The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1878-06-26
Agricultural and HechanicaI
College.

for an experimental farm at least five
hundred acres of land. What could not
be cultivated in hoed crops could be
sOwn in clover, timothy or other forage
crops; planted in forest trees; or the
valuable native growth might be pre-
served. If tue communists or other dis
organizers do not get possession of the
country, the land in twenty years will be
worth double what it would now cost.
Ia five hundred acres or a section of
land there would be varieties Of soil, ele
walton, timber, water, drainage, etc,
which would give an opportunity for
practical Illustration not possible on mi
mute portions Of ground. The manures
or amendments necessary and profitable
in one patch might be very different
from what would be suitable in another.
In the present condition of things it
is very desirable to prove to our own
people and to wayfaring men that our
soil and climate can produce everything
grown in the Northern States except
perhaps cranberries, and in addition cot
ton, rice, figs and sweet potatoes; that
our forest furnish pillow and wagon tim
Der equal to any in the world. To do
this we must raise and educate practical
farmers and mechanics.
Sailors critcise their officers by say
ing, this one came in through the
hawse notes.-the other came in at the
cabin windows. Now the hawse holes
are in the forward part Of the ship
where the men live and merely large
enough for the cable to pass freely. The
cabin windows are much larger and are
IN the after part of the ship where the
officers live. The poor boy begins as
cabin boy, then green hand, then full
sailor, then second mate, then first mate,
and by the time he gets to be captain he
knows all the ropes and has mental and
physical energy that qualify him for any
emergency-he comes in at hawse-hOles.
The boy whose father is owner of the
vessel gets to be captain without suffi-
cient drilling and occasionally shows his
ignorance and want of nerve-he came
In at the cabin window. The young
sailor who stays on shore Il few months
to study navigation appreciates the les
sons taught in the books. The scholars
who have never been at sea may learn
the science and cypher out the problems
but at sea might be like some men at a
fire, throw the crockery into the streets
and bring out the anGirons very care
fully. Practical experience and we'll
trained muscles are frequently more val
liable than the best theories found in the
books. In farming many persons can
write and talk about chemistry and ETY.
mology without having much practical
experience of the value of manures or
the method of making plants grow ont
of the way of insects. They may read
agricultural papers while the hogs are
roofing up the corn. Some persons who
talk about the dignity of labor remind
me of Major Downing's men who were
going to shed the last drop of blood
The Major said he preferred the men
who had shed the first drop. Bill Arp
writes well upon farming, he does not
tell you what you ought to do but he tells
you what he and his wife have done.
If a college is to be agricultural it must
have land enough to practically demon
strate the value of gardens, orchards, po
tato patches, cotton patches, COW pens,
barns and sheepfolds. The young men
could assist in preparing such things. If
they learn Latin and Greek afterward,
they will find their physical education no
detriment. They will find that while our
work-dav words are derived from the
Saxon, the languages of most sciences
are derived from the classical languages.
In Virgil they will find much good add
vice about stock and vegetables. They
will see also how people could get along
without clocks and almanacs by watching
the heavenly bodies. That a certain de
gree of manual labor will promote health
and benefit the mind is acknowledged by
all. That the qualities of things may be
learned by seeing, handling and putting
them to their proper uses, without much
book learning, is proven by what has
been called object teaching and by the
success of many farmers and mechanics
The plant itself in its different stages of
growth and maturity gives better idea
than any scientific botanical description.
So of machinery "A real pump Is worth
many descriptions Of a vacuum and at
mospheric pressure. \ cotton gin in
successful operation would give a better
illustration of mechanical powers the
strength of vegetable fbers and the rev
oIution of wheels than any learned de-
scription. The learned description is not
to be undervalued Ia its proper place.
It's proper place is upon a substratum of
practical experience.
Many know great deal about farming
who are not willing to do the work neces-
sary to ensure success. They have never
formed the habit Of self reliance where any
physical exertion was required, they have
rarely practiced any manual labor and in
attempting to use their muscles, they are
like the woman who never combed her
head but once a month and then it almost |
killed her. An agricultural and mechan- |
ical college ought not only to show how |
things are done but also foster the habit |
of doing for ones self.
Chemical analysis of soils and manures
is very well for those who know how to
take advantage of it. To much, however,
depends upon the pulverizing the soil, the
quantity of rain, the mechanical distribu-
ton of the manure, and the solubility of
various compounds, that analysis fire.
ouently fails to indicate a correct practi-
cal result Every farmer who has put a
handful of cotton seed upon each hill of
corn. has had the pleasure of seeing a
beautiful growth the first year and on the
second has not regretted his labor or the
use of the seed. The farmer who pens
his cattle where he wants his turnip
match may not be able to analyze the ex
crements of animals, but he knows how
he can raise turnips In the fall and the
next season have anice cotton patch.
After witnessing such operations It Is
very satisfactory to understand the chem
icaf action of the materials that assist in
producing the result, to learn what fer-l'