New-York tribune., 1870-09-17
WHAT I KNOW OF FARMING,
By HORACE GREELEY.
XXXII.
INTELLECT IN AGRICJITyrpp


of the primitive forest he must Of course devote
| some yeau to rugged manual labor, or be will fail
of success 1t is indeed possible that be should find
others even on the rude outposts Of civilization who
xiIl hire him to teach school, serve as county
clerk or survey lands or do something else Of like
nature thus enabling him 10 do his cboppng tree-.
and rolling logs. and breaking up bis stumpy acres.
by proxy; but the fair presumption Il that be will
have to chop and log, and burn off and fence and
break by theuse Of his proper muscie and b1
must be energetic and fsQal. we'll a. fortunate, II
he gets comfortable house his head. with forty
arabic about him. at the end Of fifteen years hard
work. II he has brains and has been well edUeated.
he may possibly shorten this ordeal 10 ten years. but.
should he begin by faGcyIng hard work beneath him.
his abilities too great to be squandered in bush
whaclling he is very likely te sut at the little
end Of the horn Snd struggling back to some popular
settlement more needy and seedy than when he So
forth to wrest a farm from the wilderness. declare
the pioneers life Of such dreary hopeless privs-
ton that no one who read or cypher ought ever
TO attempt it.
poor man, who undertakes to live by his wits on
a farm that he has bought OH credit is not likely te
achieve brilliant success; but the farmer whose
hand and brain work in concert will never find nor
fancy his intellect or his education too good for hIs
calling He may very often discover that he wasted
months Of his school-days in what was ill-sdapted
to his needs and of little in fighting the actual
battle Of life; but ne will at the same time have
ample reason to lament the meagemess and the
deficiency of his knowledge.
hold our average Common Schools defective, in
that they fail to teach Geology and Chemistry.
which in my view the natural bases Of a sound.
practical knowledge of things-knOwledge which
the farmer of all men, can least afford to miss. How
H.. ll,.v, do ~,
derstand the character and constitution Of the soil
he must cultivate, the elements of which il ia com
posed. and the laws which govern their relations To
each other Instruct him in the higher mathematics
if you will. in logic, in meteoroogy in ever many
Languages; but not till be shall have been thoroughly
grounded in the sciences which unlock for him tho
arcana of Nature; for these intimately related
to all he must do and devise and direct throughout
the whole course of his active career. Whatever no
may learn or dispense with, knowledge OF these
sciences is among the most urgent Of his lifeiong
needs.
Hence I would suggest that a simple lucid lively.
accurate digest of the leading principles and facts
in Geology and Chemistry, and their application
TO the practical management of farm, ought To
constitute the Reader of the highest class in every
Common School, especially in rural districts Leave
out details and recipes with directions when To plant
c.;
cumstances, and the progress of knowledge:
but let the body and bones to speak, of primary
agricultural education be Taught in every school, in
such terms and with such clearness as to commend
them to the understanding of every pupil. / never
vet visited school in which something not
tanght which might be omitted tponed in favor
of this.
Out of school and after school, let the young farmer
delight in the literature illustrative of his calngI
mean the very best of it. Let him have few agricul
tural books; but let these treat of principles and
laws rather than Of methods and applications. Let
him learn from these how to ascertain by experiment.
what are the actual and pressing needs of his soil.
and he will readily determine by reflection and in
quiry how those needs may be most readily and
cheaply satisfied
All the books in the world never of themselves
made one good farmer; but, on the other hand, no
man in this age can be thoroughly good farmer
without the knowledge which is more easily and
rapidly acquired from books than otherwise. Books
are no substitute for open-eyed observation and
practical experience; but they enable one familiar
with their contents to observe with On accuracy.
and experiment with an intelligence that Is unat-
tainable without them. The very farmer who
tells You that he never opened book
which treats of Agriculture, and never wants
TO see one will ask his neighbor how to OF euro
tobacco, OF hops, sorghO or any crop with which
he is yet unacquainted when the chances are hund
red to one that this particular neghbor cannot ad-
wise him so well as the volume which embcdies tho
experience of thousand cultiyators OF tins very
plant instead of barely one. good book treating
practically Of Agriculture, or of some department.
therein, is simply a compendium the experience OF
past ages combined with such knowledge as tho
present generation have been enabled to add there
TO- II NAV be faulty OF defective on some points;
il is not to be blindly confded in, nor slayishly
followed-it is to be mastered, discussed, criti-
cised and followed so far as its teachings coincide
with the dictates of science, experience, and COM
mon sense. It's true Office is suggestion; the good
farmer will lean upon and trust it as an oracle only
where his own proper knowledge proves entirely
deficient.
By-and-by, it will be generally realized tha; few
men live or have lived who cannot find scope and
profitable employment for all their intellect on stwo
hundred-acre farm. And then the farmer will select
the brightest of his to follow him In the man
agement and cultivation Of the paternal acres eav-
ing those Of inferior capacity to seek fortune IN pur
suits for which limited and special capacity will
serve, if not suffice. And then we shall have An
Agriculture worthy of our country and the age.
BOOKS FOR SALE AT THE TRIBUNE OFFICE.
REcoL1EcrIoSs OF BUSY LIE; BY Horace Greeley. =
Half Morocco q. Half Calf, s. Morocco Antique. q.
Political ECONOMY. BY Horace Greeley Price, VI ".
EwBASK's HYDRAULICS AND MEcHANIcs sixteenth
Edition. Large octave; cloth. Price, ".
TRlBUsY ALMANAC REPRINT. 1888 10 1868. vols Half
bound, SO
CHRIST AND THE GALLows; Or, Reasons for Abolition
| OF Capital Punishment. Bovee. Cloth g.
| PEAR CULTURE FOR PROFIT. Quinn 81.
! ELEMENTS oF AGRICULTURE. waring. New Edition
Cloth, 81.
| DRAINING FOR HEALTH AND PROFIT Waring. Cloth'
81 80.
| EARTH CLOSETS AND EARTH SEWAGE. Waring fspe''
80 cents.
| COOPERATIVE STORES: THEIR HISTORY ORGNiLA""'
| AND MANAGEMENT. Paper, so cents. -
| roxsrtrrrtoN Ann Ry-IAws oF COOPERATIVE crVAs