Agriculture as an Art
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Agriculture as an Art
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AGRICULTURE AS AN ART.
Agriculture, in its most extensive, sense, may be defined as "the cultivation of the earth with reference to the production of vegetables, and the conversion of portions of them into animals and a variety of forms which are best adapted to the wants of mankind." Now, in discussing this question, it is our object to show to the reader the vital importance of this art as being essential to the welfare of mankind and the world in general.
There are, in the first place, various kinds of farmers. There is one kind who does his work tolerably well, makes a fair profit each year, but on the whole fails to accomplish any better results than did those before him. There are others somewhat on the same order as this one, but the particular kind we would endeavor to impress more forcibly on the minds of our readers, is the skillful farmer. He, by experiment and observation, ascertains the wisest methods and the best systems, and applies them with results that make farming as profitable as any other vocation, and that prove how important it is that it should be conducted with skill. The people all over the land are fast becoming convinced that unless skillful farming is resorted to in the future, we will not be able to support the vast population which is pouring into the country from all quarters of the globe. It is true that some of our Western States are very thinly populated, yet with the increase that is going on in these States every year, it will not be a very great while before our country will be as densely populated as Europe. Then we will have to, like her, take into consideration the nature of the soil, and sow what is best adapted to it.
Some persons have an idea that farmers should never be educated like men of other professions, but that a very moderate education ought to be sufficient for them. No greater mistake was ever made. This most important of all arts, and one upon which the world is dependent for a living, ought to be taken in hand by the smartest of our men. Why, if a man doesn't read the leading scientific periodicals of the day on agriculture and ponder over them and reap benefit from them, what are we to do? Is it to be expected that he will follow in the footsteps of his ancestors,and go through the same routine from year to year? If this is what the farmer will continue to do, the world will never be benefited much by them. But we know that this will not be the case. Agriculture is the oldest of the family of practical arts, and has been carried on in all time, in all countries, and by all people. While education has become general, and the mechanic and laborer has learned to read and write, while inventive genius has reached its apparent acme, while the greatest skill is exhibited in all the arts, and engineering can accomplish anything, agriculture should at least keep pace with them.
Agricultural schools are fast becoming the leading institutions of our land, and especially in the South, where they are most needed. Young men who have graduated at these colleges, and procured for themselves a good farm, have, from the very first, made it pay far beyond their expectations. While on the other hand, if a young man should become a lawyer or doctor, there are nine chances out of ten that he will have to wait fifteen or twenty years before he will get a permanent practice.
Great cities are built up, vast water powers utilized, homes for tens of thousands go up year by year, capital accumulates, and the farmer digs it nearly all from the brown soil. Our agricultural masses are emerging slowly but surely from the background, and gradually taking hold of the great questions of the nation. They are not so easily deceived as formerly by the smooth tongue of the politicians. He rises to seek the light and lives to some nobler thoughts and objects than in the past. It is said that "in agriculture lies the nation's wealth," and no truer saying than this was ever penned.
In concluding our remarks.we cannot let it go to the reader without remarking somewhat on the business of agriculture as a permanent occupation in which the whole mind and ability of the farmer is engaged. To the successful farmer, it is his only occupation—his engrossing business above all other. His associations, his interests, and his affections cluster about his farm and his stock. It is therefore necessary that he attend to his farm, that it be his only, or at all events, chief business and occupation; and that all other concerns in which he may engage should be secondary to this.
The lawyer is devoted to his profession, and frequently through the course of a long and laborious life, knows little outside of it. The merchant, the manufacturer, the physician, the chemist, each pursue the lines of labor embraced in their professions, industriously, laboriously; and they excel and prosper in proportion to their diligence and intelligence. The farmer should do likewise. His is not a business to be delegated to others, any more than either of the professions or pursuits we have named.
He that by the plow would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive.
Agriculture, in its most extensive, sense, may be defined as "the cultivation of the earth with reference to the production of vegetables, and the conversion of portions of them into animals and a variety of forms which are best adapted to the wants of mankind." Now, in discussing this question, it is our object to show to the reader the vital importance of this art as being essential to the welfare of mankind and the world in general.
There are, in the first place, various kinds of farmers. There is one kind who does his work tolerably well, makes a fair profit each year, but on the whole fails to accomplish any better results than did those before him. There are others somewhat on the same order as this one, but the particular kind we would endeavor to impress more forcibly on the minds of our readers, is the skillful farmer. He, by experiment and observation, ascertains the wisest methods and the best systems, and applies them with results that make farming as profitable as any other vocation, and that prove how important it is that it should be conducted with skill. The people all over the land are fast becoming convinced that unless skillful farming is resorted to in the future, we will not be able to support the vast population which is pouring into the country from all quarters of the globe. It is true that some of our Western States are very thinly populated, yet with the increase that is going on in these States every year, it will not be a very great while before our country will be as densely populated as Europe. Then we will have to, like her, take into consideration the nature of the soil, and sow what is best adapted to it.
Some persons have an idea that farmers should never be educated like men of other professions, but that a very moderate education ought to be sufficient for them. No greater mistake was ever made. This most important of all arts, and one upon which the world is dependent for a living, ought to be taken in hand by the smartest of our men. Why, if a man doesn't read the leading scientific periodicals of the day on agriculture and ponder over them and reap benefit from them, what are we to do? Is it to be expected that he will follow in the footsteps of his ancestors,and go through the same routine from year to year? If this is what the farmer will continue to do, the world will never be benefited much by them. But we know that this will not be the case. Agriculture is the oldest of the family of practical arts, and has been carried on in all time, in all countries, and by all people. While education has become general, and the mechanic and laborer has learned to read and write, while inventive genius has reached its apparent acme, while the greatest skill is exhibited in all the arts, and engineering can accomplish anything, agriculture should at least keep pace with them.
Agricultural schools are fast becoming the leading institutions of our land, and especially in the South, where they are most needed. Young men who have graduated at these colleges, and procured for themselves a good farm, have, from the very first, made it pay far beyond their expectations. While on the other hand, if a young man should become a lawyer or doctor, there are nine chances out of ten that he will have to wait fifteen or twenty years before he will get a permanent practice.
Great cities are built up, vast water powers utilized, homes for tens of thousands go up year by year, capital accumulates, and the farmer digs it nearly all from the brown soil. Our agricultural masses are emerging slowly but surely from the background, and gradually taking hold of the great questions of the nation. They are not so easily deceived as formerly by the smooth tongue of the politicians. He rises to seek the light and lives to some nobler thoughts and objects than in the past. It is said that "in agriculture lies the nation's wealth," and no truer saying than this was ever penned.
In concluding our remarks.we cannot let it go to the reader without remarking somewhat on the business of agriculture as a permanent occupation in which the whole mind and ability of the farmer is engaged. To the successful farmer, it is his only occupation—his engrossing business above all other. His associations, his interests, and his affections cluster about his farm and his stock. It is therefore necessary that he attend to his farm, that it be his only, or at all events, chief business and occupation; and that all other concerns in which he may engage should be secondary to this.
The lawyer is devoted to his profession, and frequently through the course of a long and laborious life, knows little outside of it. The merchant, the manufacturer, the physician, the chemist, each pursue the lines of labor embraced in their professions, industriously, laboriously; and they excel and prosper in proportion to their diligence and intelligence. The farmer should do likewise. His is not a business to be delegated to others, any more than either of the professions or pursuits we have named.
He that by the plow would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive.