106 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
lations and mechanical labors which are to be per¬ 
formed upon it, generally fails in his expectations; 
and, it he has undertaken it for recreation or for pro¬ 
fit, he sinks his capita], or retires from his new em¬ 
ployment in disgust, before he has either tasted its 
pleasures or become capable of judging of its advan¬ 
tages. Whatever be his pretensions to science, there 
are a multitude of details in farming, which make 
every thing on the score of economy, which are best 
learnt in youth, and without a personal and practical 
knowledge of which, all is guess-work and uncer¬ 
tainty. 
Nor have we, at present, any institutions where 
the science can be acquired by young gentlemen, 
such as will qualify them to manage with judgment 
and profit, the estates which they are expected to 
heir, and destined to occupy. In existing schools, 
the sciences are taught rather as abstract studies, 
than as auxiliaries to productive labor. It is only by 
giving demonstrations of their principles, on the farm 
and in the shop, that we are enabled properly to in¬ 
stil into the minds of youth, their important bearings 
in the business of life. How little do the graduates 
of our colleges know, when they come from the clas¬ 
sic halls, of the application and importance of the na¬ 
tural sciences, and of chemistry, to the business of 
the farm. But give them two years of practical in¬ 
struction, and then scientific acquirements become 
useful and highly profitable to them. But if the sci¬ 
ence and practice are blended in the school of instruc¬ 
tion, the second apprenticeship is superseded—the 
two years are saved—and the boy comes into man¬ 
hood with the highest qualifications, and suitable ha¬ 
bits, to distinguish himself for usefulness, either as a 
laborer or manager on his own estate, or as a valua¬ 
ble assistant to others ; and with the knowledge and 
habits acquired in such a school, there is little danger 
of his becoming’ tired of the farm, a drone in the com¬ 
monwealth, or of his selling his principles, and com- 
promitting the freedom of his country, for the corrod¬ 
ing “spoils of office.” 
The importance of the sciences to all the arts, and 
more especially to agriculture, is every day becoming 
more manifest. Scotch husbandry has more of science 
than that of any other country ; and Scotch husbandry 
has reaped from it the richest rewards. Scotland has 
progressed in improvement, in the last half century, 
much faster than any other country. And the improv- 
ment of the mind, and the habits and comforts of her 
population, have advanced with the increased pro¬ 
ductiveness of her soil. But Scotland has not been 
affine in efforts to bring the mind as a powerful aux¬ 
iliary to agricultural labor. The Great Frederick 
of Prussia, was in the habit of expending more than a 
million of dollars annually to improve the agriculture 
of his dominions, which he considered as manure 
spread upon the ground. France places $100,000 
annually at the disposal of one of her ministers, to be 
employed for a like purpose. Bavaria, Hungary, 
Wirtemburgh, Prussia, France and Ireland, have 
their public schools of scientific and practical instruc¬ 
tion in agriculture. But we have yet to begin in this 
work of usefulness—in this work of mental, moral, 
and we may add political improvement—for, disguise 
the matter as we will, our security as a free people 
depends emphatically upon an enlightened and pros¬ 
perous yeomanry. Half the money that has been ex¬ 
pended, or in the opinion of some wasted, in the Se¬ 
minole war, would have built and endowed an agri¬ 
cultural college in every state of the union ; and a 
tithe of the national expenditure now, over what it 
was a few years ago, amounting, as it does, to 14 
or 15 millions annually, applied to improve and ele¬ 
vate the standing of rural labor, would have added, 
by this time, at least a tenth to the annual products of 
our agriculture. It is not our province to find fault 
with what has been done—we wish only to state what 
might have been done. 
On the importance of practical and scientific in¬ 
struction to the higher classes, and of scientific in¬ 
struction to those of lower grade, we beg to offer the 
following extracts, which we copy from a lengthy 
communication on the former branch of this subject, 
published in the Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of Agri¬ 
culture, and which have a particular reference to the 
south and to wealthy farmers of the north, who think 
their sons cannot become great men, without they 
are sent to the counter, the bar, or the desk, or as¬ 
sume the dignity of mere idlers. 
“ Strange to remark, anxious as landed proprietors 
certainly are to bestow a liberal education on their fa¬ 
milies, which is the best legacy they can leave to their 
younger sons, agriculture, which most materially affects 
the interests of themselves and their eldest sons, the 
very profession by which they are upheld in the high 
stations of society they occupy, they almost entirely ne¬ 
glect, as if, after the acquirement of a superior educa¬ 
tion, a man should be pshamed of attending to the 
means of his subsistence. Js it not ‘ passing strange/ 
that any country gentleman should be unacquainted 
with farming, the very source of his livelihood, when 
all other classes of people, in learning their respective 
professions, whether learned or vulgar, serve appren¬ 
ticeships, and toil through life thereafter? It seems to 
be forgotten that land ownership is a profession, that 
it is in the manner in which it is conducted, that the 
best interests of the country maybe injured or promot¬ 
ed, and that it is a profession which requires as great 
capacity of mind to practise it aright as to conduct those 
large commercial and manufacturing establishments 
whose importances so much lauded.” 
The writer then proceeds to enumerate the diffi¬ 
culties and losses which result from trusting the bu¬ 
siness of the farm to factors and agents, most of 
whom are wholly unqualified for the task; and the 
pleasurable sensations which are lost to the owner, 
by not understanding, and feeling a deep interest in, 
the various operations which are continually going 
on. He then proceeds— 
“ Now the effects of all these evils, we venture to as¬ 
sert, may be most effectually remedied by the sons of 
landed proprietors, who will themselves become land 
owners, acquiring a thorough knowledge of farming in 
their youth, as a necessary branch of practical educa¬ 
tion, and the management of their estates will then be 
felt a desirable gratification, not a task.” “ Proprietors 
would then discover there is not a more rational, pleas¬ 
ing, or interesting study, than the science of agricul¬ 
ture, and its practical application, nor one which can 
be so well combined with those manly sports and amuse¬ 
ments in which it is the pride of our country gentlemen 
to excel. They would then have no temptation to re¬ 
side abroad, but would discover, that a knowledge of 
the minutiae of farming creates a daily increasing inte¬ 
rest in field operations, and the rearing of stock.” 
“ Where is all this important knowledge to be acquir¬ 
ed? It is to be acquired, like every other species of 
knowledge, by observation, in the operation of nature, 
as displayed in the fields of art. Is this question asked 
in a country whose proud boast is to possess more en¬ 
terprising, educated, and well-informed farmers, [a 
boast that ought to apply literally and most emphati¬ 
cally to our free country,] than perhaps any other coun¬ 
try in the world ?” 
The writer then proceeds to answer the question 
by recommending, that these sons of wealth, and in¬ 
heritors of land, spend two years with an intelligent 
farmer, under the direction of a scientific tutor of 
competent acquirements. But how much better 
would be a school, in which there should be a tutor 
for each of the prominent branches of agricultural sci¬ 
ence, a first rate practical farmer, a library, an ex¬ 
perimental farm, a philosophical apparatus, a mecha¬ 
nical laboratory, a well conducted garden, and the sti¬ 
mulus of competition. But let us attend to what our 
writer recommends that the tutor should teach : 
“He should be competent to teach,” says he, “the 
application of chemistiy. He should teach the applica¬ 
tion of the principles of mechanics, in order that the 
principle on which any implement operates may be 
comprehended,—the application of the principles of hy¬ 
draulics, that the principles of draining, embanking and 
constructing reservoirs for water, may be easily under¬ 
stood. He should teach botany, to enable young farm¬ 
ers to distinguish soils by their natural vegetation; and 
particularly the physiology of plants, that the culture 
of plants of whatever kind, may be in conformity with 
appropriate soil and situation. Also geology, that the 
sub-strata,or subsoils, on which soils rest, may obtain due 
regard. Meteorology should be studied, in order to be 
able to anticipate the changes of the xveather. The ana¬ 
tomy and physiology of animals are also requisite for 
him to teach, that the good points of live stock may be 
duly appreciated. And above all, he ought to be ac¬ 
quainted with the practices of agriculture, lor although 
the farmer will no doubt undertake to teach this de¬ 
partment of the system, yet, unless the tutor also un¬ 
derstands it, he cannot so successfully demonstrate the 
applications of science to the operations of practice.” 
“With colloquial prelections and discussions in the 
house at stated hours, so as not to interfere with the 
hours of labor in the fields, and with demonstrations in 
the field, whilst the labor was in progress, a vast mass 
of useful information would in a short time be conveyed 
to, and acquired by, the pupils.” 
Practical Effects of Draining. 
The system of draining introduced into Scotland 
some years ago, and proceeding so rapidly, must be 
regarded as the greatest improvement of modern times. 
The landlord and farmer do it jointly. Here is a safe 
investment for money—the expense repaid in twenty 
years, regular interest, and the land improved in va¬ 
lue above one-third. Green crops are grown in great 
abundance after draining, where no attempt could be 
made before, and the farmers allow they have four 
crops in three years, and the draining pays on an 
average eight per cent. I know an instance of a wet 
clay soil, almost covered with rushes, being drained 
and improved at an expense of £15 an acre ($85) ; 
the green crops were so productive as to repay the 
expense in one year, and after deducting the old rent, 
the improvement pays fourteen per cent upon the out¬ 
lay. The drains are from 20 to 30 inches deep, and 
at the distance of from 12 to 20 feet, sometimes in 
the furrows of the field, or across, or obliquely, as the 
descent may suit, and sometimes the land is laid flat. 
Draining, to be remunerative, must be done effectu¬ 
ally. A field cannot be drained by putting a drain in 
a corner, one here and another there; by running 
one across the field, and another diagonally to that. 
It must be done completely, or not at all, for half 
measures are ever useless.— Qr. Jour, of Ag. 
Draining by Steam. 
Joseph Glynn has received the gold medal of the 
Society of Arts, for a communication on his applica¬ 
tion of steam power to draining fens, or extensive 
marshes. The process consists in excavating broad 
ditches through the fens, and applying stationary 
steam power at their termination, or lower side, to 
raise the water to a higher level, that it may pass off. 
His letter, with the estimates it embraces, is one of 
great interest to the civil engineer, and augurs favo¬ 
rably to the landed interests. Mr. G. had been em¬ 
ployed in eleven districts, and had already drained 
about 90,000 acres, the value of a portion of which 
has in consequence been increased from £10 and £20 
to £50 and £70 per acre. One tract contained 
25,000 acres, and was completely drained and kept 
dry by two engines of 60 and 80 horse power. An 
80 horse power engine, working 12 hours in a day, 
raised from 19 to 25 millions tons of water in a year. 
Deep Ploughing—Treading in Seed. 
We gather the following facts, which should not 
be lost to our readers, and which are in accordance 
with the teachings of science, from the proceedings 
of the Rutland (England) Agricultural Association, 
as published in the Farmers’ Magazine. 
On Mr. Barker’s health being given from the chair, 
this gentleman returned thanks, stated the great im¬ 
provement in ploughing, which had resulted from the 
distribution of premiums, at ploughing matches, and 
which had amounted to £40, and after referring to 
other local improvements, he proceeded to say— 
“ I will detail to you an experiment, which I made 
last year in deep ploughing. I felt at first inclined to 
try the press, but some said try the drill, some the 
broadcast, and at last I selected the drill, and had the 
seed trodden in by my Lord Lordsdale horses, when 
they were at exercise, and afterwards had a flock of 
400 or 500 sheep driven over it. The produce of this 
land averaged seven quarters (56 bushels) and one peck 
an acre throughout 22 acres—(the total product amount¬ 
ing to £402 3s. 9d. (= to $1,785, or $81 the acre,) and 
from two bushels and one peck of seed per acre sown; 
and I wish you would try the experiment of treading in 
the wheat, or fixing it firmly in the ground, which I am 
sure will lead to a similar result. As regards the exhi¬ 
bition of animals, I think we are still wrong in princi¬ 
ple, and in endeavoring to produce so much fat. If we 
paid greater attention to the increase of eatable flesh , I 
am certain a great improvement might be effected, es¬ 
pecially in the quality of Leicestershire sheep and pigs. 
When our prize animals are killed, what do we find ? 
Why perhaps five or six inches of fat to one of lean. I 
intend, another year, to offer a premium for that ani- 
mal which, when dead, shall show the most lean, and 
I hope that some one will offer a similar pig premium. 
I must beg you to take my hints about fat and lean into 
consideration, and see whether we cannot produce a 
greater quantity of eatable meat than we have hitherto 
done.” 
Useful Memoranda, 
From the Farmers' Magazine. 
Carrots. —The Reverend (for there are clergymen 
in England who rank among the most enterprising and 
intelligent farmers,) J. Monkhouse, has raised 30 tons 
of carrots on an acre. Some of the roots weighed more 
than 7 lbs. At 2s. per cwt. this crop would be worth 
£60 (= to $266.40) per acre. 
The Blood Red Wheat is said to be uncommonly 
prolific; and as an evidence of the fact it is stated, that 
Mr. Wrn. Carlishaw obtained from an acre of old culti¬ 
vated land, 66 bushels of the best, and three bushels of 
hinder ends—being something more than 23 loads per 
acre. 
Profit on raising good stock. —The stock at Carl¬ 
ton Half sold as follows : 
5 
cows, average price.. 
£68, 
equal 
to about 
$302. 
3 
2 year old heifers,. 
. 21, 
U 
U 
90. 
5 
one year old do . 
. 19, 
U 
u 
84. 
5 
heifer calves,. 
. 13, 
U 
u 
57. 
3 
hulls,. 
. 15, 
u 
iC 
65. 
3 
bull calves,. 
16, 
a 
(C 
69. 
Thus 24 cattle brought $2,900. What would 24 com¬ 
mon like aged animals have brought ? Not $300. 
Convertible Husbandry. 
The convertible system is nothing more than the 
application of capital and labor to cultivation under a 
different system ; and the difference between the 
mode of agriculture, practised in North and South 
Britain, lies in the method of that application. Under 
the convertible system, every field has its regular al¬ 
ternate share of cropping and manuring. In En¬ 
gland,* one part of the farm is kept in grass, and 
* Although the English system of farming is extolled among 
us, yet in some districts the management is bad; and in all 
districts, perhaps, excepting Norfolk, inferior to what it is in 
Scotland. 
