16 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Jan. 
have gone through with this preliminary study of 
theoretical and practical farming, such as can be 
given them at home, or with some respectable 
farmer, they are prepared for the higher school 
studies^ Every county should have at least one 
high Agricultural School, established and sup¬ 
ported by the farmers, both in the science or the¬ 
ory, and practice of agriculture. Until the far¬ 
mers adopt a system of this sort, it is impossible 
that they can ever attain to that high professional 
standing that is enjoyed by other professions. 
What, let us ask, is the system at present in 
vogue? The boy grows up on the farm, and sees 
as little of the farm-work as he possibly can. No 
one explains to him the why and because of any 
operation. If his parents are able, he is sent to 
some neighboring school, where he learns to read 
and write, and possibly to “ cypher” some; but 
he learns to envy the condition of the school¬ 
master, the clerk in the store, the doctor’s stu¬ 
dents, and the lawyer’s young mpn, and to hate 
the idea of returning to the work of a plain far¬ 
mer. Here is the root of the evil, and I do not 
see how it is to be eradicated, except by a radical 
change in the school system, and in the minds of 
the farmers themselves, as to the standing and 
character of a farmer’s profession. If the young 
be induced to consider the profession of a farmer 
as dignified and “ genteel ” as that of any other 
class, they would not so readily imbibe a dislike 
for it. This can be accomplished by a proper sys¬ 
tematic course of instruction at home, and by 
schools properly instituted and managed. 
As a general rule, every class of people enjoy 
precisely the character and standing in society that 
they themselves select. If the members of any 
profession, as a body, select a high grade of stand¬ 
ing, and use the means for attaining it, they must 
and will occupy it. But if they merely look upon 
this high grade with an envious eye, and take no 
measures for securing it to themselves, they will 
most assuredly never attain to it. There is a very 
prevalent idea among practical working people, 
that other people look upon them as a degraded 
class. In all my experience, I have found this 
idea to have originated with themselves, and that 
the other classes, without their suggestion, -would 
never have thought of such a thing. Self-respect 
should induce every man to put a proper estimate 
upon his own claims to the respect of others, and 
preclude the idea that any one else can, much less 
does, underrate them. G. B. Smith. Baltimore. 
We hope our readers will “read, mark, and 
inwardly digest,” the above remarks. The sugges¬ 
tions are important, and worthy the consideration 
of all who desire the elevation of agriculture to 
the rank of a “profession.” Eds. 
Protecting River Eanks. 
Mr. Editor—As my premises border on the 
creek, the Onondaga, I have been troubled some¬ 
what by the action of high water, and especially 
where the force of the stream is turned upon the 
banks by sharp curves and angles. Nlot unfre- 
quently when the frost is in the ground, a freshet 
will transfer some rods of “ real estate” to one’s 
neighbor, who owns the land on the opposite side 
of the stream. To prevent this involuntary trans¬ 
fer, those holding the fee simple below' me, have re¬ 
sorted to planking the exposed banks, though 
with but partial success, and with very considera¬ 
ble expense. I adopted a mode last season, 
which so far proves entirely successful—one that 
is attended with but trifling expense in any re¬ 
spect, and one that may prove advantageous to 
your readers similarly situated. 
The work to be well done, should be performed 
when the water is low. Commencing at the wa¬ 
ter’s edge, drive a row' of stakes, of almost any 
material, about four feet apart, pointing up stream 
at an angle of some 45 degrees. At two or three 
feet from these drive another row in the same 
manner, the stakes alternating with those in the 
first row, followed by a third and fourth, where 
the banks require. Between these stakes, brush 
is laid in evenly and well tread down, receding from 
the water to the top of the bank. The brush 
should be laid in evenly and compactly, as well 
to break the force of the water, as to hold the 
mud, leaves, &c., and thus to form a solid bank. 
By pointing the stakes upstream, the force of the 
water forces the brush under them instead of its 
being lifted and floated off by the current. 
Over that portion of bank thus secured last year, 
I put on some coarse gravel w'lfich I h&d, and had 
no better place to put. There had been two 
freshets, however, before the gravel was applied, 
&nd the brush barrier remained firm through their 
action. This season the brush is ne&rly out of 
sight, imbeded in sand and mud. The experi¬ 
ment is deemed entirely successful. 
In connection with this subject, I remember the 
inquiry of A Subscriber, some time ago, how to 
protect his banks from the bad effects of musk¬ 
rats, or how to destroy them; and the directions 
given were to catch them in steel traps ! Pardon 
me, but I think the inquiry and the answer equal¬ 
ly simple. Anybody who knows anything of the 
habits of this animal, knows that in rivers, &c., 
they burrow under high and steep banks, digging 
their holes from low water mark to near the sur¬ 
face of the bank, and often with an outlet on the ^ 
land side. These holes form ready channels for the Nj) 
water in freshets, and are often the cause of much /A 
