rwrgow** 
THE ( ULTIVATOR. 
61 
unceasing activity, nrc ab'e to surmount them: but such a man was 
Mr. Dawson.” Yet this, however pra seworthv, is only the cha¬ 
racter by which evey man of business sh uhl be distinguished: it 
displays noise of that high talent which is the gift "f nature, am 
may, deter, if not defy imitation; nor any of ihose great acquin - 
meuts which are only to be attained by deep study and laborious 
research. Mr. Dawson’s success was the simple re.-ult of the dis¬ 
cernment with which he had adopted the improvements of others, 
combined with the application of good sense, observation, and 
persevering assiduity, to an object which requires no extraordinary 
ability; and it surely is in the power of every man of plain un¬ 
derstanding, and equal determination in the same pursuit, to fol¬ 
low in h s footsteps, if not to attain equal eminence. He must, how¬ 
ever, divest himself of prejudice, nor rej ct improvements merely 
because they ore innovations on the practice of his grandfather. 
Not that a farmer should try every new experiment that is pro¬ 
posed, far less adopt any novel plan without due consideration. 
But if, after having weighed its advantages ami disadvantages, 
with its applicability to the soil and means at. his command, the 
former should appear to predominate—then let him afford it a fair 
trial; and let him recollect, that if a short cut to fortune some¬ 
times lead a man astray, yet no one ever arrived at distinction by 
slavishly following the beaten track. 
It is, indeed, deeply to be lamented, that such distinguished ex¬ 
amples have not been more generally followed. Notwithstanding 
the acknowledged -tride which agriculture has made in this country 
within the last half century, yet no science has been slower in its 
progress towards perfection; and even admitting numberless exist¬ 
ing instances of intelligence and spirited management among farm¬ 
ers of the higher class, it is still an undeniable fact, that the great 
mass are men of a very opposite description. Brought up without 
sufficient education to enable them to comprehend the first princi¬ 
ple s of their art, acquiring it mechanically, a-' a mere trade, and 
either too dull or too indolent, to seek information from books, they 
rejecr every propo ed improvement a- the vi.-ionary schemes of 
mere theorists, and even neglect them after t he'r value has been 
proved by experience. Thus they invariably pursue the same rou¬ 
tine they have learned in their youth, and adhere, with the "bstina- 
cy of satisfied ignorance, to obsolete customs, as detrimental to 
their own interest as to that of their landlords and of the public; 
and thus it is, that the a verage produce of many purts of the king¬ 
dom is below, that of other districts of not greater natural fertili¬ 
ty, and that the husbandry of the South, though more favored by 
climate, is generally inferior to that of the North. 
It is too true, that this jealousy of written information has been 
in a great measure justified by many crude publications of inexpe¬ 
rienced persons, and that the sneers of practical men at what they 
contemptuously call “ Book ft nn'mgf are not wholly groundless. 
Much injury has been done to the cause of agriculture by sanguine 
speculations, which have only led to expense and disappointments; 
but all works on agriculture are not of that character; nor should 
it he forgotten, that theory is the parent of practical knowledge, 
and that the very systems which farmers themselves adopt, were 
originally founded upon those theories which they so much affect 
to despise. Neither can it be denied, that systems grounded upon 
theory name, unsupported by experiment, are properly viewed, with 
distrust: for the til >st plausible reasoning upon the operations of 
nature, without accompanying proof deduced from facts, may lead 
to a wrong conclusion, and it is often difficult to separate that 
which is really useful from that which is merely visionary. The 
art of hush miry depends so much upon patient observation and 
the test of repeated trial, and is influenced by so many casualties 
bevon I our control, that it would be rash to adopt any general rules 
as invariably applicable to tbe endless varietie- of season, soil, and 
incidental circum-taiices. Prudence, therefore, dictates the neces¬ 
sity of caution; but ignorance is opposed to every change, from the 
m re want of judgment to discriminate between that which is purely 
speculative, and that which rests upon a more solid foundation.— 
Introduction, to B'it sli Hv shun dry. 
CULTURE OF TIE CUCUMBER. 
I will state a fact reiaiive to the planting of cucumbers which 
came under my observation, and which is wo'hy of being known. 
I shall at least gi>e a further trial myself of its reality; though I 
cannot conceive there is a doubt remaining on the subject. Last 
spring, a friend of mine and myself wore planting cucumbers at 
the same time. I was planting minp, as is usual, in gardens, by 
mixing a small-portion of stable manure with tlie earth, and raising 
the hill an inch or two above the surface of the ground. Observ¬ 
ing it, lie jocosely remarketl, “ Let me show you how to raise cu¬ 
cumbers!” Never ha irig much luck in raising them, I clc erfully 
agreed to his proposition. He commenced by making holes in the 
earth, at the distance intended for the hills, that would ho ! d aoout 
a peck—he then filled them with dry leached ashes, covering the 
ashes with a very small quantity of earth. The seeds were then 
planted on a level with the surface of the ground. I was willing 
to see tlie experiment tried, but had no expectation of any thing 
but a loss of seed, labor and soil. But imagine my astoni.-hmenf, 
(notu ii hstanding a drier season never was known, and almost a 
universal failure of garden vegetables,) when I beheld v ties re¬ 
markably thrifty, and as tine a crop of cucumbers as any one need 
wish to raise, and continued to bear for a very long time, m utually 
so in fact. I will not philosophize or moral ze on this subject, but 
say to all, try it—and instead of throwing your ashes in a useless 
heap to stumble over, near your door, put them to a proper use and 
reap your “ ricli reward .”—Ohio Farmer. 
SCHOOL DISTRICT LIBRARIES. 
An Act relating to Public Inst ruction. 
§ 1. The taxable inhabitants of each school district, in the state, 
shall have power when lawfully assembled at. any district meeting, 
to lay a tax on the district, not exceeding twenty dollars for the 
first year, for the purchase of a district library; consisting of such 
books, as they shall in their district meetings direct; and such fur¬ 
ther turn as they may deem necessary fir the puichase of a book 
case. The intention to propose such a tax shall be stated in the 
notice required to be given for such meeting. 
§ 2. The taxable inhabitants of eacii school district shall also 
have power when so assembled in any subsequent year, to lay a tax 
not exceeding ten dollars in any one year for the purpose of making 
additions to tbe di.-trict library. 
§ 8. The clerk of the d strict, or such other person as thp taxa¬ 
ble inhabitants may, at their annual meeting, designate and appoint, 
by a majority of votes, shall be the librarian of tbe district, and 
shall have the caie and custody of the library, under such regula¬ 
tions as the inhabitants may adopt for his government. 
§ 4. The taxes authorized by this act to be raised, shall be as¬ 
sessed and collected in the s.me manner as a tax for building a 
school-hour,e. 
Demand for Cocoons .—Judging from appearances, the demand 
for cocoons and ree'ed silk, the coming season, will exceed the sup¬ 
ply itj a thousand fold- The silk manufactories in Dedham Mans¬ 
field and this city, are depending principally upon the new crop for 
the raw material. The lust year’s crop is already exhausted, and 
we understand that scarcely a bale of ibieign silk can be found in 
the commercial cities. Those, therefore, who raise a crop this 
season may depend on its being sought fur by the manufacturers 
and at a very liberal price. We should not be surprised if they 
commanded $4 a bushel. Such persons, therefore, as have foliage, 
will do well to make cocoons, if they are not prepared for reeling. 
— S'/A- Guitarist. 
Young - Men’s Department. 
On the Pleasures and Enj y meats connected with the Pursuits of S. i- 
ence. (Continued from page ICO, vol. 1.) 
It is true, indeed, that the study of some of the subjects above men¬ 
tioned, particularly Ihe first principles of mathematics, may, in the outset, 
be attended with some difficulties, and to some minds may wear a diy and 
uninteiesling aspect. But as the mind proceeds onward in its progiess, 
and acquires clear conceptions of what at first appeared difficult or ob¬ 
scure—every difficulty it is enabled to surmount gives a new relish to the 
subject of investigation. and additional vigor to the intellect, to enable it 
to vanquish tbe difficulties which still remain,—till at lenglli it feels a 
pleasure and an interest in tbe pursuit, which no difficulties, nor even 
the lapse of time, can ever effectually destroy. “Let any man,” says 
Lord Brougham, “ pass an evening in vacant idleness, or even in reading 
some silly tale, and compare the state of his'mind when he goes to sleep 
or gets up next morning, with its state some other day when he has pass- 
led a few hours in going through the proofs, by facts and reasoning, of 
