^beL i^a.=i ap- 

 peared on the earth, vegetation was pre- 

 sented to him for his support. " As man 

 was endowed with more understanding 

 than other animals, he cultivated and im- 

 proved the vegetable productions around 

 him for his sustenance, and those labors 

 made him a "practical farmer." It may, 

 therefore, be almost affirmed that agri- 

 culture for the support of man was a 

 decree of Heaven. And the most ancient 

 records extant on the subject state, that 

 God commanded Adam to enter the Gar- 

 den of £dea *'to dress it and to keep it." 

 Agriculture runs back into the most re- 

 mote antiquity on earth, and still farther 

 back may its principles be traced, to 

 Heaven itself. When nature establishes 

 a principle, it is just and right. The 

 wisdom of the Creator is never mistaken; 

 and, therefore, agriculture is the first and 

 best system by which nature decreed that 

 man should make his living. 



All history, and the experience of all 

 ages, establish the position above stated. 



that the cultivation of the earth is the 

 most ancient, and the most natural mode, 

 by which to obtain a support. And, more- 

 over, on these principles, the cultivator 

 of the soil enjoys more health, and more 

 happiness, than is allotted to any other 

 profession. 



Cicero, one of the most eminent men 

 of antiquity, holds this language as to 

 agriculture: "For of all gainful profes- 

 sions, nothing is better, nothing more 

 pleasing, nothing more delightful, noth- 

 ing better becomes a well bred man than 

 agriculture." • 



When the Roman government was en- 

 joying its greatest power, and the fame 

 and glory of the Roman name extended 

 through the known world, the greatest 

 men of the empire were frequently "prac- 

 tical farmers," and summoned from the 

 I |>.^-»w Ir perform the highest oflSces in the 

 j gift 'A iu\ ;)e<;u:'; Cincinnatus was tak- 

 en from 1 's^ffeii: * i^--- '• T)' -"-cff^r. — 

 *' Cairns anuv,- ^Id uien ou t. ■'> inns 

 were summoned to tne ttenate.' ^'■.<' 

 Emperor of China to this day, it is baiu, 

 enters the fields annually, and holds the 

 plow in honor of agriculture. The great- 

 est philosophers of ancient and modern 

 Europe, hold agriculture in the highest 

 estimation. The great philosopher. Lord 

 Bacon, of England, in his essays, speaks 

 in the warmest terms of the agricultural 

 profession. In the United States, from 

 the earliest periods of the colonies, agri- 

 culture was considered the main sheet an- 

 chor of the prosperity and happiness of 

 the country, and some of the greatest 

 men the world ever produced, were prac- 

 tical farmers. Washington, Jefferson, 

 DeWitt Clinton, Jackson, Clay and a 

 host of others, were either practical ag- 

 riculturists, or used all their influence in 

 writing and otherwise, to advocate the 

 cause. 



Under every consideration, agriculture 

 may be placed in the first rank of all 

 professions, and particularly in the State 

 of Illinois, where the attractions to the 

 profession are almost irresistible. The 

 extraordinary fertility of the soil — the 

 prairies prepared for the plow, and the 

 great facilities to reach the produce mar- 

 kets, all invite "the practical farmer" to 

 enter the arena, and become, in a few 

 years, a wealthy and happy man in Illi- 

 nois. 



But to do justice to this great and 

 grand profession, and to make success 

 certain, "thfl practical farmer" must unite 

 "Labor and Learning together." 



It is the Divine mind that governs the 

 universe, and it is the mind of man that 

 governs all his actions. In all the agri- 

 cultural movements of man, it is the in- 

 tellect that first takes the lead, and there- 

 fore, to securesuccess, that intellect must 

 be educated as "learned." It is impos- 

 sible to accomplish, without education, 

 ?r" thing great or good in ar'-'ouitarfc 

 jji\:M.iently it occurs iw the r'-:'jgr«*<" 

 ">f -1\:- *:-^fesp^on rViui the >i.cal- 

 turist is --"-u D.it-d to^cit'rtfise a deep 

 and profouxid ji. '^fcment in deciding 

 on matters of his profession. The pro- 

 gress of agriculture in Illinois will in a 

 few years permit the people to dispense 

 with outside fences to their farms. The ' 

 present system will be reversed — the fields 

 of grain will be turned outside of the 

 fences, and the live stock kept within. 



I know of no State in the West where 

 this system is established; and Illinois 

 will, I presume, be the first to adopt the 

 principle. 



It is stated that the fences in the State 

 of Pennsylvania cost one hunded millions 

 of dollars, and ten millions each year to 

 keep them in repair. This great €x;)ense 

 in making fences in the prairie State 



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