Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1854-05-25
Farmers department,
Book Farming.

The world is full of sold fogies"-ultrs
conservative men, who worship the shade
wy phantom Of the past, and maintain &
naughty contempt for the things of the pre-
sent. They obstinately shut their eyes to
the modern revelations of science and phi.
losophy, and cling with unbending tenacity
to the manners, customs and opinions OF
their great grandfather They love old
things because they are old. They shun rail.
roads and steamboats, as inventions of the
devil, preterring to trust the old gray mare
OF their fathers, rather than foster modern
enterprise.
OF all the cold fogies" in the world, the
cold fogy" farmer is most unreasonable,
and the most intolerable clog to the wheels
OF progress. The art of the farmer is
emnently one of progress. Mechanical in.
genuity and scientific discovery have largely
contributed to its advancement-have opened
field of inquiry and experiment, which pro.
misses unlimited benefit to the agriculturist.
improvement is the order Of the dav in the
field, and none Of the arts is more susceptible
to the influence of progressive spirit of the
age, than that Of the farmer.
But how is the farmer to avail himself of
this information, which shall not only make
his fortune, but make him a wiser man and
more useful citizen! How, but the press,
which is the Archmedean lever that shall
move the world! The press is the engine
OF progress, the channel Of advancement, the
principal agent Of art, science and philoso.
phy 1t will tell every man in the land pre-
cIsely what has been done in his art; it will
carry TO his very door the results of the
chemists experiments; and it will bear to
him the deductions Of the practical operator.
1t carries not onl y the theory of the scholar
and the mysteries of the laboratory, but the
every day experience OF the man who labors
with his own hands. 1t is not the medium
OF abstract science alone, but also of the
practical observations of the plain, unscien.
tho farmer. 1t is not stiff monitor dealing
IN abstruse learning which is beyond the
comprehension of the unlettcred, but
cheerful companion, which speaks as an
equal, without the vanity of learning or the
unle;tered, but cheerful companion, which
speaks an equal, without the vanity of
learning or the ostentation of the schools.
Farmer A., plain aud practical man,
sends to the newspaper the result of his ex.
perlments, in raising corn, pigs or poultry.
Farmer i may read it, il he will, and
compare his own experience with it. This
is one of the principal objects of an agricul.
tura journal-and this is what the old rogy
farmer contemptuously styles "book farm.
ing"
Considered in relation to this branch of
its purpose, the agricultural journal is simply
a record Of various experiences When
farmer has been successful in any operation,
he gives it to the world through the press, ,.
Just as he would drop in upon his neighbor
and verbally relate it. This is that horrible :
busbear, book tarmingw
But the press goes farther than this, and i;
gives theory as well as practice. 1t places " IT.
within the reach Of the humbest farmer the )
deductions of science which may benefit him d d
n his daily occupation. u
Book farming has long been a reproach Il
among the ultra. conservative tillers of the
soil. Why it should be so, more than book II
ioctoring, book preaching, or book politics, l;
We are at loss to determine. Is agricul. ic
ure, then, only a mere mechanical opera. V;
ion, which requires no skill of Judgment, cI
hat can be increased by study and reaec. c!
lon-no enlarging Of the understanding that g
an be procured by reading and experiment? nc !,
'ot at all. Farming is only an art-a mere III
Mechanical craft-in the hands of the "old Sc
'sy;" but tits science-a field for unlimi M
I'd research-in the hands of the inquiring, e'
rogressive agriculturist-in the hands of W v,
le intelligent book farmer" I'll
The Irish laborer would derive no appre. pc
lahle advantage from books and papers to % &c
id him in the use of his pick and shovel XII
is work is merely mechanical-more of ca
c bone and muscle than the head but the WI
rmer-let him not say that he can become by
} wiser, no more skilful in his calling by ab
C aid of books. He could ofer no strong. ha
indication of his ignorance and bigotry.9 en-
ew Eng land Cultvator. wi
- thu
DR.. Simpson, of Ednburg, acting upon We
hint recently thrown out in Chambers
,r,.l hos boop ,vnrti, ,yo,,l,.. ,.,:,L