THE CULTIVATOIl. 
1 1 
than others the real interests and motives they have to be virtuous. With¬ 
out the study of nature, man can never know the relation he bears, nor 
the duties he owes to himself and others—deprived of this knowledge, hi 
can have neither firm principles nor true happiness. The most enlighten 
ed, are the most interested in being the best men’—however lamentable 
it may be, that we do not find them the best in every case. But we shall, 
among the uneducated class, discover a much greater lack of virtuous 
principle and true enjoyment, in proportion, than among the properly edu¬ 
cated. 
“ Mind was given to man for cultivation, and the means of cultivation 
is by education and reading. Like the soil of our mother earth, the more 
judiciously it is cultivated, the more abundant good fruits will be produ¬ 
ced tor the benefit of the individual and ot society. There cannot be a 
more just comparison made, than of an uneducated man, to an ill-cultiva¬ 
ted farm; and a usefully educated man', to a judiciously cultivated farm. 
In the first, the natural product, whether good or bad, is allowed to keep 
possession to a certain extent, both in the mind and in the soil, and the 
general-product of what is useful must necessarily be scanty. In the last, 
on the contrary, no plants in the field, or ideas in the mind, are suffered 
to remain or take root, but such as are useful to man, and these are care¬ 
fully cult.vated, and the produce of good fruits are most abundant. 
“ If these results do not always follow, it will be from the intervention 
of accidental circumstances, and will not prove the general principles to 
be incorrect. There may be many defects in the mode and extent of edu¬ 
cation.” 
“ It is a great mistake to compare the agricultural classes in British Ame¬ 
rica generally to what are termed the /leasantry of other countries, who 
are mostly persons that have little or no property, more than what they 
receive for their daily labor, or those who occupy a few acres of land as 
tenants, paying a high, rent for it. On the contrary, the rural population 
In these Provinces are prop'ietors of ample farms, stock, implements of 
husbandry, &c. &c. There can be no question of the necessity that ex¬ 
ists, that persons circutnstancej as the latter class, should receive a suita¬ 
ble education. They cannot exercise their profession to due advantage 
without being thus qualified; and the loss t > this country that is occasion¬ 
ed by the absence of a judicious system of agriculture, and a consequent 
scanty produce, is enormous. 
“ In the British Isles, within the last fifty years, the produce obtained 
from agriculture has been greatly increased, and this is to be attributed 
solely to the improved cultivation and management of soil and stock in¬ 
troduced by educated men. The state of property in those countries will 
insure the advance of improvement in agriculture, though it should not be 
through the suggestion of the occupying rent-paying farmer. It will be 
the interest of the great landed proprietors to proceed with experiments 
on land and stock, so as to make them as profitable as possible, in order to 
maintain the rent of lands, &c. on which their annual income chiefly de¬ 
pends. It is not so in British America, the farmers being the proprietors 
of the soil they occupy, they must rely upon themselves for its judicious 
cultivation. It is for them to judge whether they are competent to do this 
without receiving a useful and practical education.” 
“ What may be considered by some to be the most improved system of 
agricultural management cannot he introduced in British America, unless 
it may be made profitable. I confess I cannot look upon any system of 
agricultural management in tillage or stock, as entitled to the term “ im¬ 
proved," unless it produce actual profit to the farmer. Expenditure of 
capital or labor in any way, that will not give proportionate returns, must 
be injurious to the community, as well as to the individual who expends it. 
Bv practically and usefully educating the farmer, he will be able to de¬ 
termine for himself the course he ought to adopt, in the conduct of every 
part of his business. In vain was all that has been written and published 
for the improvement of husbandry, if farmers cannot and will not read. 
The manners and customs of other countries are unknown to him The 
wonders and beauties which abound in the world, are of little consequence 
to the man who cannot make himself acquainted with descriptions that are 
iven of them, and that would place them as if viewed in a glass before 
im. The usefulness and enjoyment of those so circumstanced, must, 
indeed be confined within narrow bounds. It is those who have the good 
fortune to be educated, that will know that education is an essential ele¬ 
ment of the usefulness of man, to those around him, to the world, and to 
his own enjoyment.” 
THE CUT-WORM" 
Joseph E. Muse, of Cambridge, Md. has published in the Farmers’ 
Register, some strictures upon two communications which have appeared 
in the Cultivator, in regard to the character of the cut worm. He endea¬ 
vors to show, that its character has been mistaken, by both of our corres¬ 
pondents, as well as by the late Judge Peters, and concludes his commu¬ 
nication with the following statement, which we insert for the entomolo¬ 
gical information which it contains. 
“ To come at the fact, I carried into the corn-field a large transparent 
bottle, which I half-filled with earth—upon this earth I deposited a dozen 
of the worms, and gave them corn plants to feed upon. In a few weeks 
they disappeared. I searched the earth and found them * chrysalids ’ en¬ 
veloped in balls of earth. A considerable time after I again examined 
them, and found several of them matured into the imago, "or parent bug, 
and extricated from their envelops; others in the state of a soft ‘ pupa,’ 
with limbs more or less distinctly formed, in vai ious stages of progression, 
and exhibiting unequivocal proofs of their origin, and of the impossibility 
of mistake or deception. These destructive animals belong to the order 
‘coleoptera’ of Linn, having crusLceous elytra, or wing cases, which 
shut together and form a longitudinal suture down the back. They are 
about one-quarter of an inch long, generally, and of ashiningjet black 
colour, very quick and ac iye in their movements; in fact, the same iden¬ 
tical bugs that are seen in vast numbers under wheat stacks, and in wheat 
yards The brief history of this insect is, that i f s larva having fed upon 
the young corn, or other delicate plants, descends into the earth about the 
depth of four inches, where it assumes its state of ‘ chrysalis.' in which 
it Continues till about the first of July, and no doubt a shorter or longer 
period, as the weather may be more or le s favorable—when it becomes 
transformed into the imago or parent, which in autumn deposites its eggs 
in the field, to undergo a similar series of transitions, which is effected by 
the heat of the ensuing season. 
“ The obvious preventive is fall or winter ploughing at such a depth 
as will turn up, and expose to the frost, the eggs, whereby they must 
perish.” 
The above preventive was not offered as original, it had before been 
practised, perhaps by many, and its effects had fallen short of their hopes; 
first, by the imperfect method of too' shallow a furrow, and too wide a 
slice, whereby the eggs were not sufficiently exposed. Secondly, be¬ 
cause the eggs of all insects are, unfortunately, so tenacious of the princi¬ 
ple of vitality, as to resist a degree of cold incredible to those who have 
not witnessed the fact: yet having long practised the proposed preventive, 
I can say in the fullest truth, that when the work w as well executed, and 
a very mild winter did not ensue, I have received a full equivalent for the 
labor. 
Finally, I must apologize for subjoining my name contrary to the gene¬ 
ral custom, “ I perceive,” of your correspondents. May I presume to ask 
what motive can occasion this custom? Certainly an anonymous state¬ 
ments of facts, or even of opinions, carries with it less confidence than 
one which offers the responsibility of a name; and with diminished con¬ 
fidence, the purpose is diminished in effect. The name freely tendered, 
“ of a witness to facts,” is a considerable assurance of, at least, a belief ot 
their truth; he may be deceived, but it is justly said ‘ hurnanum est er¬ 
ror e;' and ordinary liberality will not impute to him a wanton misrepre¬ 
sentation of his impression of facts. Modesty is commendable; but in this 
custom, there is rather something of the “ mauvaise hontc.” As well 
may a public speaker, or a witness in court, conceal his identity behind a 
curtain. The cause, and the effect would seem to Oe the same. 
[From Chaptal’s Chemistry applied to Agriculture.] 
IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL. 
ARGILLACEOUS, HOW IMI ROVED. 
These defects, more marked in argillaceous soils than in others, require 
to be amended; every thing which will tend to soften the earth, to render 
it more light and porous, and to facilitate the passage of wafer through it, 
is perfectly adapted to this kind of soil: thus the mixture of earths, and of 
calcareous sands, broken shells, chalks, and lean marl; deep and frequent 
ploughing; the turning in of green crops; the use of hot manures, such as 
the dung, fresh from the barn-yard, of sheep and horses, that of pigeons 
and fowls, poudietle, and the salts, are so many means which may be 
made to concur in the improvement of argillace vjs soils. 
I have had opportunities of seeing many soils possessing the same faults 
as the argillaceous, but not owing to the excess of that earth; for by mix¬ 
ing a portion of the soils in wa^r, I satisfied myself that there was not 
contained in them any coarse sand; so that the whole was formed bv a 
union of particles so minutely divided as to present no consistency in the 
mass; but forming a paste with water, and cracking when that liquid was 
evaporated. The only difference between the argillaceous soils and these 
is, that the latter when dried do not possess the hardness of the former, 
but on the contrary fall, under the pressure of the hand, into a nearly im¬ 
palpable powder. The state of these soils is owing to their havin'* been 
exhausted by long cultivation; some of the kind which I have owned, I 
have been able to restore to fertility by applying a portion of sandy marl 
containing 42-100 of calcareous sand. 
CALCAREOUS, HOW IMPROVED. 
Calcareous soils possess properties entirely opposite to those of the ar¬ 
gillaceous soils; the rains filtrate easily through them, and they throw off 
moisture readily by evaporation; the air can penetrate them to deposit 
amongst their particles the moisture with which it is charged: and this, 
especially in hot climates, conduces greatly to their fertility. The tillage 
of these soils is always easy; and as they are light and porous, provided 
they have sufficient depth, roots spread in them easily. Though, from 
their character, these soils do not require so much amendment as those 
