1853. 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
15 
last of August • the quantity sown per acre two 
bushels—and the seed should be plowed in, put¬ 
ting the whole field into lands the width of the 
rows of corn. The stalks may remain on the 
ground during winter, and about the first of March 
be chopped down, and allowed to remain on the 
surface. W. G. E. 
Professional Education of Farmers. 
L. Tucker, Esq.— I congratulate you, my dear 
sir, on the advent of your “Country Gentle¬ 
man,” and for one, desire to extend to him the 
right-hand of social fellowship. Coming, as he 
does, with a letter of credit from you, it is pre¬ 
sumable that he is, indeed, a real gentleman—a 
man of education, of good social and moral hab¬ 
its, and a man of business. Although the popu¬ 
lar idea conveyed by the term “gentleman,” is 
that of an idle man, a man of leisure, a man that 
is not obliged to attend to any kind of business 
for a living, I do not so understand the term, but 
rather as I have defined it above. But the “ coun¬ 
try gentleman” is, or ought to be, the perfection, 
the highest grade of the human family in private 
life 5 and, as a general rule, he generally is so. I 
have mixed much with all classes of society in this 
country, and can say frankly that I have met with 
more genuine gentlemen in the country, on farms 
and plantations, than in cities and towns. I have 
found but one fault in all my intercourse with 
country people, that is calculated to degrade 
them, and that is almost universally prevalent ; 
and so long as it does prevail it must continue to 
degrade the profession. It is the absence of a 
proper esprit du corps, and in its place, a longing 
desire for other professions. They “ look down ” 
upon their own profession, and up to every other. 
They educate their sons for lawyers, doctors, di¬ 
vines, merchants; and those who cannot be thus 
educated, educate themselves for farmers, as it 
happens. Is not this the truth? 
Now this must be reformed entirely. Farmers 
must be ambitious of becoming great farmers in¬ 
stead of great lawyers and doctors; and farmer’s 
sons and daughters must be enabled to see in their 
father’s profession, a station and standing sufficient¬ 
ly exalted to satisfy their highest ambition. But 
how can this be accomplished? By a proper system 
of education. At present the great end and aim of 
of education is what is called professional-—that is, 
the student is being educated for a lawyer, &c. 
Take the catalogues of Yale, of Harvard, or of any 
of our colleges, and where you will find one stu¬ 
dent preparing for an agricultural life, you will 
find five hundred preparing for other professions. 
If a farmer has two sons, and the one exhibits a 
modicum of intellectual “ smartness,” and the 
other the same amount of dullness, the former is 
forthwith sent to the law school, the latter to the 
barn-yard. 
Among all that has been written on the subject 
of education of farmer’s sons, I have not seen what 
I consider the proper idea inculcated. It is true, 
we are continually furnished with essays recom¬ 
mending the establishment of agricultural schools, 
colleges, farm schools, &c., but they do not con¬ 
tain the germ from which the future tree must 
grow. Legislatures must not be looked to, to es¬ 
tablish schools. Farmers must establish them 
themselves. Lawyers and doctors and divines, 
establish their own schools, and why not farmers? 
These professions would fare poorly, just as the 
farmers do, if they were to depend upon the le¬ 
gislatures to establish medical colleges, 8 cc., for 
them. No, they first put their shoulders to the 
wheel, and then call upon Hercules. But the 
great idea, so universally overlooked, is, that the 
farmers must first appreciate the respectability, 
the gentility, of their own profession, before they 
can be induced to take the proper measures to 
ensure a thorough professional education for their 
sons. They must cultivate a spirit of respect for 
themselves and their profession; and consider no 
other class of men, no other profession superior or 
more respectable than their own. They should do 
as other professions do, associate and consult to¬ 
gether upon their own professional affairs; estab¬ 
lish schools and colleges for the education of the 
young; and, in fact, do as all other professions 
do to advance their own interest. 
Let us sketch a plan of education, and as a mo¬ 
del we will take the medical profession. What 
does a man do who has a son that he wishes to 
become a doctor? He selects some good physi¬ 
cian, and puts his son with him to study, two or 
three years. This is to give him a theoretical 
knowledge of the rudiments. The physician 
will instruct him as to the books he must read, 
make him acquainted with the minor practical 
duties of the profession, and give him opportuni¬ 
ties for such practice as may be considered pro¬ 
per. This is an apprenticeship. After a proper 
length of study in the office, he is sent to the me¬ 
dical college, where he completes his theoretical 
studies, and has the advantage of the clinical prac¬ 
tice in the infirmary or hospital, and at a proper 
time, after sufficient study, he receives his diploma. 
Now, farmers should do the same with those of 
their sons they intend for farmers. They should 
instruct them in the principles as well as the prac- 
of their art; they should put books into their 
hands to be studied; they should, in fact, be car¬ 
ried through a regular apprenticeship. When they 
