40 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Mo. 145. 
tjin i ' ■—-“ 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Making Farm Life Attractive. 
A few months ago, something was said of the 
importance to farmers, of cultivating a habit of 
observation, and of making notes of their expeii- 
ence for the benefit of others. A few thoughts 
on this general subject may well be added: 
Why should not every farmer make a cabinet 
collection of every kind of rock upon his land 1 
All soils are made up, in no small measure, ol 
these rocks disintegrated (worn down) by the 
action of the elements. Having small specimens 
of these rocks arranged on shelves in his house, 
he can daily see the chief constituent elements oi 
his farm. To do this, he need not himself be a 
scientific chemist or mineralogist; the neighbor¬ 
ing school-teacher or educated physician will tell 
him the precise name and quality of every stone. 
Then let him label them, and at his leisure read 
and learn all he can about his cabinet of minerals. 
Near by, let him have a collection of the differ¬ 
ent soils on his farm; from the hill and valley, 
top soil, subsoil, alluvial, clay, gravel, and sand. 
Let these be arranged in vials and bottles, and 
neatly labeled. And let him not stop here. Do 
not trees grow in his wood-lot and orchard, and 
grasses and grains in his fields '! Let him select 
specimens of every variety of wood—say a small 
cross-section of every sort of tree, specimens of 
their leaves, flowers, and seed, and samples ot 
dried grasses and grains, neatly prepared and la¬ 
beled. And as to fruits, if he has a son or 
daughter skilled in drawing, they should make 
pictures of all the fruits growing in his orchard 
and garden. A gentleman of our acquaintance 
has begun to make such a collection of fruits, 
drawn and colored by his own hand in leisure 
hours, and it is very beautiful. He takes the 
fruits as they successively ripen, drawing and 
painting them in water-colors. He began with 
the earliest strawberry, and included the cherries, 
raspberries, currants, summer pears, apples, and 
Fall and Winter fruit. Those which escape him 
one year, he obtains the next year. When he has 
copied the whole circle of fruits growing in his 
neighborhood, he intends to have the drawings 
handsomely bound. They will make a set of 
books of rare interest and value ! 
Let the farmer and his family make some col¬ 
lection of this sort. And to these things let him 
add specimens of the insects injurious to vegeta¬ 
tion, classified and named. Nor would it be 
amiss to make or purchase drawings of useful 
animals, farm implements, and various works of 
ait and taste. 
But enough has now been said to show that a 
wide field of pleasing and useful observation lies 
open before any farmer. How much would the 
habit we have advocated tend to liberalize his 
views, give him a new and stronger interest in 
his chosen profession, and elevate it also in the 
minds of others ! It would then be plainly seen 
that there is no end to the subjects of interest¬ 
ing and useful observation and thought suggested 
by°the pursuits of agriculture. And what a happy 
influence would this habit of observation exert on 
the children educated on a farm so conducted ! 
They would grow up, thinking men and women, 
and they would honor and fondly love the calling 
of agriculture. 
How foolish it is for farmers to complain of 
their children forsaking the homestead at the ear¬ 
liest opportunity, while such parents do nothing 
to invest farming with some kind of attractions! 
Their children would be dolts, if they didn’t wish 
to get away from some farms that we know of. 
But let parents show them that agriculture is 
something besides drudgery ; show them that it 
awakens thought, demands thought, and honors 
thought, and they will not run away from it. 
They will not hasten to towns and cities to en¬ 
gage in trades and professions less honorable, 
more uncertain of yielding pecuniary advantage, 
and less healthful to body and mind and morals. 
One who tries to practice 
WHAT HE PREACHES. 
A Flock of Sheep Cheaply Saved, 
AND SOME OTHER MATTERS. 
Many noteworthy incidents, as well as valuable 
suggestions, not designed for publication, come 
interwoven with business letters, or as post¬ 
scripts. From a letter before us, written by an 
Illinois clergyman enclosing his subscription, we 
gather that the writer joined the Illinois (Method¬ 
ist) Conference 32 years ago, when that confer¬ 
ence embraced the whole of that great State, and 
Indiana also. He refers to the progress he has 
witnessed during thirty years in that region— 
which has been very great, surely. The writer, 
like many others of his class, has lahored to pro¬ 
mote the physical as well as spiritual well-being 
his wide parish, and as one means of securing 
this end, he has endeavored to increase their in¬ 
telligence, by inducing them to read agricultural 
papers. We will give one instance of his success 
in his own words : 
“ I once, with much persuasion, got a rich 
farmer—a brother in the church—to take an agri¬ 
cultural paper. It so chanced that he had a fine 
flock of sheep, several of which were just then 
attacked with a disease which carried them off, 
and he was in great fear that he would lose the 
whole. Going to the village post-office for his 
agricultural paper, and opening it, the first article 
that caught his eye was on sheep, which described 
the disease in his own flock, and the remedy. He 
went to the drug store at once, procured the me¬ 
dicine and cured his sheep. When I came round 
again to preach at his house, he was quite jubi¬ 
lant over what his paper had done for him. I 
took occasion to point out the advantages of such 
papers; but with what success you shall see. 
At the end of the year I remarked to him that it 
was time to send on for the next volume. His re¬ 
ply was ; 1 O ! I have twelve numbers already, 
and they will do as long as I live and there he 
quit, I suppose forever. But such things are 
doubtless familiar to you. I have often thought 
it strange, when visiting wealthy farmers, to find 
any quantity of trifling ‘ Dollar Papers ’ on their 
tables, but very seldom a good agricultural work. 
I should be glad to see this remedied ; I hope it 
may be.” 
We can bring hundreds of farmers who will 
cheerfully acknowledge that a single hint in a 
little paragraph in the Agriculturist has set in mo¬ 
tion a train of thought, which resulted in the ad¬ 
dition of hundreds of dollars to their income. 
But we think the number is not large of those 
who have once tested the advantage of reading 
and thinking upon their own profession, who will 
afterwards neglect to avail themselves of the 
continuance of such advantages. If we employed 
agents to canvass, we should send them first into 
those places, where there were the greatest num¬ 
ber of agricultural papers already taken, believ¬ 
ing, as we do, that those who have read most, 
are the most eager to add to the sources of their 
information. Still, there are many instances like 
the one detailed above. We seldom keep track 
of them in our business experience, but here is 
one in point. We have on file a letter from a 
Ncw-Jersey farmer, written early in 1857, in 
which he voluntarily states that a single hint in 
the Agriculturist had certainly put at least $100 
into his pocket; yet, in January, 1858, when a 
neighbor called upon him in making up a club, he 
said, “ Times were hard, and he guessed he 
would not take any agricultural paper at present.” 
We happen to know that in the same month he 
purchased four $100 shares of Railroad stock as 
an investment. We are glad to have on record 
that the Agriculturist enabled him to pay for at 
least one of those shares, from each of which he is 
now deriving $10 annual dividend. Perhaps if 
he had continued taking the paper, he might 
have added another R. R. share. But this is a 
matter he must look to. The profit of three or 
five cents on his single subscription, and a hun¬ 
dred other similar ones, is not a matter to be 
worried about. 
This instance was only introduced for illustra¬ 
tion. We feel confident that no man can take 
and read the very poorest agricultural paper in 
the land, without getting hints every year, that 
will directly or indirectly repay him many times 
the cost. Evidences of this in our own experience 
and in that of others, more than anything else, 
led us to our present calling. We expect to con¬ 
tinue in it, and we shall continue to use every 
honorable exertion to increase our circulation, 
by advertisements as we can afford them, (though 
odd or ‘ outre' as our friend Major Freas calls- 
them); and by offers of premiums, seeds, etc , 
etc. (clap-trap if you like), to catch the public eye 
and stir up the farmer to read, read, READ and 
THINK. If we can get their attention one 
year, the main work will be accomplished as a 
general thing. They may afterwards change to 
other agricultural papers, which happen to suit 
their taste or fancy better, if they like. We shall 
seek out methods of drawing other readers,—and 
they are coming in by thousands. Our main ef¬ 
fort is to attract the attention of the masses. 
Others may put what construction they like upon 
our mode of doing business, (some of our staid 
cotemporaries have buttoned up their coats and 
shrugged their shoulders, as much as to say—well 
we can’t exactly tell what they would say), but 
we believe we are doing a positive good to the 
country, in the course we are pursuing, and our 
conservative cotemporaries will reap a benefit in 
increased circulation, at which we shall rejoice 
greatly.-Take another look at our premiums 
for new subscribers. 
To Prevent Cows from Kicking 
Mr. Smith, of Saratoga Co, N. Y., says he 
subdues refractory cows thus : “ Take a rope or 
leather strap, 18 inches long, and fasten the two 
ends firmly together. Raise the fore leg of the 
animal, upon the side of the milker, and bending 
the foot back upon the leg, slip the strap or rope 
over the knee joint, so that the animal cannot 
get her foot upon the ground. This will prevent 
the possibility of the cow’s kicking, for, to raise 
either hind foot she must stand upon both fore 
feet. When properly adjusted the pail is safe.” 
-^-4 —— was O -► -- 
A coach-driver stopped at a house to get some 
water for the young ladies in the carriage. Being 
asked why.he stopped, he promptly replied : “to 
water my flowers.” 
Rarely trust a person who solicits your confi¬ 
dence. It is usually done for betrayal. 
The world makes us talkers, but solitude makes 
us thinkers. 
Evil does not always come to injure. 
