Year: 1871


that the sphere of letters owes much
to authors aud poets who have found
the transition fIom the plow to the
study easy and productive of healthy
mentality, not only for themselves, but
for world that eagerly feeds upon the
creations of their pen.


The steady pursuit of agriculture at
distance from large city We grant will
prevent that intimate and close personal
association with the better types of in
telligence and culture which is only to
be found in old centers Of commerce ande
general enterprise but the press pre-
vents anything approaching isolation,
for it teens with all that is witty, wise,
sprightly, instructive and refining in the
best classes of American society, and
brings to ones door wherever he may
be in all the broad sweep of his glorious
land, those elevating influences which,
under the most favorable circumstances,
where he dependent upon his own
efforts, he would fail TO secure. There
is SO much that is vain and superficial
in city life, that it may be doubted by
the earnest and serious student of let-
ters and science whether its experience
may profit him. Indeed, such one
pursues his studies apart from the mul>
titude in retirement, where the current
of his reflections may not be embarrass.
ed or interrupted


The judicIous pursuit Of husbandry
is to-day ripe with advantages, and the
eyes of our youth should be opened to
them. Science and art have been tribu>
tary to the farmer, and provided for his
use wonderful Instruments which at once
ease his labor and hasten its performs
ance. He finds in his diversified voca>
ton opportunities for the application OF
the highest intellectual attainments, aud
he can point to rich results which were
the fruit only Of the most extended set
entlfic research. To him no learning
will come amiss His employments III
the field, in the mill, in the granary may
be made conservators Of mental vigor,
may freshen and stimulate a healthy
appetite for intellectual food, and impart
that steady reflective condition so es-
sential to the thorough assimilation of
the ideas and perceptions drawn in
from the world without


Politically considered, if our national
prosperity continues to be so much de-
pendent upon agricultural and industrial
interests, the men who drive the plow
and WELD the sIcdge must exert most
powerful influence upon American civil
affairs in fact, if the past serve as a
guide by which we may affirm anything
of the future, these men of the plow
and anvil will control the balance of
power and sway our destiny. There is
that in the pursuit of agriculture which
imparts an element of manliness. The
free, open country contributes to free
dom and independence Of thought,
and this quality of mind, strengthened
and developed by education, is peculiar
to the true American farmer. A thou
sand-and this is moderate estimate
of such men in each State of the
Union would inspire it with an irresist,
able energy for progress and prosperity.


Let our young men be admonished
not to crowd and strain for places in the
close and hungry city, and not to accept
niggardly wages for hard and pro-
tracted toll, but let them 90 into the
meadows and hillsides of me East or on
the rich praires of the West, and there
aspire to success through the intelligent
cultivation Of the soil. Let them not
abandon altogether this generous gift
of Providence to the frugal son of toll
who comes from a foreign cline
Phrenologicat Journal


Speaking of the best time to sell
wheat, an exchange says: This is one
of the most difficult questions that a
farmer is called upon to settle for him
self, and he IS about as likely to decide
wrong as right. As most of our know
ledge worth anything practically is
gained by experience, we have taken
the trouble to look over our files for
the last twelve years and see the aver
age price of wheat during the several
months of the year during all these
years. The conclusion that we arrived
at, after comparing the ruling prices
during term of years is, that unless a
farmer is in circumstances to hold his
wheat over till May or June, the sooner
he sells it after harvest the better For
the last twelve years the highest prices
have ruled during the months of May
June and July, and the next best during
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