The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1874-02-04
FEBRUARY.
CULEURE NEEDED BY FAR.
MERS.


The question returns. May not
the average farmer Of to-day give
more time to the cultivation Of his
mind and heart, aud will 1t not pay !!
Ne all know how pressing are the du-
sies of the farmer, especially in the
busy season. The motto seems to be
that fsWe must rise up early, sit up
late, and eat the bread of carefuIness.
in order to make our ends meet, at
tie end of the year, Our bodies are
jaded and fatigued our minds partake
Of the same feeling; we hardly find
time to read, and scarcely time to
write to friend, and, when we meet
. townsman and engage in converse
ton on curent-topics, We feel humil'-
ated to find how stupid and Ignorant
we are. IS -.
Now, I claim that this state Of
things ought not to be. If our busi-
ness makes us slaves, dwarfing our
minds, bunting our better sensibil-
tiles, incapaeitatiDg US for the duties
of good and useful citizens in the
body polite and in the community
generally, am not disposed to blame
our sons and daughters for choosing a
different calling: IF our business is a
bondage to US, necessarily, we are not
to blamed for seeking to change it, or
abandoning it altogether.
Agriculture is certainly an honor
able calling and it should receive the
respect due to it, and its representa-
tives should be able to advocate its
claims and defend It's interests. There
IS no reason in the nature of things
why q farmer should be boorish any
more than a merchant or mechanic
There is no reason why the average
farmer should not be as we'll Informed
on the current questions Of the day,
whether social, political, or otherwise,
as the average town's-people. And l
will 90 further and say there is no rea-
son Why there should not be reprcsen-
tatiye men in our ranks who could
ELL, aeceptably, any civil Office in the
gift tyof the people. unless it be those
where special qualifications are requir-
ed.
Perhaps our views Of duty need cor
recting. We owe it to ourselves, to
,our posterity and to our country, to
make the chief industry Of the world
the most honorable in the eyes ofman-
kind, and, to this end, self-denial may
have to be exercised. 1t may be nee
essary to forego some Of the emolu-
ments in order to bring into play the
latent powers Of the mind, for it. is
mind, or the exercise Ct the Intellect,
which moves the world. Educate the
farmers and you at once make them
a power. And, by education do got
necessarily mean that technically 50
called. which is acquired only in
schools.
WhileI I would not disrarage in tie
least the best culture the schools can
give, it viii not DO to wait for a gen
Grafton of learned farmers to come on
the stage. The education we need
and must have to redeem our calling
from reproach is tha: which will give
rs more skill to adapt means to the
end sought. And this implies toler-
able knowledge of the soil; how to
improve our grains and plants, our
stock, our farm implements &C., &c.
It implies also knowledge Of supply
and demand of our products, and 50
far as may be the principles Of politi.
tic economy-the relations Of capital
and labor, the relations of free trade OF
protection to the general Industry Of
the country, and 50 on. These things
are required to make farming as pro,
fession Of success.
Then as class, to have the influence
in community which our calling de,
serves, our business must be conducted
accordiusto the rules Of strict integrity
We must be truthful in works as vel
as Rords-no shams either in tillaee OF
sales. ..4-
And, besides, there is another iten,
which adds not little to the farmers
standing and influence. Why is it
that countryman can be picked out
of the crowd in any Of our large cities
and made the victims Of pick-pockct<
and black legs generally? There is {
certain green simplicity about him: al
'awkwardness in his movements thai
marks him son of the soil. Now ;
certain frankness and simplicity ar<
highly commendable, and when thes,
a7e Joined to proper culture Of th'
mind and heart they make one of tn,
. best specimens Of humanity. Far
mers need cuiture,-and what l meal
By culture is that cultivation of thos
better parts of US which will mark u
as gentlemen and ladies in the tru
sense of the term-not the shodd
sort, but the true article.
This culture comes from reading
from associating with the pure ant
1 c.o., 49, oonta,,rl.+;on &c birl