Delaware weekly Republican. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1841-188?, 1857-09-24
AgriGultural.


The PREJuDlcE AGAINST BooK-FAnMING.--It
is surprising to see with what tenacity farmers
cling to their old prejudices. Our friends OF
the agricultural press have made great i'm
preston upon the rural districts, and wrought
very great change in the reading habits Of
the people. 1t is safe to say, that ten agricul-
tural papers are taken and read where one was
dozen years ago. But this statement rather
tells how great the darkness was then than how
much light prevails now. The millennium OF
agriculture is somewhat In the distance, we APP
preheud, II we judge from the many dark cor
ners where no papers are distributed, and where |
the people have no faith in the experiments OF
cutiyaters that have the misfortune to be pub
lished.
We were travelling in the cars the other day, !
and 1t so happened that our neighbor Brown
was along-the man that "don't believe" in
! tightening rods or warm stables In winter,-
We were reading our tayorite monthly, and
had got deep into the account of the trial OF
mowers at Syracuse, when voice from behind
interrupted our meditations upon the grand
contest.
"You don't s'pose them mowin' machines
are ever going to amount to any thing; dew
you ~
"Well,'' we replied, "that depends upon cir
cumstances,' with view to draw him out.
"You sec, Squire, haven't a bit of faith in
Fem. II the Almighty had ever meant that the
grass should be cut any faster than we can cut
| 1t with O scythe, dew you s'poSe we should
have had to wait these thousand of years for
machine to dew 1t with Tom read in them
papers about one movers cutting as fast as ten
men, and dewing 1t enough sight better.
told the boy it was all nonsense-al lie made up
by some editor to sell lot of old iron and
gingerbread work that they call a mower"
slave You ever seen one Of those machinesf
"fou don't s'pose mo fool, dew your l
wouldn't GO across tho road to look at one.
Capt. Jones got one this Summer, and got the
neighbors togetherto see it work. didn't go
but Tom was so possessed to see it that let
him go over. Tho horses had not more than
| got round once before holt snapped, and that
aaisited up the work for that morning.
knew itwould be so. You see il is of no use
, TO try to hurry up Tork-thalthe Almighty only
meant should be done about so fast. 1t is jest
like trying to stop lightning with them IRONS
/ some things were made to go fast, and some t
go slow, and men need not try to alter 'em.-
| Moving, guess, was meant to DO slow work.
! "upon that principle, then, we ought Motto
have RAILROADS.&C.
"Rairoads arc another consarn. hay,
seen them"
"And the men who write about these NOW
' ing machines and other improvements, hav
n seen them, and only tell us on paper what the
!, would say to us if they should meet us in til
n street. The paper Is only labor-saving ma
4 chine by which farmer can talk to thousan,
= or more with the same ease that we can talk t
y one.''
a "You don't s'pose farmers have anything t.
= do with making them papersl'
"Certainly they have. There Is hardly a
agricultural paper published in the countr
that Is not edited by practical farmers. The
=, could not be supported il it was not the case.
y "But, they are so full of notions it woul
l. cost a man fortune to carry out the recon
mendatons of a single paper. Now it is neN
- machines, and agin it is sub-sling and under
u u draining Capt Jones is clean crazy wit
y reading them papers, and has bought a thou
y - sand dollars worth Of old crockery that the
n call tile, to put into his sWamp--mght as wei
"a have thrown his money into the dock, Sir, TO
all the good it will dew him. You see it j
e these extrayagant notions that put me out o
~ conceit with these farming papers,"
y ''But good many farmers drain their lands
u and more than double their value by the pro
% cess. They find that when they pillow and cul
tiyatc such lands, the increased crops not onl.
pay interest on the original value of the land
and the cost Of draining, but on an additions
> sum equal to the original value Of the land.
), is thus shown to be a good investment"
. ''But you see don't believe these stories
have never seen such crops"
/ And we had to leave Brown as great skep
. tic as ever. And one is surprised to find tn
multtudes OF farmers that have as little faith /
the published facts of husbaudry as our neigh
. Dor. We doubt now, il one half of this elias
have any agricultural paper in their homes.-
they get new idea occasionally from the
reading aud thinking neighbors, but they d
MOI venture upon any experiments for then
/, selves. They do not believe that egricultul
- IS an improbable art. 1t was finished wht
Noah began to be q husbandman.-=.&--