THE CULTIVATOR. 
11 
in the union. Has the character of her schools been advanced, or 
their usefulness been enlarged, by the munificent public expenditures 
for their support? Is her population more wealthy in consequence 
of the saving which it has enabled them to make, or are they more 
intelligent than their neighbors ? Truth, we are afraid, will respond 
in the negative to all these questions. We have heard the remark 
made, by intelligent men of that state, that the public provision for 
the maintenance of her common schools, has had a tendency to relax 
the personal exertions of her citizens, and to abate their zeal to im¬ 
prove their condition; that since the legislature have assumed their 
supervision in part, the people have evinced an apathy in providing 
suitably for them; and that consequently their improvement has not 
kept pace with the spirit and intelligence of the age. We do not 
ask all this concession. We ask, merely, that the character of lier 
schools, and of her population, for intelligence and useful enterprise, 
may be compared with those of her sister 
Massachusetts, who has never had a common school fund, but 
whose schools have been exclusively supported by the liberal indi¬ 
vidual efforts of her population. We ask those who advocate the 
application of all our surplus means, to our common school fund, to 
point to the advantages which Connecticut enjoys, over Massachu¬ 
setts, in the character of her schools, or in the beneficial influences 
which these schools have pr'oduced, upon the wealth, intelligence, 
and moral condition of society. We would point to Vermont, Maine, 
New-Hampshire, and Rhode Island, as affording further illustration, 
that the unaided energies of our population are sufficient, and most 
efficient, in the establishment and maintenance of good schools. 
We lack not so much in the means of supporting schools, as we do 
in the method and measures of instruction Common schools should 
teach the useful branches of knowledge. We wish our boys not on¬ 
ly fitted to discharge their duties to society, in any public capacity 
to which they may be called, but we wish them instructed in some 
useful business, by which they can, in manhood, live comfortably and 
respectably. The period of puberty hardly suffices to acquire, sepa¬ 
rately, both branches of instruction, to the extent which is demanded 
by the age. But if studies were more adapted to the duties and bu¬ 
siness of manhood—if instead of continual change, according to the 
caprice of every new master, properly selected books, of standard 
worth, pertaining to the business of life, and calculated to imbue the 
mind of the pupil with a just sense of his rights, and of his duty to 
society,—were made class books for the senior boys, and to consti¬ 
tute a district school library, for the benefit of parents as well as 
children ; and if, simultaneously, the boy could be instructed, four to 
six hours a day, as he could be without detriment to his studies,—in 
the practice of some useful art,—he would come into manhood ripe 
for usefulness, with a hale constitution, a body inured to labor, ha¬ 
bits of application and usefulness, and a mind enlarged and illuminat¬ 
ed by science, and devoted to the good of the commonwealth. 
How many hundreds may now he pointed out, of liberal education, 
who are mere cyphers in society, for want of early habits of applica¬ 
tion to labor —how many do we see, degraded by ignorance and ve¬ 
nal habits, among the working classes, for want of the early habits of 
mental improvement, —all of which labor schools would tend to form 
and infix. 
The unprecedented progress which has been made by the French 
nation, in the culture of the beet, and in the manufacture of in¬ 
digenous sugar, has been brought about by schools of instruction, es¬ 
tablished by the government, specially to teach the culture, and the 
process of manufacture, practically and scientifically. M. Iznard, the 
French consul at Boston, was assigned to the care of one of these 
schools, established at Strasburgh. Can any one doubt, that the 
French nation has been amply remunerated, for this outlay of capi¬ 
tal, by the annual production of 80,000,000 pounds of sugar from the 
soil; and the vast improvement which has thereby accrued to her 
agriculture? We also anticipate great beneficial results from-the 
beet culture, and the silk business, and if these branches of labor are 
correctly and efficiently taught in schools of public instruction, the 
advantages to the nation must be palpable and abiding. 
The executive has recommended, that the interest of the surplus 
fund be applied to education, but has left the details to legislative 
wisdom. We have taken the freedom to point out good reasons, as 
we believe, why it should not all go to the common school fund, and to 
suggest how a portion of it may be applied, with great and certain 
public advantage. Without intending to disparage our colleges or 
academies, of neither of which do we lack in numbers, it is sufficient 
to say, that they do not all supply what is now most needed—they 
comparatively teach nothing of science or art to the laboring classes, 
who constitute the great bulk of our population, and who are our 
wealth, and our strength. Education is said to be the cheapest de¬ 
fence of a nation ; but to be efficient, it must be general—it must bo 
impartial. 
“NOTICE ON THE BEET SUGAR,” 
Is the title of a pamphlet politely sent us by the publisher, J. H. 
Butler, of Northampton, and which we have read with much inte¬ 
rest. It is compiled from recent French works, by Edward Church, 
late a resident of France, who has added the result of his personal 
observation, and we believe of his practice there. It treats fully of 
the culture of the beet, and of the process of extracting its sugar. 
Its perusal has confirmed us in the opinion, already expressed, that 
the culture of the beet, and the manufacture of sugar from it, is 
adapted to our climate, soil and wants, and that ere long it will con¬ 
stitute an important branch of our national industry. We subjoin a 
very brief synopsis of the first part, relating to the beet culture, and 
refer those who design to embark in the manufacture to the work it¬ 
self. 
Variety. —The white Silesian is preferred; the yellow is next in or¬ 
der ; because, being smaller, they abound more in sugar, and are 
more easily kept—though all the varieties afford the saccharine mat¬ 
ter. Plants for seed should be set three feet apart, and we should 
add, supported by a stake; and when ripe, the seed should be per¬ 
fectly dried before it is packed for market or use. 
Soils. —Rich deep loams, neither too wet nor dry. From the wri¬ 
ter’s remarks, the culture seems better adapted to the northern than 
the middle states, the root containing more sugar which is raised in 
the north of Europe, than that raised in the south. 
Preparation of the ground. —Oats, or' wheat [or perhaps corn] ma¬ 
nured, to precede, and the ground to be worked deep, and perfectly 
broken and pulverized. 
Manures are recommended to be applied to the previous crop, or 
in the previous autumn. We will venture to recommend a trial of 
long dung, well and perfectly buried with the plough, before sowing 
the crop. 
Sowing. —Sow as soon as the ground can be put into good order, 
say the first to the tenth of May, that if the seed fails, the sowing 
may be repeated in time for a crop. Seven to eight pounds of seed 
sown to the acre. It is recommended to sow in drills, to thin the 
crop, and transplant when necessary—distance between the drills 
two and a half feet; between the plants one foot or more. 
Weeding. —The crop is thrice wed—the horse hoe or cultivator 
may.be employed—the hoe and hands are used by women and chil¬ 
dren. 
Gathering the crop.— The period for gathering known by the leaves 
ceasing to grow; they become covered with brown spots, are curly, 
droop, and assume a yellow tint. Should be gathered in dry wea¬ 
ther. They are dug with a spade ; a boy beats off the dirt, by strik¬ 
ing two together, and lays them down in a line; and a third person 
cuts off'the tops with a spade, taking only the extreme neck. They 
are afterwards collected in piles, and carted to the store house, or 
buried in pits—if in the latter, the pits are covered with earth to ex¬ 
clude frost, and ventilated in the manner we have recommended for 
ruta baga. 
Water Proofs Boots and Shoes. —From having for several years 
experienced its efficacy, we recommend the following composition to 
render boots and shoes impervious to water, with the single remark, 
that it is enjoined, among the primary rules of health, to “ keep the 
feet warm." The composition is : Tallow, half a pound; hog’s lard, 
four ounces; turpentine, new bees’ wax, and olive oil, each two 
ounces. Melt the materials together- by a gentle heat, and rub with 
the mixture the boots or shoes, upper and under leather, the night 
before they are wanted. The better way is, to give the boots or 
shoes two or three coatings of the composition, at intervals, before 
they are worn at all. We have been days in snow water, in boots 
thus prepared, without the least inconvenience to the feet. 
PRESSING HAY. ’ 
We have obtained from A. Van Bergen, Esq. copies of queries 
addressed to him, and of his answers thereto, relative to the ex¬ 
pense and advantages of pressing hay for market, and to the cha. 
racter of Lampman’s Patent Hay-Press, which we publish from a 
belief that they will prove interesting to many of our readers. 
Question 1. Is the hay-press you use the best in the country, as 
