| G MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
/A )r)t £* ♦ J df rminKirf frr« When the intelligence, and resources of the material, like Potatoes, Graham or corn bread, 
Vi/1(1 vvUUit tv llllU b, future are brought to bear upon the problems to fill and distend the stomach and bowels, is 
0 f human happiness and human life, we are conducive to health, strength and long life. 
AGRICULTURE : warranted in expecting great results. Great It is very clear to my mind, that both polit- 
p resent and prospective. transformations must take place. Here are ical and rural economy points to the necessity 
- # . deserts of sand, and there regiens of clay, of increasing the corn crop. The uncertainty 
Ihe coming of a new year is a fit occasion tenacious and unyielding — here vegetable, and of the production of wheat, and the great price 
for reflection and review; we should note there mineral deposites; unproductive by them- aud demand for corn in Europe—more than 
what has been done, and what oug/il to be done. £e j veS; but, properly combined, susceptible of 200,000 bushels have been shipped from New 
As Agriculturists we have some reasons for the highest fertility. How far disease and im- York in one week this fall, at one dollar per 
congratulation, and every motive to renewed perfection in the animal and vegetable king- bushel—makes it a very remunerating crop.— 
and vigorous effort. A marked improvement doms are traceable to our chaotic state, phi- It is true Indian corn should always bring, 
is observable in modes of tillage, instruments losophy and the future will show. To form a and it usually does, half the price of wheat; 
of husbandry, farm stock, buildings, fences, and healthy and well developed animal or plant but I shall disagree with your correspondent 
general arrangements. A commendable spirit c ^ r ( a ; u elements are necessary, and certain con- “ Prompter,” that it is easier raised and a 
of inquiry is manifest in the increased circulation ditions must be observed. Our success is more profitable crop than wheat, even at that 
of Agricultural journals and intelligence, stranger than our failure. ratio, when we estimate the actual manual la- 
marked by a greater disposition to investigate What we now want is honest and earnest bor and the various manipulations it has to go 
the scientific principles on which our profession laborers, conscious of the great work before through, in which neither team nor machinery 
is based. The labors of the husbandman have them. We need an “exploring expedition” can assist—in the planting, hoeing, gathering 
in general met with ample reward. composed of every member of the human family, and husking, I think every farmer will agree 
These congratulatory considerations suffer Observers should be stationed at every poiut, with me that it is a hard crop to make, e8- 
some abatement when we reflect that, with all made capable of intelligent observation by an pecially in this region where the land is so foul 
the “ improvements,'' and they, are not confined acquaintance with facts aud deductions already with weeds and grasses. In the South and 
to this country, the present time is one of un- known. If we are to wait for the few men of West they make corn easier ; there it grows so 
usual scarcity food is exorbitantly high, and sc i enco -whose professional business is to make large that it is difficult to harrow it, and where 
dark forebodings pervade the public mind. . It discoveries and announce facts, generations will they turn in their calves and sheep and hogs 
is not a little strange that impending famine come anc j g0> deprived of blessings that wait at to keep down the underbrush, is quite another 
should follow close on the heels of an improved their very portals. The hopeful and the pro- state of things; but here, where we have to 
agriculture! gressive have been greatly encouraged by the manure, the man that makes corn does it by 
Making due allowance lor the chaptei o ac- developments of the present century. Thought- the sweat of his brow, 
cidents,. for providential inflictions, and lor f u j and intelligent observers see in each new One of the great reasons for not growing 
disturbing elements in the political world, discovery fresh evidence of the Divine Benifi- more corn in the wheat region, and its conso- 
there still remains a destitution w ic 1 can cenco, the bestowment and the promise of good quent disuse for food is, that it does not come 
have no explanation that will exonerate agn- to the race. In the labor of bringing hidden in right for a rotation. If you manure for corn 
culture from the suspicion of great de ects and things to light, in the work of pressing new and follow the next spring with oats or barley, 
deficiencies. If short crops are occasiona ly f orces j nto the service of man, all should do the manure is about used up and the land will 
inevitable we ought in years of plenty to rai.se their parL not be iu good heftrt for wheat. Clover being 
a surplus for such emergencies, but if they are That the calamities which threaten may be the indispensable stimulant for that crop, the 
chargeable to ignorance and mismanagement turned into blessings, and the year 1855 leave coni year interferes with the usual routine that 
we should reform at once N c are not, and man kind much wiser and happierthan it found experience has shown to be the true course. 
AGRICULTURE; 
we cannot be proprietors of the soil in such a them, is our sincere and earnest prayer, 
sense as to make us irresponsible for its improve- H> ,j 
ment and use. It is but just, however, to re- 
mark that there is an obvious deficiency of ♦ , t 
labor and capital devoted to farming, and for vi/ 0 lit HUIlt! t R t X 0 It $ ♦ 
that deficiency farmers are not wholly respon- 
sible. Other pursuits, promising more, and MINNESOTA,—CLIMATE, CROPS, &c. 
performing less, have absorbed an undue por- —- 
tion of the enterprise and capital of the country, Iriend Moore: —Noticing in the I 
lion of the enterprise and capital of the country, Friend Moore : — Noticing in the Rural, 
mak ing superfluities cheap and necessaries and reading with a good deal of interest, van- 
dear, and causing revultions that deprive ous letters from the Western States, I begin to 
multitudes of employment and support. This fear that Minnesota will not be fairly repre- 
Gorn is a safer crop than wheat, if not as 
profitable, and stern necessity will inevitably 
causo farmers, during the prevalence of the 
weevil at any rate, to raise more corn, oats and 
barley than formerly, in place of their favorite 
wheat crop. Z. A. Maize. 
Alleghany Co., Dec., 185-I. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
VALUE OP LEACHED ASHES. 
Messrs. Eds. —Some weeks since I noticed 
ought not to continue. We are convinced sented, while Michigan, &c., may be noticed Ul t ral an inquiry in relation to the 
that the energy, forethought, economy, capital, “ a little too steep.” value of lime and ashes for wheat. As to lime 
and business tact requisite for success in other As to health, the most of us know that peo- I bave nothing to say, having no practical 
avocations, are quite sure to meet with ade- pie in Michigan are apt to have the fever and knowledge on this subject, but as to leached 
quate reward in farming. If the prizes are ague, while Illinois abounds with “chills,”— ashes, I have used them more or less for some 
not always so greed, they are far more certain. In Minnesota I have never known a case of fifteen years. Naturally our soil is not adapt- 
Tho organs of public opinion should strive to ague or chill fever to originate. Nor is the ed to the growing of wheat, so that but few 
excite the right action in this matter. What- healthiness of our climate the only item in °t our hirers attempt to raise any; yet by 
ever others may do, we should act our part which Minnesota excels other parts of the the right kind of culture and the application 
well. By patient research, observation and West. The pleasantness of the weather, at all °f leached ashes, it is as sure and paying a crop 
experiment, we may add something to the seasons, the excellence of the roads, the richness as we can raise. 
stock of knowledge already possessed, and thus of the soil, and the purity of the water, all For the last ten years I have sowed from 2 
facilitate production; by diligence In our call- combine to render it pleasant, attractive and %% acres °f wheat—just enough for bread 
ing we may “feed the hungry and clothe the profitable to the farmer or mechanic. It has f° r m 7 own family. I apply from 5 to 10 
naked.” justly been said that “ Minnesota has but two l° a( i d of leached ashes to the acre, and should 
There is every reason to believe that Agri- seasons.” These are Summer and Winter.— always apply 10 if they could be procured.— 
culture is in its infancy, and that a future Summer continues here till about the last of Sometimes I have drawn them in the winter 
bright and brilliant awaits it. Rich resour- November, when winter mildly takes the sway and spread them, plowing them in in the spring; 
ces and abundant materials await develop- and gently yields to spring the first of April. ethers, I Rave drawn them and placed them 
ment. We have but just begun to find out Crops have been good here the past summer. heaps, near the field, aud immediately after 
the uses of things. It is within the memory of The drouth injured them but little, as we had wboat 13 80wn and harrowed in, I draw 
many of us when some of our valued fertilizers a shower almost every week. Minnesota has on aud spread them evenly as may bo.— 
were suffered to remain unused. We should produced over 200,000 bushels of wheat the Iu 80 dom 8 1 have not failed for the last ten 
deal mercifully with the past, for our own ig- present season, and yet flour is now selling at years of a fair crop ( weevil seasons not except- 
norance and short comings will soon excite ten dollars per barrel, ow T ing to the immense wbdc most ol mj neighbors that have 
surprise—we are permitted to hope that pos- tide of immigration, and the scarcity of mills. S ? wn on °ff uaI1 y as ff ood or tetter land, have 
terity will spare us for “relation sake.” Men The potato crop could hardly have been bet- ^ther entirely.or partially failed of a crop.— 
are never to be blamed for not knowing, but ter, and yet they readily bring from fifty to , 3 1 know 13 to ^ attributed,' in part at 
for not trying to know. Great opportunities seventy-five cents per bushel. Corn never wqp east ’ to the aske8 ’ from satisfactory tests, 
demand great exertions. There is not a rear bettor, and it is worth one dollar. Stock rais- a * moet ad otber kinds of cr0 l )8 > ashes wo 
sonable doubt butthe earth’s capacity is equal ing is a most profitable employment for the a moet valuable manure , richly paying the ex- 
to any demand that will ever be made upon it. farmer, as it costs but little to keep it, and ^ nCG of purchasing and drawing where it does 
We defame God when we intimate that war, the products bring the highest price. Much not cxceed one dolIa r per load.—J. S. B., No. 
pestilence, and famine are His appointed reg- has been said of the severity of our winters. I Pltc}t * r ’ Chenango Co., N. Y. 
Maters of “population.” Before we venture have never spent but one winter here, and that T ‘ 7 “ 
upon such a supposition, we must guess all was the most pleasant I ever passed. T F0R F ° rL 13 ™ K 
r. S. B., No. 
upon such a supposition, we must guess all was the most pleasant I ever passed. T ^ F0K ™ UL FaBT ‘ 
the secrets of Nature, and task to the utmost ] t1 mewtnavis tko™ ; a +■ K i -i „ N ^ 10 b ‘ UHAL °I b)ec - 9th, I see two recipes 
all the forces of matter and of mind • ! j L . 18 pIenly of timber> whlIe for curing foul in the feet of cattle by the use 
au tne loices oi mauei ana or mind. m the northern part is an extensive pinery ; in of a small rone bine vitriol Am im T 
Tto world is a great store-house of valuable f act aImost tahaustible. Five hundred men, used these a£d also lolro ivfs’uHtoote aid 
materials, which science and labor, m the ful- two hundred e,„i on, i , , an a S0 c0rr0bive sublimate, and 
filment of their mission will anm-onriafe to * ™ ^ y f ° e f’ and filt ? borse have seen Lot rosin and hot tallow poured be- 
toe purposes of life Air water andSh fo , ( Ug ^ ] haVe already S ° Ue tween the claws of the hoof - and even the knife 
the purposes e. Air, water, and earth, in mto t} ie Eum River piuer besida . an equal ^ t t ^ affected Darts and other 
endless forms and combinations, under the in- a+ ,, \ • • • U *- Wi LU uw ‘‘y rac auiA-ieu pans, ana orner 
fluence and guidance of invisible agencies and b Cioix and upper Mississippi. hke barbarous remedies. But for the last fif- 
unerring laws, will yet prove more prolific of Anoka, Benton Co., Minn., Dec., issi ’ A ^ K ‘ 1 ^ ^ n0thmg b f. cur ^ er ’ s 
Agricultural ®is«llairo. 
Farmers’ Clubs. —Within the past two 
years we have had the pleasure of announcing 
the organization, and noting the subsequent 
operation, of many Farmers’ Clubs in this and 
otter sections of the country. And we are 
glad to learn that a number of such associa¬ 
tions have lately been formed. Among the 
more recent are, the “ Henrietta Fanners’ 
Club,” iu this county, and the “Agricultural 
and Horticultural Club,” in Baldwinsville, 
Onondaga county. We learn from W. Tap- 
tan, Esq., that the latter begins under very 
favorable auspices. The officers are, Brad¬ 
ford Chase, President; Abel Toll, Secreta¬ 
ry ; Rufus^Sears, Treasurer, and an Execu¬ 
tive Committee to present questions for discus¬ 
sions, Sec. A commodious hall has been rent¬ 
ed, and meetings will be held on Friday eve- 
ning of each week. Lectures are expected 
from gentlemen residing in distant sections, in 
addition to the many home attractions. 
The Wayne County Ag. Society held its 
annual meeting in Lyons on the 13th ult. The 
attendance was good, and the right kind of 
spirit prevailed. Resolutions were passed 
strongly recommending the State Society to 
pei manently locate its Fairs at Syracuse, and 
also to locate the County Fairs at Lyons.— 
1 ho receipts of the Society are much larger 
than any previous year, and it is rapidly ad¬ 
vancing in prosperity and usefulness. The 
following persons were elected officers of Ihe 
Society for the ensuing year :— President, De¬ 
witt C. Van Slyck, of Lyons ; Cor. Sec., E. 
Ware Sylvester, Lyons ; Rec. Sec., P. P. 
Bradish, Lyons; Treasurer, Wir. D. Per- 
rine, Lyons; I ice Presiderits, Joseph Wat¬ 
son, Clyde; E. N. Thomas, Rose; A. G. 
Percy, Newark ; Stephen Tinckelpaugh, So- 
dus ; T. G. Yeomans, Walworth ; Samuel E. 
Hudson, Palmyra; Dr. J. M. Wilson, Wol¬ 
cott. Lx. Com., E. Ringer, Galen ; Samuel J. 
Cole, Lyons ; David Griffith, Sodus ; Alfred 
Hale, Lyons ; Daniel Jennison, Galen, v. s. 
i: kENCH Merinos. —Friend Dyer, from the 
Slinker family at Enfield, N. H., whom we 
met at Bingham’s shearing two years ago. and 
had long talks with about sheep, guano, and 
otter worldly subjects, dropped into the sanc¬ 
tum the other day. He was a good deal smit¬ 
ten with the French sheep, and the family are 
considerably in the breeding of them ; and he 
especially commends the half-bloods. He, 
however, imported from France a full-blooded 
ram, and to show there is no humbug nor Corn¬ 
wall fiuish about him, gives us the figures. The 
last fleece, grown entirely in tills country, and 
only one year’s growth, weighed 25 lbs. This 
was cleaned, sorted, and spun into stocking 
yarn. About one pound of the coarsest was 
taken out before carding, and the result was 
8 lbs. of clean, scoured yarn, ready for the 
fingers of the moat dainty lady. The yarn is 
beautiful, almost equal to worsted, which it 
very much resembles. If wc might be permit¬ 
ted to speak of such things in this connection, 
we should say that the fairest foot and ancle 
would lose none of its beauty by being encased 
in a stocking knit from such yarn, especially if 
the wearer knit it. We know of a pair of 
ancles that will get covered with it, at all 
events—and they are not in our boots ! 
Agricultural Statistics. —Wo present be¬ 
low some very interesting statistics, giving the 
agricultural products of tho four great powers 
of the globe : 
Gr«*t Britain. Franco. 
Aero* of land in oultlvatlou.. 22 , 000,000 T 2 , 000.000 
Buk. ofwhoat, average por an. 886,000,000 676,000,000 
Number of horned cattle. 18.000,000 C,000,000 
Number of horse*. 1,600,000 2,SI8,000 
Number of sheep and goats.. 50,000,000 82,000,000 
Numbor of swiuo. 10,000,000 6,000,000 
Population of each country... 27,000,000 36,000,000 
United States. Russia. 
Aores of land in cultivation..7!'\ -0.000 243,000,000 
Bus. of wheat, average per an.loo,v ),000 1,400,000,000 
Number of horned cattlo.19,00o ,„0 25,000,000 
Number of horsos. 5,000,000 18,000,000 
Numbor of sheep aud goat*... 22,000,000 60,000,000 
Numfcor of swino. SO,000.000 12,000,000 
Population of each country.... 23,000,000 08,000,000 
fluence and guidance of invisible agencies and 
unerring laws, will yet prove more prolific of 
good than we have yet dreamed of. The “pre¬ 
cious metals” are dross, compared with far 
richer deposites above us and beneath. Sub¬ 
stances considered useless, the very images of 
CORN AND WHEAT—GOST COMPARED, 
teen years I have used nothing but currier’s 
oil, of a good quality, and applying from 
three to six times has never failed to cure with 
me. I once had a cow so bad with the fouls 
stances considered useless, the very images of Rural :—I am fully convinced of the tbat fcbe cou ‘ d scarc(d .Y £ et 11 P> and was entire- 
barrenness, by proper combinations and ar- importance to tho country, of an increased b n nab l c to v\ alk, and I cured her in one week 
rangements become theembodiment of fertility. cr °P and a more general use of our native food P erf ® ct , y W f ' T*. 1 DotblI) 8’ but simple, pure 
“ Nothing is made in vain,” is an old truism —Indian Corn. It is the only indigenous ce- 1 aiK - r _ 8 01 ■ M 18 e( I aa q 8 00 _ or ^ be 
thoughtlessly bruited about, with no concep- real that outers into our articles of consump- ™an when a >ec ed with what used to bo called 
tion of tho deep philospphy at the bottom of it. tion ; all the others being brought from abroad 8 rouu 1 c ’ in or e J'’’ een 11(3 L00 ^'~ kj ' J ' 
Look at the earth’s surface,-what a variety and domesticated here. Mamon ’ Wat GmeSee ’ Me ^ c0 ” N - Y - 
Oa soils. 1 enAiate into its depths,—what a I am quite certain that I am never so per- white sugar beets 
medley of materials, whose uses and very ex- fectly healthy as when I partake freely of In- I have seen but little in the different agri- 
istence we have but just begun to find out;— dian corn food. It possesses more of the flesh- cultural papers on the value of this root com- 
bne ve g c table kingdom is just as diversified,— making material than any other grain, for from pared with others, aud have used them but two 
we have classified^ and Denied a few trees and a bushel of meal over a quart of pure oil can seasons, but so far as my experience extends, 
plants, and with their names dismissed them; be obtained. One of your correspondents as- think them toe best for feeding I have ever 
of their ability to contribute to human wants serts, that we now-a-days use too much rich tried. Notwithstanding the extreme drouth 
we as yet know but little. Fortunately no and concentrated food, which, when we eat this last season, I raised sixty bushels from six 
a ’ j0in _ can ever . be ma L tease to ap- enough to satisfy the appetite, often sours and rods of ground, and have no doubt but fifteen 
propriate and imp) o v e what has been provided overloads the stomach and creates the various bushels can lie grown to the rod. Many of 
for us, but it vill exist for wiser men, acting diseases that prevail. There can be no doubt them were very large, all seem to be solid, and 
lover and over again, in ever varying relations, but a sufficient quantity of nutritive matter some that I raised weighed 13 lbs.—A Sub- 
lts appointed part. to sus tain the system, mixed with a coarser scriber, Coneunngo, Dec., 1854. 
I have seen but little in the different agri¬ 
cultural papers on the value of this root com- 
Insects m Wheat. — We learn from the 
Michigan Farmer, that great complaint is 
made of the ravages of insects upon the fall- 
sown wheat. In one locality a field of white 
wheat, sown the 18th of September, was very 
much injured, while one sown the 2d of Octo¬ 
ber was hardly touched. 
Some Pumpkins. —No wonder the) oan have 
pumpkin pios in old Oonneoticut if the follow¬ 
ing from the Litchfield Enquirer be true:—Mr. 
Augustus L. Pock of Sharon, during the last 
summer, raised from one seed eighteen ripe 
pumpkins, which weighed on an average 152 
pounds each. 
Vermont State Ag. Society.— The Third 
Annual Meeting of this Society, for toe elec- 
' tiion of Officers, and for the transaction of oth¬ 
er business is notified to be held at the Court 
Houso In Middlebury, on the second Thursday 
of January—11th inst. 
Poultry Snow at New York. —The second 
exhibition of the National Poultry Society is 
to be held at the Americaai Museum, in New 
York, January 15th to 20th. 
WHAT WE HAVE EATEN. 
Under the above head the New York Tri¬ 
bune gives the following interesting abstract 
from the very complete table of the animals 
slaughtered in the city of New York for 1854: 
“ In another column we print a table of the 
weekly receipts of Beeves, Cows, Calves, Swine, 
Sheep, and Lambs, as they have been reported 
for sale at the several market-places in this 
City. First, of Beeves. Of these, the total 
given is 169,364, averaging 3,257 per week.— 
The average number each market day (which 
is now on Wednesday) at Bull's Head is 2,227. 
We estimate the Bullocks at 6 cwt. each of 
meat in the quarters, making 101,618,400 lbs. 
At 9 cents a pound this Ls $9,145,656. This 
makes the whole number average $54 a head. 
Of Veals we have 68,584, which we estimate 
to average $5 each, making $343,720. The 
average number per week is 1,315. We esti¬ 
mate the 13,131 Oows received at $35 a head 
average, making 459,985. Average number 
per week, 253. Of Sheep and Lambs there 
has been slaughtered no less than 555,474. We 
count them low at an average of $5 each, 
which makes $2,777,495. The average num¬ 
ber killed each week is 10,682. Averaging 
the meat of all at 45 lbs. per head, it will give 
24,996,655 lbs. The butcherings of Swine 
for the year amount to 252,328. We have 
averaged them at 140 lbs. each, making 35,- 
325,920 lbs., which, at 5 cents a pound, is 
$1,942,925,60. This makes the Hogs average 
$7,70 each. 
The average number per week of all animals 
received for slaughter is 20,359. According to 
our estimate of value of the slaughtered ani¬ 
mals of 1854 in this City, we have paid the 
farmers the snug sum of fourteen millions, 
six hundred and sixty-nine thousand, seven 
HUNDRED AND NINETY-ONE DOLLARS, which is 
an average of $282,111 per week. The Beef 
Cattle alone will average $175,878 a week.” 
Assuming thac the population of the City 
of New York is one fifth of the State—and it 
is probably a fair supposition—and that the 
consumption of animal food has been equal to 
that of the city, and we have toe enormous 
sum of SEVENTY-THREE MILLIONS, THREE AUND- 
EED AND FORTY-EIGHT THOUSAND, NINE HUND¬ 
RED AND FIFTY-FIVB DOLLARS, OS the Value of 
the animal food alono consumed in this State. 
It may be claimed that the expense of trans¬ 
portation should be deducted from this amount. 
Wc think not, but making a liberal deduction 
of the three millions, it would still leave sev¬ 
enty millions of dollars. 
Is not this large consumption of moat one 
cause of the poverty which is so much com¬ 
plained of in cities and large towns ? —Eds. 
CLEAN CLOVER SEED YS. CHAFF. 
0. Nye, of Oakland, Jackson Co., writes as 
follows to the Michigan Farmer: 
Far mere are quite apt to get the idea that 
seed takes the best in the chaff, from the fact 
that they don’t know how much seed they sow 
to ihe acre. It is quite frequently the case, 
that as much as a bushel of seed is put on to 
two or three acres. I came to this conclusion 
several years ago, under the following circum¬ 
stances :—In 1848 I brought the first clover 
machine to this section of the country, and set 
it in operation; it was an experiment to the 
farmers, but all were willing to make the trial, 
and see if they could not get rid of the enor¬ 
mous expense and trouble of sowing chaff.— 
One man in particular, a good farmer, and a 
great grower of clover and wheat, had forty 
acres to seed down to clover, and supposed 
that he had barely chaff enough to go over 
the field, but at last concluded to have it clean¬ 
ed, and sow the clean seed. He had eighteen 
bushels of seed, enough to seed his land and 
twelve bushels to spare; iu this one instance 
there was a saving of at least $60. 
Another instance was with myself last year; 
wishing to seed fifteen acres and having about 
chaff enough to go over the field in the ordi¬ 
nary way, I had concluded to sow the chaff, un- 
lew I could have it cleaned before the last of 
February (for I never wish to sow after this 
time,) but good luck turned up, the threshers 
came, the chaff was cleanod, yielding eight bush¬ 
els of clean nice seed, and not one-fourth split 
and destroyed either, but round, plump and 
sound. Two and a half bushels of this reed 
was sown on my fifteen acres, leaving me a 
balance of five and a half bushels, worth $38 
1-3. Now if I had sown my seed without 
cleaning, it would have cost me nearly enough 
more to pay the expense of threshing. Is a 
word to the wise sufficient ? 
WINTER LEISURE, 
Tub following thoughts by the late Prof. 
Norton, are seasonable and worth heeding: 
It is a common complaint among practical 
men, that they cannot understand scientific 
books, or what scientific men say. This is cer¬ 
tainly their own fault, for there are few far- 
mere who could not, by a little industry and 
perseverance, get enough instruction to be of 
very great advantage to them in these respects. 
It is the improvement of leisure hours, by read¬ 
ing and reflection, that produces the clear¬ 
headed, sound-thinking men, a few of whom arc 
to be found taking the lead in nearly all our 
country villages. Their aim, however, has 
hitherto been chiefly to increase their stock of 
historical and political knowledge, or of gene¬ 
ral information. They ought now, in addi¬ 
tion to those, to devote attention seriously to 
science in connection with agriculture. Such 
works as those of Professor Johnston, of Lie¬ 
big, of BouBsingault, and others, are not only 
instructive, but highly interesting. A better 
mode of obtaining this kind of knowledge, is to 
attend courses of lectures referring to the vari¬ 
ous subjects of which the above works treat. 
But this cannot be done by all; and those who 
read attentively will gather much Information 
from the books themselves, although they may 
not be able to understand everything. 
