274 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Sept. 
at night. It was not unusual for him to repeat 
his visit to the barns in the evening. His friends some¬ 
times remonstrated with him for returning home in very 
inclement weather; but he always replied, that this 
kind of exposure and activity fitted him the better for 
the discharge of official duties, and would never hurt 
him. 
Mr. Phinney was constantly receiving letters from all 
quarters, making inquiries upon various subjects per¬ 
taining to farming, the answers to which would some¬ 
times extend through several sheets of paper. Yet, 
owing to his love for, and his desire to promote agricul¬ 
ture, together with his perfect system, and untiring in¬ 
dustry, he would always take pleasure in finding time, 
by some means or another, (often by sitting up till past 
midnight,) to answer those inquiries. It is a matter 
of regret to his friends now, however, that more of his 
spare or stolen time, could not have been devoted to a 
more public communication of his vast stores of know¬ 
ledge, through the agricultural Journals, thereby bene¬ 
fiting a far greater number. 
As a practical writer upon farming, no man in our 
country held a higher rank than Mr Phinney. His 
communications to the New England Farmer, and oth¬ 
er papers, upon the various modes of culture he had 
adopted, detail every important particular with the 
greatest precision and minuteness, and evince the sound¬ 
est discrimination, the profoundest investigation of cor¬ 
rect principle. I here give a few extracts from his 
published writings, to show his ability in this way. 
The first quotation indicates the ardor of his mind in 
his agricultural pursuits:— 
u The first sod that was turned, was one of the first 
decided steps from a savage to a civilized life, and in 
proportion to his advancement in agriculture and the 
arts of husbandry, man has, in all ages, receded from 
barbarism. Compare, for a moment, the miserable con¬ 
dition of the houseless, roaming savage of the forest, 
olad in the skins of beasts, furious and ungoverned as 
himself, depending for his subsistence upon the uncer¬ 
tain fruits of the chase, or the spontaneous productions 
of the earth, with the substantial permanent comforts 
of the industrious, intelligent and virtuous farmer;— 
and will not the contrast reconcile the cultivator of the 
soil, to a cheerful obedience of the divine command, to 
1 eat his bread in the sweat of his brow V 
“ I shall not attempt a labored account of the pro¬ 
gress of agriculture, from the earliest ages to the pre¬ 
sent day. It is enough that we find the opulent, the 
powerful and the learned of modern, as well as ancient 
days, devoting their wealth, their influence and their 
talents, to the advancement of the interests of agricul¬ 
ture. Who, then, is so regardless of the utility, the hon¬ 
or, or the pleasure of cultivating the soil, as not to as¬ 
pire to the honorable appellation of Farmer ? Who 
does not wish to withdraw from the anxious cares and 
uncertain pleasures of merchandize, and the perplexing 
duties of public or professional life, to repose on the 
tranquil bosom of rural retirement, and taste the plea¬ 
sures, as well as partake in the labors of rustic life? ” 
The following extract shows the difficulties to be en- 
conntered, and the obstacles to be overcome in cultiva¬ 
ting the stern soils of Middlesex county, among the 
hardest of which was his own farm, in its natural 
state: 
et The deep intervales and alluvial tracts, which 
abound in some parts of our country, where almost the 
whole labor 01 Husbandry consists in sowing and reaping, 
and no farther skill of the farmer is required than to know 
seed time and harvest, are not to be found in Middlesex. 
The broken and rugged surface of our farms, made up 
of hills and valleys of the roughest materials, requires 
great labor as well as skill to subdue its stubborn qua¬ 
lities, to preserve its natural strength, or to restore its 
wasted energies. This, while it increases the labor of 
the husbandman, at the same time gives him health of 
body and vigor for action, while he is happily exempted 
from the many evils which attend the cultivator of a 
more fertile region. This very rough and comparative¬ 
ly barren quality of our soil, though it may sometimes 
yield but a stinted harvest, and oblige the farmer to 
rise early, go late to rest, and eat the bread of careful¬ 
ness, has nevertheless proved an independent, virtuous 
and happy community of farmers, whose unyielding pa¬ 
triotism and noble deeds of daring have enrolled the 
yeomanry of Middlesex among the boldest defenders of 
Grecian or Roman liberties.” 
Mr. Phinney was among that better class of farmers, 
—happily, a rapidly increasing class,—who disdain not 
to draw information touching their profession from books. 
All his practices were the result of a careful investiga¬ 
tion of theoretical principles, derived from extensive 
agricultural reading, united with the closest and most 
minute personal observation in the field. One blow of 
his vigorous pen, demolishes the whole tribe of ciamor- 
ers against ‘ Book-farming . 1 Hear him:— 
“ Books, I am aware, are a most distrustful source 
of information among many of my agricultural brethren. 
This ought not so to be. While the professors and 
friends of all the other arts and sciences, call to their 
aid the light and accumulated written wisdom of the 
past and present ages, why should the art of cultiva¬ 
ting the earth , by far the most important of all the arts, 
be allowed no other guide than blind tradition V } 
Every attentive observer of the actual condition and 
prospects of farmers around him, sees, that those tillers 
of the soil who read, observe and think, who make the 
laws of nature their study, and who appropriate to their 
own advantage every valuable suggestion of science, 
are fast distancing their more drudging neighbors, who 
are bound by the grappling, withering power of igno¬ 
rance and prejudice. Mr. Phinney’s remarks are much 
to the point on this subject:— 
“ It is true, that the wealth of the opulent has done 
much, but mental research and a spirit of inquiry, ac¬ 
companied by the personal inspection and persevering 
efforts of the practical farmer have done much more, to 
increase the produce, and improve the condition of our 
farms. This is most forcibly illustrated by Pliny the 
elder:— 
111 Furius Cresinus, an emancipated Roman slave, 
having obtained from his very small estate, much lar¬ 
ger crops than his more wealthy neighbors from their 
vast domains, they became so envious that they charged 
him with employing enchantment to attract into his 
grounds the produce of their fields. Having been sum¬ 
moned by Spurius Albinus, and being fearful of condem¬ 
nation, he introduced into the forum, as the tribes pre¬ 
pared to vote, his robust and well clad family, and his 
agricultural implements, his heavy mattocks, his inge¬ 
niously constructed plows, and his w T ell fed oxen, and 
then exclaimed—Behold! Roman Citizens, my magic; 
but I am still unable to show you, or bring into the 
market place, my studies, my constant vigilance, my 
fatiguing labors. Scarcely had he concluded, when h© 
was absolved by public acclamation.’ 
“ It is in enterprise, study, unremitting study, vigi¬ 
lance and industry, that the mystery of great crops and 
successful husbandry consists.” 
It is the glory of our country that we have, scattered 
along everywhere among its private citizens, individu¬ 
als,—unknown, perhaps, beyond the limited sphere of a 
district,—who are competent, both by native endow¬ 
ments and personal attainments, to fill the great and 
responsible trusts of State. All that shall be wanting 
is some fitting circumstance to draw the individuals out, 
and familiarize them with the details pertaining to 
those trusts, "Wo may specify a little. It is the glory 
