Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1844-01-19
From the National Inlelligencer.
A NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL IN.
STlTUTE,

|
stitute and Pattern Farm in the neighbour
hood of Washington, ESQ organized and con-
Quoted as to teach alike the science, the prac-
tice, and the profits of good husbandry, would
be productive of incalculable benefits to the
whole country, trust the editors of the Ma
tional lntelligencer will give publicity to the
following suggestions, designed to advance
the most important branch Of productive in
dustry in the United States.
1t may be safely assumed there is now ex-
tant large amour! of useful knowledge APP
pertaining TO every department of rural econ
omv, which, unfortunately, is confined 10 il
very few. and therefore comparatively Of We
ry little value to the great mass of those en-
gagged in rural pursuits. If fair portion of
this truly practical knowledge were general
ly diluscd among all the liIIcrs of the earth,
it would double the profits, if not the pro-
ducts, OF American agriculture. Increase
the annual returns from the land and labor
now devoted TO rural employmcnts but ten
per cent, and you will add over one hundred
millions Of dollars 10 the annual income Of
the American people. Augment the yield
OF the winter wheat now on the ground only
ten per cent, by giving TO the plan, cheap
but fall supply of those elements which i'm
part strength to its body and large devcl-
opcment to its seed, aud you will double our
surplus brcadstufls for export next scason.--
Tho transportation Of this surplus to market
will add immensely to the business and much
needed revenue of all our internal improve
men,s, and give an suspicious impulse to our
manufacturing, mercantile, and commercial
enterprise. Teach corn.growers ofthis land
Of maze how TO harvest only 20 per cent.
more-which can easily be done-than they
now do from the same land and labor, and
you will secure TO them and to the commune
~ clear gain of 80 ,OOO, 900 bushels of corn!
1t IS well known TO be practicable so TO
change tie organic structure and functions of
the pigs, of which there are millions in the
country, that one animal will from Il given
amount of food, yield to its owner twice as
much llesh and fat as another. Transform
to the hest advantage the above namnd So
0OO,O 900 bushels Of corn into pork, beef, lard
oil, stearine, SC, and il will load thousands
of railroad cars, canal boats, and vessels, on
lis way to foreign consumers.
According to the census returns of 1910
our twenty millions of sheep gave less than
two pounds of wool per head. If we make,
as we can, all the other functions of this ami
NAL Cooperate with those organs that elabo-
rate wool-if we stimulate the latter to the
active secretion of this important product, by
. giving the sneep such food as contains IA large
portion OF the elements Of wool, it has beer
found practicable to clip eigh, or ten pounds
. as the return from the same value of raw ma.
terlal, which, under other circumstances
would give only two pounds. |, requires
however, several generations to effect thes,
important organic changes, although mucI
eau be done in the way of Improvement du
, ring the lifetime Of each individual.
How few practical farmers know how t,
, make or TO perpetuale these organic change
in the structure and functions of their domes
tic animals, which are alike practicable il
3 all their cultivated plants. Not knowing b,
what circumstances and elements these tavo
rable changes are produced, the great mas
OF American agriculluralists are equally IN
q capable of preventing deterioration, to whcl
the highly artificial condition Of both thei
a plants and animals renders them ertremei
: prone. Hence is deduced the momcntou
a truth, that practical science, universally dit
:, dispcnsabo TO maintain the improvements i
n any branch of hnsdandry which science ha
n already achieved. The knowledge of tn
e few, no matter how profound, can never com
"a pensate for the ignorance of the many
n The important fnct is too little needed, thu
!, all men have minds which need lntellectui
a food and development, DIS well as physici
10 wants which must be provided for. Ii
"a worthy of profound consideration that Inf
"a mite Wisdom has so organized the cold slim,
;. reptile that it needs no artificial shelter, n
clothing, and one meal will supply its hun
ger for whole year. On man, with all Ii
~ peculiar and exalted aspirations, He has in
:. posed not only physical weakness and n;
=. kcdneSs in an eminent degree, but the mex,
:. rable necessity of having one thousand mea
"a where the serpent needs but one. This ne
n, cesSity," however, IS ever the mother
ID invention" And, strange as it may seen
e the poverty and weakness of the body are Il
~ riches and strength of the soul.
~, !" The ,olling million need not to be mo,
l. ndustrous-need not to practise more rig
~, ~, economy. The tendency of this system ,
a severe muscular labor and penu,ious liyr
:, is to brulify rather than to elevate our rae
~ As a people, wo lack not capital but know
y, edge-sonnd, practical knowledge --ihat "
= may avail ourselves of all the legitimate an
e, abundant advantages placed within our rea,
4. by the benevolent Author Of our being.
-. Nothing is more common, even in this nc
and sparsely settled country, than to SEQ fiel
badly exhausted by improper tillage. Unle
G. the food Of vegetables derived frem the S,
of DO dissolved IN water, it can hardly enter Il
I'M minute pores Of their roots, and form 30
x. ton Of their circulating nourishment. IftI
|c- food, however, DO at all times soluble in W
10, ter, every rain that falls will dissolve il, a
ire wash it away into rlvulets, or carry il de-
into the earth beyond The reach Of the roc