THE CULTIVATOR. 
Ibut was too expensive for him 1 .’ To which it may be added, that, not¬ 
withstanding the obvious economy and handiness of this mode of plough¬ 
ing all light soils, and that, on such land, it has been adopted on every gen 
tleman’s farm throughout the kingdom, yet, with this example betore the 
farmers' eyes, it has not yet entirely superseded the ancient cumbersome 
and expensive team. 
Even in the settled and customary management of a farm, unforeseen 
difficulties occur that baffle experience, and in some cases, the merely 
practical farmer, who relies solely upon that, will be at a loss for expedi¬ 
ents which an acquaintance with the practice of others might enable him 
to supply. There is, in this respect, assuredly much to learn, and no 
great difficulty in the task. For the rising generation, a more enlarged 
system of education is obviously the surest means, hut the tanner who 
has not had that advantage, may easily acquire a practical knowledge ol 
the various modes of culture and of rearing stock pursued in-other dis¬ 
tricts, by occasionally visiting them alter seed time, and adopting Bake- 
well’s advice—‘ to see what others are (loins'-' He will thus be enabled 
to compare, in the most etiectual manner, their different fashions with his 
own; arrd it is in this manner, that the intelligent farmers of the North— 
of Norihumbeiland and of Norfolk, have surpassed their bretheren in ac¬ 
tive enterprise and improved husbandry. 
There is an old and an often-repeated adage, that— 
‘ He who by the plough would thrive. 
Himself must eiiber liofd, or drive:’ 
and this, which has become a prevalent opinion, hasdeterred many a man 
who has sought relief from the cares of trade in the retirement of the coun¬ 
try from availing himself of the the profit, as well as the amusement, 
which he might have derived from farming. It is unquestionably true, 
that the man who, from early habit, is capable of holding the plough, must 
have great advantage in the practical knowledge of that most important 
operation, over him who has not himself stood between the stilts, and it 
is earnestly to be recommended, that eveiy youth who is destined to a 
farming life should personally assist in all the labors of the field, as the 
surest means of enabling him to direct them hereafter with effect; but 
nothing can be more erroneous than the supposition that the continuance 
of the toil is necessary to success. Formerly, indeed, when husbandry 
was confined to one dull round of drudgery, and when farms were gene¬ 
rally so small, that the profit depended as much upon the personal labor as 
the capacity of the tenant, it might be true: butsince the introduction of 
the present improved modes of cultivation, the more systematic attention 
to live stock, and the enlarged size of farms; since in fact, agriculture 
lias become a science, rather than a mere mechanic art, the time of a man 
who occupies sufficient land to employ only a few laborers, would be ill 
bestowed on manual toil. The axiom is not, indeed always applied in its 
literal sense; but then it is construed to mean, that no man can hope to 
become a good larmer, who has not been bred to the business. Undoubt¬ 
edly personal experience is necessary but it may be acquired at much 
less expense of time and money than is commonly imagined, by any man 
w ho will sedulously devote his powers of reflection to the principles, and 
his attention to the details of farming operations, with a firm resolution 
neithen to relax in his exertions, nor to suffer himself to be daunted by 
disappointment in the commencement/^' his career. Such a man will he 
sure to succeed; and, as encouragement to perseverance, he may hear in 
mind, that many of the most eminent agriculturists, and those who have 
introduced the most important improvements in rural economy, were not 
originally farmers. 
Both the late Arthur Young, and Marshall, whose writings have contri¬ 
buted so much to the diffusion of agricultural knowledge, were brought 
up to commerce; and it was not until the latter had attained to a mature 
period of life, that he turned his attention to the plough. He then, with 
little other previous preparation than what he had acquired from reading, 
entered upon a laun within ten miles of London, of three hundred acres 
of mixed soil, and which had been greatly mismanaged. This, for one so 
unpractised, was an arduous undertaking; yet within three months he dis¬ 
charged his bailiff, and became his own manager. The consequence, as 
might he expected, was, that he atfirst committed some blunders; but at 
the end of three years, he published his ‘ Minutes of Agriculture con- 
tainingthe memoranda of his operations from 1774 to 1777, which although 
not tree from error, yet show, that he had even then attained to a greater 
proficiency than most of his cotemporaries: hut, to use his own language, 
‘ attendance and attention will make any man a farmer ’ 
The notion (hat farming is unprofitable to any other than ‘ regular-bred 
farmers,’ has been strengthened by numerous examples of persons who 
embarked in it during the late war, without any previous experience, or 
any other incentive than an expectation, encouraged by the high prices 
ot the day and the exaggerated representations of some agricultural w ri¬ 
ters, that it would prove an advantageous speculation. Impressed with 
that idea, they gave exorbitant rents for land: their stock was purchased 
at an equally extravagant rate; and when the markets declined, they in¬ 
curred enormous ioss. The publication on the agricultural state of the 
kingdom in 1816, drawn up from the replies to a circular letter on the sub¬ 
ject by the Board of Agriculture, teems with accounts of farms thrown up 
Vol. II. 10 
73 
in every county; and, in many cases, the stock and crops were sold at less 
than half their original cost. 
To these instances are to be added those, constantly recurring, of men 
in easy circumstances, who, without any knowledge of either the theory 
or practice of husbandry, engage in it merely for amusement, and not con¬ 
descending to stoop to the details, are exposed to numberless impositions 
of their tradesmen and servants. They pay higher wages, and obtain 
lower prices, than their neighbors; they grow large crops, but at an ex- 
pense that the sale will not repay; and, retiring at length in disgust, they 
declare farming to be ‘ a losing concern;’ but without acknowledging that 
it only became so through their own improvidence. 
That such failures, however, do not always occur, we have the evi¬ 
dence of a very competent judge, who, alluding to persons who, having 
been in other lines of business, ye f , having a strong inclination for rural 
occupation, had betaken themselves to farming as a profession, says,— 
‘ this class forms the most intelligent and accurate of husbandmen. Like 
converts in religion, they have more zeal, give more application, in short, 
have fewer prejudices to surmount, and more enthusiasm for their new 
profession, than those who have been brought up in it from their infancy. 
They are. however, at the first outset, more liable to error or mistake, 
from the want of practice; but their indefatigable attention makes more 
than amends for their ignorance of the minutiae of the ait; and as they 
have been at some pains to acquire a knowledge in the theory of agricul¬ 
ture, and hence established their ideas on rational principles, they most 
commonly in the end make a distinguished appearance, as their labors, if 
judiciously performed, though often in a new and experimental channel, 
seldom fail of being crowned with success.’ 
Thus, in every country, the condition of the people is seen to depend 
upon the degree of skilful labor which it can command: but the plough is 
the prime mover of all, for until a sufficiency of food be produced for the 
common consumption, no one can be spared from the cultivation of the land; 
and it is obvious, that in proportion to the perfection of that cultivation 
will be the amount of subsistence obtained, and the number of spare hands 
left for other purposes. The means of support in other branches of indus¬ 
try being thus secured, the demand for the produce of the land increases 
along with the produce of that labor; more hands are then required for its 
cultivation, and these again require more manufactures. Thus industry 
and wealth keep pace with agriculture, and, each stimulating the other, 
contribute to the national prosperity. That, such is the effect of agricul¬ 
ture on the welfare of the community, is proved by the history of its pro¬ 
gressive impiovement, and of the consequent change in the mode of liv¬ 
ing.— Introduction to British Husbandry. 
¥ n% Men“s Department. 
Beneficial Effects of Knowledge on Moral Principle and Conduct. 
Knowledge is valuable chiefly in proportion as it is practical and useful. 
It dispels the darkness which naturally broods over the human understand¬ 
ing, ami dissipates a thousand superstitious notions and idle terrors by 
which it has been frequently held in cruel bondage It invigorates and 
expands the intellectual faculties, and directs them to their proper objects. 
It elevates the mind in the scale of rational existence, by enlarging its 
views and refining its pleasures. It gratifies the desire of the soul for per¬ 
petual activity, and renders its activities subservient to the embellish¬ 
ment of life and the improvement of society. It unveils the beauties and 
sublimities of nature, with which the heavens and the earth are adorned, 
and sets before us the “ Book of God,” in which we may trace the linea¬ 
ments of his character and the ways of his providence It aggrandizes our 
ideas of the omnipotence of Diety, and unfolds to us the riches of his 
beneficence, and the depth of his wisdom and intelligence. And, in 
tiie exercise of our powers on such objects, we experience a thousand de¬ 
lightful emotions and enjoyments to which the unenlightened multitude 
are entire strangers. Ail such activities and enjoyments may be reckoned 
among the practical advantages of knowledge. 
But there is no application of knowledge more interesting and important 
than its practical bearings on moral principle and action. If it were not 
calculated to produce a beneficial effect on the state of morals and the in¬ 
tercourses of general society, the utility of its general diffusion might, with 
some show of reason, be called in question. But there cannot be the 
slightest doubt, that an increase of knowledge would be productive of an 
increase of moral order and an improvement in moral conduct. For truth, 
in thought and sentiment, leads to truth in action. The man who is in 
the habit of investigating truth, and who rejoices in it when ascertained, 
cannot be indifferent to its anplication to conduct. There must be truth 
in his actions ; ihey must be the expression, the proof, and the effect of 
his sentiments and affections, in order that he may approve of them, and 
he satisfied that they are virtuous, or accordant with the relations which 
subsist among moral agents. There must likewise he a truth or harmony 
between his actions, so that none of them be incoherent with the rest. 
They must all be performed on the same principles, with the same designs, 
and by the same rule. To a man who perceives cruth and loves it, every 
incongruity and every want of consistency between sentiment and action. 
