The native American., 1839-07-13
EDUCATION OF FARMERS.-No. I,
FROM THE GENEsEE FARMER.

FROM THE GENESEE FARMER.
Mr.. TucEEn have, for several years, been
fully convinced tina. neither lawyers, nor physi
clans, ner clergymen, nor professors CT colleges,
nor anv ether class .f the community, have so
many Inducements Or SO many facilities Tor be-
coming really intelligent scientific men IS farm
ers No class of men have an occasion Tor so
constant or so extensive an application o! science
in their profession. Botany, uineraogv, geolo-
gy, chemistry, natural philosophy, entomology,
and the natural history of animals generally are
brough. into use, directly or indirectly, by every
farmer, almost every day he is engaged i'll lis
business.
II it should be asked what the farmer has to
do with botany, the question May be answered
by asking another, viz. II the farmer has no
thing 10 do with botany, or knowledge Of vege-
tables, who has! Does not the whole success of
his business depend upon knowledge OF the
various plants he cultivales, together with many
in the way of cultivation Some may ask. how
can geology be used by the farmer! The first
object Of geology is to give knowledge of the
componcn, parts and Of the structure OF the earth,
and Of course, Of the nature of soils. The ques-
ton might be answered by volume of facts |
will give but one. In New Jersey there are ex-
tensive tracts of land now worth from fifty TO a
hundred dollars an acre, which, a few years ago,
has effected the change. Except for a knowledge
of that, the land woaId have continued as worth
less as at first.
What use has the former for chemistry? A
great part Of his business is series Of chemical
experiments. Not furrow turned, no manure
applied, not fence made, nor root Or plant pre-
served or prepared for food, without an applica-
ton of chemical science. But whathas the farm
er to do witt. natural philosophy! Every plough,
harrow, rake, scytle, axe, cart, wagon, yoke, or
harness, not constructed according to the princ-
pies Of natural philosophy. imposes unnecessary
labor upon man or beast.
And can entomology, or i knowledge ofinsccts,
be applied to farming! In the year 1887 sim
gle species ofnsect. the wheat fly, cost state,
Pennsylvania, several millions of dollars. The
worm, the grasshopper, the cut worm, and MI
merous other insects, frequently present them
selves, though small yet powerful enemies to tie
farmer, who, of course, has occasion to under
stand their weakness, while he has such fatal
proof Of their power. The hoisc, the OK, the
sheep, swine, and ether domestic animals the
farmer has occasion TO understand, both i'll health
and disease.
Some parts Of the mathematics the farmer has
daily occasion TO use in his business. Practical
geometry, in one form or another, comes in al
most constant use in farming operations. Por-
But some may say, perhaps, that, however iu-
portant and necessary All extensive knowledge Of
science nav be to the farmer, he has not the IA
ciies for acquiring it. Is that possible Is not
the daily use of any science or art the best of all
possible modes Of obtaining familiar and thorough
Knowledge of it 1t may be questioned, even
now. whether farmers do not possess greater
amount Of really useful knowledge llan any other
class Of the community. They certainly have
not so many technicaiitas Of science. They have
not so many Latin and Greek terms to apply
TO things or the laws which govern them as those
devoted exclusively to scientific pursuits. But do
they hot know as much of things themselves
Cannot almost any farmer give the best scientific
botanlsts much useful information about plants
The graduate of college may know that what
we call oak, the Romans called quercus. and that
the Greeks called il drus, and st;ll hc unable 10
distinguish oak from chesnut. The plain, ,mprc-
tending farmer though ignorant Of the terms an
plied by the Greeks and Romans To these useful
products Of the forest, could readily inform the
scholar whether q tree or stick OF timber was
cak or chesnut, and whether it was white, red,
gray, black, Spanish, or some other oak Also,
what were its properties and uses. OF course,
the difference between the scholar and farmer is,
that the former has three terms, but not an idea;
while the latter has but one term, and grca, num-
ber of ideas connected with it, The question then
comes, who is the man OF useful knowledge and
sound learning, the ignorant farmer or the learned
scholar However il may be with others, no
farmer VIII hesitate for an answer. 1t may be
dded, that TINS ls not merely suppcsable case,
l. ut one which actually exis!s in thousands of in.
stances in our country.
The first step requisite for rendering farmers
the most truly and the most generally enlightened,
as they are much the largest class of the co,nmu-
nifty, is to have them understand and appreciate
the knowledge they already possess the second
is, for them 10 improve tlat knowledge and the ma