Glasgow weekly times. (Glasgow, Mo.) 1848-1861, 1853-02-24
What can Government do for Agricultural

What can Government do for Agricultural
Hon. R. C. Winthrop, In his address be-
fore the Bristol Agricultural Society, spoke
at some length on this subject. His idea,
in relation to what can be done Tor Ameri-
can Agriculture by natural protection are
comprised in the following paragraph:
The great agricultural want of our coun-
try is the want Of consumers and not Of pro-
ducers, of mouths and not Of hands, of mar
kes and not of crops. And this want OF
which no Government protection, like which
has been or may be afforded to manufactures
or to commerce, can possible supply. On
the contrary, that sort of protection would
only increase the difficulty and aggravate
the disease
He then proceeds TO consider what Gov
eminent can do for Agriculture, and in this
connection says:
in the first place, it can adopt system
attic, comprehensive and permanent meas
ures for ascertaining from year to year, or
certainly from census TO census, the actual
condition of orr country in relation 10 Agr- |
culture, tie quantity of land under culliva,
ton, the proportion Of cultivated and deso-
ted to the production of different articles &C
food, the. relation of prodeetion 20 popula-
tion in tbe various States and in tie coun-
try at large, the comparative productive
ness ofthe same crops in different parts OF
the Union and under different modes Of
culture, and generally whatever details may
be included in complete statistical account
OF American Agricnltne. Our CONNER
cial and navigating satisfies are already
provided for, as incidental to our revenue
system. We need similar returns both hof
our agriculture and our manufacturers, and
shonld not be sony to have them commit
ted to common Bureau. sAst
In the next place, Government, State,
and National, can encourage Agricultural
Science and promote Agricultural Educo-
cation. This subject has been so nearly
exhausted, during the last year or two, by
President Hltcheock's report 10 cur own
Legislature, by DR.. Lees reports 10 The
Patent Office at Washington, and by the
lectures and addresses in which il has been
treated in all parts Of The country, propose
TO notice it very briefly.
Undoubtedly the noble system OF Com
mon School education, which is already in
existence among us, and for which we can
never be too gratefu! TO our Puritan Faith
ers, is itself no small aid to the cause OF
agriculture. The farmers, and the farmers
children, enjoy their full share Of its bcne-
fits. 1t furnishes that original subsoil
blowing Iothe youthful mind, which is es-
sential to the success OF whatever culture
it may be destined to undergo. There is no
education, after ell, which can take the
place OF reading, writing, and keeping ac-
counts; and the young man who is master
ofthese elemental arts, and whose eye has
been sharpened by observation, AMI his
mind trained to reflection, and his heart dis
ciplined to q sense OF neral and religious
responsibilty-and these are the great ends
and the great achievements OF our common
schools-will not go forth to the work OF
his life, whether it be manual or mental,
whether Of the loom or anvil, the pen or the
pillow, without the real, Indispensable re-
quisites for success. The great secret and
.ol,,{;o,, g a., ,r,,nI,.r,l Il. l. -
has been witnessed of late years in all the
useful arts, has been the union of the think
ing mind and the working hand in the same
person. Heretofore, for long ages, they
have been everywhere separated. One SCI
of men have done the thinking, and another
set of men have done the working. The
land has been titled, the loom has been tend
ed, the hammer and the hoe have beer
welded, by slaves, or by men hardly more
intelligent or independent than their brute
yoke-fellows. In other countries, 10 con
siderable extent, and even in cur own, S,
far as one region and one race are concerned
this separation still exists. But o chang,
has been brought about by the gradual pro
gress of free institutions; AMI in the FREE
States of our own country especially, WI
see complete combination Of the working
hand and the thinking mind, Of the stron,
arm and the intelligent soul, in the same hu
man frame. This has been the glorious re
suit of our common school system, the co,
of (which, great as it has been renumerato
a thousand fold, even in mere peouniar
way, by the Improvements, inventions, dis
coveries, and savings Of all sorts, whic
have been made by educated labor, in a
the varied departments of human industry
Itis now everywhere seen and admitted
that the most expensive labor which can b
employed, is ignorant labor, and Fortunate
there is very little of it left in the America