Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1857-05-22
sari'?:!tlHa5l. ,an9 lpg1ulestit.
- Etts l..5 Alps.icaa Farmer,
AGRICULTURAL ExpERalIENyE.

~ Et|ttl..s A4I.eiican Farmer,
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE.
"A correspondent on another page.
E-r'sIes an experience in attempting the
management oI n hock OF sheep. We
publish hts lettsf. ,becauses as'he suggests,
I'is we'll that both sides sof question
be head. but more especially for the We
y good lesson il may teach other agri-
eStpralexperimenters. ltdoes not prove.
Ga oar mind, that sheep growing is I'M
pr"ntsble. tutSthat our correspondent
,H''ie the mot unusual mistake OF suppos
lug that he was qualified to carry on ex-
!.nslv-ly praetiegl pursuit. when he had
"niy u theoretical knowledge oft. ave
had NO experiences. he says. andthis is
s"tticIent explanation OF his failure.
Il Would seem more strang. it it were
not SO frequent an error. that man should
ihink that any practical business whatev
81 San be learned. and successfully fol-
la~ed Without practical training. II does
not seem so NiIh other callings than that
# the farmer. A shoemaker is not ex>
pected to leain his trade by reading es-
says describing minuiely all the details Of
IA king a shoe. A man would be laugh
ed at, who should get up business on
such prepaI alton yet shoe making is a
simple business enough. A carpenter
doe. not learu his trade by reading es.
aLys. showing how to handle instruments
and lay off his work. In the learned pro.
fsssions, a man may read and must read.
10 law and medicine. the student passes
years in learning the theory of his cho-
an proiession-but neither lawyer nor
pnsIcian is made by study alone. These
pursuits. like agriculture, are practical
s:IenceS! and must be learned practically
As we'll as Theoretically. The young law.
J after three years eading, thinks him.
self capable. perhaps. Of entering into full
practice. but shrewder heads than his
own. put lew and small cases into his
""nd. and he gets by little and little. the
* erirnce which makes him a lawyer.
The young physician Just graduated.
'.Ikeo,y and praclicr" of medicine. but
patients shy of him. until by years oil
small sratuitous practice. he has learned
til" practical application OF his knowledge.
Why. then. dors any one suppose thai
the practical business Of farming is 10 he
Learned from books alone, aud that be
cause man thinks he knows "a good
deal " he is exempted from all necessity
experimental training. Yet. il is MOI
an uncommon error. II is the error which
has brought what il called book farms
ing iE;o disrepute. with practical men.
The man " no reads and studies aeri
culture apart tIom practice, becomes III
.vitsbIy theorist. He may have learn
el all that books can teach. but he
knows nothing yet rs he ought TO know
i."eof practical agriculture. What lie
has acquired is but SO much "learned
lumber" which he must get the art, by
smaLl-adegrees. by little and little. Of
working up in his practice. He must no,
only have the requisite knowledge. bu
ne must know how to use it: this is
l'arn.d by experience alone. If a maj
Lexis this experience, he will find it ne
trsSary 10 place special guard upon him
self. lest the very knowledge. which pro.
periy used would enlighten his pracuce
should prove an iSnis .Jatus TO misleat
him. II he commences aiming unde
the impression that this "book>learning'
is sufficient for his guidance. he launches
out inIo schemes and fancies. which th'
practical judgment IF the man Of expert
tnce would rel CT at ST. hit !; or ifhe start
Alright. he wants the practical skill to car
~ out his designs. And when he fails
as fail he surely will. unless he very SOU
learns lessons OF cxperience-iL is pu
down by the "safe Old fellows" to the &C
count OF ''book>tarming" when it is onl
because the books were not rightly used
Agriculture, as We have said. is prac
tical science. Theory and practice mus
work together-the one to do. and tn
other to direct. The most skillful praC
tice will lead TO poor results, if it is has
ed upon false theory and the practice
man who at this day. rejects the use {
the books aud journals. deprives himss
of the most valuable helps in learning tn
theory Of his profession. But be make
y still greater mistake who supposes ths
what he can learn from books, "wiLhou
experience" will fit him to enter at ono
upon successful practice. True theor
and skilful practice are the conditions {
success in agriculture, as in any pract
cal pursuit; and the results. under Pro
violence. will depend upon the prope
working together. of both these conditions
Book FARMISG.-One Of the most prat
teal cases Of ''book farming" that ht
come to our knowledge is told US by
friend. A young Maryland farmer,
poadinU man and r0Fkinn,