Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1842-01-27

ing among the wants and the fabrics of foreg
ouu"n,iies' wnere he can find the best market 10
a., t"e products OF American agriculture, an,
where he can buy on the best terms al, those mr.
ticies which he well knows the planter and f,rme
must nave IN exchange for the fruits of his ow,
iaoor. Take, for example, an article of extcn
sive trade and consumption:
NoffsE.-Does the agricultural consumer sup
PoSo 'nat the merchant who supplies hin
ignorant OF The history of this val.
," e r,o"He' OF tropical climates as he is (alas
700 o,'en;) OF the most common staples of his
heias Far from it. If the young merchant be
a'han In whom the intellectual would rise above
o"e mere money-making animal, tho inquiries
naturally suggested to every active mind, cun;ro.
! mig or dealing In a valuable commodity. will
"".o '""Sn. hihi' In ihis case, that COFFEE is a
| halVe oi Yemen, In Arabia and that on the
wings OF commerce, Chat great disseminator OF
improvements and blessings of every sort this
Ingredient OF delightful beverage and potent
auxiliary OF the temperance cause, was borne 10
be propagated In the southern extremity of India.
In Java In Brazil, and the West Indies. He
Will have learned that though now in sucb gon-
eral use over the labable globe. like the irish
(American) potato, no mention is made of cither
oy ancient writers, nor by any of the moderns
previous to the 10th century. The first pubic
coffee house was opened i'm London as late as
1907, when Turkey merchant, having BROUGHT
WITH MIN some bags OF it, and IA Greek servant
tnrOnU-
eu WIN Visiters, TO see and taste this new and c-
rlous liquor. 10 crafty his friends without in
convenience TO HIMSELF he allowed his servant to
sell coffee publicly; and thus, we are told, was
the hrst coiee-house established i'm London.
where the pirSinia coffeehouse now stands
FROM such beginning this remarkable berry grew
into general use E; that, in 1928, the cnantity
received Tor home consumption in England was
i0,522,l23 pounds. In 1000 a plant was sent to
Europe, from the berries of which were derived
the hrst coffee planted in the West Indies But
let me not wander from my leading object. which
is 10 hold up to agricuurists the examples of the
Followers OF other pursuits, and in pointing, "a
mong all OF them, TO the organization Of socic-
lies, and IF e.rtensipe libraries for tie Diffusion of
hno'o!cdge, incile American husbandmen to re-
hect seriously If IL does not behoove them to 20
and do hhe,oise. Not only is it to be feared that
there is a amentable absence of all REGULAR ASSOC
ciation oil mind and OF means for prosecuting the
inquiries and promugating the discoveries and
improvements of which agriculture is susceptible.
but that even the codes and journals dedicated IN
their particular use and instruction are not i'm the
hands OF the rising generation OF lIusbandmen-
How many have read even the Farmers series of
OF those excellent works published i'm England
by the Society for the Diffusion Of Useful kHowl
edge telling, as they do, all about horses cattle
Sneep' gram grasses, implements, buildings, &C.
Even Ruflin's great work on cacareous manures.
meaniy pirated by English writer's, is not to be
iound, as 1t should be, in every farmers library
with Sinclair's Code of Agriculture, the Ameri
can Farmer, the New England Farmer the Far
mers Register, the Cultvaior, the Farmers
cabinet, the Silk Journal, and many others, of
which no agriouturist should be ignorant, any
more than an officer should plead ignorance Of the
Army regulations.
The venerable Chancellor Kent being called
upon 6y committee of the .'Aiercantile Library
association Tor list of snch works in English
Ter a la H. 4.
'eta'ure DIS he might deem best suited to their use
and Improvement, made them a CATALOGUE of 6,e
hundred Uoh1mes, saying that he had not placed
upon the list one with which he was not in some
Gegrce familiar. Where, in all the land shall we
Ind such thing as public farmers library .
ct there Is no want of books upon this GREAT in
tefest OF mankind, and upon natural history init
matey associated with it, and one of the most
pleasing studies to which the mind of man can
be devoted. 1t would swell this address beyond
all reasonable limits, OF we would append a list
OF the works In the Congressional Library. I'M
ger the severai departments of Agriculture and
Natural History. The number, is, on Agriculture
322; Nat. Hlstory-Animal Anatomy, 81 FOOL
ogy, an; botany, 2l2; Mineralogy and Con-
choiogy, 53. Total on Agriculture and Natural
History, l,I55 Volumes For this collection
thanks are due, in great measure, to the Hon.
ID. III. Lewis, OF Alabama, one of the Vice Pres
iGenis Of the United States Agricultural Society.
There may be some whose lips will curl with
ii conlenPtuous smile at The very suggestion of
any value or pleasure in book learning for far
iner or planter, whose business is field! How
| much TO be pited is the nsensibility of such
men to the most copious and lasting springs of
enJoyment-the pleasure which every man expe-
flences In the very process OF intellectual accre-
ton! Imagine yourself seated quietly in your
domicil or Office, at that still hour when all A.
around have retired, and become Ito dumb FORGET
fulness prey" and not sound is heard save the
| chrplng Of the social cricket, or the conpenial
music oil the whistling Winds to be porting over
the pages oil some fascinating and instructive au-
thor, hnding In every sentence some new idea,
| some mystery explained, some hitherto untIouoht
oil principle In agriculture developed, or striking
character aphcally portrayed; to be thus edited
and enchanted, taking no no.. !. .;me until the
morning breaks upon your enjoyment, and your
anthor is reluctantly laid upon the she fwiti heart.
i1it tlanks that he has Seduced you TO forget the
/ world and Its cares, and made vol a somewhat
| wlser--perchance better and more useful man
VINO would exchange such feasts of reason and
sucli pleasures OF Imagination for ali the riches
! oil the nlser and all the gorgeous and hearllcss
Pageantry of courtsl Shades of Scott. of By.
ron--genius of Buiwer, and of James, of MacaU
ley, and Of lrving-wbat do we not owe 10 yo,
! ior hours like these!
"Ah! still, though whispered to deceive,
Let me thy fctons all believe,
Content from grief one hour to borrow
An! still, if o'ormy distant way,
AS through the path of life stray,
Hang gathering clouds of future sorrow,
Oh' Fancy, gid them with thy rayP'
Let those who would derde or undervalue III,
ldbors OF agricultural writer's. tell, If then Gun,
What American husbandry has derived from tin
experience and reflections Of Taylor, as set for,l
IN the practical ESSAYS of 4 ratOr and from, A.,