17 
THE CULTIVATOR 
journals. While their beneficial effects have been almost unlimit¬ 
ed, they h've injured no one, and now that their utility has been 
fully tested by experience, that farmer lias been guilty of an un¬ 
pardonable inattention to his true interests, who neglects to pro- 
vide himself with a well conducted journal of this kind. 1 am 
sensible there is a prejudice, an inveterate, but most unfounded 
and untenable prejudice, against what is termed by some of our 
cultivators, book farming. With such men it is enough to con 
demn any proposition, or discredit any statement, that it comes 
from a hook or a journal. They reason thus:—our fathers for a 
century have been content with thirty bushels of corn, or ten bush¬ 
els of wheat to an acre, and why should we undertake to i,e wiser 
than they] They never heard of a chemical analysis of soils, of 
turr.ip culture, of rotation in crops, and agricultural books, and why 
should we bother our heads about such matters] With such rea¬ 
sonings thousands resist all imp-ovemen*, and rest content'd in an 
ignorance not the less prejudicial because so shamefully prevalent. 
And what is tfiis book farming, about which such unreasonable no¬ 
tions prevail] A few cultivators of the earth agree to communi¬ 
cate to each other the results of their experience in farming— 
raising cattle, sheep and hogs—the best m ales of preparing and 
using minure—the most profitable crops and the best modes of 
raising them—the best breeds and the best mooes of fastening ani¬ 
mals, and in short, all things of general interest relating to t he oc¬ 
cupation of a farmer. These results are committed to writing, go 
through the press and become a book. He who chooses to follow 
the results of eiiliszrht<med experience as ilmre detailed, is guilty of 
book farming. A gentleman who has money, inclinanon anil lei¬ 
sure, following nature as a guide, ... a series of agricul¬ 
tural experiments which result iri doubling the means of existence 
from a given quantity of land, or in other words, makes two blades 
of gras-, or two bushels of wheat, grow where but one grew be¬ 
fore. Such a man is a benefactor to his country, but, if actuated 
by a noble regard for the general goal, and anxious that all 
should partake with him in the benefit, he S' lids a history of his 
proceedings to a journal, that others may avoid his errors; it. is 
denounced as a mere whim, as nothing but hook fanning. No 
matter how important or how valuable the published accounts may 
be, if they add one-half to the productiveness of a farm, there are 
many, too many, who scout them as unworthy of notice. If, how- j 
ever, we were required to point out. the men who had done the 
most to advance the agricultural interests of the state or country, 
who have introduced the most successful methods of raising crops, 
and improving the soil, we should be nb iired to fix on those who 
are etnpha ical'y bonk farmers; men who were bred to other pur¬ 
suits, out have relinquished them for the safe, honorable, and in 
their case, eminently successful cultivation of the soil. It is to 
such men as Powell, Column, Buel, Bradlev, and the lamented 
Tno nas, that Hie farmer who wishes to adopt the easiest, and most 
profitable course of tanning mu-t look as guides, and those are the 
most thorough book farmers in the country. It is time that this 
unworthy prejudice against that knowledge of firming which may 
be derived from books was done ai* ay—that farmers should not 
deem themselves so far advanced towards perfection in their pur- i 
suits as to be beyond the teachings of recorded experience. We 
know there are visionaries in agriculture,as well as in every tiling 
else; men who are mere theorists; who from their studies put, 
forth their vague notions and crude ideas as facts, without sub-II 
mining them to the ordeal of experiment, the test of time. But 
the practical, well informed farmer, and such all should be, is not 
deceived by such fantasies; from the preintses laid down, and com¬ 
paring them with his own experience, he perceives the absurdi¬ 
ties to which they lead, and rejects them without hesitation. But 
the Uiei retical larui"r, who wish tune, and money, and nature for 
his guid ■, submits his ideas to the test, of experiment, may obtain 
results astonishing to himself, and which, when laid before the 
public, d uriand its lasting gratitude. To hooks then we must con¬ 
tinue to look for practical instruction in the most approved modes 
of agriculture. A journal is a reservoir in which is accumulated 
the experience of ages am the practice of thousands ; and to it. the 
young farm r may profitably go for information on a multi ude of 
topics respecting which the inexperienced and uninformed must 
necessarily be ignorant. To all then who aspire to the honorable 
title of an intelligent, tiller of the soil, we say, take some standard 
agricultural work—to every present subscriber to the Farmer we 
say, not only continue your subscription and endeavor to promote 
Vol. II. 3 
its circuhit'on among your neighbors, but. become a contributor to 
its columns, of the results of your farming experience, ymir suc¬ 
cess am! your failures—preserve the numbers carefully, and see 
when each volume closes they are well bound—read carefully, 
compare thoroughly, reduce your knowledge to practice, ami you 
will be singularly unfortunate indeed, if you do not find \ourself 
remunerated ten-fold. WILLIS GAYLORD. 
Young: Men's Uepa tmeisl. 
INDUSTRY. 
Nothing is more important to your usefulness and happiness in 
life, than habits of industry. “Tins wo commanded you,” says 
Si. Paul, “that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” 
Now thi-> would he the sober dictate of good sense, had the apostle 
never spoken. It is just as true now as it. was two thousand years 
ago, that no person possessing a sound mind in a healthy hotly, has 
a right to live in this world without labor. If he claims an exis¬ 
tence on any other condition, let him beiake himself to some other 
planet. 
There are many kinds of labor. Some which are no less useful 
than others, are almost exclusively mental. You may make your 
own selection from a very wide rano-e of employments, ail, per¬ 
haps, < qually important to society. But something you must do .— 
| Even if you happen to inherit, an ample fortune, your heal'It and 
happiness demand all this. To iive in idleness even if you have 
the means, is not only injurious to yourself, but a species of fraud 
upon community, and the children, if children you ever have, who 
have a claim upon you for all you can conveniently earn and do. 
Let. me pr. vail with yon then, when I urge you to start in life 
fully determined to depend on your own exertn ns, and to he, in 
this respect, independent. In a country where the general rule is 
that a persen shall rise—if lie rises at all—by his own merit, this 
determination is indispensable. It is usually idle to he looking 
out for support from some other quarter. Suppose you should ob¬ 
tain a place of office or trust through the friendship, favor or affec¬ 
tion of others; « hat then] Why, you hold your post at uncer¬ 
tainties. It, may he taken from you at almost any hour. But if 
you depend on yourself alone, your mountain stands strong, and 
cannot easily be moved. 
He who hvi s upon any thing except his own labor, is incessant¬ 
ly surrounded by rivals; his grand resource is that servility in 
which he is always liable to he surpassed. He is in daily danger of 
being out-bidden : his very bread depends upon caprice, and lie 
lives in a state of never ceasing fear. His is not. indeed, the dog's 
life, ‘•'•hunger and idleness,” but it is worse; for it is “idleness 
with slavery;''’ the latter being just the price of the former. 
S aves, not unfrequently are w< II fed and decently clad; but 
slaves dare not syeak They dare not be suspected even to think 
differently from their master, hate his acts as much as they may; 
be he tyrant, drunkard, fool, or all three at once, they must be si¬ 
lent, or nine times out of ten lo e his approbation. Though pos¬ 
sessing a thousand times his knowledge, they must feign a con¬ 
viction of his superior understanding; though knowing it. is they 
who, in fact do all that he is paid for doing, it is destruction to 
them to seem as if they thought any portion of the service belonged 
to themselves. 
You smile, perhaps, and ask what all this tirade against slavery 
means, in a part of the country where no slavery exists. But re¬ 
member, there is slavery of several kinds ; there is mental slavery 
as well as bodily ; and neither is confined to any particular divi¬ 
sion of the United S;ates. 
Begin, too, with a determination to labor through life. There 
are manv who suppose that when they have secured to themselves 
a competence, they shall sit with folded arms, in an easy chair, 
the rest of their days, and enjoy it. But they may be assured that 
this will never do. The very fact of a person’s having spent the 
early and middle part of life in active usefulness, creates a necessi¬ 
ty to th" botlv and mind for its continuance. By this is not me. nt 
that men should labor as hard m old age, even in proportion to their 
strength, as in early life. Youth requires a great variety and 
amount of action, maturiiy not so much and age stilt less. Yet 
so much as age does, in fact, require, is much more indispensable 
than to those who are younger. Children are so tenacious of life, 
that they will not suffer much, at least immediately , if exercise is 
neglected. 
