“to improve the soil and the mind.’ 
New Series. ALBANY, FEBRUARY, 1850. Vol. VII.—No. 2 . 
Should the Fanner be a Man of Knowledge ? 
Editors of the Cultivator: —As you we]] 
know, a controversy has been going on for many 
years between the plow-joggers on one side, and the 
Agricultural Journals and ‘ book-farmers’ on the 
other, as to whether the Farmer should he a man of 
Knowledge ? 
The first named class contend, that to follow the 
dogmas of tradition, and, under such guidance, toil 
and sweat away life in mere physical labor; to read 
and write indifferently, or perhaps make his mark; 
to study his almanac faithfully, and plow, sow and 
harvest according to the old or new of the moon; to 
ohalk his ‘deal’ on the barn-door or his hat; to avoid 
an agricultural paper, or a ‘ book-farmer,’ as he 
would a pestilence; to extract the fertility of the 
soil, and leave mother earth with her future gene¬ 
rations, to shirk for themselves as best they can:— 
that these are the kind of qualifications to make a 
good farmer. 
The other class contend, that the farmer should 
be a man of reading, observation and study; that 
his calling involves a degree of scientific inquiry 
equal to that of almost any other; that inasmuch as 
the advancing spirit of the timos is in other callings 
■continually crying out—“ Onward!” he should par¬ 
take of that spirit, advance with others in educa¬ 
tion and mental discipline, and claim, and be able 
to take, equal rank with the highest. 
Being, on the whole, rather inclined to favor the 
views of the last-named class, I shall biiefiy survey 
a portion of the ground involved in the question, in 
order to see for myself whether the Farmer should 
be a man of general as well as particular knowl¬ 
edge. If I find the ‘lay of the land’ such as I 
suppose it to be, I shall take a decided stand with 
my friends, the Journals and ‘ book-farmers.’ 
In the short and graphic account given us of the 
Creation, we are informed that after form had been 
given to matter, and the vegetable and lower ani¬ 
mal world had been brought forth to life, man was 
made, in the image of his Creator, to be lord of his 
other works, and commanded to subdue and cultivate 
the ground. Or, in the noble lines.of the poet: 
“ Them wanted yet the master-work, the end 
Oi nl! yet done; a creature who, not prone 
And brute as other creatures, but endued 
With sanctity of reason, might erect 
His stature, and upright with front serene 
Govern the rest, self-knowing; and from thence, 
Magnanimous, to correspond with heaven : 
But, grateful to acknowledge whence his good 
Descends thither, with heart and voice, and eyes 
Directed in devotion, to adore 
And worship God Supreme, who made him chief 
Of all his works.”* 
The pursuit, then, originally assigned to man, 
was that of Agriculture, and thus did his Maker 
confer superior dignity upon it. He was endued 
with reason, to distinguish him from, and elevate 
him above the lower animals, and to enable him, 
among other things, properly to subdue and culti¬ 
vate the earth. Reason is by far the most impor¬ 
tant of man’s intellectual powers. By it he devises 
means to accomplish ends, distinguishes truth from 
error, or, in other words, acquires knowledge. It is 
also progressive from infancy to age. It is on the 
right use of reason that our success, both in the* 
pursuit of knowledge and happiness depends; and 
in proportion as we acquire knowledge, so, in 
turn, is reason enlarged and strengthened, and we 
are thus enabled to make still higher acquisitions. 
To accomplish desirable ends, then, the original gift 
should be improved by the attainment of knowledge. 
Knowledge expands the mind of the farmer from 
mere attention to details and brute force, to an exten¬ 
sive comprehension ofgeneral principles—those great 
cardinal principles bywhich nature is governed in her 
operations, and with which he necessarily comes in 
contact every day. In the business of cultivation, an 
infinite diversity of principles and mysteries arise to 
the thoughtful mind, many of which, if ever under¬ 
stood at all, must be wrought out by the utmost efforts 
of perfected Science, and a cultivated mind. Few of 
us, indeed , can give a satisfactory reason for many of 
the simplest operations of nature which are continu¬ 
ally before our eyes. We are therefore about as 
liable to go wrong as right, in some of our common¬ 
est methods of tillage. 
It has been said that “ Mind is the great lever of 
all things; human thought the process by which hu¬ 
man ends are ultimately attempted.” If this be 
true, then, in proportion as the mind is expanded by 
knowledge, so is this lever lengthened and strength¬ 
ened, by which we open the vast frame-work around 
us, diffuse light where all before was darkness, 
solve problems which otherwise would never bo 
known or only seen in dim obscurity, and subject and 
mingle elements before beyond our control. In 
short, we are thus enabled the better to obey the di¬ 
vine command to subdue and cultivate the earth, 
and to use its elements and its creatures for desira¬ 
ble ends. The ejaculation of an ancient fabled 
combatant, when enveloped in clouds and darkness, 
is an appropriate petition for us farmers, benighted 
as we are, in ignorance of great principles with 
which we daily have to do: 
‘ Dispel these clouds, the light of heaven restore, 
Give me to see—and Ajax asks no more.’ 
Knowledge exalts all the faculties of the mind. 
However much exalted, they will find ample scope 
for exercise in the pursuit of Agriculture. It is an 
occupation that eminently combines science with 
practice. If the powers of observation, reflection 
and generalization are quickened and exalted by 
« 
* Milton. 
