The constitutional union., 1861-01-04
NUMBER s.
AGRICULTGRIL EDUCATION.

 rounds of the press, comments itself to eve " plGhter and farmer. We do not know its source, hence our inability to give credit, but we do know it is worth the serious considera- ton of every reader:
 Doators, lawyers editors, ministers, book keepers and clerks are educated for their par tcular calling and mechanics serve q term of years to qualify themselves for the work before them for lifetime. But there Is a too prevalent notion, and most erroneous one too, that all men are by nature farmers, and have only to use the common sense that God has given them to make tolerable progress as cultyators of the soil and stock breeders If there is any calling in life where a most thorough education Is required, 1t IS that ot farmer. By education we do not mean that a man should go through college and learn to read Latin and Greek to fit him for a sue cessfu4 farmer; but we do mean that he should have such knowledge of chemistry and other sciences as will enable him on eX- animation to sec what his soil needs to pro- duce certain crops in their greatest perfection, and sufficient practice and experience to know the best method of cultiyating his grounds. Without an education adapted to the profcs- sion, no intelligent man at the present day expects the full measure of success Ill the various branches of agriculture; and such education can be obtained only by patients.u- dy thought and careful observation.
 The term farmer, as in common use, em- braces the tiller of the soil the stock breeder, raiser and feeder. No one of these branches, to which the farmer may give lis attention, can be prosecuted with sure success without d thorough knowledge of it resulting from stu dy and practical experience combined. When the country was new, and our lands Tn thelr virgin state, planting and ordinary cultlva- ton, with the smiles of kind Providence, insured toIerabIe crops, without returning an equivalent to the soil each year. But suchis not the case on our old and Worn-out lands. If the cultiyator should reap an abundant ana remmcratiye harvest each year, he must return to the soil in fertilizers an equivalent for that which he has taken from 1t, or his lands will in time become worthless. It Is a modern discovery that different plants require different kinds of food for their growth, and that these are to be sought in the soil ill which they are planted, and the soil by which they are surrounded. And that if the proper elements are not contained ill the soil ill which 1t is planted, it Is worse than idle to. attempt to force 1t to grow there. These dis coycrics-all important to the farmer, are but some of the results of science and education.
 The breeding and management of farm stock requires an equal or even greater amount of science, knowledge, education or whatever other term may be applied to it. No man has been eminently successful as breed CT or raiser of stock unless Le has in some way been educated 10 his business. Bake well, a century and 8 half ago, conceived the idea or narrowing the English breeds or sheep. and after much study and thought, sue cecded in doing the world a great benefit and making his name almost immortal. Ceiling, at g later period, by education, achieved a revolution in stock culture which has added untold millions tO the wealth of England and Of the world.
 Rarev's power over the horse results from his thorough knowledge of the nature of the animal. and the disposition of the particular one in hand for the time being. The old adage that knowledge Is power, is as true when applied to this as to any other subject. Such is the competition in almost every other branch of business, and especially in stock breeding and raising, that he who would sue ceed, must so to speak, be thoroughly posted "-educated to his business. For mcrv, when there was a scarcity of books and papers devoted to this subject, there might have been an excuse for the ignorance of farmers and stockmen but since some of the most learned men in the country are now devoting themselves to the dissemination of knowledge upon the different branches that most interest the frmor, and books and pa pers are abundant, there Is no good reason why they should not make their business study, and when 1t is so, it becomes d pleasure rather than a burden, and Is almost sure to result in thrift and happiness.' ;