The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1843-05-06

ton then Of no value to the agricultural
list2 Has knowledge no uses for him2-
Is profession one Of mere servile ant
animal toil2 Has the mind no work Il
perform here2 Is this art to form an ex.
ception to every other2
How far is the art in any country from
having reached the highest point Of pro-
ductiveness2 Where or when, indeed
has the actual capacity Of a single acre
been tested2 Is there no room for inquiry
for the exerlion Of the highest powers oil
the mind, to determine this point? The
same remarks apply with equal force to
the raising and management of live stock
Any man who compares an improved
Durham Short Horn, or full blooded
Alerino or Dshly sheep with the COM
mon stock Of the country, and does not
see nor appreciate how much has been
effected by he exertion of the highest
measure of intelligence and skill. directed
by science, and how much more is yet 10
be hoped for by renewed and continued
efforts, seems doomed 10 hopeless stupi-
dity.
If we look back at what has been gain
ed in the actual increase Of the products
Of agriculture, we shall! see reason to
acknowledge the advantage derived from
the application of mind to this art, and to
take courage i'll view of what may hereaf>
ter be gained. Half century ago, fifty
bushels of Indian corn to tie acre from
worn and resuscitatcd lands, would have
been regarded as an extraordinary yield.
A crop of hundred bushels is not now
uncommon, and one hundred and seventy
bushels to the acle have been produced.
In Scotland few years since, thirty bush
els Of wheat to the acre was beyond the
average yield OF the best culivation:--
Under system of undertaking and sub
soil ploughing, sixty bushels to the acre
arc not now uncommon. |! is not long
since, that the system Of leaving half the
ground lallow, was deemed indispensable
III order TO recruit exhausted lands: Vow
| by a iudicious rotation. alternating white
and green crops, the land is kept in unin-
terruptcd production.
Education may be considered in two
aspects: first, as general, embracing all
the common subjects of reading and en-
quiry; secondly, specifically limiting its
elf to the particular objects Of the agricul-
tural art.Both are equally conductive to
the spcctability and advantages of the
profession. We see every where what
all influence and standing the high culti-
valion of nina gives to men in commune
ties; because communities are benefited by
its individual attachments, and have use
for the talents and mental acquisition OF
its component parts. No official Sta
ton, no mass Of wealth, so elevates a
man. The leading man IN England "a
Pecl)-a Theirs, Guizot in France.
were not selected for their nobility, their
wealth nor influential relatives. but for
their minds. If we were cursed with the
concentration Of wealth in a particular
class, obtained by the modern corruption
| Banking borrowing from and spcculat-
ing upon the industrious, or with the ar
istocratic distinctions which prevail in
other countries, such is the spreading in
iluence, that more cultivated minds than
theirs, though in more humble spheres,
would oyerlop them all To attain ex-
cellence in any art, the principles of that
art require to be made the objects OF spe-
ciic inquiry and study. But giving TO
those considerations all the prominence
we may, success in any art or science
will essentially depend, not merely and
moi more upon the knowledge of the par.
ticular principles and elements connected
with it, than upon the strengthening and
enlargement Of the mind by general
knowledge.
We must. likewise, observe an obvious
distinction between the knowledge OF the
practice, and the knowledge of the prin.
ciples Of an art Men may thoroughly
understand the principles OF an art with
out knowing any thing Of its manipula,
lions. The philosopher may Investigate
and explain with the greatest advantage
to others, the principle Of vegetation and
the operation of manures, without him-
self having even SO much as reared sim
gle flower or stuck even garden spade in
the ground. In order TO successful
practice, tie art must be learned as well
as the science, the execution as well as
theory, The best prospect Of success is
when they are unilcd-whcn science di-
reefs the application Of art, and art i'll its
turn demonstrates the lessons, and shows
tho proper qualifications and necessary
limitation OF scientific principles.
To render the profession as valuable a
it may be, theory and practice should be
combined. The agriculturalist's voca'
ton i'll this respect presents singular ant
extraordinary advantages. His seasons
of relaxation from toll, in our lavoret
climate, furnish enviablc opportunities fol
reading and inquiry. Besides this, none
Of the labors Of the farm require such ten.
sily of application, or such abstraction o
mind as would interfere with the most &C.
III