Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1858-10-21
o frogs. because fsops are Indicted to sue

as fully 90 as oats or clover? How man
are even aware that the purest brook wa:e
is full of living animals. too minute to b
discovered by the human eye, but not to
small to have perfect organs and externs
relations, and to love and fight, to grudg
and covet, to be env:ous and jealous, in
spirit very absurd, no doubt. in its occasion
al manifestations, but which does no
necessarily sepa ate them from human in
terest and human sympathy! ~ss ~ ~
Another instrument which seems q mt
destined to play an important part in tn
future economy of farming is the Barometer
The alterations of storm and calm, clou
and sunshines are o: deepest interest 10 th
marioer; next TO him, they most concerl
the farmer, who is often a heavy loser by
bad guess as to what will be the weather 70
the next twelve or .twenty-iour hours. Blu
why should he rest content with guessing
when Science has provided an insirumen
by which, changes of weather may be fore
told with very decided approach to certain
ty! Why should not the oldest, thrifties
farmer in each school district put up hi
Barometer, where it may be freely visited
and inspected by his neighbors, especially
through the critical season of the Summe
harvest. Why should no, the Telegraph
apprise US whenever storm is raging with
in two or three hundred miles of Us. letting
US know where and when 1t began, in wha
direction it has since moved, and wha
winds now prevail in its vicinity, SO thai
we may safely compute the chances anG
the probable time of its appearance ia ou
neighbsrhood, Doubtless, the frat de due
tions from such observations would be crude
imperfect, and often mistaken; bot expert
ence would gradually and surely correct
our. errors and improve our conclusions
until we should be qu,lified. by the help o
the Telegraph and the Barometer combined
to anticipate the weather with as much con
6dence as we now do the advent of Spring
Summer or Winter. / may err as to the
means, but not as to the fact that bene6cent
progress in this dire:tion is feasible; there.
fore, in this day of ligh' and Investigation
inevitable. s-szs rlzzsze, rsa- tsf
vi. One OF the greatest present needs
of Agriculture is habit of recordin Q and
journalizing their experience for public use
and benefit on the prt of thoroughly prac-
tical men. Day after day. we, who are
termed theorizers city farmers, da5b ers in
agriculture. are re minded o! the superiority
of practice to theory, fact to ospeculation-as
if we had ever disputed that averment Day
after day, We Intellectually respond, Yes, we
know il; we want facts; we wish to profit
by your experience; do not confine it to the
narrow limits of your farn and your life.
but let Us have it 80 recorded and displayed
that all may acquire, comprehend and profit
by it,. But those who say most OF the su-
periority of practice to theory are the last
to give the world the benefit of their prac.
tice. How many corn-growers in Indiana
can tell what has been the precise cost per
bushel of the corn they have grown in each
o. the last FIVE Or ten years! How many
can tell, even for their own guidance, what
crops they have grown to the greatest profit,
and which have Involved them in loss, during
any term of years! How many know wha,
the live stock which they have raised and
now own, has cost them! Who knows what
the intrinsic value of hundred acres Of
good corn land at q given point on the
Wabash or Miami is, and how many dollars
more or less.it should command per acre
than just such laud in another given locality,
more or less convenient to marketi
These, ald thousand like questions, re-
quire practical solutions, and practical men
should promptly graphic with them. The
thriving artisan, mechanic and manufac-
turer, all count the cost of their several
undertakings and products, If they find they
are making an article that toes not pay.
they speedily relinquish i for another more
promising. viii any one say that this is
generally the case with our farmers! 5zs
VII. 1t is melancholy truth, that, while
the acreable product of Great Britain has
increased at least fifty per cent. within the
l1st century, that of the United States has
actually fallen off! With all our boasted
progress, our Fairs and Premiums. our books
and periodicals treating wholly or mainly Of
Agriculture, our Subsoil Flows aud vastly
improved implements, our self-glorifying
orations aud addresses at gatherings like
this, and our constant presumption and
assumption that no people were ever so
enlightened and free from antiquated preju-
dices as ours, this is the net result. Even
I can remember when New Engand farmers
grew Wheat as, an ordinary crop; how you
shall not find patch of Wheat grown this
ear or to be grown next, on one New
England farm in every FIVE hundred
Thirty-fve years ago, when was boy
employed at land-cleariag in Western Yer
mont, used to see thirty or forty wheat
laden wagons pass daily in October and
November, on their way TO market at Troy
or Albany; now Vermont does not export a
bushel OF Wheat, but imports at least two.
thirds Of the Wheaton Flour consumed by
her people. In those days, Western New
York produced larger crops Of Wheat thar
any other section of the Union; and "Gen.
esee Flour" was about the best that coult
be bought anywherei to-day, New England
not only does not, but could rot, by her or
din,ry processes, produce eight bushels o.
Wheat to each arabic acre. while the pro
duct of my own State does not exceed ter
bushels from each acre sown.
| We are dreamiug Of buying our clotl
mainly abroad and paying Tor il in Grair
and Flour--a feat which no decen,ly dress
ed nation was ever yet able to accomplish
yet our ability to grow grain is steadily de
crsasing; and we are quite likely, befor'
the close OF this century, to be unable Il
grow enough for our own use. Our longcs