American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-09-28


in the belief that he knows all there
is to know about farming, and scorn-
full of whatever attempt to go deep
er than his own plowshare, or cut a
broader swath than his own scythe.
To suggert the possibility that all
this is the result Of a limited bnowl-
edge, and that the most favorable and
beneficial change might be found in
more liberal education and wider
acquaintance with the facts discover
ed and the deductions made by sci
ence, could be considered by a bold
yeomanry, ourcountry's pride, as an
outbreak of book farming in its
most virulcnt form. You may bet
your hat in one thing" says the bold
yeoman ga man may know sunthin,
an be a good minister an tol'able
deacon, but he spilled for farmin'.''
Two words are beginning to be
coupled in the newspapers and to float
about in the air, whose juxtaposition
is the cause ofmauy a demurc chuek-
lie among the rural population" Ag-
ricultural College" Separately, the
words command all respect united,
they are a living refutaton of the
wcll-known axiom that the whole
is equal to all its parts On the
contrary, so far are our farmer from
believing this, that, while they ac-
knowledge each part to be a very Sc
rious and important fact, they look
upon the whole as the fimsicst offal-
lacies.
"Goy 'ment is goin' to build an Ag-
ricultural College. Farmin' an
learnin marry an set up housc-kcep-
in. GuessUnclc Sam II have to give
EN- hist with a donation-party now
n then. Agricultural College p? Yes
Sir, Well Sir, if you II show me a
man, Sir, that's 5 eradicate from that
College, that II ever be seen with a
hoe in his hand, I'll give him leave
to knock my brains out withit Yes,
Sir, An'Nt II be the best use he
can put it to, Sir! He IL do less
mischief that way n any other ! Ag-
ricultural College! Edicatcd farm
crs Yes, sir, I've seen 'eml Got
a grist up in Topsell. Jintstock
farm. The best talent in Essex coun-
ty s been a-carryin' on that farm,
an nigh about carried it off, an them
selves along with it. Yes, Sir, the
best talent in Essex county an had
the farm given EN-, an they We sunk
a thousan' dollars Sir, Already
That's what / call a Sinkin Fund,
Sir ! That's to begin with. Jones
is an edicated farmer. lie made his
cider. last fall on scientific principles.
Well, Sir, | could put an apple inmy
mouth, an swim down Msrrimac riv-
er, an have better cider n that all
the way! Edicated farmin S very
pootty thing, if a man can be at the
expense ont but when it comes to
gettin' a liven, farmin S hard life,
lookin' at the best side. Soils light
an ruuin' to stones. But this here
College stutf's the poorest kind o'top-
dressin' agin learnin' butt ant the
best use you can make on t to plow
it in. The onl y way to promote the
agricultural interests of Essex coun-
ty, Sir, is to keep the farmers jest as
they are. Greek n Latin ant state
prison cfenses, but they re sure
death to pork m potaters. Minute
you edicate the farmers they II be as
uneasy IS toad under a harrow.
What kind of a hand would Doctor
Hall or Squire Smith make to come
an take a farm alongside ONE"
This is the way our bold yeoman p u tst
Planting himself on the iudisputabe
facts of his pork and potatoes, he regards
one who stands upon any other ground
as dreamer and visionary. He forgets
that pork and potatoes are not the only
facts in the world The earth itself is a
larger fact than auy thing that springs
from it. 1t is the iualienable inheritance,
the sole support Of man. Mother and
nurse from the cradle to the grave, there
comes no hour when he can withdraw
from her nourishing bosom. but by our
farmers showing. it is but harsh and
nigSarldy step-mother, opening the ioun-
tains of hfe only under enforcement. Is
this reasonable? Is it reasonable to sup
pose that the one calling which is essen
tial to life, the one calling on which ev-
cry other depends, should be the Canaan
accur,od, servant Of servants to its breth-
ren Is it reasonable to suppose that
God gaveus this beautiful round world
source of all our wealth, almonor of ey-
comfort, possessor and dispenser of all
grace and loveliness, yet with such poi
son in her veins that they alone are safe
who deal with her at a remove-she with
ers the hand that touches her?
But if the
founders of our Agricultural College, or
if any furtherers Of rural education pro-
pose to themselves to diffuse light (and
dispel darkness by appealing to farmers
If they think to correct the evils of
ignorance by furnishing special opportn-
mites to farmers--if they fatter them
selves that they can establish a college of
aims and claims so moderate that farm
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