154 
THE SOtJTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
while we heartHy despise the y'atjent sUidy tliat 
will inform us what are the simple elementaty 
bodies that unite to make these articles of food. 
We greatly magnify the importance of blind hard 
work, as though man had the power to create a 
bushel of earn out of nothing, by dint of pro- 
tracted and intense muscular toil. To study the 
natureand properticsof the substances that Na- 
ture must have to form 80 bushels of tliis grain 
on an acre, is a perfect waste of time ! A know- 
ledge of these things can be of no possible use 
to the prac'ical farmer! Who cares to know 
what there is in a kernel of corn, or a sound, 
mealy potatoed These things can be made out 
of noitxing^ onUj work hard enough! A gallon of 
human sweat, spread evenly over an acre of land, ' 
is better than ad the agricultural science in the 
world, because it can be sold any day in August 
{or fifty cents! 
“If it were not f rr the indifference of farmers to 
the spread of agricultural knowledge, rural in- 
dustry would raise at once 50 per cent in produc- 
tiveness and value. So long as the tillers of the 
earth shall work 12 or 15 hours in 24, to make 
sometliiug out of nothing, the balance of the 
world will give them but a precious. little for their 
service. And why should they! If a farmer 
gives as much labor for one bushel of corn or 
wheat as be should for three, ought he not to.ex- 
change his badly directed industry, by giving 
three day’s work for one with those that study 
their business, and make every hour’s work tell 
to the best advantage? We can not blind our 
reasoning faeulties, and then plead ignorance of 
the things tliat form our annual crops, as a reason 
why we. should have move than the market value 
for our produce. There is no alternative but to 
lessen the hard work now expended in growing 
al! our agricultural staples, by the aid of know- 
ledge. If we cruelly withhold this knowledge 
from our sons, we indirectly give a bond that they 
shall be the ’newers of wood and drawers of water 
for the better informed, and that too, at the 
smallest wages, all their days. 
“ Kind reader, if you have a son, and believe 
with us, that the study of the laws of Nature will 
do him no harm, purchase for him Mr. Jas. F. W. 
Johnston’s “Lectures on Agricultural Chemis- 
try,” latest edition, which will c osi you but SI, 25. 
Let him buy as soon as he has thoroughly studied 
•lohnston, Boussingault’s “Rural Economy,” 
which will cost a dollar and a quarter more' 
These invaluable works should be in every com- 
mon school library in the state. We commend 
them to the attention of all teachers of young 
men in academies, and other seminaries. As 
Text Books, they may be regarded as standard 
works in all debates; although they differ in 
their respective analyses oi certain plants, such 
as wheat, p )tatoe3, and a few others. But plants 
differ in the proportion of their elements in differ- 
ent soils. The analyses of both are doubtless 
correct in the p.articular cases to which they refer. 
“ There is scarcely ten farmers in the whole 
State that feed all their cultivated plants, inclu- 
ding fruit trees, grape-vines, and strawberries as 
they should be fed. The same is true, to some 
extent, in regard to feeding, with the most appro. ■ 
priate and economical food, all domestic animals. 
How important, as well as interesting, is the 
study of the organ c structure of all the living 
things kept on the farm ! These organized vege- 
table and animal beings: possess many organs, 
and each organ has its peculiar ofhee to perform- 
“ Do wc work iciV/i or against the purpose o" 
Nature, in our treatment of all these vital func- 
tions? Are we sure that we obtain the largest 
possible crops of peas, potatoes and corn, from 
any given amount of land and labor? or the lar- 
gest rqturn in good pork, for the corn, peas, and 
potatoes consumed by our swine? How is it in 
regard to the production of grass, carrots, beets, 
beef, butter, cheese and woul ? Whose wool, 
vvortli 30 cents a pound, costs him the least mo- 
ney in kind and labor? Whose cheese and but- 
ter yield him the largest proht or compensation 
for his industry ? \Vhen we export 1000 tons of 
cheese to England this fall, how much truly 
valuable matter have we drawn from our pas- 
tures? Where are the precise things in boundless 
quantity, that makes cheese, wheat, and wool? 
“ What madness, to resist the study of these 
things. The great “ Empire State,” with its five 
hundred thousand field laborers, can not support 
one agricultural school ! 
“ ‘ O shame, -where is thy blijsli V ” 
Distinguished Farmers. 
We have had great pleasure in publishing in 
recent numbets of the Cultivator, accounts. of 
the farms and the management of Mr. Calhoun, 
Mr. Clay and Mr. Van Buren, and we have 
no doubt those who read these accounts had an 
equal amount of enjoyment therefrom. We 
now occupy a pretty large portion of our paper 
— could it be better occupied ? — with an ac- 
count of the farm and rnan.i'gement of another 
distinguished statesman — Mr. V7eester. It-/s 
truly gralifying, as the writer remarks, to see 
men oi such^signal abilities and e.'calted repute, 
though differing in politics, united and ardently 
devoted to the great cause of Agriculture. 
Visit to the Farm of Hon. Daniel Wf.b- 
STER, Marshfield. — We have been gratified by a 
vi.«it to the farm of thi.s distinguished statesman, 
and had the pleasure of holding converse with 
him as a fanner in his retirement, and who, by 
his urbane and friendly manner makes one al- 
most forget that be is in the presence of one of 
the greasiest intellects of the age. xAs a public 
man, he is well known, but not as a citizen and 
“the Farmer of Marshfield”— at home, on his 
farm, or among his neighbors. Here tne mind 
is unbent -the stirring scenes of political life 
are apparently thrown aside and .forgotten, and 
the farmer may • pproach bim on equal ground, 
and however experienced he may be in the one 
pur.suit of his life, he will find .Mr. Webster at 
home on the subject of agriculture, -with a dis- 
position as ready to impart, as he is to receive 
information, on a business v/hich appears to be 
more hi.s pleasuie than his profit. But if his 
farming does not result in pecuniary pro.fit, he 
has the satisfaction — which, in a mind like his, 
is prized far higher than pecuniary gain — of j 
coiinienancing and encouraging by his exam- 
ple, the great agriculiural interests of the nation I 
as well as the influence he exerts on all snita- j 
ble occasions to promote them. 
His farm is extensive, and that we might 
have the best opportunity to see every part of it, { 
his foreman wi’h a carriage, wasat ourservice, 
to take us over it, and explain the various ope- 
rations and e.xpcriments that are in progress. , 
Mr. Webster also devoted a portion of the time 
we remained on the farm in pointing out to us 
the improvements he had already marie, as w'ell 
as those he had in contemplation, and related 
many interesting incidents in the history of the 
family of the original proprietors of his farm, 
and of events which transpired in the early his- 
tory ol this ancient town. 
a- * it- # ^ -a- a- 
Mr. Web.ster’s farm contains about fifteen 
hundred acres. This large area embraces a 
great variety of .soil, about 300 acres of it salt 
marsh, the remainder very diverse : some por- 
tions of it may be considered of first quality, 
other sections medium, and some of it rather in- 
ferior ; but none so poor that good crops cannot 
be produced with good manuring. The situa- 
tion is a fine one for a stock farm — and if good 
prices for good l.eef and mutton could be ob- 
tained, it might be a profitable farm for that 
purpose. What adds much to the value of the 
place is; the facility with which sea manure can 
be obtained. It is said that there are seven 
miles ot beach, reckoning all the indentures and 
various outlines of the shore which skirts the 
farm. Here large quantities of kelp are annu- 
allv obtained, and in some seasons white fish to 
any extent are caught. With these natural re- 
sources so near at hand, the farm is rapidly in- 
creasing in value and productiveness. Wher- 
ever these leriilizing substances have been ap- 
plied their beneficial effect is obvious. A large 
portion of the farm is devoted to pasturage, 
which feeds not only Mr. Webster’s large stock 
of cattle, but many .others of his neighbors, 
which are pastured by the week or by the sea- 
son. 
The mansion house of Mr. Webster makes 
quite an imposing appearance as it is seen from 
the road, having, recently been fitted up, and 
large additions made to the old part, which was 
originally a square house, two and a half sto- 
ries high, with a wing extending back : a wing 
containing a suit of rooms, includinga spacious 
library, has been added, making an extensive 
front, with a piazza the whole length, extending 
round the ends of the building and part of the 
rear. The old and new parts ot the building 
harmonize very well. Comfort, convenience 
and neatness are more conspicuous in the ar- 
rangement, than any eflort at display. The 
mansion is situated 30 or 40 rods from the pub- 
lic road, and is approached by a broad drive 
way bordered by a hedge and belt of trees and 
shrubs. In front of the house is a fine lawn of 
five or six acres, dotted with trees in groups 
and single, and ornamented near the d a-elling 
with fanciltil beds ot flowers, cut out in the 
smooth sward. But the most striking object 
which meets the eye at first sight, is a majestic 
elm tree, near the east corner ot the house, 
which forms a complete bower. It stands oa 
an oval grass plot, which makes a fine carpet 
for the bower. At a distance of eight or ten 
ieet from the ground the branches extend in eve- 
rv direct ion hor-lzontally, gently curving over 
till. they rest upon the green sward, excep'ing on 
the side next to the house, where it has been 
necessary to cut out some of the low'er limbs, 
that carriages may pass to the eastern door. 
The branches on this side nearly touch the 
house, and form a complete canopy to this en- 
trance, The longest diamqter of this tree bow- 
er is 04 feet — perhaps 70 the_ other way. Seats 
are arranged around the tree near the trunk, 
where is a most delighiful retreat, especially in 
snch a dav as was that when we enjoyed its 
shade, the thermometer indicating tl e beat as 
near 90°. The tree is said to have been plant- 
ed 80 vears ago. 
The section of the farm on which the house 
stands, contains about 40 acres, and is bounded 
on three sides by a wide belt of young trees, 
through which there is a winding walk. In this 
area are incl ded the lawn in front; to the west, 
the orchard; in the rear, grass, and a large fish 
pond, ornamented with a boat moored upon its 
surface, which an apprentice boy, while en- 
gaged in painting ihe house, took a-fancy to con- 
vert into a mimic man of-wnr; to the east, an 
extensive fruit, vegetable, and flower garden, of 
3 or 4 acres; and beyond this, a conical hill, 
crowned with a summer house. When we vi- 
sited this farm five years ago, this hill had the 
appearance of a miserable gravel-knoll, with a 
few stinted shrubs and trees. It was now 
covered by a luxuriant growth of young trees 
and shrubs, from 10 to 12 feet high — among 
them many locu.sl and other trees which had 
been raised from seed, and other species ii^hich 
had been transplanted. The belts had been 
formed in the same way. In rear of the garden, 
