The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1852-05-12
The Golden Age of Agriculture.
by PLINY II. WHITE.

AS we read the learned works Of Liebig,
aud lhcse who have followed in his foot
steps, our admiration is oft mingled with
surprise, that the true value of Tie !acis
on which The modern science Of Ag-icul-
ture is based, should have remained SO long
undiscovered aud that the doctrines deduc-
ed from Them should not long since have
been universally accepted and acted upon.
But, from time, whereof the memory ol
man runnelh not TO the contrary. Agricul,
'ure has been practically regarded as an
employment requiring strength more than
skill, and yielding It's richest returns 10 the
plodding diligence Of the laborer rather
than to wisdom and sagacily of The mind,
which directed The labor. Here if no.
where else, The race was 10 the swift, and
the battle to The slrong.-Some finely tenn
pcred geniuses, indeed, discovered poetic
allimenl in the labors Of the husbandman.
The sweet strains OF Virgil celebrated the
peaceful pursuits of pastoral life, the loves
of the shepherds and sheperIesses,
he grateful shade Of the spreading
beech, the busy bum Of the bees and
.be unlrouhled sleep OF the weary hind !;
but alas the poetry was only in the mag
nation of the singer, and the toil-worn
liller of the soil was then, aud for long
centuries after, condemned win unrenii.
ting and i'll directed labor 10 force a chur-
lish soil for scanty bread
But within n lilllc more than half cen
iury new era has dawned upon Agricul>
,ure. 1t has been discovered that if there
is no poetry in cultvating the earth, there
is, or may be, great deal of science. The
chemist aud the geologisl stand on either
side 0 f the farmer, as Aaron and Hur stood
beside the Prophet, holding up The hands,
whic h begin 10 faint from inccssant toll. 1t
is now well understood, that every one who
avals himself 10 any extent of the expert
ence of others in cullvaling the soil, is to
that extent a book farmer. That which is
50 contemptuously called hook farming, is
no more, nor less, than profiing by the
good or Ill success oil others in their efforts
to improve The different departments of
rural economy, The good fortune, which
one has experienced in pursuing some par.
licular mode Of lilage, or The unfavorable
results, which have followed The labors OF
anoiher in carrying out some different plan
ing 10 those whose pecuniary prosperity
may depend, to a great extent, upon the
choice they make between the conflicting
systems. a moderate share of worldly wis
dom would dictate the adoption of the sue
cessIul practice, and a rejection of the
course, which fair trial has shown 10 be
injudicious This is book farming or, il it
differ at all, il is only In this. that he who
seeks advice from his neighbor, or inquiries
into the condition Of his crops, obtains his
Information imperfeclly, from IN oral source.
while he who resorts to his books (provided
always that they are well selected, )proc ures
knowledge In mature and well diges-
ted form. This same book farming, once
SO odous and but now beginoing to be beI>
ter appreciated, is the only mode of farm.
ng, which will eventually solve the proh-
lem' ho~ 10 raise Me greatest crops ,iM he
'edsi labor aad lciihh he smallest space