AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Designed to improve all Classes interested in Soil Culture 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN — Washington 
JfI©I>, A. M., 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
mtmumm m tm. 
$1.00 PER ANNDM, IN ADVANCE. 
SINGLE NUMBERS 10 CENTS. 
VOL. XVIII.—No, 11.] 
NEW-YORK, NOVEMBER, 1859. 
[NEW SERIES—No. 154, 
S^“0££iee at 189 Water-st., (Near Fulton-st.) 
jrg^Coiiif.eHts, 'jr crms? &C., osj pag'C 353. 
[copy right secured.] 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1859, 
by Orange Judd, in the Clerk’s Office of the District 
Court of the United States for the Southern District of 
New-York. 
ESP* N. Bi.—Every Journalis invited freely to copy 
any and all desirable articles with credit, and no use or 
advantage will be taken of the Copy-Right, wherever 
each article or illustration is duly accredited to the 
American Agriculturist. ORANGE JUDD, Proprietor. 
American Agriculturist iu (Kerman. 
The AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST is published in 
both the English and German Languages. Both 
Editions are of Uniform size, and contain as 
nearly as possible the same Articles and Illustra¬ 
tions. The German Edition is furnished at the 
same rates as the English, singly or in clubs- 
November. 
“And now with Autumn’s moonlit eves, 
Corn’s harvest time has come ; 
We pluck away the frosted leaves, 
And bear the treasure home. 
Where the wide old kitchen hearth 
Sends up its smoky curls, 
Who will not thank the kindly earth 
And bless our corn-fed girls ! 
Let earth withhold her goodly root, 
Let mildew blight the rye, 
Give to the worm the orchard’s fruit. 
The wheat field to the fly : 
But let the good old crop adorn 
The hills our fathers trod ; 
Still let us for this Golden Corn 
Send up our thanks to God !” 
Whittier’s Huskers. 
Who, of the millions of farmers 
in our land, will not say Amen to 
the aspiration of the poet! The 
corn harvest, the last of the ce¬ 
reals, is mostly gathered, and with it there comes 
a fitting pause for reflection and thanksgiving. 
All over the land, from the wooded valley of the 
Aroostook, to the bottom lands of the Delta of the 
Mississippi, the yellow ears have been stripped of 
their husks, and stored in cribs, and barns. Pro¬ 
bably a thousand millions of bushels have been 
harvested, and put in store for the various pur¬ 
poses of the farmers—some to be loaded into the 
wagon, and sent off to the market town, to pay 
off old scores, or to make new purchases of home 
comforts for wife and children—some to be trans¬ 
muted into pork and beef for home consumption, 
and other some to be ground into the golden 
meal to make all the delicious dishes, into which 
this favorite article enters. 
A native product of our continent, and flourish¬ 
ing over a broader belt of country than any other 
cereal, more generally cultivated, and adapted to 
a greater variety of uses than any other grain, it 
is meet that we should sing the praises of Indian 
corn, and give thanks for it; and its accompany¬ 
ing blessings. It was the custom of our New- 
Engfand fathers, when this crop was gathered in, 
to keep a social and religious festival, under the 
name of Thanksgiving. It was the most joyous 
day in the Puritan year, the season of family re¬ 
unions, and good cheer. The absent son and 
daughter in the city, with their little ones, then 
returned to the old homestead, once more to greet 
the mother that bare them, and to receive the 
blessing of their grey haired sire. Those were 
happy days, when the old family circle, with 
many new links, was reconstructed, and the aged 
couple were permitted to look around upon chil¬ 
dren’s children, and to rejoice in their welfare. 
For many years this honored custom was con¬ 
fined to New-England, and her sons and daugh¬ 
ters removing West and South found nothing in 
their new homes at this genial season of harvest, 
to remind them of the East. The mass was not 
yet leavened, and the times were not ready for a 
' THANKSGIVING DINNER. 
national Thanksgiving. Gradually the institu¬ 
tion passed the Hudson and the Delaware, the 
Potomac and the Missouri, until now, with few 
exceptions, it has become an established usage in 
all the States. It is w’orthily perpetuated, for its 
social and religious ends. A score or more of 
the States will keep the festival this month. 
And of all classes in this wide spread land, 
none have more occasion for gratitude to the 
Author of life, and all its blessings, than our rural 
population. We who have permanent possession 
of our homes, and can look out over broad acres, 
and call them ours, and point to lofty oaks and 
elms with the growth of centuries in their boughs, 
and say these monarchs of the wood are our pos¬ 
session, have no occasion to envy the luxurious 
lot of the citizen, who dwells in hired houses, is 
ministered unto by hired servants, does business 
in a hired establishment, is followed to his grave 
by hired mourners, and whose bones are thrust 
out of their hired sleeping place to make room 
for a new street or a new hotel. 
We have the most healthful occupation in the 
.world, the green fields and the free air ever 
around us. Our climate is indeed changeable, 
and severe in its influence upon those who are 
reckless of health. But for those who will adapt 
themselves to its peculiarities, and live soberly, 
and industriously, there is no better climate in the 
world than can be found in most parts of our 
country. There is something exhilarating to the 
nervous system in our brilliant skies and fresh 
breezes. The restless activity of the American 
character is no doubt in some measure owing to 
the quality of our atmosphere. 
Then we have, what is wanting in the popu¬ 
lous countries of Europe, cheap land. It is so 
abundant and cheap, even in the older States, 
that almost any industrious man can, in a few 
years, earn more acres than he can till. We 
have every where this material basis of happi¬ 
ness within our reach. The man of willing heart 
and strong arm can rear his 
home upon his own free acres, 
and rejoice in the full reward ef 
bis toil. To appreciate this bles¬ 
sing we have only to visit lands 
where the rent of the soil, an¬ 
nually, is two or three times 
more than its whole cost with 
us. The poor landless emigrant 
of ten years ago is now the pro¬ 
prietor of his quarter section 
—a cleared farm, on which are 
the comfortable dwelling and 
outbuildings, with herds of cat¬ 
tle and flocks of sheep. 
Our country is the paradise of 
the poor. If land is cheap, labor 
is dear, and all who have that 
commodity to sell, as their only 
fortune, can dispose of it to the 
best possible advantage. The 
rudest kind of labor is in demand, and every one 
who can lift a hoe or use a spade, can have plen¬ 
ty of bread as soon as his foot touches our shores. 
He leaves behind squalid misery, and homeless 
mendicants, to take his lot in a land where every 
native is ashamed to beg. 
Then, this labor, which is so abundantly re¬ 
warded, is not over burdened with taxes. The 
inevitable tithes, which go to the support of an 
established religion, in many lands, are here all 
self imposed, and no man pays for preaching or 
pastoral labor, which he does not enjoy. There 
are many rural communities, numbering thou¬ 
sands, whose whole tax for town and State pur¬ 
poses, does not equal as many dollars. When it 
is remembered that in some countries, the taxes 
eat up from one fourth to a half of the avails of 
industry, this fact will be appreciated. It should 
also be appreciated, when contrasted with the 
heavy burdens laid on tax-payers in large cities. 
Then, we have as the rich inheritance of every 
American citizen, our civil and religious institu¬ 
tions—no capricious will of a despot foreed upon 
