The Southern journal., 1846-01-31
Agriculture Subject for Study.

Agriculture ouDJecs for otuoy.
If there was ever subject pre-.
senting food for intellectual enquiry,
the subject Of sgriculture, involving,
as 1t does, the most subtle operations,
and lhe deepest mysteries Of nature.
II is the mind which constitutes the
true dignity Of our nature. Without
it man would be mere machine; with
it, he becomes divinity. It is for
the farmers to come to true know.
ledge of the true character Of their
calling, and place it where it belongs,
among the liberal professions, and a.
mong the most exalted of sciences.
Formerly, whenever there was lame
or deformed child in the family, it was
thought he would do for tailor or "a
minister; and if he was Ounce or a
blockhead, he would answer for a
farmer. These prejudices are gone,
and that stock is nearly worked out.
Agriculture is assuming its proper
place among the pursuits Of men; and
yielding TO none under heaven, in USE
fnlness, in honesty, and intrinsic res.
pectability, let us seek to prove. that
while it presents objects to call out
and interest, ii is every way worthy Of
the application Of the highest talents
which ever fell to the lot Of man.
81 have already said that the glory
ofman is his mind. If his animal ma.
ture is curious, and wonderful, his in.
tellectual nature is transcendent and
divine. This places him at the head
Of the animal creation. In his mind
are the secret sources of that cnerget.
ic authority, which subjects the most
powerful elements Of the physical
world to his sceptre, and makes him
the monarch OF all he surveys We
see every where, what an influence
and standing the high cultivation of
the mind gives TO every man who has
in community. No official station, no
mass Of wealth so elevates man; and
even If we we're cursed with the aris.
tocratic distinctions which prevail in
other countries, such is the spreading
influence Of intelligence, that the
cultivation Of the mind would enable
the man 10 triumph over them all.
To attain excellence in any art, the
principles Of that art require to be
made the objects Of specific inquiry
and study.
"ln order 10 a successful practice,
the art must be learnt as well as the
scicnce-the execution as we'll as the
theory. The best prospect Of success
Is when they are united; when science
directs the application Of art, and art
in its turn demonstrates the lesson Of
science.
"None Of the labors of the farm, ex-
cepting where they are excessive, re.
qaire any intensity of application or
abstraction Of mind, which would in.
terfere With the most active exercise
Of the intellectual powers on subjects
quite foreign from the farmers imme.
date occupation. He may commune
intimately with nature even when
bending over his hoe; he may talk re.
verenlially with God about his won
der-working providence, from between
the handles of his plow; and he may
often in his fields hear the deep voice
Of a divine philosophy speaking TO bis
soul, as the shepherds heard a mes.
sage from heaven, while they were
counting the stars and watching their
sleeping focks upon the plains of Ba.
byIon.-Colman's Agricultural Address
al Rochester.
Hints to Farmers.
The following practical hints to
Farmers, are extracted from an ad.
dress delivered in 1918, before the
Massachusetts, Agricultural Society,
by JOSIAH QUINCY.