The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1840-04-07
II he H aYhaa CT.
WHAT SHOULD A FARMER BE.

partment of life, without industry, can any thing
valuable or important be achieved. There is
su CHI thing as an id 10 farmer, 'true it is, and
pity 'ts' It's true' but an idle, successful farm.
er, is something the world has not yet seen.
No where is persevering industry more ndis-
pensable than on the farm, and no where is well
directed labor better rewarded. When we say
the farmer should be industrious, we do not
mean that he should be slave.-There is
among some farmers, perhaps majority at tho
present time, feyersh anxiety to become rich,
n disposition to get ahead which renders rest
impossible, and hardly allows time to eat or
sleep-such men are subject to q task master
of the most imperious ch aracter, and one from
which they should make no delay in freeing
themselves. The farmer can have and he who
manages his affairs WELL will always have, his
hours of relaxation--hours to spend with his
friends, and hours to devote to the improvement
of his mind. The way to ensure this, is always
to be beforehand with the labor of the farm, Il
never allow himself to be crowded. More work
should never be laid out than is compatible
with this rule; and the work that is required TO
be done to day should never be put off till to-
m orrow. The difference in the ease with which
labor is performed, when done in the rig hit time,
or when we are driven to it by urgent necessi-
ty is great, ihnt attention to this point alone,
would, in performing given amount of labor
make most mat eral addition to the farmers
hours of rest and improvement.
The Farmer should be Economical.--Let the
farner labor as hard as he may, let him deny
his soul and body every required good, let him
abridge his hours of sleep, and toll from morn
till dewy eve,' without rest or relaxation; it will
amount to but little, unless his affairs 9th.
err respects managed with economy. BY econ
omy, we do not mean that closenesS on ltlleness
--stinginess if you please, which some plea
eed to call economy, hut which is infallibIy
connected with meaDness, and is one of the most
effectual preventives of all improvement, and
surest precursor of utter degradation. that can
he found in man, and Of all others things, is
most out of place in farmer. The great Sc
cret of economy, is knowing what is useful and
necessary, and what not; Of knowing when to
expend and when TO withhold expenses; in keep.
ing our outgoes clearly within our income, and
never purchasing what we can ourselves pro-
duce, or which n corresponding amount OF our
own labor will not procure, and in having every
thing in door and out IN its proper place, moth
ing wasted or destroyed but general supervi'
sing care directed to every thing connected with
our business at all seasons Of the year. 1t is
miserable economy to undertake to labor with
out the proper tools; to undertake to how
cheaply we can summer or winter Our animals;
or to see with how little knowledge and inte.
gence, or the means of obtaining either, we can
.contrive to plod along through life.
"A Farmer Soldbe h1teHigent-it is all old
and true maxim, that ignorance of the law
,excuseth no man, and ignorance on any topic
necessary to proper prosecution of his business
,or to his proper standing and influence i'll the
community, cannot now be plead by The farm
er, without indirectly confessing to great and
inexcusable neglect of means within the reach
of every one. knowledge, no less than money,
is power; and its accumulation in the hands of
any class is sure proof of eventual ascendency,
and this fact shou Id stimulate farmers to use ey'
cry exertion to become its possessors. Univer'
sal education is the glory of our land; the true
foundation OF our national greatness, and in
connection with sound morals, is its surest pre-
sentative. Schools, books, NEWSPAPERS, and
Journals of all kinds, have wide circulation, az
at rate that places them in the hands of all
who choose to think and investigate. Error
cannot escape under the guise or plea OF antiq'
uity; and the stake and the piory are not requi-
red to combat it in a land where reason is free
TO expose its absur,lities or plead the cause OF
truth. BY this general diffusion of the means
OF knowledge no class has been more benefited
than The farmer, and none can have deeper IN
terest in its continued increase; and none should
more freely and fully avail themselves OF the
means the laws have so literally placed within
their reach
II Farmer should be Morat.-ft has beeen SAID
that "an nndevout astronomer is mad,' ana an
immoral, prohgate farmer is an equally decisive