Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1872-10-03

farming which dlsquallfles land for
producing the very staff of life,
But "the insect" the weavil, midge
or hy--I hear it said, has stopped
the growth of wheat in New England.
| do not admit the apology. regard
the alleged cause of failure as itself an
effect Of bad hu>bandry, | may not be
able-nay, am not able-to trace
the evil to its ultimate source in fact
related to me from his personal OBJ
servation by the late Coy. VIM. f.
Packer Of Pennsylvania. Said he: 81
am familiar with the narrow valley
Of one of the petty tributaries of the
Susquehanna, up the middle of which
highway ran for forty years, with Il
narrow field in cultivation on either
side. AT length the road was thrown
up and the entire width OF the valley,
roadway included, became one field,
which was sown to wheat. At harvest
time, there was good, sound grain for
the full width Of the roadway, while
the strip on either side was mere straw
and chaf-the grain having been
devoured or destroyed by an insect. "
1t was something lacking in the soil
which weakened the plant and in
vited tie ravages Of the insect.
1t is quite currently assumed in our
day that our youth shu agriculture
because they hate work This assmp-
ton is one Of those partial, imperfect
truths which have the effect to false.
hood. Our boys do nor choose to
lift, and tug, and strain, when the ends
Of such eXertion can be attained with
out such expenditure Of vital force
who ever did? As we come to think
and reflect more, we learn to moderate
our physical eXertion and be sparing
of our muscular force. The untaught,
unthinking slave raises his wheel
barrow to the top of his head and car,
ries it there; the school-taught freeman
pazfers to trundle it before him upon
the ground. The hay crop Of to day
is saved with less that half the tax on
human muscle freely paid by our
grandtarthers Admit that our boys
do not choose to bend their back bones
into hoops and indurate their muscles
into whip cord if they can achieve a
comfortable livelihood otherwise, | see
nothing in this to provoke invective
or justify reproach, An intellectual
age and people naturally prefers to
substitute animal or mechanical powers
for that of human sinews, wherever it
can do so with facility and manifest
advantage.
Now, it is the simple, manifest
truth that far greater progress has
been made in this substitution in other
industries than in agriculture. Com
merce, which once employed wagons,
and caravans, and row-boats, has near
ly dispensed with these by the aid of
wind and steam-of sailing vessels,
steamships, railroads and locomotives,
steam takes our cotton, com, and
other staples, from a station near the
grower, puts in on shipboard by an
elevator, speed it across an ocean,
hoists it into the merchants loft, and
lowers it down again whenever it is
wanted. Mind directs and guides,
while steam supplies all the physical
force that is needed. SO in almost
every department Of manufacture
The brain power required is of human
origin; this commands, impelS, and
regulates, all the other power required.
In agriculture, this is but partially,
imperfectly paralleled; and agriculture
loses in consequence the service Of the
brighter, ADLER portion Of our YOUTH
We must remedy this, not by fruitless,
senseless railing at the boys for doing
what seems to them tittest and most
inviting, but by extending the con-
quests, by charging the domain, Of
mechanical power,
Let me barely hint-tor | can only
take time to hint-at some Of the di-
rections in which this enlargement is
to be sought and realized:
|. JVind.-For at least five thou
sand years, Wind has played a leading
part in navigation; why not also in
cultivation? Does nature afford any
reason for regarding wind as inherent
ly tractable and serviceable on water
but not on land? Men have ground
grain by wind-power for at least a
hundred generations; why not threSh
it as well? Nay, why should it not
press cheese, and turn the grind-stone,
and saw wood, and pump water, and
even, ultimately, plow fields? who
dreams that the inventions Of the past
bear any proportion to those ofthe i'm
minent future? We have at length
learned that such is the elasticity Of
air that a windmill running through
out the night may thereby accumulate
power to be expended during the
ensuing day or days. Can you sup
pose that we shall much longer allow
this enormous aggregate of power,
which has hitherto thrust itself into
our very faces unregarded or at least
uncomprehended, to expend its ener-
gies in topping over our chimneys |
and blowing the apples from our trees!
| tell you that this is not possible.
have nothing to say of AS or BIS or
C's contrivance for utilizing the power
of wind in the service of Agriculture.
If you insist that all these are fantastic
and absurd, | shall not contradict you;
l shall only insist in my turn that the
power is there-that il sWeeps over