Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1870-01-28
BRAINS AS An IBIPLEMENET
OF AGRICULTURE


IF the best farm in Ameriea, with
all Its fences, gates, roadWays, barns,
ploughs, horses. cattle, sheep and
swine, we're left to the unguided course
Of nature, a very few years would suf-
Noe to reduce it to the condition Of a
wilderness occupied by wild animals.
No matter how great the capital in
vested, how great the fertility. nor
how excellent all the appliances, the
simple withdrawal of judicious 3on-
brOl would result in the practical de.
stRuctiOn of the whole concern.
70 set this machine in motion, and
to keep It working pro6tablY and in
order, Il is necessary that an intelli-
gent man guide all of its operations
and the proposition will not be disDu-
ted that the more intelligent the man
be, the more perfect and the more
profitable will be the result. IF the
man were himself merely an animal
nothing would be gained by his pres
ence, something perhaps might be lost
Tor as an animal his instincts are infe-
Hlor TO those of creatures of a lower
grade.
Brains, then. the ability to think
and the determination to enforce the
results of thought, are what elevate
the farmer above the level of his cat.
tie, and enable him to control the man
per in which they and his land toReth-
eF shall bring about the result that he
desires and, setting aside all assthe-
tloal and philosophical questions con
nected with the human intellect. we
may, for practical purposes, consider
the farmers brains purely in the light
OF an agricultural implement, since it
IS their operation, more than that of
his ploughs and teams, and more, even,
than the fertility of his soil, which
brings about the result that he seeks.
In the oldeR time the land was
ploughed with a forked stick, drawn
sometimes by COW and a woman yok-
ed together. But In the best modern
practice, gangs of half dozen plouRhs
drawn across the field by the power of
steam are found necessary to the most
successful cultivation. In the various
other combinations of wood and iron
which are employed in agricultural
operations, an almost equal improve
ment has taken place and far be it
from rs 20 say that the chief machine
of all, that which inVents aud guides
the action of these improvements
has stood still but we submit, with
due difference, that In many, If not
even in q majority of Instances. the
last tool which the farmer has thought
il worth while to improve is one IN
which the first and greatest improve
nent should have been made.
Sharp tools make FADid and GOOD
work sharp wits are no less necessa-
IL. Qnickly-stepping teams and the
best mowers make the cheaDest har-
vests an active mind and vEelI bal
anced judgment are needed to prepare
for the harvest. In mechanics, in
commerce, in science, in law and in
medicine, it is perfectly recognized
that the most intelligent man, the man
who is the most aeRtely alive to every
point and every principle that offers
advantages and improvement in his
art or II his science, is the man who
succeeds. 1t cannot be many years
before the same rule is true with re
gard to farmers, and they must either
wake up and join the advancing h,arch
or be 3ontent to be left behind in the
race.
Farmers need not wait for the de-
Velopment and the perfection of aRri-
cultural schools IN which their sons
may be educated, they themselves fol
lowing their old practices, postponinq
alEimproVements until their sons are
ready 20 take their places bus tSev
should avail themselves 90lA while in
the prime Of their manhood and iu
tle full. possession al their abilities.
Of the Thousand different means by
uhlch thelS education may be i'm
proved and By which their processes
pay be brought under the control of a |
Better judgment than even The hest
that hes hitherto guided them.