Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1822-08-17

present their milk Offering, morning and
evening, at his door, strike with delight
upon the farmers ear, and convinces
him, that God is not satisfied merely to
supply our necessities, but that he does
every thing for our pleasure. Our food
would nourish us as well were it taste
less, yet he has given ii the richest flavor
He might have given horrid stencil to
all his works, and still they would have
answered the necessary purposes for
which they were created, but instead of
that we are RECALLED with the fragrance
OF the rose and of the new mown hay.
The science of Chemistry should also
be studied by the farmer. Itteachcs the
affinity OF bodies, and the parts of which
they are composed. BY being acquaint-
ed with the different substances which
enter Into The composition Of any yegeta
BILE, the Chemist can better tell how TO
noulish and feed it. And here lei me
observe, that the great art OF ,lllage lies
in supplying to the vegetable the proper
Substance by which it is nourisaed. BY
knowing what the vegetable wants, he
can better supply that want lie can
adapt each vegetable to its proper soil.
He can fiod it with proper food. He I'M
derstands the principles of rotation in
crops. That one vegetable is nourished
by one part of the earth-and another
vegetable by another. That where the
earth might be completely exhausted of
every particle which enters into the COM
position OF corn, it might still be rich in
those particles which go to nourish
wheat or fax. Chemistry is also of vast
importance in all our manufactures.
The agriculturalst is also led by MS
pursuits to an examination of many sab
jects of general and national polty. He
is led to consider the manner in which
the labor of the country can be best APP
plied-whether the whole OF it can be
better employed in drawing forth the raw
materials from the earth--or whether
part of it may not be better diverted to
manufactures. What kind of produce
tons yield the greatest profit, in proper
ton TO the labor bestowed. What the
agricultural product Of the country
amounts to annually and what j, might
be made to amount to in the highest state
of cultivation. Very few have but faint
conception Of the riches which the soil
is capable OF yielding. The annual pro-
duct of the soil of Great Britain and Ire
land was estimated in 1879 at about
100000 900 of dollars, and the nett pro-
duct at about 275,ooo,oOO dollars
Great Britain and Ireland are bnt little
more than twice as large as Missouri.
The farmer ought, also, TO be acqnaint-
ed with the history, geography, and poll
cy of other countries, as being inme-
dately connected with his pursuits. He
is naturally lead TO inquire what coun-
iries will consume his -four, his heof, his
pork, his hemp, and tobacco. To know
this, he must know the soil, the climate,
the productions, and pursuits OF other
countries. He must know, who cannot
raise these articles, and who can COM
pete with hiul 10 the markets. The
farmer narrowly watches the politics of
foreign countries. A foreign war opens
a market to hm---and leads him to in
quire into every movement OF the bel
ligerents which may promote his inte-
rest
But agricultural societies will proba-
bly, have tendency to promote practi-
cal, more than scientifical Improvement.
The holding of annual fairs, and the
awarding of premiums, will inlist all the
pride as well as the ambition of the far
mer. Many will strive for the prizes
and with those, improvement will be Ger
tain. But even among those who shall
not contend for the premiums, you will
End pride enough to prevent them from
falling far behind those who do. Pride
is more powerful principle than we
are generally willing to allow. You
scarcely ever find a slovenly farmer by
the side Of neat one. Each one is too
proud to be ou,done by his neighbor.
AS to the improvements which we
ought to make in our agriculture, they
are various. In the first place we ought
to cultivate more land than we do at pre-
sent; and we ought to cultivate it better.
After supplying our home consumption,
we ought to raise those articles which
will bear expectation. We ought to Sc
cure our crops better. We ought to
have barns. We ought to improve the
breed of domestic anilnals--our cattle
and horses are certainly inferior to those
of most OF the other states, We ought
to raise more sheep. We ought to raise
more orcharding. Plenty of apples and
cider would nearly Danish the bilious
fevers of this country. We ought to
improve our houses. Many get sick, l