WHAT FARMERS OUGHT TO KNOW. 
91 
WHAT FARMERS OUGHT TO KNOW. 
Let us see what farmers ought to know and 
do, to raise themselves to the character of pro¬ 
fessional men; and what almost any of them 
might accomplish in the long winter evenings, 
at a trifling cost for books, and a little more 
expense of hard thought and attention. 
A farmer ought to understand the leading 
principles of chemistry. The soil he plods 
among at the plow tail, is not a mere inactive 
mass, sticking to his shoes when wet, and chok¬ 
ing him with dust when dry. It is a vast labora¬ 
tory, full of many and strange materials, always 
in action, warring, combining, changing, per¬ 
petually ; to-day receiving accessions from the 
heavens; to-morrow, pouring them into the wide 
sea, to be again supplied to other lands. The 
earth is all but a living creature; and he whose 
business has been slanderously said to be but 
“ of the earth, earthy,” should surely understand 
the soil’s nature, its elements, its likings, and its 
diseases. 
The farmer should understand physiology. 
Under his care, he has the noblest forms of cre¬ 
ation—the ox, the horse, the sheep. Can he 
spend a life among them, and not know how the 
heart beats—how the nerves thrill—where lie the 
muscles—what are the principles of action—and 
the seats of disease—how the fat grows—and 
how the bones are formed ? Can he be a 
breeder, who has never studied the peculiarities 
of races ? Can he be anything but an empiric, 
who undertakes to feed and fatten cattle, with¬ 
out knowing of what the food is composed, and 
what parts of the body require this or that 
element ? 
The farmer should have a knowledge of medi¬ 
cine, and of the elements of surgery; for though, 
in this respect, when applied to human ailments, 
it may prove that “ a little knowledge is a dan¬ 
gerous thing,” yet many a fine animal is allowed 
to become dog’s meat, because its owner could 
not distinguish between a fever and an inflam¬ 
mation, set a bone, nor bandage a wound. 
The farmer should be a botanist. The prim¬ 
eval curse of mother earth was, that she should 
bring forth thorns and thistles; and many other 
noxious weeds besides, have since been added 
to her progeny. How great the amount of toil 
expended, and how serious the loss of crops, 
from such plants as Canada thistle, burdocks, 
turkey weed, and a host of others, let those tell 
who have been the sufferers. Many books have 
been written on such things; many plans have 
been given for eradicating them ; but unless the 
farmer can distinguish them—unless he knows 
their character, histories, and modes of growth, 
how unaided does he go to his task! Besides, 
botany, in all its shapes, is the natural science 
of the countryman. How does the seed germi¬ 
nate ? How does the tender leaf unfold itself? 
How is the blossom impregnated and the fruit 
formed ? What will injure, what improve each 
plant? All these are questions which every 
farmer should have studied and ascertained. 
And can any one be content to spend a life in 
ignorance of the names and characters of the 
trees and flowers that are so gorgeously spread 
around him, painting his fields and woods with 
their thousand hues, and rendering this outward 
world a mass of beauty ? 
The farmer should be—or shall we say, should 
wish to be—a naturalist. No one has so many 
opportunities of observing and noting the habits 
and peculiarities of animals, birds, and insects. 
In some cases, this knowledge may be of ines¬ 
timable service. It must always be a pursuit 
of pleasure, and cannot fail to refine and im¬ 
prove the mind and sensibilities, both towards 
the inferior creation, and towards man. 
But time would fail to tell of what the farmer 
ought to know and understand. There is no 
knowledge which would not be serviceable to 
him. There is none which will not elevate him 
in the scale of intellectual beings; and, what, 
perhaps, is more important to many, there is 
scarcely a physical science which he will not 
find putting money into his pocket constantly. 
How many times in a life would a barometer 
save a whole harvest; how many blacksmiths’ 
and carpenters’ bills may be escaped by the 
humble knowledge of the use of tools. Now, 
if our farmers would but become self-instructors, 
and, instead of doing just as their great grand¬ 
fathers did before them, they would think and 
learn for themselves. No profession would 
become more honorable, carry more weight in 
society, nor be more ardently sought after by the 
active and intelligent of all classes. Instead of 
our young men rushing from the country to the 
city, the city youths would yearn to be farmers; 
and instead of the chief emulation being who 
should save most, the strife would be who should 
accumulate the most by the profoundest experi¬ 
ments, most successfully carried into practice. 
By these means, farming would cease to be the 
mere drudgery of “ dirty-handed industry;” and 
every operation would become scientific, based 
on great principles, breeding new thoughts and 
new results, and ending in valuable acquisitions. 
Instead of the poet describing the farmer as 
one who 
“ Wandered on, unknowing what he sought, 
And whistled as he went, for want of thought,” 
we should have farmers themselves distinguished 
authors of valuable works; scientific, at all 
events, if not poetic. Some such great minds 
we already have employed in farming, but 
unfortunately, that is not yet the character of 
the class. G. F. 
Michigan, Jan. 5th, 1850. 
MANURE—PLOWING UNDER GREEN CROPS. 
I wish to say a few words on the subject of 
manure, and plowing in crops as a fertilising 
process. Although I would have every farmer 
make all the compost he can in every possible 
way, to enrich his soil, yet it seems to me he 
needs something in addition to this, to fertilise 
his land. Suppose a man has a farm of 200 
acres. He will not be likely to make more than 
from 200 to 400 loads of manure a-year, and 
this ought to be put on from 5 to 10 acres. You 
will see, by this course, it will be a long time 
before he is enabled to enrich his whole farm. 
Now, the way I would advise, would be to 
