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

That justly celebrated English writer
SIDNEY SMITH, says every man considers
himself competent to manage small farm,
drive o two horse wagon, or write an arti
Gle for review. If we accept this as a
maxim, it will be no great piece of pre-.
sumption in me, who have neither small
farm to manage, nor two horse wagon to
drive, 10 attempt the work of the reviewer
Of those who do manage farms aud drive
horses, The business of Agriculture is so
natural to mankind, that every one feels al
home in it; and every one feels licensed tc
undertake it, whether he has had expert
ence or not. From this natural fitness o
the labor of the farm to all hands, and
with it the overruling desire to produce
something from the ground, comes the end
less variety of attempts, successes and fail
ures that we find in the culture of the soil,
the world over, but especially in country
like this, where occupations are free.
The laborer on the highway, the mason
on the wal, the artizan in the factory, the
merchant and his clerk at the counter all
sigh alike for the freedom and independence
of the farm, turning 10 the work of cult.
waiting the earth Us children turn to the
shelter Of the old home and the maternal
presence. But still, like the children, they
have to learn in that home the great lesson
of obedience to the rule of life, that he
who will not work shall not eat; and that
the comforts and luxuries they are to enjoy,
are to come from labor and industry, and
from that source alone. Whatever science
may do for agriculture, its great achieve.
ments come of hard knocks. In the glow
Of a summer sunset, the inhabitant of q
city, as he takes his afternoon airing, sees
Paradise in the country, and fancies Eden
10 every we'll cultivated farm by the way;
but he little dreams how the literal reality
of the mandate, proclaimed outside of the
closed gates of Paradise In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread" is ex.
perienced upon that farm.
The life of the successful farmer is one
of toll aud incessant industry, united with
the most unyielding economy. In this
highly favored country Of ours, where soil
yields so bountifully, wealth will come to
the reward of labor, even when poorly
directed. But the condition upon which
the farmer enjoys the luxurics aud elegan.
cies of life, is labor constantly applied un.
der the direction of intelligent economy
The advantages 10 social Improvement are
all with the towns, because the means are
always at hand. In the country, the
sparsely situated population necessarily
lose the advantages of social contact, and
The Incidental culture that the townsman
enjoys. The farmer must visit the village
or centre 10 learn the news, or to exchange
opinions and intelligence Of facts; his chill
dren must go further to school, and be con
tent with country tuition. This advantage
of towns has benefited society in the long
run; but its benefits have always reached
the farmer reciprocaily.
In the middle ages, in Europe, as the
civilization of to-day was crystalizing into
shape. the condition of the agricultural
laborer was most abject indeed. Most o
them we're slaves; and independent mastery
of the soil they titled and the fruits of theil
labor was wholly unknown to them. They
titled on, from year to year, and from gen
GRAFTON to generation, the producers o.
wealth they never enjoyed, and as ignorant
Of luxurles as the beasts they drove, II
hopeless dependence upon other minds anG
stronger wills. The peasantry knew nc
social advantages. They were taken il
unsded isolation, and bound in solitude tC
interminabe toll. In the cities and towns
he artizans aud mechanics came id con
tact, aud from each other evolved tn,
secret Of their rights. Combinations fo
mutual improvement and protection sooI
grew up. and society began to be estab
lished upon the principle that labor and re
ward belonged to each other, and that t.
separate them was the great crime of th
social condition. The tilIer OF the sol
worked on, and produced the bread tn
artizan demanded as the wages of his labor
till the spirit Of independent liberty gath
cred strength in the towns and cities, tha
it might reach the laborer in the eountr
aud bless him also. The growth from th
conditfop of q farm hand of n thfs. sp 4,