10 
Judge Cowen’s Report, 
On the propriety of introducing elementary books upon 
Agriculture into common schools, made in pursuance of 
a resolution passed in the agricultural convention. 
The committee to whom it was referred to consider 
the propriety of introducing books which treat on agri¬ 
culture into district schools, respectfully report, 
That so far as reading lessons on agriculture can be 
properly introduced into common schools, your commit¬ 
tee are not aware that the books now used there are de¬ 
ficient. Such schools are not the places for learning the 
practical details of any business or profession. The ut¬ 
most that can be done is by short, easy and interesting 
lessons to create an appetite for and a skill in general 
reading. School books in that line should therefore be 
of a miscellaneous character, having reference in a de¬ 
gree to the virtues which pertain to the agriculturist in 
common with others; industry, frugality, integrity, &c. 
If they be deficient in any respect, it is perhaps in not 
inculcating sufficiently at large the peculiar advantages 
enjoyed by the farmer. Beside mastering his appropri¬ 
ate reading lessons, the scholar is put to his geography, 
history, &c.; and these, when added to his spelling, wri¬ 
ting. grammar and arithmetic compose about the sum 
of learning which the common farmer ordinarily can be¬ 
stow upon his son consistently with the diligent pursuit 
of his business ; and a thorough knowledge of these ru¬ 
diments is about all which the son can acquire. Even 
this must be done in those intervals which can be allow¬ 
ed from the service of his father; and he is then left till 
he reaches full age, and for the remainder of his active 
life, to his own efforts for improvement upon the foun¬ 
dation, thus laid. 
He has already acquired a knowledge of the essential 
branches of his profession while laboring for and under 
the tuition of his father; and, in the usual course of 
things, will make a competent, perhaps a good farmer in 
the ordinary acceptation of the word. To make him 
more, it is at this stage, we apprehend, that agricultural 
books should be put into his hands. He now, in an edu¬ 
cational point of view, has two objects before him. His 
primary object is that course of instruction which will 
make his profession available to its utmost extent in bet¬ 
tering his fortune; his secondary is that more general 
improvement of the mind which is to fix his intellectual 
rank among his fellow-citizens. The latter is of course 
left to his taste, his means and his leisure. But the for¬ 
mer is a mean by which this common farmer ought to 
be enabled, in the course of a few years, to double his 
capital and the nett profits of his business by the addi-. 
tional knowledge which he brings into it, without adding 
a single acre to his domain. We assume that all this is 
feasible, even supposing him to be placed where a ma¬ 
jority of our agricultural population now stand, on a farm 
exhausted of its primitive fertility. The history of agri¬ 
culture will here teach him that soils naturally worse 
and more reduced by neglect, in a climate less favorable 
than his own, and in countries borne down by rent and 
taxes, have, by the application of that very skill which, 
by due attention, he can easily acquire and apply in his 
turn, been raised to greater strength than his own land 
possessed when first reclaimed from ‘the forest, and put 
under cultivation, with all the vigor of its vegetable 
mould. Being capable of reading and understanding so 
much, and of studying and finally mastering the details 
by which such a result has been accomplished, and be¬ 
ing, moreover, stimulated by considerations of personal 
gain, he will successfully aim at a similar result in his 
own qase, if the requisite means of instruction be placed 
within Ms reach. 
Such a great desideratum in the most important branch 
of national industry, never has been and never can be 
J ilaced below the anxious notice of an enlightened legis- 
ature ; and their refusal to act can be accounted for on¬ 
ly by doubts concerning the means which are proper for 
promoting it. State and county agricultural societies 
have heretofore been formed, and are again proposed by 
some; by others an agricultural college, to be connected 
with a pattern farm. We have witnessed the operation 
of the former on an extensive scale and under vigorous 
legislative patronage. Although they proved to be use¬ 
ful in a high degree, yet many complained that the 
promised results would by no means warrant the conti¬ 
nuing on foot such a cumbrous, troublesome and expen¬ 
sive machinery. The effect of the latter has not yet 
been seen. It is not to be denied that it may do well in 
what would be called the higher walks of agriculture; 
and in time extend its influence to the rank and file of 
the profession. But the whole army should be disci¬ 
plined by the speediest methods. It is on an extended 
scale only that agricultural skill can be felt as a national 
benefit; and it is feared by many that its diffusion 
through such a medium as a college must be indirect, slow 
and perhaps, after all, stop short with but a small por¬ 
tion of communitjJfcB 
It appears to yorrr committee that we should, there¬ 
fore, as far as possible, avail ourselves of what may not 
improperly be called a common school of agriculture .— 
This may, as we believe, be done by placing more with¬ 
in reach of our intelligent yeomanry such books as in¬ 
sinuate agricultural instruction in a plain and practical 
way. We cannot doubt that, such a method would be 
decidedly effectual with all that class of young men, al¬ 
ready very numerous, who have been educated in the 
manner we have before mentioned. We may assume 
that their course of life has formed them to habits of 
application and disciplined them in the manipulations of 
farm-labor ; and though, so far, trained in some respects 
on an imperfect plan, their minds are not yet shackled 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
by , prejudice in favor of a slovenly and negligent system. 
They have at home the advantage of theory and prac¬ 
tice, of an intimate connection between reading and ac-i 
tion, the acquisition of book knowledge and the means 
of applying it in their own business. In short, the fami¬ 
ly of such a man, his own fire side is his school of study, 
and his farm a laboratory where his learning not only 
may be instantly applied but turned to account. 
Such is the only true system of instruction in other 
professions. A distinction is carefully kept up between 
the preparatory and professional education of the stu¬ 
dent. In the latter it is deemed essential that he should., 
be put to practical details as well as reading; and his 
progress is very commonly measured by the diligence of 
his application, entirely independent of the character of 
his instructor. Give him the stimulant of necessity, his 
books and his field of exertion, and he will be sure to 
make good progress under the most careless tutor. He 
is put into a vigorous course of self education. 
Something much like this is already apparent among 
us, with those who may be called students in the profes¬ 
sion of agriculture. A spirit of inquiry has been arous¬ 
ed, and evidences of improvement have, within a few 
years, presented themselves, more striking in character 
and aggregate than could be collected in the history of 
many years before. It is true these evidences are yet 
but sparsely exhibited; and it is to be lamented that they 
are far from being numerous enough to countervail the 
delusive encouragement heretofore holden out to the 
more splendid but less useful branches of industry.— 
The fact, however, presents itself; and your committee 
feel at no loss in attributing it to the more extended in¬ 
troduction of agricultural books among a reading com¬ 
munity. The more conspicuous instances are obviously 
connected with the recent establishment of a periodical 
paper called the Cultivator at the city of Albany. This 
paper has been remarkable for its steady series of well 
selected lessons, with various information on the subject 
of agriculture, imparted in a plain and familiar style, 
and withal for so moderate a price as to be accessible 
like a common school book. Up to the time of its ap¬ 
pearance, so low was the state of agricultural knowledge, 
that a great portion of the old and long cultivated parts 
of the state were surrendered in the minds of the pro¬ 
prietors, to a course of hopeless deterioration. Such 
gloomy prospects have been dissipated, confidence has 
succeeded to despondency, and has acquired steadiness 
mainly by carrying into practice the suggestions derived 
from the Cultivator. The Genesee Farmer, also, a paper 
conducted on similar principles, but with a more parti¬ 
cular view to the western part of the state, has exercised 
a like influence within the sphere of its circulation.— 
The able conductors of these papers have eviscerated 
from numerous and ponderous volumes, such portions of 
instruction as they believed would best subserve the 
wants of our general farming population, and sent them 
forth modified by their own local experience and infor¬ 
mation, and divested as far as possible of every thing 
technical or obscure. They have placed the professorial 
chair in the farm-house. Their success has added to the 
number of instances, in which, since discovering the art 
of printing, the practice of assembling in organized class¬ 
es for the purpose of acquiring knowledge, may be dis¬ 
pensed with. Ten thousand eyes can now be simulta¬ 
neously turned to almost any branch of instruction, more 
easily, cheaply, and with greater effect than one hundred 
could before. The wealthy farmer can avail himself of 
a full library, both European and American. But the 
ingenious purveyor of the periodical press has, we think, 
demonstrated, that, if his system be properly followed 
out, the distinction between the greatest and the most 
humble means may, in this respect, be nearly annihilated. 
To resume the figure we before used; the power of this 
press can be made most rapidly available in arousing 
the esprit du corps, in contributing the material, and per¬ 
fecting the discipline of our whole agricultural force. 
Your committee have adverted to the two papers men¬ 
tioned, because to us at least they present the most strik¬ 
ing instances in favor of the proposition we mean to 
submit. It is no slight evidence that by individual means 
of this kind, a good school is already established. We 
see from what has been done that it has taken the most 
appropriate form; and the inference is not less certain 
than it is gratifying, that such an effort properly encou¬ 
raged, will eventually bring up the energies of our farm¬ 
ing population to a par with what may be seen in the 
best cultivated regions of Europe. The object should be 
here as it has been there, to add to the intellectual pow¬ 
er of the common farmer, and direct it into the line .of 
his profession. The inductive philosophy of agriculture 
should be snatched from its hiding places and presented 
at the door of the cottage. 
While, therefore, your committee disapprove the in¬ 
troduction of books on agriculture into common schools 
for children, they have not thought it impertinent to dis¬ 
tinguish the circumstances under which, in their opinion, 
such books may and should be used. And they would 
suggest whether, among the Various plans for agricultu¬ 
ral improvement which have been submitted as worthy 
of legislative encouragement, the multiplication of such 
useful publications as have been found to answer the 
wants of our yeomanry, does not present high preten¬ 
sions. Notwithstanding their present circulation, (and 
the : committee are rejoiced to believe a circulation which 
not' only has fully indemnified the proprietors, but will 
continue to do so) there are doubtless yet many parts of 
the state where they have not been introduced. One 
method of supplying the defect would be by new editions 
to be put in the market at a moderate price; or a copy 
might be placed at the expense of the state, with the 
clerk of each school district, to be open at his discretion 
for perusal by his constituents. Various other and per¬ 
haps better systems of distribution may occur should le¬ 
gislative attention be thought due to the subject. 
Respectfully, E. COWEN. 
The Mulberry and Silk Culture. 
We call the attention of our northern readers, who 
are disposed to embark in the silk business, to the 
plan of rearing the Mulberry, practised by a corres¬ 
pondent in Michigan, as mentioned in a former num¬ 
ber of the Cultivator, viz: to cultivate them in stools, 
and not as trees. To do this, seedlings of a years 
growth are chosen. The whole ground is ploughed ; 
the plants are laid in the furrow, in a sloping direc¬ 
tion, so that the top of the stem shall, after a furrow 
has been turned upon the plants, project a little above 
the surface. The plants may be laid in rows at six 
to nine feet apart, and like intervals between the rows. 
Nearly every bud will grow and become a shoot; and 
consequently there will be stools of several stocks in¬ 
stead of a single stem. The advantages of this mode 
of culture are, •> - 
1. The leaves are more readily gathered than from 
trees; 
2. There will be more and larger leaves, because 
the system of roots will be larger in a stool than in a 
single tree, and the growth consequently more vigor¬ 
ous ; 
3. More leaves will be obtained lrom the same area 
of surface; And 
4. And principally, if the winter kills the tops, 
wholly or partially, the dead parts can be easily cut 
away, and a new and vigorous growth ensues—be¬ 
cause the roots are seldom injured if planted on dry 
ground. In case the tops are killed, it will only be 
necessary to retard somewhat th,e, hatching of the 
eggs, till the growth of the new sprouts is somewhat 
advanced. 
In this way it is probable the multicaulis may be 
rendered useful in the northern counties, or they may 
be cut down in the fall, and the stumps covered with 
litter or earth. In the mean time we would recom¬ 
mend more attention to the culture of our native red 
mulberry, which is hardy. The fruits ripen in mid¬ 
summer, when they may be easily saved for seed. 
Proceedings of Agricultural Societies .—We have 
received the proceedings of several societies, and an¬ 
niversary addresses, for publication. All of these pos¬ 
sess a local, and many of them a general interest_ 
But it will he perceived, that as the Cultivator has a 
national circulation, were the practice of publishing 
these proceedings gone into, all might claim an equal 
participation in our columns, and at particular seasons 
would entirely engross them, to the exclusion of other 
matter, of more general interest. We hope these 
considerations will serve as a sufficient apology for 
what might otherwise be considered in us a want of 
courtesy. There are probably fifty or sixty societies 
who would have an equal claim to our columns; and 
as we cannot gratify all, we are compelled to deny all, 
except so far, as in our judgment, these proceedings 
possess pre-eminent merits. 
The ruta baga crop possesses an advantage over 
other root crops, not only in the shorter time it is up¬ 
on the ground and requires nursing, but from the 
greater facility with wdiich it is harvested. Mr. Hol¬ 
lis, of Butternuts, pulled and topped 214 bushels in 
three hours and fourteen minutes. It will require at 
least eleven days for a man to harvest this quantity of 
potatoes. The mode of proceeding was, to draw a 
turnip with each hand, and lay them in rows, the 
roots to the drills; and then return upon the next 
row, in the same way, thus bringing the tops of both 
rows together. In topping, the tad of the root was 
slightly raised with the left hand, while with the right, 
armed with a heavy knife, the top w r as severed with 
a blow. 
Carrots.—We are gratified to learn, that the field 
culture of this root is rapidly increasing, and that se¬ 
veral farmers are successfully feeding them to fatten¬ 
ing animals. 
Oat Pasture .—We find in the second volume of the 
Transactions of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, 
an interesting communication from William Young, 
of Delaware, describing the mode which he had suc¬ 
cessfully adopted, of renovating lands, which had be¬ 
come so exhausted as to be “ incapable of producing 
any crop.” This was effected by “ploughing and 
sowing, for the purpose of producing pasture, and an 
accumulation of vegetable soil.” For this purpose 
wheat, rye, Indian corn, buckwheat and* oats were 
severally tried, and the latter adopted as the best. 
The soil was a cold heavy clay. His practice was to 
sow oats as early as possible in the spring, upon land 
doughed in the fall, or in fields which were in pasture or 
oats the preceding autumn. These afforded early feed, 
and were fed till July or August, when the ground was 
reploughed, and again sown with oats ; and these last 
