The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1878-08-07
An Essay ON Progress In Mechan-
ism and Agriculture.

WILSON'S MILLs, KY, July Is, 1878.
Editor Herald:
am by no means an operative, buI
a sort of speculative farmer. Progress:
seems to have been the watchword
adopted by the present generation
progress in science, art, manufacture
and commerce and agriculture, under
the same influence, have made rapid
and giant strides toward the temple OF
perfection. What has been accom-.
plished by the noble discoveries Of
such chemists as Liebig, Boussingault
and Others has been ably seconded
by the great creative genius of the inven-
tors of labOr-saving machinery, and the
names of Mccormick, Whitley, Hus-
sey, Wood and others should ever be
cherished as benefactors of the progress
sive farmer The progressive farmer OF
to-day is not the dull plodder of the
past. To occupy the front rank we
must use brains as well as muscle, and
the farmer who sows and plants "in
the moon and cultivates and reaps
with awkward, Ohl-hshiOned nipple
ments, is already outstripped in the
race of progress. Human nature per-
haps is the same now that it was six
thousand years ago, and scientists and
progressive men have still to encOun-
ter and ignore the SCOTS and jeers of
their more obtuse neighbors, as did
Noah of old f; for even he was consid-
cred wild aud cranky in the enterprise
and progress of building the Ark, and
had he possessed less of that grit
which always perseveres in spite of
every obstacle, who of us would have
been here to-day to tell the tale?
Where would be the magnificent net
work of iron-bouud roads, Numbered
over every second ofsthe twenty-four
hours, by the great steam horse har-
messed to chariot, of which Apollo
might have been proud, coursing along
at the rate Of a mile minute, with
great cometlike train of precious
freight, had not the indomitable grit
of George Stephenson triumphed over
blind prejudice ? Who would have
witnessed the grand spectacle of the
great ocean steam feet, whose smoke
curls over the waters of every sea on
the globe. had the great pioneers of
that enterprise listened TO the learned
preiudices Illuminated against its at
tempt? Would the earth have been
to-day "girdled in forty minutes had
Morse given heed to the jeers and
sneers of the ignorant? 1t is to such
men as these the world owes the great
est debt Of gratitude. but it is human
nature that all such men are looked
upon with suspicion or regarded as a
&" little cracked" We must learn to
educate ourselves up to that standard
of progress which is the inspiring
theme OF all such natures; and, as It
is with these departments, so it IS with
agriculture. The farmer of to-day
must have nothing of the clown or
clOdhopper tackled TO his skirts he
must be live man, bold in expert
lpent, frank in conviction, = and free
from prejudice as he would wish to be
from the plague. In this spirit let
him attend the agricultural fairs, and
in the grand display Of farm imple-
ments, recognize the triumphs of ge-
MUS which offers to aid him in loVer-
coming the toll of manual labor. But
to utilize these 10 the greatest advan-
tage, he must educate himself to their
use --all machines are more or less
complex. The most complicated ma
chinery in the hands Of an intelligent
man, anxious and willing to learn how
to handle it, will give more satisfac-
ton than one of simple construction in
the hands of q person in bundle Of
Dreiudices. sk ssu.1f-Izf H.i
But perhaps I am m sking my letter
too lengthy, although l have not said
all that I would like to. Perhaps this
essay will be concluded in my next.
U. n. QUIRE.