Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1850-03-01
Gbe G@SN-7 Garm.
From The Cutivatorl
Should the Farmer be man of knowledge 2

EDITORS OF THE CuLTrvAToR AS you well
know, controversyhas been going on for ma.
ny years between the plough-ioggers on one
side, and the Agricultural Journals and book
farmers on the othe', AS to whether the Farmer
should be a man Of Knolcledge2
Tue first named chss contend, that TO follow
the dogmas Of tradition, and under such pui
dance, toll and sweat away life in mere phvsi
cal labor to read and write indtferenty, or
perhaps make his mark TO study his almanac
faithfully, and plow, SOW and harvest according
to the old or new O. the moon to chalk his
deal on the barn.door or Wis hat to avoid an
agricultural paper or book farmer as he
would a pestlence ; to extract the fertility of
the soil, and leave mlther earth with her future
generations, to shri for themselves ~ best
they car that these are the kind of gualtca.
tions 10 make good farmer.
The other class csntend that the farmer
should be man Of reading, obser vation and
study; that his calling involves degree of sci
entihc inquiry equa to that Of almost any other !;
that inasInuch as the advancing spirit OF the
times is in other callings continually CRYING
out Onward.' he should partlke of that spif.
it, advance with others in education and mental
cipline, and claim, and be able to take, equal
rank with the highest.
Being on the whole, rather inclined to favor
the views Of the last-named class, | shall brief.
ly survey portion of the ground involved in
the question, in order to lee for myself whether
the Farmer should be a nan of general as well
as particular knowledge. f find the 'lay tf the
land such as | supposed to be, | sha Ii take
decided stand with my fr,nds, the Journals and
book farmers
In the short and graphic account given US of
the Creation, we are Informed that after form had
been given 10 matter am the vegetable and
lower animal world had ben brought forth to
life. man was made, in the image OF his Creator,
to be lord Of his other worls, and commanded to
subdue and cultivate the ground, Or, in the
noble lines Of the poet,
"There wanted yet the master work the end
VI all yet done creature wlo, not prone
And brute as other creatures, Jut endued
w lth Sanctlty OF reason, might erect
Ills statue, and upright with tont serene
Govern the rest, seIi-knowing; aud from thence,
;Magnanimous, TO correspond with heaven:
But, grateful TO acknowledge whence his good
Descends, thither with heart and voice, and eyes
Directed i'll devotion, to adore
And worship God Supreme, Who made him chiet
vi all his works.
The pursuit, then, originally assigned to man,
was that OF Agriculture, and thus did his
Maker confer superior dignity upon it. He was
endued with reason, to distinguish him from,
and elevate him above the lower animals, and
to enable him, among Other things, properly to
subdue and cultivate the Earth, Reason is by
far the most important O mans intellectual
powers. by it he devses means to accomplish
ends, distinguishes truth from error, or in other
words, acquires knowledge. 1t is also progress
slve from infancy TO age. t is on tie right
use OF reason that our success, both in the pur-
suit Of knowledge and happiness depends and
in proportion as we acquire knowledge, so, in
turn. in reason enlarged and strengthened, and
we are thus enabled tC make still higher ac-
QUESTIONS. TO acCompl sh desirable ends, then,
the original gift should be improved by the at.
tanment Of knowledge
knowledge expands the mind OF the farmer
from mere attention 10 details and brute force,
to an extensive comprehension of general prin-
clpies-these great cardinal principles by which
nature is governed IN ter operations, and with
which he necessarily comes in contact every
day. In the business q cultivation, an infinite
diversity of principles and mysteries arise to
the thoughtful mind, many of which, if ever
understood at all, mustbe wrought out by the
utmost efforts of pcrfeced Science and cul-
tivated mind. Few of us, indeed, can give a
satisfactory reason for many OF the simplest
operations, of nature which are continually be-
fore our eyes. We are therefore about as liable
to 60 wrong as right, in some Of our common
est methods OF tilage.
1t has been said that Mind is the great lever
OF all things human bought the process by
which human ends are ultimately attained II
this be true, then, in proportion as the mind is
expanded by knowledge, so is this lever length
ened and strengthened by which we open the
vast framework arodni us, difuse light where
all before was darkness, solve problems which
otherwise would never be known or only seen
dim obscurity, and subject and mingle ele-
ments before beyond our control. In short, we
a re thus enabled the better to obey the divine
command to sublue and cultivate the earth
and TO use its elements aud its creatures for
desirable ends. The ejaculation Of an ancient
tabled combatant, when enveoped in clouds
and darkness, Is an appropriate petition for us
farmers, benighted as we are, in ignorance Of
great principles with which we daily have tC
do:
Dispel these clouds, the light of heaven restore,
Give me TO see-and AUX asks no more"
knowledge exals all the faculties of the
mind. However much exalted, they will fine
ample scope for exercise in the pursuit OF Agr
culture; for it is an occupation that eminent
combines science with practice. II the power.
Of observation, reflection and generalization re
quickened and exalted by knowledge, so as
thereby TO become more nearly adequate to the
demands that the business naturally makes
upon them, we may produce results, of which
state of arrogant ignorance never dreamed
nor was ever capable. Thus we see, that when
we have given the farmer taste for the ac-
QUESTION Of knowledge, we have made him a
better bequcst than money; for we have given
him the habit OF thinking, and that is the prin
ciple of all Legitimate prosperity.-lt enables
him at once to act and operate, to compare
contrive, invent, improve and perfect to ac-
complsh his ends in higher and still higher de-
grees.
Then 10 the business of the farmer largely
admits Of, nay, in our view, it demands, obser,
va,ion and thought. While engaged ir the
heath-giving labcrs of the field, breathing the
invigoraing air, and conversant with the prin.
ciples and beauties of nature around him, he
may pursue habits of thought to an extent and
with an elasticity and yigor of mind, which the
student Of the closet, struggling with an altenu
ated frame, trembling nerves and throbbing
head, often sighs for in vain. We farmers who
have not yet felt the importance of cullivalng
and using the thinking faculty TO some valua
bic purpose, may with proprey receive and pom,
der the address of II profound thinker:
My friend, to have thought far TOO lille, we