THE CULTIVATOR 
15 
paring Virginia to a miser who locks up all the gold, 
or as Mr. Adams says, selling a portion of her patrimo¬ 
ny for her yearly support, while New-York puts hers 
out at compound interest.” Mr. M. enters into a com¬ 
parison of the cost of working, on the three and the six 
field systems, and decides in favor of the latter; inde¬ 
pendent of the fact, that in the latter system the farm is 
constantly growing richer, and under the former is con¬ 
stantly growing poorer, till the soil becomes useless. 
Mr. Miller makes one suggestion, which strikes us as of 
great importance to the farmers of Virginia, that is, that 
instead of selling off all their cattle to he fattened in 
northern pastures, they should he fed at home, thus 
providing that supply of manure, the more careful ma¬ 
nagement of which, is one great source of the superi¬ 
ority of Pennsylvania and northern farming. 
CHOICE OF A BUSINESS FOR LIFE. 
Much of our personal happiness, our relative standing 
in society, and the influence we exert on mankind, is 
depending on the first steps we take in the choice of a 
business for life. Every man should have something to 
do; idleness is a disgrace as well as an injury, and the 
young man wha fancies he is going to live without ex¬ 
ertion, has taken one step, and a long one too, to ruin. 
No matter what may be the respectability or wealth of 
his parents, a reliance on these, instead of a well found¬ 
ed confidence in his own powers, proves him to be ei¬ 
ther weak or wicked, or both. It may be asserted 
without the fear of contradiction, that taking a given 
number of individuals, there are more young men who 
turn out worthless, idle, and dissipated, among those 
whose parents are wealthy, than in any other class of 
society, and the reason is perfectly obvious; their ex¬ 
pectations and their habits, are alike fatal to the indus¬ 
try and the patient effort required to form and discipline 
the body and mind to success in life. Wealth, separated 
from industry, is a curse to the possessor, and the most 
serious evil that can befal the young, is to have the idea 
impressed on the mind, that business of any kind is un¬ 
necessary. 
If business of some kind is indispensable, a proper 
choice of business is not of less consequence to the in¬ 
dividual. We are not believers that one man is born a 
poet, or a divine, or a lawyer, or a metaphysician, or a 
farmer, or a physician, more than another. The pow¬ 
ers of the mind are unquestionably greater in some in¬ 
dividuals than in others; but the same degree of power 
will render the person as successful in one pursuit as 
another, if the power is properly directed. It requires 
as much talent to he a lawyer, as to be a divine, a mer¬ 
chant, or a farmer, and no more. In all the pursuits and 
business of life, men of very little talent and energy of 
mind are found; but in all, knowledge, tact, and perse¬ 
verance, are necessary to insure success. 
To be useful to the world, to benefit mankind, to fur¬ 
nish an example which if followed,will make men wiser 
and better, should be among the first aspirations of the 
young; personal enjoyment, distinction, competence, 
wealth, are, or should be, secondary. As a general rule, 
that course in life which may be denominated the me¬ 
dium one, the path that avoids equally the perilous ele¬ 
vation of wealth, or the dangerous depression of poverty 
and want, will be found the one which unites the pros¬ 
pect of greatest utility with the greatest personal happi¬ 
ness. Competence, that condition in life equally re¬ 
mote from the insolence of wealth, or the cringing of 
poverty, is not less to be desired now than in the days of 
Agar, or less conducive to positive enjoyment. That 
pursuit, then, which best fulfils these indications, which 
gives time for the acquisition of useful knowledge; 
which gives the greatest assurance of a sound mind in a 
sound body; which inculcates and fosters sound princi¬ 
ples of morality and honest industry; which avoids the 
fluctuations, the ups and downs of life, and invitingly 
leads the mind through the mazes and mysteries of na¬ 
ture, up to nature’s God, must be the one best adapted 
to the wants of mankind, the one which will ensure the 
greatest happiness of the greatest number. It would, 
we believe, require but little efibrt, or reflection, to con¬ 
vince any one, that in the pursuits of Agriculture, in the 
profession of the Farmer, are to be found the conditions 
so essential to the prosperity of the individual. In the 
exciting but corrupting influences of the political wrang¬ 
ling, or the ceaseless struggle for the spoils of ofiice, go¬ 
ing on around him, he takes little interest; in the fluc¬ 
tuations of trade or commerce, he sees nothing that 
should endanger or disturb his equanimity; the theolo¬ 
gical or philosophical controversies of the day, battles 
fought over, perhaps for the thousandth time, he views 
in their proper light, as the offspring in most cases of 
dogmatic ignorance; and on his snug, paid for, and well 
managed farm, with the means of education, intelligence, 
and competence in his possession, he sees little to alarm 
in the signs of the times, and views with equal compo¬ 
sure the failure of a bank, the blowing up of a cabinet, 
or the bursting of an immense speculation bubble. 
We wish every parent,when deliberating on the choice 
of a profession for his son, every young man who. is 
setting out in life, and has its thousand avenues of pur¬ 
suit from which to choose, before him, to carefully pon¬ 
der these things. There are higher interests than whim, 
or fashion, or prejudice, to be consulted; and were this 
invariably done, we cannot doubt that widely different 
results would frequently be reached. Sounder views 
with regard to the dignity of labor would prevail, and 
the rush into the professions, by which they have been 
completely overdone, would have been checked at once. 
Let the young man, before he determines to abandon the 
farm, for the medical school, the theological seminary, 
the merchant’s counter, or the law office, carefully count 
the cost, and calculate the probable chances of success. 
Let him run over the list of doctors, lawyers, ministers, 
and merchants, with which he has been acquainted, and 
see how many of them have increased their opportuni¬ 
ties of benefiting mankind, or of acquiring wealth, over 
those they would have enjoyed, had they remained or 
become farmers. Let him compare the nature of their 
pursuits, its fluctuations, the wear and tear of health and 
conscience, the scramble for existence or money, with 
those of the substantial farmer, honest, industrious, well 
educated himself, and educating his children, taking a 
lively interest in all that is of real utility to mankind, 
while quietly managing his farm and its concerns. Few 
are aware how many failures among merchants and pro¬ 
fessional men, such an examination would disclose. Gen. 
Dearborn stated before the Massachusetts legislature, that 
he had ascertained by reference to the books of the cus¬ 
tom house, the banks, the probate office, and the oldest 
merchants of Boston, that ninety-seven out of every one 
hundred engaged in trade, or in buying and selling, fail¬ 
ed, or died insolvent. This seems a large proportion, 
but we believe any person extensively acquainted with 
mercantile affairs, will agree that the General is proba¬ 
bly right. In the country, the failures will he rather 
less, but still so numerous as to cause a parent to hesitate 
before placing his son in a pursuit so uncertain. The 
editors of the Journal of Commerce, found that of about 
1000 names and firms of business men, found under the 
letter B, in the directory for 1837, nearly one-half are 
not to be found in that of 1842, showing that this pro¬ 
portion have failed in five years. Have the doctors, 
ministers, and lawyers, been much more successful? Let 
all who are making a choice of business for life, exam¬ 
ine for themselves, and answer and decide accordingly. 
SHEEP IN THE WEST. 
Our readers may remember that in a former volume 
of the Cultivator, we noticed a work called the “ West¬ 
ern Shepherd,” by Mr. Flower, of Illinois, in which 
many valuable notices of the introduction of fine wooled 
sheep, and particularly of the flock of Mr. Flower, into 
the western states, may be found. A late number of the 
Lowell Courier, contains a paper of great interest on the 
wool culture of the west, its prospects, and the vast field 
which the western prairies present for the production of 
fine wool. The writer takes the position that the pri¬ 
ces of wool have fallen so low in comparison with the 
advanced prices of land in the older states, that fine wool 
can no longer be grown to a profit, on a broad or na¬ 
tional scale, east of the Allegany mountains, since where 
the price of land ranges from 20 to 40 dollars per acre, 
wool must give way to other and more valuable pro¬ 
ducts, wheat for instance. The numerous experiments 
made within a few years, of which Mr. Flower’s may 
he considered one of the earliest and most important, 
have proved that the western prairies are admirably a- 
dapted to the production of wool, particularly the finer 
kinds, and that at present prices, it will pay far better 
than any other product. It is calculated that in Illinois 
alone, fifteen millions of acres of prairie exists; and the 
quantity to be found in Wiskonsan, Iowa, and still far¬ 
ther west, may be said to be limitless. As population 
increases, the wolf, which has been the most formidable 
impediment to the increase of sheep, must disappear, as 
there are no mountainous districts to afford him shelter; 
indeed, in a large part of Indiana and Illinois, this evil 
may be said to have already passed away. 
The experiment and experience of Mr. Flower, is 
important and valuable in more respects than one. His 
own statement of the matter, from the work alluded to, 
is as follows :—“ The history of my own flock, kept in 
the southern part of Illinois, is favorable to the fine 
wooled breed. They are from the Merinos of Spain, 
procured just before the French overrun the country. 
Sir Charles Stuart, the English Ambassador, purchased 
the Royal flock. He shipped them after a hurried drive, 
scarcely out of reach of the pursuing enemy, some hun¬ 
dreds of miles. Six thousand only, reached the shores 
of England; and after the lapse of a year, two thousand 
sheep survived. These were purchased by my father. 
* * Some additions were afterwards made from the 
Paular and Escurial flocks. When I emigrated to this 
country, in 1817, I brought with me, six of the finest 
animals of the wool bearing species ever brought to this 
country. This is the origin of my flock; they have been 
kept on the same district and on the same farm, where I 
now reside, ever since. No deterioration of the wool 
has taken place; on the contrary, the wool fibre of them 
is somewhat finer. Eighty ewes, purchased of Mr. 
Beecher, at Lancaster, Ohio, formerly from the Steuben¬ 
ville stock, has been the only addition to the pure bred 
stock.” 
Mr. Flower has this year brought his wool to Lowell, 
where it was purchased and stapled by the Middlesex 
Company. The wool has proved to be of a very supe¬ 
rior quality, and the several sorts received the highest 
prices; thus proving that Mr. Flower has exercised 
much skill as a breeder, and that the prairies are well a- 
dapted to the production of the best wool. For 25 years, 
Mr. Flower’s flocks have for seven months in the year, 
pastured on the wild grasses of the prairie, and have 
kept fat and in fine health. We find in the article of the 
Courier, one statement to which we invite the attention 
of our readers, as we believe that overlooking the facts 
stated, has been the means of seriously injuring the qua¬ 
lities not only of carcass, but of wool, in many of our 
best eastern flocks: 
“ A single good quality in wool, urged beyond a gi¬ 
ven point, at the expense of other qualities, becomes a 
fault, and the breed is then said to run out. A fault ear¬ 
ly perceived in the Saxony fleece, has increased in some 
of our finest flocks to an alarming extent. The wool 
grows too thin upon the pelt, and the fibre, though ex¬ 
tremely fine, has a silky, rather than a wooly appear¬ 
ance. The cross between the old Merino and the Saxon, 
corrects this quality, but is liable to one objection. The 
Merino fleece has too much gum. The fleeces from the 
finest of Mr. Flower’s bucks, although a shade less fine 
in fibre, than the finest fleeces of some of our eastern 
flocks, have retained to a singular degree, a peculiar 
softness, and the wooly quality of fleece so desirable in 
every description of wool. It has been a question with 
breeders for some time, where to find a new family of 
sheep with which to improve the breeds already here. 
It is now found, and in the right place.” 
A single glance will show the extent to which wool 
production may be carried in the West. Illinois alone, 
allowing only two sheep to an acre of prairie, might 
send abroad 30 millions of fleeces. The cost of trans¬ 
porting Mr. Flower's wool from his residence, to Low¬ 
ell, was $2.12^ by inland navigation, per hundred lbs.; 
or $42.50 per ton. Compared with the cost of trans¬ 
porting the same value of any other product, this sum is 
a mere nothing, and shows how little the effect of dis¬ 
tance from market affects the value of this article. 
In seems then very probable, that the finer flocks of 
the east, will follow the course of the many that within 
the past year have moved to the west, and that their pla¬ 
ces will be supplied with coarser wooled flocks, which 
will at the same time supply the increasing demand in 
this country for mutton, and take the place of the Smyr¬ 
na and coarse South American wools now imported from 
abroad. Great changes must, however, take place gra¬ 
dually, and the filling of the western prairies with fine 
wooled sheep, will require some years for its accom¬ 
plishment. Still it will be done, and in the result may 
be traced another of the strong ties which will bind the 
east and the west—the strong tie of mutual self interest. 
MR. WEBSTER’S FARM. 
A correspondent of the N. Y. Com. Advertiser, has 
been giving some interesting details of his visit to Mr. 
Webster’s farm, at Marshfield, and of the excellent order 
and system, as well as skill, with which every thing is 
there conducted. It appears that the Secretary of State 
is as much at home in farming, as in the halls of legisla¬ 
tion ; and that in the intervals of settling the affairsof na¬ 
tions, he has found time to attend to all the minute de¬ 
tails of farm supervision. It must certainly be admitted 
an honorable fact, that many of the most distinguished 
statesmen of our country, have been among our best 
farmers. It is only necessary to mention Washington, 
Madison, Jackson, Webster, Clay, &c. as sufficient proof 
of this. 
Mr. Webster, the past year, has made on his farm, 
about 400 tons of hay; several thousand bushels of roots; 
about a thousand bushels of corn; and other matters in 
proportion. He has a large number of excellent cattle 
of the best breeds, imported and raised on the farm, some 
seventy in the whole, and they well repay the attention 
they receive. His sheep are splendid. Selected by him¬ 
self, in England, they are probably equal to any in the 
country. They are of the Leicester breed, and from one 
of them, Goliah, as it is called by the shepherd, 16 lbs. 
of W'ool have been taken at one shearing. His poultry 
yard is in keeping with the other parts of the establish- 
n^ent, containing the choicest kinds of fowls from every 
quarter of the globe. The farm contains about 1,300 
acres, lying on the shore of the ocean, and the waves 
dash against the walls and throw their spray into his gar¬ 
den. There are about 300 acres of wood land, mostly 
planted by Mr. Webster, and the time is not distant,when 
the red deer will be as plentiful here, as it is in the wild¬ 
est woodlands of the west. His mansion is surrounded 
wdth magnificent avenues of elms, and he still continues 
to plant, believing with Girard, “ that it would be bet¬ 
ter to plant a tree to-day, though he were to die to- 
morrow^” 
We learn from Gov. Hill’s “ Visitor,” that Marshfield 
is not the only farm possessed by Mr. Webster. He still 
retains the old family mansion and farm in New Hamp¬ 
shire, and though visiting it but seldom, it is kept in the 
best and most productive manner. His rooms, with an 
extensive library, and a bed, are reserved for his use, the 
rest of the mansion being occupied by his manager. We 
cannot but believe that Gen. Jackson at the Hermitage, 
and Mr. Webs<er at Marshfield, enjoy more real happi¬ 
ness and tranquility of mind, in the management of their 
farms, than while leading armies, or wielding the desti¬ 
ny of nations. 
Columbia Floral and Horticultural Exhibi¬ 
tion. —We owe our good friends at Hudson, an apology 
for having so long failed to notice their autumnal show, 
which was held at Hudson, the latter part of September. 
We intended to have been present, but the duties de¬ 
volving on us in connection with the State Fair, pre¬ 
vented; and we are sure we lost a rich treat, for we are 
told by those who were present, that it was the hand¬ 
somest and best arranged exhibition of Fruits and Flow¬ 
ers, they had ever witnessed. It was, says the Hudson 
Gazette, a truly splendid affair. There was a vast varie¬ 
ty of fruits and flowers, displaying all the powers of hu¬ 
man ingenuity, as well in the choice, as in the beautiful 
arrangement of the various materials of which the seve¬ 
ral pieces were composed. 
