Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-02-14

OF cash one may be able to count up as the
| result of the labOrs of one year. or OF a short
| series of years. An ignorant man may, BIS
the concurrence Of happy cireumstauceS-fa-
| vOrable seasons and fortunate accidents
realize considerable profit. Especially if he
| be An unprincipled man he may, by cruel
| eXactiOns and scant supplies to labOrers and
| animals. and by mercilessly exhausting the
| fertility of the soil. obtain temporary advan-
tage. But this is not farming, and these re-
| suits do not constitute success, and in the
long run the man and the farm are ruined.
/ Agriculture. in its true sense, is a grand
! and noble science, as well as a productive art,
/ and it opens a wide field for the exercise of
the intellectual faculties. The farmer is not
I a mere operative or manual labOrer. If he
were he would be all the more skillful and
/ effertive for trained intelligence. But the
/ farmer is, for the most part, a manager, a
director presiding genius, and must possess
! the talent acknowledge of an administrative
officer. The qualifications necessary for an entire
/ preneVT, as the great economist, say, calls
such an officer, are various and important.
| He must plan, organize and distribute the
1 work, he must provide materials, he must di-
/ rect and supervise the labor, he must dispose
4 of the produce. To perform functions so va :
/ ried and complicated presuppOses disciplined
! talents and wide range OF information, both
/ theoretical ana practical. lie must have
I quick, keen and clear perceptions, sagacity in
| judgment, some degree of tie inventive and
! constructive Imagination, sound and trust
worthy memory. Besides these general in
| telleetual qualifications he should possess an
I extensive and varied stock of knowledge.
| Many sciences are concerned in agriculture.
In order to appreciate this let us picture to
| ourselves the ideal farmer-the man who is
supposed to be a master of this noble art.
| In the first place, the ideal farmer is thor
| oughly cOnversant with the science of chem
| istry. He knows the composition of soils,
! plants and manures, and can analyze them
/ qualitatively and quantltatlvelY. By this
means he can unerringy determine theddis-
| tribution and succession of crops. His knowi-
| edge of the constituents of land and of natu-
| raj and artificial fertilizers enables him to
! apply the remedy for any deficiency or excess
in the ingredients of the soil, and to adapt the
seed and fertlizing matter to the land to be
| cultivated. With this chemical knowledge,
! he can properly prepare his composts, manure
! crops, and other home manures, and thus
utilize the otherwise waste material of the
! farm.
The ideal farmer has acquainted himself
/ with the sciences of mineralogy and geology.
! The composition of minerals and their econo-
! mic uses, the distribution of rocks and cOnse
/ quently of the soils derived from them, the
! locality and value of the various natural fer
| tiizer5, lime, mari, gypsum, etc, the disposi-
| ton of the strata favorable to artesian wells
and methods OF irrigation. are OF great prac-
! Heal utiIiiV to him as the owner and cultIya-
! tor of lands.
The ideal farmer has made himself familiar
| with the laws of meteOrOlOgy. The influence
Of climate upon vegetation and the effects OF
rain, frost and storms upon the soil and the
growing crops, are duly understood and
considered in relation to practical
observation of the moisture, temperature,
pressure and currents of the atmosphere, aid
ed by the reports of the National Weather
Bureau, he can forecast changes OF weather
that may gravely affect the success Of his
farming operations. He may wisely adapt
his planting, sowings, plOwlngs, reaplngs
and stOrings to the seasons and changes OF
weather.
The ideal farmer has mastered the princi-
pies of mechanics and engineering. These
are of incalculable advantage to him in chOOs-
i'm ar T-pna innlpmpOfg
and in the construction of houses, bridges,
dykes and bitches. The selection of plOWs,
cultivators, reapers, thrashers, gins, mills ana
other necessary implements OF the farm re-
quires of the farmer not only natural sagac-
ity, but a judgment based upon scientific
knowledge. And the important matter of
drainage, so essential to the health OF the FAR
mers household, ana to the removal of super
fluous water from the lands; as also systems
OF irrigation and the boring of wells, exact
no mean attalnme0ts and skill In engineer
The ideal farmer has gFasped the principles
and laws Of political ecOnOny-the unchange-
able laws that govern the accumulation of
wealth. He has studied the nature OF value,
the application and distribution of labor, the
law Of supply and demand, the economy of
material, time and labor, the law OF wages,
the distribution of profits, the great and COM
plicated principles of finance including eX-
change, banking, stocks, bonds, interest and
insurance, the national policies of taxation,
The ideal farmer possesses that general
scientific culture which frees him
from the influence of superstition
and the yoke of those absurd ira
ditiOnal ideas and practices inherited from
the ignorance of the past. The mind I'M
trained in scientific methods gathers few
isolated facts, or observes a few striking com
cidences, and hastily draws differences which
are received by the unthinking or the super
stitiOus veritable laws of nature. Exam
pies of these superficial congratulations are
common in all walks of life, and the farming
IL notion
that foggy day in February will be followed
by frost on the corresponding day in April:
that certain phases of the moon necessarily
bring changes of weather; that plants set
out in the waning stages of the moon Will not
flourish, are cases in point. These popular
inductions are not only unwarranted by the
relation of cause and effect, but are contra
dicted By the facts; for, to use Lord BacOn's
phrase, the 'misse5" are far more numerous
than the "hits.N
The ideal farmer, by reason Of the training
of his understanding, Is able 20 comprehend
things with qulckness and clearness impos-
sible 10 his unintelligent nelghbor. He can
take in a theory, an explanation, a process,
q statement with rapldtty and diStinctness
surprising to the other. This arises partly
from his logical habits of mind and partly
from his familiarity with the use OF language.
The same mental culture enables him to eX
press his own ideas, theories and plans in
inethOdIcal arrangement and clear and fOrci-
bic language.
In addition to all this scientific knowledge
and culture, which involves q vast amount of
learning and cOnfers inestimaAe advantage
upon the profession, the ideal farmer has
acquired BY practice great technical dexterity
in the work of the farm, much experimental
knowledge, and much wisdom in its applICa-
ton His theoretical knowledge and his prac-
tIce act and react, the one upon the other, the
theory guiding the experiments, and the ex-
perence correcting the false induetiOns Of his
scientific Judgment.
The ideal character have thus imperfectlv
sketched, has, of course, never been realized,
and never will be matched in actual expert
ence. Yet it serves to illustrate the wide
reaching extent OF this great industry, ana
the high intellectual qualifications necessary
for those who would be its best opponents.
But the standard may be apprOXimated.
The farmer cannot be a specialist IN any
science. He cannot master any one, much
less all the sciences. But his education can
be such, and ought to be such as to enable
him to seek and to avail himself OF the labOrs
OF the specialist, the analyst, the expert. And
not a few of the most valuable scientific eX-
periments have been made by our ''model
farmers" who thus have conferred an meal
culable benefit upon the agricultural cOmmu-
nifty. 1t is perhaps impossible to compute the
Indebtedness of our State to the intelligent
experiments of such men as the late Ia
mented +. &. thurman, so long shining light
of this society.
If these views are well founded, then the
subject of an intelligent agricultural class Is
of the greatest interest to the farming COM
munity and to the State. If intelligence is so
considerable a factor in successful agricul-
ture, there is no matter Of higher concern to
large than the general diffusion of education
among the people, and especially among
farmers. How shall this general intelligence
be obtained? / answer, first, in the schools |
and colleges of the country. These are in
tended to dispense that education which fits
the mind, by its general culture, to enter
upon any work or any career with the pros
pect of rapidly acquiring success. If the
course of study is SO arranged as to secure |
general mental development, it is a wise ar
rangement, and, under competent instruc-
tion, will benefit the scholar, whether the !
branches learned have any SPECIAL bearing on
the life-wOrk not. II they do not have !
this tendency the studies, however technical |
they may be, W i'll not serve the best purposes
of education. The proper rule is general |
education first and technical education after !
wards. A good strong course of study which |
Is pursued in the best academies high schools /
and even the best character of grammar /
schools, may be an excellent intellectual |
preparation for a successful farmer, yet, in |
my judgment, the higher education of the /
training Is more liberal and thorough.
such as is gained in the best colleges and |
uniyersities-is not only no advantage to the !
young man who expects to be farmer, but is
a positive disqualification If the views !
expressed in this essay are sound, such a con-
clusiOn is inadmissible. IL it be true that the
higher the intelligence and culture the more
efficient the work, then the higher education
must clOthe the workman with greater power
for production.
The only objection that can with any plaus-
ihi1itv no nrOad AGAINST this moro advanced