Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1863-11-14

Gle, our Young men would only be stfnck
with the idea Of how closely II was pic.
tured in the Old Testatieut. Well do
remember the wooden tiould board; the
long beam and handles that, with the trace
chains, made out the full rod between me
and the horsss; and well, too, do recol.
lect my rides bareback to the blacksmitb's,
with an Old bag wrapped around the plough
share, and another to keep them from
bruising the horses withers, while bruised
bis lazy old sides with i1y uDspurred heels
The moving, reaping and threshing ma
cbines-now indispensable with us-to
them were Of the unimagined category of
the steamboat, the railroad and the tee-
graph
But they did the same labor, and pro.
duced nearly as good crops, and realized
almost US much as we do. But they made
up in harder blows and longer days, what
we acquire in our improved implements -
They expended labor where we sare it: aud
in that way compensated for our advantages
over them furnished by the improvements Of
the age. Science has come to bless us
above them. We compare our CASE with
theirs and rejoice. But these advantages
impose new duties upon us. They give US
leisure and the means of improvement,
mentally and morally. and the greater
means of usefulness among our fellows; while
they impose the responsibility OF using these
advantages Alright. In hours when our
fathers and mothers toiled for subsistence,
we have time to read, and visit, and cnlti
vate the more delicate relations of social
life, and to enlarge the mind and expand
the heart in the sweet duties of charity
and good works among the less fortunate.
shall not be guilty Of fattery il / say
that rejoice to End myself now 10 a com.
muuity that has improved the advantages
that science and progress bas bestowed
upon them. The noble display of agricul.
tural products here to-day is evidence that
that the farmers of Lake County have
justly valued their advantages; while the
handi work OF the ladies who have brought
the products of their industry here, testifies
that they have not forgotten the lessons on
the wheel and loom they learned OF their
mothers; and that still older lesson, "The
hand of the diligent maketh rich" The
growth of your fields and orchards, and
your vntage--unequaled on the vine.clad
Rhine itself-bears witness to that fact;
while your improved sheep and cattle, and
fine horses, and your dairies, tell that you
have not been idle; but in the light of sci
entifc intelligence have wrought ont the
problem that labor can be elevated and
can elevate; and that progress on the
farm, with the focks and herds. can 60 for.
ward with the culture of the man who
labors upon the land-that smiling fields
aud bending boughs, in the rich abundance
of this fruitful land, are the legitimate
accompaniments Of mental and moral cul.
ture in all the "small, sweet courtesies of
life."
When l began, had thought of saying
something of scientific farming and its ad
vantages might have talked Of the value
of agricultural chemistry-of the analysis
of soils-of climate and Seasons-and of
that endless subject, in which so many fancy
farmers burrow like moles, underdrainiag;
the breeds of stock, and kinds OF mowers
now in use. But you have books that treat
elaborately of these matters, and you take,
or ought to take, agricultural papers and
magazines, in which these things are cons.
tantly discussed. Fail not to study them,
They are teachers of whom you are sure to
learn much every day, though you may not
6ud all that is said in them 10 be so. you
must use your practical common sense in
the adoption of what books teach on this
subject, as constantly as you do upon the
farm in all its labors. You can take but
little for granted; and what is recommended
you must try by the test of experience and
propriety. Thus you will fud that, like
the science of medicine, book farming will
vary in its application in every particular
instance, and must depend as much upon
who applies it as upon its own merits.
This is not, however, the occasion for an
essay. The time is short, and a mixed
audience like this must move--though
hope not to move them by prosy address.
When l pass through the country, either
in imagination or buggy, l groao poetic,
and l delight to gather and strew flowers
by the way. see them all and love them;
and l am fain 10 ask the world to share my
joy aud delight. The trees, the fields and
aocks, are all so many vehicles in which
my fancy rambles in dreams of the future,
or travels back where memory leads to the
pleasing "reminiscences of the past, as have
now done. hope you have enjoyed it as
| have; and | hope that the future Of this
county and its people may be still an en-
largement upon its splendid career Of the
past--that its delightful landscapes may
expand. its fields grow greener and ripen
with heavier haryests, its orchards bend
With richer fruits aud its vintage, where
the grapes in Bachanal profusion reel to
earth, purple and gushing bear larger
clusters and more generous wines; but
above all, that happy homes may increase.
where never failing hospitality will warm
every heart, while cultivated households
will prove that men can work and think
can he economical and generous, industrious
and happy; and that the paradise that
poets have painted for rural life in the
golden ages Of the past, is the reality Of
plain labor aud rustic life in the afternoon
of the nineteenth century. "..-''
A Soldiers Opinion OF Virginia.
Herhart 7. a uar,har af tina 7th Ra0i.