Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-02-28

exhaling earbonic acid gas. On tn,
other hand, the vegetable kingdom
performs q respiration peculiar to itself
appropriating carbonic acid gas ant
exhaling oxygen. thereby keeping up |
healthy equilibrium of the air. WerI
it otherwise, the animal kingdom would
soon perish from an impurity of tn,
atmosphere which is frequently shown
by some fortuitous violation of the
laws of equilibrium. In the verdant
torrid zone where there is perpetual
! development of vegetable growth, ma.
ture has wisely provided for the emer.
gency. Tokeep up equilibrium there
are generated constant swarms of in
sects, large and small, and animals oi
almost infinite varieties and numbers,
which consume the OXYGEN and supply
the carbon.
The scientific farmer in his rambles
over his possessions is enabled to con-
template the vegetable kingdom with
exquisite delight, not only the external
variety and beauty that meets his eye
whittier soever he may chance to turn,
but internally, its great variety of or
ganic structure, its absorbents, its ex-
halents, the circulation Of sap through
its millions of pores from the roots to
the delicate leaflets assimilating and
appropriating the sap to the building of
new material and fructifying it for the
perpetuity of its species. By further
contemplation of the vegetable king
dom, he finds that all vegetable matter,
from the giant oak to the humblest
plant that decks the earth, is only
composed of a few simple ele-
ments, which are caloric, light,
water, air and carbon. Aside
from their Office of combining
in various proportions to form all veg
etable matter, just contemplate the
variety Of operations performed by
each of these simple elements. For
instance, air entering the lungs of ami
mails, appropriates Its OXYGEN for the
support of animal life by the process
of combustion. which is simply a
union of oxygen and carbon. Our fur
naces, iorges, and the fires that warm
us in winter are carried on by the
same process. The invisible atmos-
phere, besides performing the remark
able operation of supporting fame
and animal life, is the medium through
which sound and fragrance is propa-
gated, bearing upon its ETHEREAL bosom
all the sweet harmonies of music, all
the delightful odors exhaled from the
floral kingdom. 1t distills from the
earth's surface, by evaporation, the
redundancy of water, again depositing
it in the form of dews and showers of
rain at suitable intervals to refresh
our growing crops. Were the opera
ton suspended, we would have no
rains, no dews, no seasons, the salubri.
ty of our delightful climate would
vanish, the accumulated heat of our
bodies would become insupportable,
the pleasing verdure of our fields and
forests would be converted into a
parched, barren waste, and our globe
perhaps consumed by solar heat
The operations of light are also de-
lightful to contemplate. Light, ema-
mating from the sun, is of the purest
whiteness. Think for a moment that
that whiteness is compound of violet,
indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and
red, which by the inscrutable laws of
Deity, for the qualification of His sub
jects, is diffused throughout the uni
verse, beautifying by every conceivable
shade and variety of color, the whole
face of nature, lending a delightful
charm and sublimity to the landscapes,
robing your fields and forests in the
most enchanting verdure, painting the
rose, the lily, the lilac and every flower
that adorns your forest and garden
with the most pleasing varieties and
combinations of colors.
By knowledge of the laws of ma
ture, elucidated by the various depart
ments of physical science, the farmer
is enabled to make them subserve his
purposes, not only of pecuniary inter
est, but for the promotion of his hap
piness. The remote cause of the en-
barrassed condition of the farming
classes is to be traced to a degree of
ignorance (much to be regretted) pre-
vailing among the masses. A people
who have not had the advantages of
proper intellectual training are not ca
pable of forming just estimate of hu-
man character. The untutored mind
is more likely to form a false than a
correct opinion of his fellow man.
Under a sense of his own inability to
judge Of the depth of thought, the ac-
| o,,,.oI an1auu,anfS ar fr,a rnoro
worth attached to character, he natu-
rally resorts to the only expedient left
him, that Of judging from external
show. Hence an uneducated people
are found running after the wealthy
and high-sounding titles, and wherever
they are found they fall down and wor-
| ship. Those high-sounding titles and
external trappings too often adorn un-
principled demagogues, who to crafty
their silly caprices and unhallowed
passions, reduce them by mal-legisla-
ton to servile poverty. Such is Our
present condition. Our Legislative
halls are filled with hackneyed politi-
clans and prohigate demagogues, whose
wrongs and expressions have caused
the present uprising of the Masses
Who placed such men in power? The
answer is-the people are responsible
however unwittlngly they may have
done it. Had the farming classes pos
sessed that degree of mental culture
that the importance of their vocation
and their position in free government