Delaware State reporter., 1856-02-19
AlisteLIa1euus seIertior,s.
Agriculture.

The following is an extract from an address
recently delivered before the State Agricultural
Society of New Jersey, by Hon JACOB W. Mn
LER distinguished Jerseyman. It will be found
well worthy an attentive perusal:
knowledge is power aud tits as necessary
in the cultivation of land, as in the improve.
ment ofmind 1t is as essential to the farmer.
as to those in the highest grade Of the profes.
sions. It may differ in kind and degree; but,
without thorough knosledg9bf his business;
the farmer can never, unless by accident or
luck advance bis private or social position.
lie may be able to retain the prmeval condition
oi earning his bread by the sweat of his brow,
but being ignorant of that great fund Of infor-
nation which the experience of ages and the
thoaghts of generations Of inen have collected.
for his improvement and advancement.-he he will
stand where the first husbandman stood: de-
pendent upon the spontaneous productions of
the earth, but without the advantage which he
enjoyed in having no competitor in his bust
ness.
We have passed the normal age of farming.
We have reached point when agriculture re-
quires for its success, something more than
physical labor. The had must CO operate
with the hand The mind must direct the labor
OF the body. Art and science are no longer
separated from the business of men; theory
has been reduced to practice learning has left
the closter and philosophy has come down from
the clouds; Vulcan no longer forges his instru-
ments beneath the ocean, and the classic deities
have descended upon the earth to dwell and Ia-
Dor with men and now, chemistry opens wide
her laboratory and daily sends forth her expert.
nents for common use; art and science hold
an open market for the display of every variety
OF implements and machinery, while from i'm
stitutes, lecture rooms and colleges, knowledge
is poured forth in thousand streams
These facilities for the acquisition of know
ledge have produced their effect upon all the
industrial pursuits. stimulating, enlarging and
ennobling every employment, producing upon
eyerp field of enterprize an active competition
between mind and matter. between thought
and labor, and exciting to the highest point of
activity the mental and physical energies of
men. In this onward, upward movement,
agriculture cannot maintain even its relative po-
sltioD, unless it make use of those sources of
knowledge which the wisdom and learning of
the age have placed within its reach. And, in
speaking thus we would not be understood ss
depreciatng manual labor or practical skill, for
we know that. without either Of these, educa-
ton and learning prodnce but small results.
R',t what we wish TO enforce is, that the far
mer shoula ao@, 70 his labor, knowledge, and
to his practical skill the aids of art and science.
and so relieve the one of its toll and increase
the effective power of the other: that he should
entirely understand his business: r,Nt he should
be influenced in his modes of-cultivation &y the
nature Of the soil which he tills; that he shouln
be thoroughly yersed in the mechanics Of agrf4
culture; that he should be familiar with the
history and various breeds of animals; that he
should study the energies and watch the effect
of the vast elements of nature which surround
him, the earth and the water, and the air with
its benign agencies ofl light, heat and moisture
that he should explore the hidden stores of
mineral and vegetable treasures which have
been laid up for him for ages, and which, by
their mysterious influences, and wonderful COM
binations, SO largely increase and beautify the
productions Of agricultural labor. s@