Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1853-11-04
BROOKvILLE FRANKLIN COUNTY INDIANA FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1853

"o"W ho's ai'cr hrhflnH OF thta device, tnkc
advantage ofany brook or pond hs might
have on hia premlsrs. aud set his plan. tree,
where they viii he safe from the curcailo
Bat supposs the diseovsry bad been made by
some fruit.efower, et the last century. aud
dnly recorded in eock, had since been sub
Jected 10 n thousand oIieals, aud had passed
triumphant through them all-wonld II have
been lees aoceptabls or lsti vslas Bile than |,
now ls1 " it be worth oar while 10 learn
al all, what dittsfenoe eau be mngined be.
tween the knowlrdge found on neighbor's
eNpcrieaoe and that contained In book1 II
there DO any, ara not the odds altogether In
favor Of that prescription which has under.
gone the wider soruliny aud been subjected
TO the more rigorous erillclsmi
And here let me speak OF another
who more recently shook of the dust OF
our City's pavements TO spend the lat
ter half OF his life on a farm. | allude
to Professor James j. Mapes, whose
fame as an Agricultural must have
reached very many among you. II can
not be many years-it seems to me but
five or slx-slnce Prof, Mapes, who was
extensively, engaged in Sugar-R Refining
and had heavy dealings In Sugar-came
to dead halt, or rather dead smash.
Stripped OF means aud Of credit, he felt
too old to launch again on the dangerous
sea of Commerce, whose waves had so
lately and so deeply engulphed him; 50
he hired bit OF land in New Jersey and
removed his family thther, and resolved
to turn the chemical aud other Scien-
tlic knowledge which had so little
availed him as sugar refner, to account
in the novel vocation Of a farmer. He
was very destitute, and OF course got on
but slowly at first; and when he first un-
dertook to lecture in illustration of Far
ming as Science, well remember
how very general was the prejudice and
derision he encountered. But he perse-
vered both in farming and lecturing; and
he has gloriously succeeded. presume
there wero many errors in his earlier in
quotations; there may be some yet. for
he is agenius, aud genius Is too apt to
leap hastily TO sweeping conclusions
from Inadequate premises. But, what
ever his faults, the root OF the matter
was in him, and his career has proved il.
As a Lecturer. an Editor, and as u prac-
tlcal Farmer, he is enriching the voca-
ton he has chosen aud by no means i'm
pove rlshing himself Beginning with
nothing, he cannot have cleared less
than $4,000 In the last six years, and
his income must now be at least $4,000
per annum. And this is not all ma de by
merely talking and writing about farm
ing, but In good part by actual work.
For example: tie last year bought ten
acres Of naturally good but exhausted
and weedy land adjoining him for S25o
per acre, pulyerized and lertlized Il thor
oughly 10 the depth OF two ieet, planted
" with cabbagcs rs .clase together as
they could grow, and by the sale Of his
fret crop paid for the manure, labor aud
land having the latter oil clear at the
years end, and In far better condti on
than when he bought II. Can any enc
my Of Book-larming' beat thisl Or Is
there any ofthem who would not like 10
know exactly how this land was fertill-
zed and titled, even though he should bo
obliged to read II In book or perodlcall }
Lot me next illustrate the Importance
and advantages ofthe careful Analysis
OF Soils:
A friend bought, one year ago, small
farm which had previously been under
decent or ordinary cultivation, but which,
Il appears, had been for many years main
ly fertilzed with Gypsum or Plaster OF
Paris-an excellent thing In It's place,
and which had doubtless done the land
good service. But the new farmers
brother IL thorough Chemist, deyotIng
much attention TO Agriculture, aud he
was invited TO analyze the soil Of this
farm with a view to It's prospective and
economical improvement. Careful Anal
ysis showed a signal deficiency of Lime,
but a superabundance OF Sulphur and
other ingredients OF Plaster. Ofcourse,
at each successive application Of Plas-
ter the plants took up the Lime only,
leaving oil the residue TO lie inert In the
soil; and so the old farmer had for years
been feeding his soil, at the rate Of twen-
ty to thirty cents per bushel, with the
requisite Lime broI ght from distance
in the form of Plaster, while there was
far better Lime burned all around him,
and for sale in abundance at six cents a
bushell The loss thus incurred may
have averaged hity dollars per annum-
all for want of an Analysis that might
have cost ten to twenty dollars. And
there are tens OF thousands 10 day farm.
ing just as blindly as did this old farmer.
Can there be any rational wonder that
farmers seldom grow rich by such larm-
ingl How Is wise and judicious econ
omy OF means to be attained if ignorance
and waste are to reap the rewards prop
erly due only to intelligence aud frugal
ityi II were to buy paper and other
materials used in my business as care
lessly and blindly as this old farmer
bought manures and fortified his land, |
could not continue TO print newspapers
Tor u single year. Wiser, more prudent,
more intelligent publishers, would under
sell aud supplant me, and must fail and
be driven into some vocation where ig-
norsnce, heedIessness, and unthrift Sc
cure the rewards designed by Provi-
dence for intelligence, industry, and
economy.
nut let Us pause NJ thSt Wotu thuuHHg'-
"by industry we thrive" isan old saw,
which Is very we'll Ia tts place. But the
ruth contained In proverbs Is 30 CURLY ex'
pressed th,t II often miuleads more than II
directs. Industry IL Indeed essential 10 thrift,
aud farmers, like other men, need TO bo re-
minded Of II. When | note one who Is over
whelmed with "business," which calls him
away from home two or three days Ia each
week, and keeps him hanging aboIt the tay.
ern or store while his boys are at play aud
his potatoes crying for the hoe, know
whittier that iarmer Ii tendIpg, aud cau
guess how long he will have any land TO mis-
manage. Aud | think that In the average
farmers waste more time than mechanics
They have more idle time--not necessarily
but quite commonly so regarded through
bad weather, severe cold, too much wet, &C.
than falls 10 the lot OF almost any other class
aud Il is very easy 10 allure many Of them
away to shoot at other men's turkeys when
they should be growing food for their own'
But while many waste precious hours, quite
u much through heedlessness aud want oi
system as indolencr, know another cla''
who slave themselves out Of comfort aud GU
of thought by incss5ant, excessive drudgery
who are 50 absorbed In obtaining the mean'
Of living that they never find tune to live
who drive through the day so that their bonel
ache and their minds are foggy at night; aud