1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
67 
ledge, when we consider man as a religious and im¬ 
mortal being, we wish to see his mind expanded, his 
faculties exalted, and his taste refined, that he may 
the better understand his duties and his destiny. 
Knowledge, with virtue, is the foundation on 
which our whole system of government rests. The 
practical operation of this system creates a demand 
for every species of intellectual effort. As citizens 
under it, we are called upon to discharge the duties 
of elective franchise, to take part in the administra¬ 
tion of justice, and to fill the various official trusts 
of State. The laws contemplate our fitness to dis¬ 
charge these various duties and trusts, under the 
guidance of opinions intelligently and independent¬ 
ly formed, along with that sense of individual ac¬ 
countability which seeks not to hide itself in the 
crowd, or to be led by other dictation than its own. 
The correctness and eminent propriety of our theo¬ 
ry in this regard, cannot be doubted. The nearer 
we approach it in practice the safer is our condition. 
When we reflect, that as our country increases in po¬ 
pulation and in extent of settled territory, various 
new and conflicting interests and questions will arise 
to increase and inflame partizan zeal—that a high 
state of faction tends to corruption—that there are 
precipices on either side of us whose outer borders 
would seem to forbid exploration further along—and 
that the huge swells of faction may rock us back 
and forth until we sway over into the chaos below,- 
—we become more and more impressed with the im¬ 
portance of educating our rural population in know- 
lodge and virtue, of combining in our farmers strong 
heads with honest hearts, that we may keep balance 
on ground, central from the broken extremes, and 
known and safe, where all sorts of good fruit grow 
in abundance, where prosperity has ever dwelt, and 
where it may ever dwell. 
Our vast territory embraces every variety of cli¬ 
mate and soil. It is capable of growing almost 
every known valuable production. The race of men 
inhabiting it is endowed with wonderful native sa¬ 
gacity and energy of purpose. Let this mass of 
mind be expanded and strengthened by knowledge, 
and a power is conferred for the development of our 
vast agricultural capabilities, not elsewhere to be 
found. It has been well said that u it is the glori¬ 
ous prerogative of the empire of knowledge, that 
wbat it gains it never loses; on the contrary, it in¬ 
creases by the multiple of its own power; all its 
ends become means; and all its attainments help to 
new conquests.In this view of the subject, 
how directly does it become power to the farmers! 
Through them «ollectively, how eminently does it 
become power to the nation! 
In this connection, we may appreciate the import¬ 
ant influences imparted by our Agricultural Jour¬ 
nals. They quietly visit 'he farmer at his dwelling, 
informing him of the known principles of Agricul¬ 
ture, and the march of Science towards further dis¬ 
coveries. They give him the results of the experi¬ 
ence and practice of intelligent cultivators every 
where. Mind thus rubs against and polishes mind, 
and enterprise, and an ambition to improve, is exci¬ 
ted. They stimulate him in turn to communicate 
his own ideas and modes of practice. When he has 
been induced to arrange his thoughts upon paper, 
an important step has been taken towards intellec¬ 
tual improvement. He is now in the way of think¬ 
ing with greater precision and correctness on all 
subjects, and he awakens with a consciousness of 
power within himself that might not otherwise have 
been knowm. 
Great advantages are yet to arise from the estab¬ 
lishment of Agricultural Schools, and professorships 
of Agriculture in our Colleges. Organised on ju¬ 
dicious principles, they would teach our young farm¬ 
ers the science and best mode of practice of Agri¬ 
culture. In doing that, they would necessarily 
teach the elementary principles certainly, of six or 
eight sciences; and this would be likely to create a 
taste for the further investigation of those sciences, 
for reading and the acquisition of knowledge in 
general. In short, by these influences, imparted at 
a forming period, the boy comes to be a man of cul¬ 
tivation, of intellectual power. Expanded and well 
disciplined intellect always takes high rank among 
men. Thus we may conclude, that the farmers 
would oftener be heard to some purpose in the Coun¬ 
cils of the nation, and the interests of Agriculture 
would receive more of that attention from Govern¬ 
ment, which they justly merit. 
I have thus endeavored to survey a part of the 
ground covered by the question propounded at the 
outset. To my mind it is clear, that the Journals 
and 1 book farmers’ have a good and substantial ar¬ 
gument in their favor; and I am forced to conclude 
that the farmer should be a man of knowledge , and 
I do not see that it could hurt him to have a good 
deal of it too. F. Holbrook. Brattleboro / Vi., 
Dec . 15, 1849. 
Live Fences. 
The particular advantage of any kind of fence, 
depends on circumstances. Where suitable stones 
can be readily obtained, perhaps there is no fonce 
to be preferred to a well-built and permanent wall. 
If the stones, in the outset, occupy the land so as to 
interfere with cultivation, the inducement for ma¬ 
king wall is increased. In some places, the abun¬ 
dance and cheapness of suitable timber for fences, 
render it most economical to construct them of that 
material. 
The comparative advantages of live and dead fen¬ 
ces, in general terms, may be thus stated: Hedges 
can be reared where the materials for dead fences 
cannot bo had, and, excepting the best of walls, are 
greatly superior in durability; dead fences commonly 
occupy less room, shade the ground less, and nei¬ 
ther exhaust its moisture or richness, as is done by 
hedges. 
The best plants for hedges in this country are un¬ 
doubtedly the Buckthorn and the Osage Orange. 
We think the various trials which have been made 
with different plants, support this conclusion. The 
Honey Locust, which was considerably tried a few 
years since, fails to grow thick enough at the bot¬ 
tom, and is generally straggling and open. The 
English Hawthorn does not stand our hot and dry 
summers, and is liable to a blight similar to the 
“ leaf-blight,” and 1 ‘ fire-blight ” in pear trees. 
The Newcastle, or American Cock-spur Thorn, and 
the Washington Thorn, have formerly been used ex¬ 
tensively in some of the middle States, particularly 
in Delaware, where they succeeded well, but with¬ 
in a few years, the fine hedges of that section have 
all been destroyed by the borer, and this insect has 
also attacked the Hawthorn with equal fatality in 
many instances. It is true there are some neigh¬ 
borhoods where the Hawthorn has mostly escaped 
the casualties here mentioned, as in some parts of 
Seneca and Ontario counties, in this state; but its 
failure has been so general in most parts of the 
country, that it cannot be depended on as a hedge 
plant. 
For the northern states and tba Canadas, we 
* Hon. D. Webster. 
