Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1879 — The Best Farmer. [ARTICLE]

The Best Farmer.

There are still some among the masses of our farmer friends who cling to the idea that the most perfect farming consists only in aptness of labor and strength of muscle; that skill in the use of implements and the amount of labor a man is able to perform in a given time, is an evidence of superior farming. That idea is at variance with good philosophy. The reply once made to the question, “Who is the most perfect sailor?” illustrates the point Jack Tar, before the mast, splices a rope, steors the ship or rows the boat with perfect skill. Precipitated into tho sea, he rides the waves without fear, and is saved, where a landsman would be lost. Swaying to and fro on the yard-arm in a tempest, he reefs tho sails with imperturbable coolness, and braves danger in many forms witll comppsurc, where a novice would perish. Yet he is far from being a perfect sailor. Other men are patiently working in tho National observatories of London and Washington, preparing tho nautical almanac. Maps and charts—indicating the shoals and reefs and coasts, and indicating the laws governing the winds and currents—are prepared With great study and care. By these aids and appliances which science has evolved, tho mariner can readily reckon almost the precise spot on the ocoan his vessel occupies. But the scientific scholar whose research has. rendered all this possible, is not an efficient

mariner. The man who represents the perfect sailor is he who un.it®a:tho highest practical aptness and skill in working his ship with tho domprehension that enables him to use all the deductions of nautical science. It is a union of scientific skill and knowledge which makes him a master of his calling. The application suggests itself. In farming, the highest and most extensive knowledge of all known natural laws pertaining to this great, purstiit, combined with eminent skill, energy, industry and economy, mako the most perfect farmer. j The evidences -ans constantly multiplying that farmofs are coming to understand this important fact. Agriculture as arsttieitco is coming to the fore with long strides. It is the science of tho futuro, for there is not within the scope of man's objects and pursuits any calling that demands more of science for its successful prosecution. In every department of rural economy science stands at the threshhold, and invites an investigation of the processes by Which the highest success may be attained; and ho who gajns and employs tho moss knowledge of his pursuit, in any branch of rural industry, will realize the fairest reward for his labor. The farmer of the future will know more of the laws which govern in the

varied operations of Nature that attach to'all departmental of hia calling. He will plow with more reasonable expectations of reaping bonntiful harvests, for he will know more of the nature and condition of hia soils; ho will cultivate belter and more effectively, for he Will have a clear understanding of what is requiredf Ho will know moro of vegetable physiology, or tho peculiarities and habits of different plants which require his care and culture, as well as of noxious growths, and threforo will possess knowledge which will insure hotter returns from tho former, and. l render the extermination of the latter more certain. He will possess valuable information in regard to insects that prey upon his fields and flocks, and easily distinguish tho friendly sort* from tho noxious tribes. lie will possess a greater knowledge of animal physiology and pathology, and hence seoure comparative immunity from heavy losses, that are now of daily occurrence. In short, ho will walk in tho light which science will shecj around his footsteps, and wonder that the World was so slow to grasp and profit by fact* and truth in Nature, which though simple were unknown or unappre* ciatcd. Let us all—farmers, agricultural schools and colleges, societies, clubs and associations of every description pertaining to rural industries, and last, though not least, the agricultural press —push on the car of progress and remit no-effort to place this—the greatest and really the noblest of all human pursuits—on the plane which it deserves to occupy. —Western Rural.