30 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
the lead of all the others. Where is the man of so much apathy 
as not to be cheered with the anticipation of beholding such an in¬ 
stitution : an extensive and handsome edifice, where our young 
men shall be taught, in theory and in practice, those immutable 
principles of nature which form the only infallible guide to all the 
substantial comforts of life ! Where, by mingling the useful with 
the sweet, they will become inured to habits of industry; where 
science and art shall combine to inspire them with laudable emula¬ 
tion to excel each other ! if we are charmed with viewing a gar¬ 
den, upon a small scale, the work perhaps of a single, but skilful 
individual, how infinitely more charming must be the view of three 
or four hundred acres, planned and laid out with all the accumulat¬ 
ed skill of ages, aided by all the lights which science has thrown 
on the subject, with all the b vauties of the vegetable world, and all 
that is useful of the animal! , Could any earthly prospect be more 
delighiful? I answer, yes; that of two hundred young men, vying 
with each other, in skill and industry, not only in improving and 
beautifying the establishment, but in improving their minds by stu¬ 
dy and their bodies by manly labor, infinitely more pleasing and 
more to their credit than the mountebank feats of a gymnasium; 
thus fitting themselves as brilliant lights to guide, instruct, and 
adorn the succeeding generation. 
This view of the subject, or rather the subject itself, far surpass¬ 
ing any picture I can draw of it, will soon become reality, if those 
interested in its progress do their duty ; and that they will do 
their duty, the talent and integrity already engaged are sufficient 
guarantee. Let this state set the example, and all the other states 
will imitate it. And what will hinder the same from taking place 
in every county? Should one county lead the way, there can be no 
doubt but all the others will follow. But the county institutions 
will of course be small, compared with that of the s,ate. One 
hundred acres of good land, with other suitable investments, might 
be sufficient; and what mighty thing would the cost of a hundred 
acres of land and a little expense in buildings and apparatus be for 
this county ? There is abundant reason to believe that such an in¬ 
stitution in each county would be an immediate source of pecunia¬ 
ry profit, independently of all its other advantages. But the state 
institution must necessarily lead the way. That institution, then, 
as the parent or head, would furnish teachers for all the others, and 
it would also furnish seeds, plants, and animals, of every descrip¬ 
tion ; and as it would be foremost in all untrodden ground, it would 
protect the county institutions from all loss in new and untried 
experiments, and afford a pattern for them to follow in all their 
operations. The state could afford expenses in books and appara¬ 
tus, as well as in the introduction and acclimation of rare and va¬ 
luable exotic plants ; and also in procuring valuable and extraordi¬ 
nary animal 3 , which would be altogether beyond the reasonable 
means of a county, much more so of an individual ; and yet these 
valuable acquisitions would be less so, either to the county or the 
individual, because they cost comparatively nothing. There are 
probably more than a hundred thousand respectable farmers in this 
s f ate. Many of these have been at very considerable expense to 
introduce some valuable breed of animals, or even the seed of some 
extraordinary vegetable. Now, suppose the expense so incurred 
should, in some cases, be a hundred dollars,—and it has been in ma¬ 
ny cases much more ; this would be a heavy tax for an individual; 
but divide this tax among the hundred thousand farmers, and it 
amounts to one mill a piece. And suppose this introduction were 
effected by the United States, the expense to individuals would be 
still less ; the liability to imposition would be also less; and the 
chance of its being distributed over the states, and consequently 
the public thereby benefitted, still greater. 
Let this parent, or state agricultural school be attended as it would 
be, and as I venture to say it will shortly be, by pupils from each 
of the counties, each of whom will be an interested respresentative 
of his own county ; and let each county have, as there is reason 
to hope it will have, a school after the same model, but upon a 
smaller scale; and when this system shall even begin to be in full 
operation, how abundant will be its benefits to every farmer in the 
state, as well to those who have not, as to those who have been 
its pupils. If any new and valuable production is introduced, as 
fast as the course of nature will suffer it to multiply it will, of 
course, be distributed for the benefit of the whole. Are new agri¬ 
cultural implements invented, here their comparitive merits will be 
tested ; and if, upon fair experiment, found not good, they will be 
condemned, without suffering individuals to be imposed upon. 
Here, also, every farmer in the county may, without much expense, 
go and view the operations and improvements himself, and not lis¬ 
ten to stories which he as no faith in, or read books on the sub¬ 
ject which he does not understand. 
BOILED FOOD FOR CATTLE. 
Having for some years turned my attention to the most econo¬ 
mical and profitable mode of fattening cattle and especially hogs, 
I have found that preparing their food by the process of boiling is 
unquestionably the greatest improvement that has yet been disco¬ 
vered—a slight fermentation following previously to feeding it 
away as certainly adds to the capacity of food for affording nutri¬ 
tion. And I have also further fully ascertained, that the nutritive 
qualities of many species of food can only be obtained by boiling, 
and in many others is only fully developed, or prepared for the ac¬ 
tion of the stomach by that procees. 
The Irish potato furnishes a case in point of the first kind, and 
the apple of the last. It is extremely rare that you will find a 
hog that will eat a raw Irish potato, but put it through a culinary 
process and it is rare to find one that will refuse them. 
Boil the apples, let them get cold, and feed them to the hogs, 
and you will double their capacity for producing flesh. 
But, sir, the result of fairly conducted experiment has equally 
convinced me that the mixing of different kinds of food, adds pro¬ 
digiously to the capacity of the different materials for affording 
nutrition, from the effect of combination. The increase of the 
quantity of food, as well as the addition to its nutritive quality, by 
the simple absorption of water in the act of boiling, is familiar to 
all well informed persons. But I am assured that the combination 
of different materials, produces a greater mass of nutritive matter, 
than the whole could separately yield ; and that to find out the art 
of mixing food, along with the best mode of preparing it for the ac¬ 
tion of the stomach, is the great art of feeding economically, and I 
believe to secure animal flesh, health and vigor. 
The late improved mode of keeping up in flesh working horses 
in England, by the admixture of food, may be cited as a corroborat¬ 
ing proof in point. It is now I think rendered certain that the com¬ 
bination of two articles of food, produces a new nutritive matter, 
more effectual than either could separately, or that could be pro¬ 
duced from the nutritive matter contained in each fed separately. 
Boil Irish potatoes, pumpkins and apples; combine them by mash¬ 
ing together, and add a little salt, and it will be found most nutri¬ 
tive food for hogs, producing flesh rapidly. Now a hog on Irish 
potatoes raw, would starve to death, and do little better confined 
to pumpkins; on raw apples he would live tolerably; on the boiled 
and combined he fattens kindly and rapidly. 
The result with me has become an anxious desire to ascertain 
the simplest and most economical mode of steam boiling food on a 
large scale, say pumpkins, potatoes, &c. Some of your readers 
rnay have seen, or be in possession of some plan not generally 
known, and valuable. 
I have no hesitation in saying that the individual whose talents 
would devise some plan, which would come within the reach of 
every description of planters, uniting economy in the expenditure 
of capital, with despatch, would confer a solid benefit on our coun¬ 
try .—Southern Planter. 
From the Genesee Farmer. 
THINGS A FARMER SHOULD NOT DO. 
A farmer should never undertake to cultivate more land than he 
can do thorougly—half tilled land is growing poorer—well tilled 
land is constantly improving. 
A farmer should never keep more cattle, horses, sheep or hogs, 
than he can keep in good order; an animal in high order the first 
of December, is already half wintered. 
A farmer should never depend on his neighbor for what he can, 
by care and g iod management, produce on his own farm ; he 
should never beg fruit while he can plant trees, or borrow tools 
while he can make or buy ; a high authority has said, the borrower 
is a servant to the lender. 
The farmer should never be so immersed in political matters, as 
to forget to sow his wheat, dig his potatoes, and bank up his cellar; 
nor should he be so inattentive to them as to remain ignorant of 
those great questions of national and state policy which will always 
agitate more or less a free people. 
A farmer should shun the doors of a bank, as he would an approach 
