58 
THE CULTIVATOR Jan. 
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NOTES FOR THE MONTH. 
In entering upon the new year, we most cordially ten¬ 
der the compliments of the season to all our readers and 
friends. We congratulate them upon the rich blessings 
of the year that is past, as well as upon the fair pros¬ 
pects which the new year opens before them. At no time 
has the profession of Agriculture held so high a rank in 
the public estimation, as nowj and for the reason that 
farmers are every year becoming more intelligent and 
consequently more respected and powerful. We wish 
we could infuse into the mind of every working farmer, 
a just view of his responsibilities, and the dignity of his 
calling. Too many farmers, as well as their wives, for¬ 
get the true respectability and independence of their 
pursuit, and instead of seeking to make their rural 
homes the seat of refinement and happiness, seem to 
consider every other sphere of life, more desirable than 
their own. This should not be so, and would not, if 
parents would train up their sons and daughters for 
farmers and farmers’ wives, instead of impressing them 
with the idea that the labors of the husbandman and his 
family arc only proper to the ox and the blockhead. A 
change, in this respect, is slowly moving onward, and we 
think we see a brighter day dawning—a day when our 
farmers, having become wiser and better men, shall teach 
their children both by precept and example, that there 
is no home capable of higher refinement and purer en¬ 
joyment than that of the American farmer. Education 
and intelligence,—a conviction that knowledge, in agri¬ 
culture as in everything else, is power,—will effect the 
desired reform. Other professions, though few in numbers 
comparatively, have, and do now in a great measure wield 
the political and social power of this country. And 
jwhy? Simply because they are educated for their calling. 
Not so with the farmer. Time was when it was not sup¬ 
posed that mind was necessary to him. All he had to 
do, was to “ dig and delve.” But the truth is beginning 
to be felt, that agriculture affords as large and useful a 
scope for talent as any industrial pursuit, and that all 
that is necessary to elevate the rural population, and 
give to them the power which, from their numbers, they 
should possess, is to give them the same advantages of 
education which are bestowed upon those destined to the 
professions. Let farmers, instead of sending their sons 
to the shop or the office, educate them for the farm, and 
we shall not much longer hear complaints that the law¬ 
yers and doctors possess all the influence in our social 
and political circles. Improve the mind of the farmer— 
give him the power to express his thoughts, and we have 
no fears but what he will take his true position in society. 
To effect this object,—to improve the mind, to elevate 
the character, and refine the taste of our rural popula¬ 
tion, is one of the prominent aims of Tiie Cultivator. 
It will avail but little if we show the farmer how to in¬ 
crease his profits, if there is not a corresponding eleva¬ 
tion of the aims and purposes of his life—if he docs not 
seek, while his profits are enlarged, to increase the facili¬ 
ties for the mental improvement of his family, and to cast 
around his homestead those adornments which are, hap¬ 
pily. Within the reach of all our farmers, and which serve 
in so high a degree to strengthen the attachment of both 
parents and children to their homes. The winter eve¬ 
nings are the time to think of these things,—the time 
to read, reflect, and to devise plans to be carried into 
effect, when “ the time of the singing of birds” shall 
again come round: and if the pages of the Cultivator 
shall be instrumental in inducing the formation of such 
plans as will lead to a more just appreciation of the ad¬ 
vantages of their position,—to higher intellectual enjoy¬ 
ment, as well as to more satisfaction and profit in their 
labors, we shall have accomplished a most laudable ob¬ 
ject. —— 
Acknowledgments. —Letters from correspondents 
have been received during the past month, from D. J. 
^Beardsley, John Diehl, Elizabeth Diehl, Charles F. Mor¬ 
ton, Hon. F. Holbrook, Geo. Jaques, Dr. G. B. Smith, 
W. G. Edmundson, L. Durand, S. B. Bulkeley, Prof. 
J. P. Norton, E. Vail. J. Wilkinson. 
Books, Pamphlets, Ac., have been received as fol¬ 
lows:—The American Muck Book, by D. J. Browne, 
and the* Ladies’ Guide, or Skillful House-wife, by Mrs. 
L. G. Abell, from the publisher, C. M. Saxton, New- 
York.--Illustrated Agriculturist’s Almanac, for 1852, 
from J. G. Reed, publisher, New-York.-Saxton’s 
American Farmer’s Almanac for 1852, from C. M. Sax- 
ton, New-York. - 
Pressing Hay. —A correspondent solicits information 
on the best mode of pressing hay—the expense of the 
press, the weight of the bales, the article used for se¬ 
curing the bales, &c. Ac. Will some one describe the 
most improved mode? 
Stall Feeding. —A correspondent in Maryland, E. 
L., says—“ I have been much pleased with the remarks 
of your correspondent, J. Johnston, on stall-feeding 
cattle, and would be glad if he would give some farther 
particulars, as to kind and quantity of feed, size of stalls, 
and whether he halters his cattle, or has gates between 
tween them. I sometimes do a little at this business, 
and would like do more as my land improves, if I could 
make it pay at the price of grain generally in this vicini¬ 
ty’.” Will our friend Johnston furnish the information 
asked for? -- 
The Stone-Hill Potato. —In our November number, 
p. 879, we acknowledged the receipt of a fine sample of 
potato, to which the originator had given this name. We 
have since received a barrel of them from Mr. Bulke¬ 
ley, who gives us the following history of them . In the 
spring of 1847, he planted a quantity of seed, saved from 
the Carter potatoe. The product was a great variety of 
sorts and colors. Several of the most promising of these 
he planted in 1848. From these he selected three white 
varieties, so near alike as scarcely to be distinguished 
from each other, and planted them promiscuously. These 
he has continued to plant, the potatoes increasing in size 
each year. Some of them the past season, weighed over 
2 lbs. They are hardy strong growers, productive, and 
of excellent quality—though not as early as the June, 
are much earlier than the Carter, and will crack open 
when boiled even before they are ripe, and retain their 
fine quality through the year. If they shall prove equal 
to this representation, hereafter, they will be a very' 
