Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-11-18

1ecu 70 S00k JorvSng had better take the
I'd ssskis ADD woodss pillow, for We do not
make thess improvsments fret ourselves.
They are handsd to ~ BY book knowledge.
Aad let mstell you that this book knowl.
stgs in asyicultaral pursuits ID. just began.
Why, within the short period Of my own
memory (sud lam not yet 80 years old)
there was not five agricultural periodicals. in
In all the United States aud I am almost Of
the opinion that the total number Of asri.
cultaral books scarcely exceeded that mum.
Der. Previous to this age Of book farming,
this short period Of 40 years. We had made
but little advance from the old Israelitish
threshing fail and wooden pillow Of 5000
years ago. Now comes the sisam plow to
our assistance. This year, for the first
time, saw in Ohio, threshing by steam
and at the U. s. Fair, blowing BY steam.
This reminds me OF Robert Fulton's first
steamboat. 1t was no advantage over the
old schooner, but it soon improved until
it went ahead Of it. So with what We call
failures. But they are the beginning of bot.
ter things.
Some one speaking Of the follies Of the agri-
cultural department of the patent Office
in the presence of friend of mine said -
"Who knows the value OF single seed OF
of new ideaT 1t 10 these new ideas that
are bringing to rs these new seeds, the new
animals and the new improvements. We
have received the horse power and made
good use of it. Now comes the steam pow.
er, and who will cy, s'Humbug, it can't be
DONE" We live in q wonderful age of ia.
vention and Improvement, and agriculture 10
the last to catch the spirit of "go- ahead. p
But We have caught the spirit fairly. Our
country now teams with agricultural and
horticultural papers, periodicals and books.
lnow turn my eye to my little library case
and count more than 40 bound volumes up.
on these subjects, whereas, as have said,
80 years ago believe scarcely Eve could
have been found published upon the whole
continent. The spirit of agricultural cd.
ucation has taken hold in nearly every State.
We must receive it, and let our sous advance
in this most useful line of educated kuowl-
edge or We shall fall behind. 1t was q
hard case to make the cd fogies believe it
best to 60 into the common school system.
But now any one would be ashamed to re-
bel against it. We must now carry the
same plan one step farther, and 60 into the
farmers high school or college, where will
be taught al ! practical and useful kuo wledre.
But first We ought to look about our own
homes, and see how we can improve some
OF these sloughs and wet lands, cultivate
little better and get more per acre-put
down few more acres to grass, for the
moving machine and horse.rake will skim
over the ground quite fast, and do their
work we'll then we shall have the fewer
acres to pillow end hoe, and can plow it
little deeper, and If it is we'll drained with
a mole ploso, we can pillow earlier in the
spring. Ii this had previously been done,
thousands of acres of frost bitten corn this
year, would have been good crop. Farm
ers' societies and associations, then, are the
fore,unners and beginnings Of these i'm
provements and advances.