The Belmont chronicle, and farmers, mechanics and manufacturers advocate. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1848-1855, 1853-11-18


for men who work must eat, though their foo
be not the best; but give US an abundance o
the choicest fruits and vegetables, with far
mers who know how to grow them and trull
educated housewives, who delight in prepar
ing and serving them, and we shall enjoy
health, elasticity and longevity to an extern
now unknown. A flesh diet is the dearest
the least palatabe and the least wholesome
and all that is needed 20 wean men from IL /.
we need only farmers who will feel a just
pride in having the finest orchards and gar.
dens-who will surround, not merely their
own dwellings but those Of their tenants and
helpers also, with choice trees; and who will
plant and keep planting until good fruit shall
be so abundant that it can be no longer an
object 10 steal it.
But detain you too long, though many
suggestions crowd upon me which | would
gladly develop, did time permit. would like
to Illustrate that inspiring theme, The HAIR
MoSY OF INTERESTS between Farmer and
Manufacturer, which renders each new fac
tory or workshop established in an agricuItu-
raj county or district positive accession OF
wealth to every farmer who lives within the
radius Of its influence. You may readily per-
ceive the addition of value given to each farm
in Indiana by any canal or railroad which
cheapens the cost of sending that farms sur
plus produce to rnarket-that is, to producers
of the wares you require or the fabrics you
consume;-a how much greater must be
the saving, the benefit, TO Indiana, of bring
ing TO her soil or near it, instead of the fab
rics, their manufacturers, so as to render
them perpetual and more extensive consul
mers of her produce, need not surely insist
on,
But pass over this and kindred topics,
not as out of place but out of time, to dwell
for a moment on the necessity that every
where exists for increased facilities to Prac-
tical Education.
have been exhorting your young farmers
to study and master the vocation TO which
their lives are to be devoted-and that's right
but what if they were to turn on me with
the inquiry" Where shall we study!' How
shall ] answer them If they ask-"How and
where are we to learn how to analyZe soils
and make ourselves familiar with all the
Science which lies at the base OF Agriculture
as we'll as Mechanics!" / can only say to
them, awe in New York are determined, as
soon as may be, to have a PEOPLES COLLEGE
to teach these important, vital truths TO ell
who seek them, and to enable them to pay
their way by their labor while learning; and
we trust you in Indiana will speedily follow
if you do not precede us.'' That is the best
that can be said to-day; trust ere long obe
able to speak more to the purpose.
do not seek to disguise the magnitude and
the difficulty of the work mplate-that
of revolutiunizing our Agriculture. and ma
king it the most elevated and ennobling, be-
cause the most intellectual, pursuit of man.
| realize the mountains of Prejudice that are
10 be leveled, the Dead Sea of Ignorance that
must be filled up, the constitutional immobil-
ity of Conservatism that must be overcome,
before the end can be attained. But | see
also how s'ihe stars 10 their courses" fight in
behalf of Progress and lightenment-how
immense has been the march of Intelligence
as well as Invention and Physical Improve
ment in our age-how the Steamboat. tie
Railroad, the Steam Press, the Ocean Steam
ship, the Electric Telegraph, are speeding us
onward with momentum the world has never
before known-and hear voice from all
these and many a kindred impulse and in
huence, bidding Man the Cult!vator advance
boldly and confidently TO take his proper post
as lord Of the animal Kingdom and wielder of
the elements for the satisfaction of his wants
and the development of his immortal powers.
| hear the calling him to vindicate the dis
cernment or the PRESENCE of those glorious
old Greeks who gave our Earth in her young
luxuriance the name of Kosmos or BEAUTY
"A name belied by our scarred and stumpy
grain-fields, our scared and barren pastures,
our bleak and arid deserts, our foul, malar-
ous marshes; but which Science shall yet JUS
tify and Joyous Labor perpetuate. In spite
of all distractions and impediments, 'the world
does move," and even the mostsluggish d stub
born are carried along with it. Our Agrcul-
ture, as whole, is more skillful andeiicient
than it was thirty or forty years ago; and it
is now improving in accelerated ratio. Even
|, the descendant of a line of poor cultivators,
stretching back, very likely, to him who
through his own blindness and fatuity lost the
situation of head-gardner in Eden-even |
feel the all-pervadng impulse toward i'm
proyement and reform. can never be
Scientific farmer-I am too old and too heaY-
lily laden with duties and cares for that--but
nv son, # he lives, shall be. The little can
teach him shall at least inspire him with
craving for more, and set him on the right
track to learn it, And thus tens of thousands
are growing up all around us-children, per-
haps, of ignorance and inetliciency--who
shall be leaders and guides in the great work
to which this Address is feeble but earnest
contribution.
Hawthorne, in his 'Three-Fold Destiny"
tells the story of young man who wandered
all the world over in quest of three wonder
full incidents, which, it had been predicted,
should occur to him; and returned disappoint-
ed and spirit-broken to find them all under
the shadow of his paternal roof. l perceive
in this tale, as in every word Of true genius,
some reflection of a universal fact; an appeal
to the general experience and the heart Of
Humanity How many have chased deiuding
phantoms through the fervid noontde OF life,