Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1862-01-02

Dut 10 place SUCH WaIeo VA eAiheoa '"
the present day, people would be at loss
to know for what they were intended.
Such has been the progress for the last
half century even, that this belief has be-
come misnomer, and to-day the mechan-
les have a position in the world surprising
the nature or acquired genius of the most
ancient. To-day the farmer finds no time
for mechanical work-the soil has become
his study; he finds the wet land needs its
till, in order to produce, and lands unnat-
ural for specific purposes need a congen-
ial resuscitating influence to accomplish
and fulfill the groet design. We do not
expect to SOW wheat upon the sterile plain,
with view of remuneration for labor
Nor do we expect to plant corn upon land
drenched with. perpetual floods, but sci
ence, developing itself through expert
enc., to-day claims to know what fifty
years ago il had not known. To-day the
pillow, fresh from the furnace and the shop,
with polished sword, turning the sward
with mechanical exactness, and easy OF
draft, holds an enyiable position in the
farmers mind, with the banded pillow of
fifty years ago. He finds his fields fur
nished with the mower, the reaper, and
| the rake-all subservient to superior
force, wiz. the horse,) thus combining ar
tistic skill with manual labor, and facilita-
ting the whole movement for agricultural
purposes.
To-day when the tocsin of war is
sounded throughout the length and breadth
Of the land, calling away tie strong arm
for nations defence, we more than ever
need an attributive mechanical force in
the cultivation of the soil, and what the
nation has lost in her descending power
and weakness is made up in the enterpriz-
ing farmer and the genius of the mechan-
| ic. In viewing the relative position of the
farmer and mechanic, we have to affirm
that more is due the mechanic for the adj
yanced position of science in agriculture
than to any other known cause. Think
you the broad prairies of the west would
have Welded their countless measure of
grain, had it not been for the genius and
i Skill of the mechanic? The broad steel
and stern plows, together with the comoln-
ed power of the reaper, deserve more
through the mechanic in the popula-
ton and civilization of the great west
than any other one cause and to make
proof of so bold statement | would say
that no farmer could make it an object to
cultivate by mere manual labor wnen pri-
ces were so low for the products of the
9 western farm. The Great inducement
there for emigration is the fact that labor
saving machines facilitate the operations
of farming and form the nucleus of West
r erB enterprise.
= What is true of the west is equally true
of the east SO far as the field of operations
, will admit So it is not hard to see tina
:, % per cent. is already saved here in New
- England and much greater per cent. a
" the west, by the improved condition o
j mechanical power.
\ Vermont claims as high a position il
- agriculture and science as any other Stat
= in the Union. The late Stephen A
!" Douglas, whilst addressing the people G
Is Rutland one year ago, said, he ''would lik
4 to exchange some of the broad praires {
the west for the hills and valleys OF his na
~ tive State" There is loneliness an
% grandeur in them far surprising ough
% else in nature, The bracing air whic
> leaps from hill top to hill top, and rushe
through the valley, coming as a swift ber
efactor to hardy race, is but one of tn
~ attractive features of the Green Mountai
- State. Her springs rushing from her hi
y sides beckon with their healing powers tn
" world at large, and whilst they qua
the sparkling healing waters, new Iii
! seems to iuvigorate their dropping natur
And whilst standing upon these LOFT
a. mountains and drink in beauties of su
VI n rounding nature, and as they behold tt
-, II jutting reck, the towering sceep, the pla
nc id lake at his feet, and the richly tingt
:. verdure of Autumn old Niagara Wi
~ all her sublimity and grandeur is eclipse
20 in contemplature of all these.
u' The Green Mountain Boy, as he draw
10 near the age of manhood, and as his il
Il" agination thirsts for broader fields. seeI
:: q home on the broad pralue OF the we
Is and as his mind reverts back to Il
y scenes OF his boyhood days, he behol
10 10 again in his imagination hequiet hilsi'
oe Astounding with herds and iiocks, he Sc
~ the quiet stream meandering through Il
a. a. valley, and last but not least, he sees
a. the dim distance the old familiar HON
y stead, The associations of home CROW
!, upon him with such impressiveness,
' exclaims in the anguish of his soul, Oh
= y give me back my native State. Althous
VI the west has broader fields to meet Il
- farmer than has Vermont and New En-
!, land yet the instability Of her .produc
- renders no security to the tiller of Il
soil. Whilst in Vermont you will alwa..
find remuneration for honest toll, and it
~ ~ the thoroughness and scientific knowled!
that the Vermont farmer has that bids hi
-