The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1848-05-18

, made by persons not bred to agriculture
pursuits, and it has often been said that me
, chanics, merchants and professional mel
, make in the end the best farmers. If Their
is any truth in this opinion, it is probably be
: cause these persons, commencing their neI
calling at period of life when Judgment
mature, tied down by habit to no blind rou
tine Of Anticipated practice, and ridden by n
, nightmare Of hereditary prejudice in regar'
TO particular modes of cultivation, are con
scious of the necessity of observation and re
, Election, in an occupations the successful pur
suit of which requires so much Of both, ant
feel themselves at liberty to select such pro
cesses as are commended by the results @
actual experience, or accord with the know
laws of vegetable physiology. Under sue
circumstances, iudicous man, encourages
, by the stimulus of novelty, would be likely t.
E study the subject with earnestness, and t.
profit by his own errors, as well as by TIL
experience Of others.
There are certain other improvements connecte,
with agriculture, to which | desire to draw you
special attention On of these is the introduction
better economy in the management of our tcrcs
lands. The increasing value Of timber and tuc
ought to teach us, that trees are no longer what they
were in our fathers time, an incumbrance. W.
cleared land in Vermont than would be required
with proper culture, for the support of mucI
greater population than we now possess and every
additional acre both lessons our means of thorough
husbandry, by sproportonatey extending its area
and deprives succeeding generations of what though
comparatively worthless to us would be Of great
value to them. The functions of the forest, besides
supplying timber and fuel, are very various. The
conducting powers of trees render them highly use
full in restoring the disturbed equilibrium Of the
Ht,tJ CHI
and protecting more tender vegetables against the
destructive effects of bleak parching winds, and
the annual deposit Of the foliage OF dcciduous trees,
and the decomposition Of their decayinG trunks,
| forms an accumulation Of vegetable mould, which
gives the greatest fertility to the often originally
barren soils on which they grow, aud onriches lower
| grounds by the wash from rains and the melting
| SHOWS. he Inconvenience resulting from Il want
OF foresight in the economy of the forest are already
severely felt i'll many parts of New England, and
even in some Of the older towns in Vermont.
Steep hill-sdcs and rocky lodges are well suited to
the permanent growth of wood, but when in the
rage for improvement they are imprOvidenty strip
ped OF this protection, the action Of sun and wind
and rain soon dcpriycs them Of their thin coating of
vegetable mould, and this, wien exhausted, cannot
be restored by ordinary husbandry They remain
therefore barren and U}s:ghtly blots, producing
neither grain nor grass, and Welding no crop but
harvest OF noNious weeds, to inles with their scat
tered seeds the richer arabic grounds below. But
iniudicous destruction of tie woods. Forests serve
as reservoirs and equalizerS of humidity. In wet
seasons, the dccaycd leaves and spongy soil of wood
lands retain large proportion Of the falling rains,
and give back the moisture in time of drought, by
evaporation or through the medium Of springs.
They thus both check the sudden flow of water from
the surface into the streams and low grounds and
prevent the droughtS Of summer from parchng our
pastures and drying up the rivucts which water
them. On the other hand, where too large a pro-
Of l,n :, -, ~,
the summer sun and wind scorchcs the hills which
are no longer shaded or sheltered by trees, the
springs and riVnleS that found their supply in the
bibuloua soil of the forest disappear and the farmer
Is obliged to surrender his meadows 10 His cattle,
which can no longer find food in his pastures, and
even 10 drive them miles for water
Again, the vernal and autImna rains, ard the melt
ing SHOWS OF winter 10 longer Intercepted ard alb
sOrbcd By the leaves or the open soil Of the woods
but falling everywhere upon a comparatively hard
ana even surface, flow swiftly over the smooth
ground, washing away the vegetable mould as they
seek their natural outlets, fill every ravine with n
torrent, and convert every river into an ocean, The
-nddenncss and violence of our reshcs increases in
Wv mcadoWs wc5 IS Of Ec9 BRIDES are washed
covered with barren sand OF themselves abradcd Nv
the fury of the current and there is reason to fear
that the valleys Of many Of our streams will s1uu
be converted from smiling meadows into broad
wastes Of single and gravel ard pebbles deserts in
summer and in autumn and spring. The |
changes, which these causes have wrought in the |
physical geography Of Vermont, within n SINGLE
generation, are too striking to have escaped the at
cntion OF any observing person, and every middle
lGcd man. who rev'sits his birthplace after a few
'eas Of absence, looks upon another landscape than
hat which formed the theatre of his Youthful tolls
md pleasures. The signs of artificial improvement
ire mingled with the tokens of improvdent waste,
md the bald and barren hills, the dry beds of the
mailer streams the ravincs fun0Wed out by the
omcns Of spring, ard the diminished thread Of in |,
eryal that skirts the widcncd channel of the rivers
Gem sad substitutes for the pleasant groves and
rooks and broad meadows of his ancient patcrnal
oman. If tie present value of timber and land
viii not justify the artificial rc-panting Of grounds
ludicouSy cleared at least nature ought to be al
owed to rc-cothe them with a spontaneous growth l
wood, and in our future husbandrv 4 more care q
II selection should be made Of land for permanent
1t has long been practice III many !
arts Of Europe well in our older settlements
cut the forests reserved for timber and fuel Mt t
atcd intervals. 1t is quito time that this practice
lould be introduced among rs After the first (el @
n9 Of the original forest II indeed long time be-
re its place Is supplied, because the roots of old -
I'd full grown trees seldom throw up shoots, bat z
hen the second growth is once established, it NAV r.
cut with great advantage, at periods Of about II
'cnty-fvc years, and yields n material in every +;
spect but size, far superior to the wood Of the u
imitive tree. In many European countries, the u
onomy of the forest is regulated by law but here e
e constitutes law, we can only appeal to an en- W
htened scll-intereSt to Introduce the reforms check or
abuses, and preserve MS from an increase of the
lis have mentioned. ~
There is branch Of rural industry hitherto not W
lch attended to among us but to the social and tit
,nomical importance Of which we are beginning Of
be somewhat awake. refer to TIE agreeable an
| profitable art of horticulture. The neglect of ~,
art is aprobably to be ascrbcd to the opinion, e.
t the products of the garden and the fruityar ~
to be regarded rather as condiments or galnsh- VIZ
; than nutritious food, as something calculated thu
icklc the palate, not to strengthen the system 70,
belonging in short to the department of ornament az
to that of utility. This is an unfortunate error VII
tendency of cold climate is to create an in sci
mate appetite for animal food and we habitually ma
sumo much too large proportion of that simli- wit
ng alimcnt This, when we compare the relative VIII
Of a given quantity Of nutlitivo matter obtained w.
animals and vegetables, seems very indifferent ny
lomy, and considerations of health most clearly OF
cate the cXpcdicncy Of increasing the proportion tv
)ur fruit and vegetable diet. We cannot in this ize
ude expect to rival the pomona of more favored rns
hnt in SituntiOOs ~ will, lNS