SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
289 
perty of the mind in all its acquirements.” Demonstra- 
tive Mathematics are also strict, but are interwoven with 
physical considerations, that is : subjects that exist inde- 
pendently of the minds or conceptions of them or of the 
human will ; or, in other words still, considerations in ac- 
cordance with Nature. Mathematics thus constitute the 
essential means of demonstrating the strictness of those 
laws which govern natural phenomena. Mathematics 
must, therefore, be studied before those Jaws can be un- 
derstood. 
Their study tends to expand the mind, to enlarge its ca- 
pacity for general principles, and to improve its reason- 
ing powers. Of the branches into which Natural Philo- 
sophy is divided, that whif^h is most useful to farmers is 
Mechanics, which is defined to be “the sciences of the 
laws of matter and motion, so far as is necessary to the 
construction of machines, which acting under those laws, 
answer some purpose in the business of life.” Without Me- 
chanics as thus defined, farmers may learn to work any 
machine which answers their purpose; but it is only by 
that science they can possibly understand the principles 
upon which any machine is constructed, nor can any ma- 
chine be possibly constructed in defiance of those prin- 
ciples. 
Both machinists and farmers ought to be versed in me- 
chanical science, or the one cannot make and the other 
guide any machine as it ought to be. The principles of 
mechanics are treated of separately under the name of 
Dynamics, v,?hich is the science of force and motion. 
Pneumatics is the branch of natural Philosophy which is 
next to mechanic in being the naost useful to the farmer 
to know. Natural History comprehends several branches 
of study. Meteorology consists of the observation of the 
opparent phenomena of the atmosphere. Hydrography 
ds the science of the watery part of the globe. It teaches 
the origin and nature of springs and marshes, the effects 
of lakes, marshes and rivers, on the vegetation in their 
vicinity. 
Geology is knowledge of the substances which compose 
the crust of the earth. It explains the nature and origin 
of soils and subsoils. A knowledge of Geology might 
supply useful hints for draining land, planting trees, &c. 
Zoology, which treats of the habits of all animals, cannot 
fail to be a source of great interest to every fanner who 
rears stock. The science which bears directly on agricul- 
ture, and with which every farmer should make himself 
acquainted is Chemistry; that science which is cognizant 
of all the changes in the constitution of matter, whether 
effected by heat, moisture, or other means. A science so 
universally applicable cannot fiil to arrest popular atten- 
tion. Many farmers will assert it to be far beyond the 
reach of their means, and others beyond their station, to 
bestow on their sons so learned an education as that im- 
plied in the acquirement of the sciences just enumerated 
No farmer who is above want shonld grudge his sons an 
education that will fit them to adorn the profession they 
intend to follow. It cannot be denied that a knowledge 
-of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy greatly elevates 
the mind. Those farmers who have acquired those 
sciences must be sensible of their tendency to do this, and 
they will, therefore, wish their sons to enjoy the same. 
No right-judging man who has unfortunately in his 
youth been debarred from these opportunities should 
wish to cramp his sons down to the rule, that I never 
’learned them and have made a living without them and so 
can you. 
I repeat it, a good education is the best legacy a parent 
can leave a child. Were industrious farmers as eager to 
improve their sons mind’s by superior education, as they 
are to amass fortunes for them, they would display more 
wisdom in their choice. They time occupied in the ac- 
■quisition of these sciences is not lost when compared 
with the advantages they may bestow. Part of three 
years will accomplish ail amply, and in this way : — The 
first year to be devoted to Mathematics, the second to Na- 
tural Philosophy, and the third to Natural History and 
Chemistry and along with these principal subjects, some- 
time in both years should be devoted to Geography, Eng- 
lish Grammar and composition, book-keeping and a know- 
ledge of cash transactions. Reader. 
MUTTON vs. PORK. 
Physicians recommend mutton as the most wholesome 
meat, the easiest digested and best suited to invalids; 
while pork, as every body knows, is the most unwhole- 
some flesh eaten. In England mutton is a favorite dish, 
and we apprehend it is to this, rather than to roast beef, 
that the Englishman owes his robust health and rosy com- 
plexion. Our people eat too much pork and too little 
mutton. And yet, as a contemporary remarks, “mutton 
can be produced, pound for pound, at less than half the 
price of pork; yields more nourishment when eaten, and 
keeping sheep does not exhaust a farm to the extent feed- 
ing hogs does. Sheep can be kept through the winter on 
hay and turnips, ©r mangle wurtzel, or sugar beet, while 
hogs will not do without, at least, some corn. We would 
like to see in the papers fewer accounts of big pigs and 
mors about fat sheep. 
"We clip the above from the Portland Ti-anscript. We 
like the plea for more mutton, and better mutton, that 
more may be eaten ; but don’t attempt to build up one 
interest at the expense of another. Give us the mutton 
and the pork also, and the more of both, if good, the better. 
We must have pork, hams, lard and lard oil. The pork 
may be made where the mutton cannot so well, and vice 
versa. The pigs, if they are worth raising, will live on 
the sugar beet, the parsnip and carrot, and although they 
eat not the hay, they will the grass; and the Transcript 
will find very little first class mutton where corn, or some 
equivalent equally substantial, has not been fed. We say, 
let us hear more about “the big pigs,” the best pigs, and 
and more about the best sheep and “the fat sheep.” — Ex. 
SOUTHERN ABSENTEEISM. 
In the course of an excellent article on the subject, after 
citing what the curse of Absenteeism has done for many 
other sections, the New Orleans Delta holds the following 
language : 
“The South, like the countries we have cited, has suf- 
fered immensely from what we called, the other day, the 
summer hegira. Is it a fair outlay of the gains which 
winter thrift and industry reaps fVom Southern planters 
and permanent citizens, to swell the repletion of the pock- 
ets of Northern men! Is it high-toned, chivalrous and 
just, thus to abandon yearly this land of beauty and of 
hospitality, to build up and strengthen the hands of the 
Goliah of Abolitionism'? The late Secretary of State, 
when informed of the decapitation of some of the old office 
holders under the new regime, declared his aversion to 
pillaging his own camp. But what shall we say of those 
Southerners who deliberately pillage their own homes 
every summer'? 
“ The idea of going to the North for pleasure '? is it not, 
dear reader, the ne pbw ultra of ridiculousness and folly '? 
Pleasure among those who practice robbery, as vile and 
heartless as the brigands who were wont to startle the 
guests of “mine host of Terrecina "? ” Dare you carry a 
body servant among the people whom you so liberally 
patronize 1 0 ! unthinking and prodigal absentee ! can 
