Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1853-09-23

God, their only hope? Is it that stalwart
son of the sea, whose strength is the boast
of the ships company; who can "swim
farther, dive deeper, and come up drier,
than any man in the crowd who can
hand, and reef, and steer who can
mount the rigging and sliding knots with
a squirrels agility, and tie all the fast
knots and sliding knots that are the sailor
pride, and splice or "lay cable with the
rext man us this he, who is selected as
the best practical sailor, to command the
craft, in her hour of danger? Far from
it, friends. The practical man, for the
occasion, is yon dappcr little fellow, with
soft, white palms; sporting, mayhap, a
seal ring; and dressed as if inclined to
give to tar and pitch and all other de6ling
substances wide berth. He it is-this
man, who has been educated for his po-
sition, and who directs the labors of others
he it is, who is the practical sailor. If,
then, in the hour of danger, when death
RACES for his prey, and the yawning sea
shows the ready grave, men acknowledge
the might of mind, why is it that farmers
will persist in undertaking it, and set up
sinews before it?
As we cast our eyes over the country,
we see it traversed in every direction by
roads Of iron; mighty hills are demolished,
wide valleys are filled up,and swift streams
are spanned by viaducts. The neigh of
the steam horse wakes the echoes, far and
near, as, with eyes of fire and with breath
of pitchy smoke, he rushes along his iron
road with the roar and strength of an ava
lanche. Now, if there are things that
practical man can surely do, the piling of
dirt and stones into long narrow heap,
and the digging down Of banks of earth,
and the hammering of iron, and the put
ting together of bolts and nuts and plates,
must be among them. But we do not give
to the thousands of brawney workmen,
who ply pick and spade, the honor of build
ing the railroad; nor do we credit to the
faithful smith, who, obcdient to directions,
has wrought out rod, and again ham,
mered out plate, the performances Of the
finished locomotive.
BY and by-as all now admit that man
may be a finished practical sailor, who does
not defile his palms with pitch, oakum, Or
rattlin-stuff; and as one may claim to be
a practical builder, rearing huge structures
of granite, bridging rivers, and moving
-..o.n.~,n-, VINO dces not harden his hands
by the use of spade, pick, or crow-so We
will acknowledge that man may be a
practical farmer, competent to the manage
ment of acres, who does not toll all the
day long at the plow-tail. To farm we'll,
as to direct any other operation well, the
foreman, whether he be master or man,
must thoroughly understand how things
ought to be done; and then the proverb
will be found to hold true of farming, as
of most things else, "the eye Of the mas
ter is of more value than his hands"
Scientific Agriculture is the cultivation
of the earth by rule, and not BY guess
work. Indeed, when and where guessing
ends, system begins; then and there is the
birth place of Science.
How many farms, gentlemen, within the
reach of your observation, are, by this de-
fnition, scientifically cultivated On how
many is the depth of the plowing gagged
by the depth of the soil, the character of
the subsoil, and wise intention to render
the fertile loan deeper year after year,
inch by inch? How many farmers of your
acquaintance, who enter on farm with a
soil three inches deep, undertake, as they
we'll and easily might, to render it, in
twelve years, twelve inches deep? Iwculd
tell you here, that the experiments of
thousands of farmers have proved that by
thrusting the point of your plow one inch,
or three quarters Of an inch deeper at each,
and bringing to the surface so much of the
inert subsoil, to be operated on by the atmos-
pherc and to be benefited by the manure
year after year, you will to this extent in
crease your active, fertile soil, and gradu-
ally create another farm, as it were, under
your old one. But this would be scientific
farming and, consequently. in the opinion
of too many farmers, mere nonsense, not
withstanding that facts, plenty as black
berries, confront them with evidence.
On how many farms in this State, or in
any State, is the manure applied with suf
icient knowledge of the component parts,
and consequently Of the wants Of the soil!
On how many is the manure iself prepared
and preserved, SO that it retains oil Of it:
valuable constituents Why, gentlemen
if one were to say that plants, to thrive
require food in certain proportions ant
that if one of the necessary substances i
not present in the soil, and is not supplies
in the manure, the plant cannot thrive
| ond th,t IN proport,op n, rN,, havo or ar