The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rural Magazine, and Literary Evening
Fire-Side, Vol. 1 No. 6 (1820), by Various
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Title: The Rural Magazine, and Literary Evening Fire-Side, Vol. 1 No. 6 (1820)
Author: Various
Release Date: April 22, 2015 [EBook #48760]
Language: English
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to the right: "With firm, undazzled eye behold!"
* * * * *
THE
RURAL MAGAZINE,
AND
LITERARY EVENING FIRE-SIDE.
VOL. I. PHILADELPHIA, _Sixth Month, 1820._ _No. 6._
FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.
THE DESULTORY REMARKER.
No. V.
This mournful truth is every where confess'd,
_Slow rises worth, by poverty depress'd._
Dr. Johnson.
Numerous and important are the boasted advantages of our free
government. Men and things are professedly estimated, in this
region of sturdy republicanism, in exact accordance with their true
character. Our just and beautiful theories inculcate the doctrine,
that VIRTUE and TALENT are the only proper grounds of distinction
in society; and if this were faithfully illustrated in practice,
merit would not be opposed by serious obstacles, in emerging from
obscurity. If such a desirable state of things were realized,
how rapidly would our country advance in prosperity! Monarchical
institutions, which sanction the hereditary descent of RANK and
DISTINCTION, would contrast very unpleasantly with those which are
bottomed on the cardinal principle, that all men are by NATURE
CREATED EQUAL. It becomes us therefore to inquire, whether the
fancied superiority, which in relation to this subject, we arrogate
to ourselves, be in reality any thing but in name.
In prosecuting this inquiry, let personal observation, and
personal experience, be candidly consulted. If we have voluntarily
substituted, for what in other countries results from the exercise
of despotic power, an idol of our own creation, and bow to it with
the same deference and fealty, what becomes of our claim to the
title of independence? The effect of such a deception will be no
less productive of mental and moral degradation, than if the laws
of the land had authorized the establishment of PRIVILEGED ORDERS.
The real republican character is particularly distinguished by its
simplicity. The inroads of luxury, and the inordinate influence of
wealth, are anxiously to be deprecated, as destructive to rational
liberty. Titles of nobility are not within our reach; but the
glitter of wealth may equally awaken our ambition, and monopolize
our attention. Here there is danger, against the approach of which
it is the part of prudence and of wisdom to be vigilant.
When an individual is supposed to be affluent, have we ever known
his merit to be unjustly overlooked or disregarded? Are not riches
uniformly invested with the magic power of extenuating the faults,
and magnifying the good qualities of their possessor? The answers
to these questions will at once be given without hesitation,
For virtue, glory, beauty, all divine
And human powers, immortal Gold! are thine.
The complexion of society in Philadelphia, is considered, in many
respects, of that chastened and respectable character, which is well
becoming the nature of our institutions. Our metropolis has always
been distinguished for _Benevolence_, of which, as well as of other
good qualities, honourable mention might be made. But indiscriminate
approbation must be withheld, if we maintain our allegiance to
truth. There is in this city an aristocracy of wealth, which has a
withering and destructive effect on the best interests of social
life.--Wealth, in certain circles, is considered an indispensable
recommendation; and perhaps in some instances, the only one its
possessor is required to prefer! It is not pretended, that this
golden qualification should be contemned in the abstract; for,
when not abused, it furnishes the means not only of procuring many
valuable and rational gratifications, but of extensive utility to
others. But we err egregiously, in permitting it to supplant, in our
estimation, the only distinctions of real value;--those which have
been indicated above. Such a blind devotion to its charms, casts
a reflection upon our character for good sense, equally just and
severe with that which properly belongs to a retailer of the stale
and pointless bon-mots of monarchs, for wit, merely because they
issue from the fountain of royalty. This slavish subserviency, is
altogether unworthy of freemen; they must, if true to themselves,
discard the influence of PRIVILEGED ORDERS, and view things as they
really are.--Many an individual, who now fills a large space in the
public eye, would, if overtaken by adversity, scarcely be discerned
at all without the aid of a microscope. He would, when deserted by
prosperity, return to his native insignificance, and assume his
proper station in life.
Our conduct to all men should be friendly and decorous, but to those
who are struggling with adverse circumstances, and who possess
sterling recommendations to our notice, it should be zealously
and liberally extended. The great man, to whom we are indebted
for our motto, knew what it was to be beset by those potent
adversaries,--griping poverty, and chilling neglect. He concluded
one of his letters to CAVE, the editor of the Gentleman's Magazine,
in these remarkable words, "I am yours IMPRANSUS." If by this he
intended to convey the idea, that he was fasting because he had
not the means of procuring a dinner, what a melancholy reflection
does it suggest to the mind. Even Lord CHESTERFIELD himself, whose
delicate nerves were so dreadfully shocked by the "_savageness_"
of JOHNSON, had he been acquainted with the circumstance, and
foreseen his future celebrity, would have hastened to his relief.
Who that beheld Dr. FRANKLIN, in the garb of a printer's boy,
walking up Market Street, eating one of his rolls of bread, and
carrying the other under his arm, could have believed, that at a
future period he would become one of the most celebrated men of the
age. So deceptive are external appearances, and so irresistible
must be the conclusion, that VIRTUE and TALENT are not excluded
from the humblest walks of life.--Hence the folly and injustice of
establishing PRIVILEGED ORDERS.
So long ago as the days of HORACE, the seductive power of gold
was considered as directly hostile to the cause of virtue. The
following lines are extracted from his ode to his friend SALLUST, as
translated by Dr. FRANCIS.
Virtue, to crowds a foe profest,
Disdains to number with the blest,
Phraates, by his slaves ador'd,
And to the Parthian crown restor'd,
And gives the diadem, the throne,
And laurel wreath, to him alone,
_Who can a treasur'd mass of gold
With firm, undazzled eye behold!_
THE VILLAGE TEACHER.
It was finely remarked by an Indian, that the white man has not so
deep and intimate a sense of his dependence upon God as the Indian.
He owes more, apparently, to himself and his fellows. Entrenched
in his palaces of stone, he can smile at the pitiless storm, and
defy the blasts of winter. The great business of his early life, is
to provide against its decline. He has artisans to administer to
every want, and to alleviate every pain. Hence his own importance is
magnified in his view; and he thinks less frequently of the great
Being, from whom all his comforts spring. The Indian, on the other
hand, leads a life of privation and adventure. He wanders alone
through the forest; and seeks companionship and communion with
nature. He looks abroad on the majesty of creation, and feels that
there must be a Deity. In the uncertainty of his supplies of food,
he knows that he is at the mercy of an invisible Protector; and the
feeling of gratitude for unexpected relief, is more vivid than can
enter into the heart of the civilized man.
Without stopping to inquire into the justice of the Indian's
remark, I shall go on to observe, that there is a like difference
between the occupations of the city and country. Every thing in a
great metropolis is artificial. As the division of labour is the
great secret of national wealth, so it is carried to its greatest
extent in the capital. The members of the community are there more
interlocked with each other, more helpless by themselves, than
is the case with us. Accordingly they look to each other for the
principal part of their enjoyments. To begin with the most necessary
things of life, a citizen is dependant upon a dozen tradesmen,
perhaps, for those articles of food and clothing, which a farmer
works up at home. He accomplishes himself for one object of pursuit;
and although profoundly ignorant of all others, is enabled thereby
to fill his station, to keep his place as a key-stone in the arch of
society. It never occurs to him how helpless and impotent he would
be by himself. He is accommodated to things around--the artificial
creature of an artificial system. Nor is it only in this dependence
upon his fellows, that, the citizen differs from the countryman.
His contrivances against the unavoidable evils and calamities of
life, are more numerous, and cast a veil, in some degree, between
him and his Creator. The overruling of that hand, which dispenses
and withholds the rain and the harvest, affect him, as it were, but
at a distance.--His merchandise is the product of art. His system
of credit equalizes, if I may use the expression, the dispensations
of Providence. The tempest may bury his wealth in the bosom of the
deep; but an insurance office repairs the ravage of the elements.
Every means in his power is used to thwart the original decree, "By
the sweat of thy brow," &c.--He looks into futurity, and calculates
the unfruitfulness of the seasons--not as a motive to humble
dependence--not as an incentive to prayer and repentance--but that
he may build his fortune upon the wants and the casualties of his
fellow creatures. He even grapples with death itself--calculates
with unfeeling selfishness the days and the infirmities of his
neighbours, and wagers upon the length of his life. All his
arrangements are predicated upon this artificial system. The
thought, if it ever occur to him, of the great God of nature, is as
much shut out by it, as the fair face of creation from the alleys
and courts of the city. And in proportion as he becomes impressed
with a deep sense of that overruling Providence, will these things
become hateful in his eyes. No doubt the mind is, as Milton has it,
"its own place," and can transform the natural aliment of vice into
a medicament of virtue. The noblest examples of active goodness are
generally to be found in a large metropolis; for it must be virtue
of a superior cast that can resist the temptations which are there
presented.--But minds of a contemplative turn may be allowed to shun
the combat which they find it so hard to sustain, and to seek for
aids to their good resolutions in external circumstances.
To all such I may venture to recommend the pursuits of a country
life as eminently salutary. Every month and week has there its
appropriate labours, which cannot be neglected; and it is from
this cause a life of activity and variety. The events of the
season are full of interest, and it is peculiarly delightful to
observe how Providence still delights to bless. Shortsighted and
presumptuous that we are, we are constantly auguring this or that
misfortune--lamenting the unpropitiousness in some respect or
another of the year; and yet from harvest to harvest are our barns
filled, and our granaries laden. The labours of the country do
not, like those of the city, deform the body, and undermine the
constitution; and there is in its clear atmosphere, and silent
serenity, an influence as invigorating to the soul as the touch of
earth to Antæus. In the country, the silent and manifest workings
of the Deity are constantly before us, and meet our eyes in every
phase of organized life: The mind must be worse than insensible that
does not feel and respond to the voice of praise, which seems to be
constantly ascending, as from one great altar.
Some philosophers have placed virtue in a state of lofty
contemplation; and others, of continued activity. The truth seems
to be, that they are both essential to the perfect character.--He
who gives himself up to indolent meditation, will become a prey to
the enemies of his own household, and will fall by a servile foe. He
who never retires to "plume his feathers, and let grow his wings,"
will find himself less and less able to sustain his flight; and
discover, perhaps, when it is too late, that he has lost the energy
of virtue, and the love of moral beauty.
But as the temptations of the more selfish passions are the
strongest, that state of society in which we are the most exposed
to them, is the most dangerous; and we have more need of having
our eyes and our hearts fixed upon pure and lofty objects, than of
having excessive stimulants applied to that activity, of which every
condition in life requires a steady and vigorous application. To
reflecting minds, therefore, the labour and the relaxation which
the country holds out, are both more salutary and invigorating,
than that which is required amid the smoke, and bustle, and jarring
interests of a great metropolis.
AN ACCOUNT
_Of the Agricultural School at Hofwyl, in Switzerland._
(From the Edinburgh Review.)
Mr. de Fellenberg was first known merely as an agriculturist, and
still keeps up his original establishment of husbandry at Buchsie,
an old chateau near Hofwyl; but agriculture was always with him
a secondary object, and subservient to that system of education
to which his thoughts were very early directed. He is a man of an
unusually ardent as well as persevering turn of mind, and conceals a
character of deep and steady enthusiasm, under a very calm exterior
and manners. Although born to patrician rank in his own country, he
early imbibed those political doctrines of which such tremendous
misapplication was so soon to be made in his neighbourhood: and
the disappointment filled his mind with melancholy views of the
moral state and future prospects of mankind. It appeared to him,
that the world was blindly hurrying on to irretrievable ruin; and
that a sounder system of education for the great body of the people,
could alone stop the progress of error and corruption. He has
sometimes mentioned in conversation the particular circumstances,
which finally determined him to the course he has since pursued.
In the year 1798 or 1799, he happened to be at Paris as one of
the commission sent by the provisional government established in
Switzerland after the French invasion; and in that capacity he
had an official conversation with the Director Reubel, at his
country-house near Paris,--in the course of which he laid before
him, in glowing colours, a picture of the miserable state to which
his country was reduced, and which might soon lead to a _Vendean_
war, destructive to both parties. The Director appeared for some
time to listen with profound attention, and Mr. de Fellenberg
ascribed his silence to conviction of the truths he urged, and
something like a feeling of compunction,--when, all at once, the
worthy republican throwing open a window, called aloud to one of his
servants--'_Jacques! apportez moi Finette!_' A little spaniel was
brought accordingly with its litter of young ones in a basket--and
there was no chance of his hearing another word about Switzerland
or liberty! After this rebuff, he gave up the idea of serving his
country as a politician; and, asking for his passport the next day,
made the best of his way home, determined to set about the slow work
of elementary reformation, by a better mode of education, and to
persevere in it for the rest of his life!
It is now upwards of twelve years since Mr. de Fellenberg undertook
to systematize domestic education, and to show on a large scale
how the children of the poor might be best taught, and their labour
at the same time most profitably applied: in short, how the first
twenty years of a poor man's life might be so employed as to provide
for his support and his education. The peasants in his neighbourhood
were at first rather shy of trusting their children for a new
experiment; and being thus obliged to take his pupils where he
could find them, many of the earliest were the sons of vagrants,
and literally picked up on the highways; and this is the case with
one or two of the most distinguished. He had very soon, however,
the good fortune of finding an excellent co-operator in the person
of a young man of the name of Vehrli, the son of a schoolmaster of
Thurgovia, who, coming to Hofwyl in 1809, to see the establishment
and inform himself of the mode of teaching, was so struck with the
plan of the _school of industry_, that he offered his son, then
about 18, as an assistant. This young man devoted himself from that
moment to the undertaking.----Although admitted at first to Mr. de
Fellenberg's table, he soon left it for that of his pupils, with
whom he has ever since lived night and day. Working with them in
the fields, their playfellow in their hours of relaxation,--and,
learning himself what he is to teach as a master, his zeal has not
cooled a moment during a trial of more than ten years' unremitting
exertions, under the guidance of his patron, and assisted now
by four other masters. The number of his pupils has increased
successively to 43: They obey him as well as Mr. de Fellenberg,
entirely from love and a sense of duty:--punishment has been
inflicted only twice since the beginning; and their treatment is
nearly that of children under the paternal roof. They go out every
morning to their work soon after sunrise--having first breakfasted
and received a lesson of about half an hour. They return at noon.
Dinner takes them half an hour,--a lesson of one hour follows; then
to work again till six in the evening. On Sunday, the different
lessons take six hours instead of two; and they have butcher's meat
on that day only. They are divided into three classes, according to
age and strength; an entry is made in a book, every night, of the
number of hours each class has worked, specifying the sort of labour
done, in order that it may be charged to the proper account, each
particular crop having an account opened for it, as well as every
new building, the live stock, the machines, the schools themselves,
&c. &c. In winter, and whenever there is no out-of-doors' work,
the boys plait straw for chairs; make baskets; saw logs with the
cross saw, and split them; thrash and winnow corn, grind colours,
knit stockings, or assist the wheel-wright and other artificers, of
whom there are many employed on the establishment. For all which
different sorts of labour an adequate salary is credited each boy's
class.
Mr. de Fellenberg indeed observes, that the boys being most of them
only just come to the age of productive labour, it is presumed the
Establishment will not only support itself in future, but repay
past expenses; particularly as certain outfits charged to the first
years will not recur again.--He observes also, that several grown
boys have been suffered to go away, and have been replaced by young
children, to the great injury of the Establishment. It may be added,
that the pupils have been indulged of late with better clothes than
formerly, or than is strictly necessary, as well as a better table;
and that, from attention to their feelings, the cast-off clothes
of the _school of the rich_ are not turned to their use, but given
away to the poor of the neighbourhood, that they may not appear in
the light of dependants on any but their adoptive father and their
own labour. It is undoubtedly a very striking circumstance, that
only one, out of the whole number of boys admitted into this school
since the beginning, has been dismissed as irrecoverably vicious;
all the others have got rid of their former habits;--and, when final
sentence was passed upon the unfortunate boy, the others begged
leave to contribute each one _batz_ towards a present to him, that
he might remember them with kindness.
The labours of the field, their various sports, their lessons, their
choral songs, the necessary rest, fill the whole circle of the
twenty-four hours; and judging from their open, cheerful, contented
countenances, nothing seems wanting to their happiness.--But it is
a great point gained, to have brought young men to the age of 18
or 20, uncontaminated by the general licentiousness which prevails
in the country. When their time is out, and they mix with other
people, they will no doubt marry; but the probability is, they will
be more difficult in their choice than other men of the same rank,
and will shrink from vulgarity and abject poverty. Long habits of
self-restraint, too, will enable them to look out with comparative
patience for a suitable establishment, before they burden themselves
with a family. In short, if the only check of the mild kind to an
excessive increase of population is self-restraint, from motives of
prudence and morality, where may we look for it with better hopes
than among the pupils of Mr. de Fellenberg?
We shall now proceed, however, to lay before our readers a more
detailed account of the internal management of the school of
industry. The lessons are given mostly _viva voce_, and various
questions continually interposed, respecting measures of capacity,
length and weight, and their fractional parts; the cubic contents
of a piece of timber, or a stack of hay; the time necessary to
perform any particular task, under such or such circumstances; the
effects of gravitation; the laws of mechanics; rules of grammar and
different parts of speech, &c. &c. The boys endeavour to find the
solution of arithmetical and mathematical problems without writing,
and at the same time to proceed with the mechanical processes in
which they may happen to be engaged. Aware of the difficulties with
which they are thus made to grapple, as it were, without assistance,
they are the more sensible of the value of those scientific short
cuts, which carry you in the dark indeed, but safely and speedily,
to your journey's end, and the more delighted with their beauty
as well as their use. They acquire the _rationale_ of the thing,
together with the practice; their understandings are exercised,
and their attention kept awake. None of them are ever seen to look
inattentive or tired, although just returned from their day's
labour in the fields. Contrivance, and some degree of difficulty to
overcome, is a necessary condition, it would seem, of our enjoyments.
The pupils are not always questioned, but, in their turn, propose
questions to the masters, and difficulties to be solved, which
they do sometimes with considerable ingenuity.--They draw outlines
of maps, from memory, exhibiting the principal towns, rivers,
and chains of mountains; they draw correctly from nature, and in
perspective, all sorts of machines for agriculture; and are very
fond of trying chymically the different sorts of soil, and have
tables of them very well arranged.
Various gymnastic games are also practised occasionally; but mental
exercises find their place better after hard labour: They do indeed
in the fields full as well as on the benches of the school. For
instance, when the boys are employed in digging trenches to irrigate
a meadow, and while directing the water along artificial ridges,
and round hills, so as to regulate the fall and distribute the
moisture equally, they put each other in mind of what they have
heard about the laws of hydraulics. When they clear a field of the
stones turned up by the plough, and are directed to separate those
which are calcareous, in order to be burned into lime, they know and
practise the different tests by which their nature is ascertained,
and can point out in the horizon, the particular mountains which
have furnished these various fragments.
In order to encourage the attachment to property acquired by our own
industry, the pupils are allowed certain emoluments, such as the
proceeds of the seeds they collect, some part of their gleanings,
and what they raise in a small garden of their own; all which
accumulates, and forms a fund for the time of their going away. No
ambitious views are fostered by this mode of training the poorest
class, beyond that of being good husbandmen. The pupils of the
_school of industry_ are not raised above their station; but their
station, dignified and improved, is raised to them. It has been
remarked before, that men born in the poorest class of society,
constituted as it is at present, especially those who subsist in
part on public charity, find it almost as difficult to get out of
their dependant situation as a Hindoo to leave his cast,--kept
down as they are by a sort of inbred ignorance and improvidence,
and, above all, by their multitude; which is one of the worst
consequences of that improvidence. The higher and middling ranks
scarcely keep up their numbers any where; while multiplication goes
on, unrestrained by any consideration of prudence, precisely among
those who are least able to support a family. The poor may, in the
bitterness of want, exclaim against taxes and ill government, and
certainly not always without reason;--but the worst government is
their own of themselves.
_Agricultural labour_ is not the only occupation which can be made
the base of such an education. _Manufactures_, with all their
disadvantages, might answer the purpose, provided the children were
not collected together in vast numbers in the same rooms--provided
they were under the care of intelligent and kind masters and
overseers, and were allowed gardens of their own, and a certain
number of hours each day to work in them, or take exercise in the
open air--all which must abridge necessarily the time allotted to
productive labour, or to learning. One of the great advantages of
husbandry is, that it affords sufficient exercise, and leaves more
time for mental improvement. Such of Vehrli's pupils as have a turn
for any of the trades in demand at Hofwyl--wheelwright, carpenter,
smith, &c. tailor or shoemaker--are allowed to apply to them. These
boys will leave the Institution at the age of one-and-twenty,
understanding agriculture better than any peasants ever did before,
besides being practically acquainted with a trade, and with a share
of learning quite unprecedented among the same class of people; and
yet as hard-working and abstemious as any of them, and with the
best moral habits and principles. It seems impossible to desire or
imagine a better condition of the peasantry.
Public education, Mr. de Fellenberg observes, is too generally a
uniform process, imposed indiscriminately, and by force, upon every
variety of disposition, talents, and character. His object, on the
other hand, is to suit the education to the pupil, and not the
pupil to the education.--A good preceptor should be an experienced
friend, who guides,--not a master who commands, and, above all,
not an irascible master. Punishments and rewards he considers as
equally objectionable: for fear makes slaves, and the love of
distinction unfolds, in the end, most of the bad passions. _Do as
you would be done by_ is, he maintains, the only safe rule of
conduct to inculcate; a lively feeling of right and wrong, goodwill
and kindness to all men, the only sentiments fit to be encouraged.
Emulation, perhaps, is too powerful and universal a stimulant to be
altogether excluded; but it needs more frequently to be repressed
than excited. Such a vigilant and cautious system of training would
be best carried on certainly under the parental roof, in a well
regulated and united family; and therefore he wishes a school to
resemble as nearly as possible such a family, and to be as unlike as
possible to a mere manufactory of learning.
The whole course of studies may be considered as divided into three
periods, of three years each. In the first, they study Greek and the
Grecian History, the knowledge of animals, plants, and minerals.
In the second, Latin, Roman History, and the Geography of the
Roman world. And in the third, Modern Languages and Literature,
Modern History to the last century, and Geography--the Physical
Sciences, and Chymistry. During the whole nine years, they apply to
Mathematics, Drawing, Music, and Gymnastic Exercises.
The geometrical representation of near objects--the house, the
garden, the course of the river, the surrounding country, the
mountains beyond it, taken by approximation in the shape of a
map--is the natural introduction to Geography. When the pupils feel
a curiosity to know more of the world than they can see, maps are
then laid before them, and the globe and its uses are explained.
They are made to delineate correctly, from memory, the shape of
continents and seas; and to place and name the principal chains of
mountains, the course of rivers, the boundaries of states, their
provinces and capitals;--and this leads to an inquiry into the
particular history of each, and their natural productions.
Drawing is early cultivated, from natural objects first, then
by copying, and finally by composing characteristic heads, or
rather endeavouring to imitate the effect of passions on the
human countenance. The execution is generally correct, but hard
and dry--in the style of Perugino certainly, rather than of
Rembrandt. Music likewise is much practised; not however with a
view to execution, but for the sake of the Poetry of music, and its
Piety--as an elevated language, in which certain ideas and feelings
are expressed, which no other human means can reach or convey. The
gymnastic exercises have for their object, health, and the dexterous
use of the bodily faculties; but they never are exhibited in public,
and made an occasion of show and display.
It is the endeavour of the master to encourage his pupils to express
freely, both in writing and conversation, the opinions and feelings
which have been suggested by their reading; and thus to enable them
to rectify their mistakes, either as to facts or inferences; never
dictating to them what they should think, and yet restraining and
directing the flights of a young imagination. The pupils do not
read the history of the last century before their twentieth year,
when judgment is sufficiently matured; and even then, all reference
to the politics of the day is avoided, that they may enter the
world with minds wholly free from party spirit, and able to form
unprejudiced opinions. Common newspapers and political pamphlets are
never seen at Hofwyl.
The study of Mathematics continues during the whole period of
education, to an extent determined entirely by the individual
capacity and disposition of each pupil, who is not hurried on or
retarded for the sake of keeping pace with others. Every problem is
analyzed and explained thoroughly before passing to another. The
interest and attention of those of ordinary abilities, is kept up by
practical applications of the science; and none but those properly
qualified apply to the pure mathematics: In doing so, they are
carefully guarded against the pride of successful calculation, which
is apt to overlook Divine power in the consideration of its own.
At the same time that Mr. de Fellenberg dwells with delight and
confidence on the natural proofs of the existence of the Supreme
Being, he admits fully, and establishes the necessity of a
Revelation to supply the insufficiency of human reason. Socrates
himself, he observes, did not know how to establish the dogma of the
unity of God. His pupils, brought up in purity and simplicity of
heart, under the influence of reason and kindness, are in a great
degree Christians before they are taught Christianity,--and best
prepared, therefore, to understand and receive the Divine doctrine;
but all dogmatic points are reserved for the ministers of their
respective communions, who are to instruct them; and controversial
disputes are unknown and interdicted.
It has been said also that Mr. de Fellenberg's husbandry is ruinous.
This would only add to the wonder of his being able to do what he
does by his own slender means; but, in point of fact, his farm
affords a very considerable profit. We have, upon this point, the
evidence of a gentleman well versed in those matters, Mr. Crud of
Genthod, one of the commissioners appointed by the Swiss Diet to
inquire into the agricultural establishment at Hofwyl, the result of
whose statements is, that the farm (214-1/2 poses, equal to about
172 English acres) has produced _net_ in 4 years from 1810 to 1814,
56,705_l._ Swiss money, and for one year 14,176_l._ which, deducting
interest at 6 per cent. on 14,382_l._ the average value of stock on
the farm, or 843_l._, leaves a clear profit of 13,313_l._, equal to
3_l._ 17s. 6d. Sterling a pose (nearly equal to 4/5ths of an English
acre;)[1] and, valuing the farm at the high price of 750_l._ a
pose, (47_l._ Sterling,) gives something more than 8-1/4 per cent.
interest, net of all charges. The farm is undoubtedly benefited by
the Institution, which affords a ready market for its produce, and
perhaps by the low price at which the labour of Vehrli's boys is
charged: But the farm, on the other hand, affords regular employment
to the boys; and also enables Mr. de Fellenberg to receive his
richer pupils at a lower price than he could otherwise do. Hofwyl,
in short, is a great whole; where 120 or 130 pupils, more than
50 masters and professors, as many servants, and a number of
day-labourers, six or eight families of artificers and tradesmen,
altogether about 300 persons, find a plentiful, and in many respects
a luxurious subsistence, exclusive of education, out of the produce
of 170 acres, and a money income of six or seven thousand pounds,
reduced more than half by salaries, affords a very considerable
surplus to lay out in additional buildings.
[1] The pose is 40,000 square feet of Berne, equal to 32,500 of
Paris, and about 35,000 English feet, that is, equal to about 4/5ths
of an English acre.
Not satisfied with what we had ourselves learned and thought on
this subject, we have been anxious to learn what was thought of
it in the neighbourhood, and by persons not particularly friendly
to the Institution. We have scarcely heard an objection against
the _School of Industry_. The opinion is _universally_ favourable
to it; and though there is more difference of sentiment as to the
_higher school_, the worst we have heard is, that the pupils are
not so advanced in any one science as some young men brought up in
other schools are. It is admitted that they are eminently moral and
amiable in their deportment; that they are very intelligent; and
that their ideas have a wide range. In short, the objection, as it
appears to us, is, that they are likely to become liberal-minded
gentlemen, but not professors. Hofwyl is not a college where
the only object is learning;--still less a monastery, where an
austere and uniform rule prevails;--it is a little world, composed
of different ranks and professions, and where individuality of
character is preserved, and a variety of talents unfolded.
The patricians of Berne have been generally, from the beginning,
unfavourable to the Institution; yet several of them have their sons
in it, and many more are now endeavouring to procure admittance.
We have learned very lately, that a decided and active enemy, many
years first magistrate of the district where Hofwyl is situated,
and lately dead, enjoined expressly in his last-will, that his sons
should, if possible, be educated exclusively at Hofwyl!
_Treatise on Agriculture._
SECT. IV.
Of the Analysis of Soils, and of the agricultural relations
between soils and plants.
We have seen that the earths have a threefold capacity; that they
receive and lodge the roots of plants and support their stems; that
they absorb and hold air, water and mucilage--aliments necessary to
vegetable life; and that they even yield a portion of themselves to
these aliments. But we have also seen, that they are not equally
adapted to these offices; that their parts, texture and qualities
are different; that they are cold or warm, wet or dry, porous or
compact, barren or productive, in proportion as one or other may
predominate in the soil; and that to fit them for discharging the
various functions to which they are destined, each must contribute
its share, and all be minutely divided and intimately mixed. In this
great work nature has performed her part, but as is usual with her,
she has wisely and benevolently left something for man to do.
This necessary march of human industry, obviously begins by
ascertaining the _nature of the soil_. But neither the touch, nor
the eye, however practised or acute, can in all cases determine
this. _Clay_, when wet, is cold and tenacious--a description that
belongs also to magnesian earths: _sand_ and _gravel_ are hard
and granular; but so also are some of the modifications of lime:
_vegetable mould_ is black and friable, but not exclusively so; for
schistous and carbonaceous earths have the same properties.
It is here, then, that chemistry offers herself to obviate
difficulties, and remove doubts; but neither the apparatus nor
process of this science, are within the reach of all who are
interested in the inquiry, and we accordingly subjoin a method,
less comprehensive, but more simple and sufficiently exact, for
agricultural purposes, and which calls only for two vases, a pair of
scales, clean water and a little sulphuric acid.
"1st. Take a small quantity of earth from different parts of the
field, the soil of which you wish to ascertain, mix them well
together and weigh them; put them in an oven, heated for baking
bread, and after they are dried, weigh them again; the difference
will show the _absorbent power of the earth_. When the loss of
weight in 400 grains, amounts to 50, this power is great, and
indicates the presence of much animal or vegetable matter; but when
it does not exceed twenty, the absorbent power is small, and the
vegetable matter deficient.[2]
[2] See Davy's Elements.
"2d. Put the dried mass into a vase with one fourth of its own
weight of clear water; mix them well together: pour off the dirty
water into a second vase, and pour on as much clean water as before;
stir the contents, and continue this process until the water poured
off, is as clear as that poured on the earth. What remains in the
first employed vase is _sand_, _silicious_ or _calcareous_.
"3d. The dirty water, collected in the second vase, will form a
deposit, which (after pouring off the wa-ter) must be dried,
weighed and _calcined_. On weighing it _after_ this process, the
quantity lost will show the portion of _animal_ and _vegetable mould
contained in the soil_; and,
"4th. This calcined matter must then be carefully pulverised and
weighed, as also the first deposit of sand, but without mixing
them. To these, apply (separately) sulphuric acid, and what they
respectively lose in weight, is the portion of _calcareous_ or
_aluminous earths_ contained in them. These last may be separated
from the mass by soap lie, which dissolves them."[3]
[3] This manner of analysing soils is that described by M. Rose,
member of the institute of France, &c. and recommended to French
agriculturists.
Here is the light we wanted. In knowing the disease, we find the
cure. Clay and sand qualify each other; either of these will
correct an excess of lime; and magnesian earth, when saturated with
_carbonic acid_, becomes fertile.
But entirely to alter the constitution of a soil, whether by
mechanical or other means, is a work of time, labour and expense,
and little adapted to the pecuniary circumstances of farmers in
general. Fortunately, a remedy, cheaper, more accessible and
less difficult, is found in that _great diversity_ of habits and
character, which mark the vegetable races. We shall, therefore, in
what remains of this section, indicate the principal of these, as
furnishing the basis of all rational agriculture.
1st. _Plants have different systems of roots, stems and leaves,
and adapt themselves accordingly to different kinds of soils:_
the Tussilago prefers clay, the Spergula sand; Asparagus will
not flourish on a bed of granite nor Musus Islandicus on one of
alluvion. It is obvious, that _fibrous rooted_ plants, which occupy
only the surface of the earth, can subsist on comparatively stiff
and compact soils in which those of the leguminous and cruciform
families would perish, from inability to penetrate and divide.
2d. _Plans of the same, or of a similar kind, do not follow each
other advantageously in the same soil._ Every careful observer must
have seen how grasses alternate in meadows or pastures, where nature
is left to herself. At one time, timothy, at another clover, at a
third red-top, and at a fourth blue grass prevails. The same remark
applies to forest trees; the original growth of wood, is rarely
succeeded by a second of the same kind; pine is followed by oak, oak
by chesnut, chesnut by hickory. A young apple tree will not live
in a place where an old one has died; even the pear tree does not
thrive in succession to an apple tree, but stone fruit will follow
either with advantage. "In the Gautinois (says Bosc,) saffron is not
resumed but after a lapse of twenty years; and in the Netherlands,
flax and colzat require an interval of six years. Peas, when they
follow beans, give a lighter crop than when they succeed plants of
another family."[4]
[4] The ill effect of a succession of crops of the same kind was
not unknown to the Romans. We have proof of this in the following
passage of Festus: "Resistilibus ager fit qui continuo biennio
seseritur farreo spico id est aristato, quad ne fiat _solent, qui
pradia locant, excipere_."
3d. _Vegetables, whether of the name family or not, having a similar
structure of roots, should not succeed each other._ It has been
observed, that trees suffer considerably by the neighbourhood of
sainfoin and lucern, on account of the great depth to which the
roots of these plants penetrate--whereas culmiferous grasses do them
no harm.
4th. _Annual or biennial trefoils, prevent the escape of moisture by
evaporation, or filtration, from sandy and arid soils_, and should
constantly cover them in the absence of other plants;[5] while
_drying and dividing crops_, as beans, cabbages, chickory, &c. &c.
_are best fitted to correct the faults of stiff and wet clays_.
[5] The "Sterilis tellus medio versatur in æstu" of Virgil, shows
the opinion he entertained of a husbandry that left the fields
without vegetation.
5th. _When plants, are cultivated in rows or hills, and the ground
between them is thoroughly worked, the earth is kept open, divided
and permeable to air, heat and water, and accordingly receives from
the atmosphere nearly as much alimentary provision as it gives to
the plant._ This principle is the basis of the drill husbandry.
6th. _All plants permitted to go through the phases of vegetation
(and of course to give their seeds) exhaust the ground in a greater
or less degree; but if cut green, and before seeding, they take
little from the principle of fertility._
7th. _Plants are exhausters in proportion to the length of time
they occupy the soil._ Those of the culmiferous kinds (wheat, rye,
&c.) do not ripen under ten months, and during this period, forbid
the earth from being stirred: while, on the other hand, leguminous
plants occupy it but six months, and permit frequent ploughings.
This is one reason why culmiferous crops are greater exhausters than
leguminous; another is, that the stems of culmiferous plants become
hard and flinty, and their leaves dry and yellow, from the time of
flowering till the ripening of the seed--losing their inhaling or
absorbing faculties--circulating no juices, and living altogether
in their roots, and on aliments exclusively derived from the earth,
whereas leguminous or cruciferous plants, as cabbages, turnips, &c.
&c. have succulent stems, and broad and porous leaves, and draw
their principal nourishment from the atmosphere. The remains of
culmiferous crops, also are fewer, and less easily decomposed, than
those of the leguminous family.
8th. _Meadows, natural and artificial, yield the food necessary to
cattle, and, in proportion as these are multiplied, manures are
increased and the soil made better._ Another circumstance that
recommends them is, that so long as they last, they exact but little
labour, and leave the whole force of the farmer to be directed to
his arable grounds.[6]
[6] The good effect of these mixtures was known to the ancients,
from whom the practice has descended to us.
9th. _Grasses are either fibrous or tap-rooted, or both. The remarks
already made in articles 1, 2 and 3, apply also to them._ Timothy,
red-top, oat-grass and rye-grass, succeed best in stiff, wet soils.
Sainfoin does well on soils the most bare, mountainous and arid;
lucern and the trefoils, (or clovers,) only attain the perfection of
which they are susceptible, in warm, dry, calcareous earth.
10th. _The ameliorating quality of tap-rooted plants is supposed
to be in proportion to their natural duration_; annual clover,
(lupinella) has less of this property than biennial, (Dutch clover,)
biennial less than sainfoin, and sainfoin less than lucern.
11th. _Any green crop, ploughed into the soil, has an effect highly
improving_; but for this purpose, lupins and buckwheat (cut when in
flower) are most proper.
12. _Mixed crops_ (as Indian corn, pumpkins, and peas and oats,)
_are much and profitably employed_, and _with less injury to the
soil than either corn or oats alone_.
SECTION V.
Of Practical Agriculture, and its necessary Instruments.
We begin this part of our subject with a few remarks on the
instruments necessary to agriculture, which may be comprised under
the well known names of the plough, the harrow, the roller, the
threshing-machine, and the fanning mill.
I. Of the plough:
It is among the inscrutable dispensations of Providence, that the
arts most useful to man, have been of later discovery--of slower
growth, and of less marked improvement, than those that aimed only
at his destruction.--At a time, when the phalanx and the legions
were invented and perfected, and when the instruments they employed
were various and powerful, those of agriculture continued to be few,
and simple, and inefficient.
Of the Greek plough, we know nothing; and the general disuse of that
described by Virgil and Pliny, furnishes a degree of evidence, that
experience has found it incompetent to its objects.--With even the
boasted lights of modern knowledge, scientific men are not agreed
upon the form and proportion, most proper for this instrument. As
in other cases, so in this, there may be no _abstract perfection_;
what is best in one description of soil, may not be so in another;
yet, as in all soils, the office of the plough is the same, viz.
to _cleave_ and _turn over the earth_, there cannot but be some
definite shape and proportions, better fitted for these purposes,
and at the same time less susceptible of resistance, than any other.
This beau ideal, this suppositious excellence, in the mechanism of a
plough, has been the object of great national, as well as individual
research. In Great Britain, high prizes have been established for
its attainment; and in France, under the ministry of Chaptal,
10,000 francs, or $2000, were offered for this object, by the
agricultural society of the Seine. In both countries, the subject
has employed many able pens; those of Lord Kaimes, of Mr. Young,
of Mr. Arbuthnot, of Lord Somerville, and of Messieurs Duhamel,
Chateauvieux, Bosc, Guillaume, &c. It is not for us, therefore, to
do more than assemble and present such rules for the construction of
this instrument, as have most attained the authority of maxims.
1st. The beam, or that part of the plough which carries the
coulter, and furnishes the point of draft, should be as near that
of resistance as possible; because the more these are approached,
the less is the moving power required. Even the shape of the beam is
not a matter of indifference. In the old ploughs, it was generally
straight, but a small curve is now preferred; because it has the
effect of strengthening the coulter, by shortening it.
2d. The _head_ of the plough, is the plain on which it moves.
This should be concave, because that form offers fewer points of
friction, and, of course, less resistance. Between the beam and the
head, is an angle, on which depends the principal office of the
plough; the making, at will, a deep or a shallow furrow. If you wish
a deep furrow, diminish the angle, and vice versa: but this angle
should, in no case, exceed from 18 to 24 degrees.
The resistance made to the plough being produced less by the weight
of the earth, than by the cohesion of its parts, it is evident,
that the head should be shod with iron, and rendered as smooth as
possible. This remark applies equally to the soc and to the mould
board.
3d. The soc, in its widest part, should be larger than the head.
It has different shapes in different countries. In some is given
to it that of an isosceles triangle; in others, that of the head
of a lance; in Biscay, that of a crescent; and in Poland, of a two
pronged fork. But, whatever be its shape, it should be well pointed
and polished--enter the earth with facility, and cut it easily.
4th. To the _mould board_, some workmen give the shape of a
prismatic wedge; others make the upper part convex, and the lower
concave; while many make it entirely flat. In stiff soils, the _semi
cycloid_ is the form to be preferred, and in loose friable soils
the _semi-ellipsis_.[7] The iron mould boards have great advantages
over the wooden, particularly when they, the shear and the soc, form
one piece, as in the plough of Mr. Cook.
[7] See Arbuthnot on Ploughs.
It is a general opinion, that a heavy plough is more disadvantageous
than a light one; because the draft of the former, being greater,
will be more fatiguing to the cattle: but the experiments of the
agricultural society in London, establish a contrary doctrine, and
show, that in light grounds, the labour is more easily and better
performed, with a heavy, than with a light plough.
5th. The _coulter_ is a species of knife inserted in the beam, and
so placed before the soc, as to cut the sod. It is susceptible of
being raised or depressed at will.
6th. The handles of the plough ought to be made of some kind of
heavy wood, that they may operate as a counter-weight to the head,
the soc and the mould-board.
To these remarks we subjoin two sets of experiments made with
the most approved French and English ploughs; that of Guillaume,
and Small's _Rotheram plough improved_, which furnish a means of
comparison between the best ploughs of Europe and those of this
country.
The resistance (stated in these tables) was measured and ascertained
by a _dynonometer_, a machine, indispensable to those who would make
correct observations on the relative advantages of different ploughs.
_The French Plough._ _The English Plough._
Resistance in pounds. Resistance in pounds.
1st experiment 200 1st experiment 360
2d do. 240 2d do. 380
3d do. 200 3d do. 480
4th do. 220 4th do. 460
5th do. 220 5th do. 400
---- 6th do. 400
Divided by 5)1080 7th do. 420
---- 8th do. 386
Average, 216 9th do. 440
----
Divided by 9)3720
----
Average, 413
II. _The Harrow._ This is of different kinds--the triangular and
the square, the single and the double. But of whatever form, its
uses are the same; to smooth the field after ploughing, to break and
pulverize the clods, and to cover the seed.--These uses sufficiently
indicate the propriety of employing two in succession; one of
heavy frame, with few and long teeth, like the Scotch brake; the
other, of lighter constitution, with more and shorter teeth. Our
own experience leads us to believe, that the common harrow covers
the seed too much, because small seeds will not vegetate at a depth
greater than three inches.
III. _The Roller_ is a cylinder of heavy wood, turning on gudgeons,
or on an axle, and placed in a frame, to which is attached a shaft;
it is of different dimensions, but need not exceed that which may
be drawn by one, or at most by two horses or oxen. This instrument
is indispensable in good husbandry, yet is rarely used in ours.
Its offices are three-fold--to render loose soils more compact; to
break the clod on stiff ones, and on both, to compress the earth,
(after seeding) so that it be every where brought in contact with
the grain. It is also usefully employed in reinstating the roots of
meadow grasses, loosened and raised by the alternate freezing and
thawing of the ground, and, with similar view, may be passed over
winter crops early in the spring.
Its clod-breaking and pulverizing property is much increased, by
surrounding the roller with narrow bands of iron, two inches broad,
three inches thick, and six inches asunder; or by studding it with
iron points, resembling harrow teeth, and projecting three or four
inches.
IV. _The Threshing Machine_ is of English invention, and may be well
enough adapted to the taste and circumstances of rich amateurs, but
not at all to those of farmers in general. Our objections to it
are three--the first cost, which is great; the quantum of moving
power employed, which is equal to that of six horses, and the number
of hands required to attend it, which is not less than four. We
have seen, in France, a machine for the same purpose, but of much
simpler structure--called the "_Rouleau de depiquer_" which is only
a _fluted cylinder_; yet simple and cheap as this was, it could not
maintain itself against the more ancient instruments--the flail and
the horse. Still it is to be hoped, that new experiments may succeed
better and abridge the manual labour usually given to this branch of
husbandry, and, that the mechanical genius of our own country (which
is not inferior to that of any other) may be the first to combine
_power_ and _cheapness_ in this machine.
This hope is probably suggested, by the description of a new
invented threshing machine, now before me, and which I may be
permitted to transcribe from the letter of the inventor. "The
machine I have built, is three feet wide. One horse will thresh
with much ease, as much wheat as can be laid on it, by one man,
(the straw to be taken away by another,) say, from _fifty_ to _one
hundred bushels in a day_, and the saving of grain will pay for the
labour; for, I think, that with good attendance, not a particle of
grain can escape with the straw.--The expense of the machine will be
from _fifty_ to _seventy dollars_, exclusive of the moving power,
which is a wheel, about ten feet diameter, on an upright shaft, to
which a lever is fixed to hitch the horse. Into this main wheel,
a small one should be made to work, about two feet diameter, on a
shaft carrying a drum, four feet wide. With this simple gearing,
and drawn by a horse that walks well, the machine will give about
eighteen hundred strokes in a minute, and if fully attended, will,
without hard labour for the horse, thresh a _bushel every three_ or
_four minutes_. It stands in my barn, and may be seen and examined
by any one."[8]
[8] Mr. Levi M'Keen, of Poughkeepsie.
V. _The Fanning Mill_. Other things being equal, the cleanest wheat
is most easily preserved, and, on manufacture, gives the best flour,
and in the largest quantity. These considerations offer inducement
enough for the employment of this machine, which, however, besides
doing its business well, saves a great deal of time. It is too well
known to require description.
ON BONES, &c. AS MANURE.
The carbon and hydrogen abounding in oily substances fully account
for their effects; and their durability is explained from the
gradual manner in which they change by the action of air and water.
_Bones_ are much used as a manure in the neighbourhood of
London.--After being broken and boiled for grease, they are sold to
the farmer. The more divided they are, the more powerful are their
effects. The expense of grinding them in a mill would probably be
repaid by the increase of their fertilizing powers; and in the state
of powder they might be used in the drill husbandry, and delivered
with the seed in the same manner as rape cake.
Bone dust, and bone shavings, the refuse of the turning manufacture,
may be advantageously employed in the same way.
The basis of bone is constituted by earthy salts, principally
phosphate of lime, with some carbonate of lime and phosphate of
magnesia; the easily decomposed substances in bone are fat, gelatine
and cartilage, which seems of the same nature as coagulated albumen.
According to the analysis of Fourcroy and Vauquelin ox bones are
composed
Of decomposable animal matter, 51
phosphate of lime, 37.7
carbonate of lime, 10
phosphate of magnesia, 1.3
-----
100.
-----
M. Merat Guillot has given the following estimate of the composition
of the bones of different animals.
Phosphate of lime. Carbonate of lime.
Bone of Calf, 54
Horse, 67.5 1.25
Sheep, 70 5
Elk, 90 1
Hog, 52 1
Hare, 85 1
Pullet, 72 1.5
Pike, 64 1
Carp, 45 5
Horses' Teeth, 85.5 25
Ivory, 64 1
Hartshorn, 27 1
---- ----
The remaining parts of the 100 must be considered as decomposable
animal matter.
_Horn_ is a still more powerful manure than bone, as it contains a
larger quantity of decomposable animal matter. From 500 grains of
ox-horn, Mr. Hatchett obtained only 1-5 grains of earthy residuum,
and not quite half of this was phosphate of lime. The shaving or
turnings of horn form an excellent manure, though they are not
sufficiently abundant to be in common use. The animal matter in them
seems to be of the nature of coagulated albumen, and it is slowly
rendered soluble by the action of water. The earthy matter in horn
and still more that in bones, prevents the too rapid decomposition
of the animal matter, and renders it very durable in its effects.
--[_Davy's Ag. Chem._
FRENCH AGRICULTURE.
The Moniteur contains a very long report by Decaze, which is
published, as having been approved of by the king on the state
of agriculture in France. It appears from this document that
the fostering care of the government is steadily, and in most
instances, successfully, exercised in promoting every branch of
cultivation adapted to the French soil and climate. One branch,
that of the culture of the beet root, which it was supposed would
have languished on the restoration of the sugar colonies, is stated
to be gradually but firmly extending itself, and its encouragement
is recommended to the government, among other considerations, on
the special ground on which it was originally introduced, that of
rendering France independent of foreign supplies of sugar in a
period of war. It has been affirmed, that those who manufacture
into sugar beet root, raised on their own farms, realized a profit
of 25 per cent.; and on the supposition that a quantity were raised
adequate to supply the total consumption of sugar in France, it is
said that the refuse of the beet root would of itself suffice to
fatten for the market annually 120,000 head of cattle.--There are
now about twenty beet root sugar refineries in full activity.
GEORGETOWN, (S.C.) April 20.
_An Agricultural Prize worth winning._--We are informed by a
gentleman from Stateburg, that fourteen or more members of the
Claremont Agricultural Society, of that neighbourhood, have agreed
to plant, each an acre of ground in corn, to be manured and
cultivated at pleasure.--The planter producing the most neat corn
to the acre, (as a reward for his superiour farming) is to receive
the produce of every other acre. The land to be planted must be high
land, and have been cleared at least five years. A committee of five
members were appointed to approve of the land, to superintend the
gathering and measuring the corn, and to report to the Society at
its meeting in the fall, when we will be able to inform our readers
of the successful planter, and the neat product of each acre.
ON THE CULTURE OF THE SUGAR MAPLE.
This valuable tree seems to be equally well adapted for ornament
and for profit. No tree, of the deciduous class, is more elegant
in appearance, and but few grow more rapidly, or live to a greater
length of years. Its shade is but little injurious to the growths of
grain, and still less to those of grass. For fuel it is inferiour to
no wood whatever. It may be cultivated in mowing and pasture lands,
probably as closely as at the rate of 20 trees on an acre, without
any essential injury to the pasture, or growth of the meadow. The
quantity of sugar to be made yearly from the sap of the tree must,
however, depend on its size, and on the rapidity of its growth. The
quicker its growth, the more sap may be extracted from it, because
the alburnum (sap wood) is always in the greatest proportion where
the tree is most flourishing.
The rapidity of the growth of young trees, when transplanted,
depends very essentially on the manner of performing that operation.
The greater the depth and superficial extent, to which the ground
is loosened, round where a young tree is to be set, the more rapid
will be its growth when placed in this bed of loosened earth. Let
one young tree, for instance, be set in a hole dug only 18 inches
in diameter, and a foot in depth, and let another be set in a hole
dug 6 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, and the latter will, for a number
of succeeding years, grow with more than double the rapidity of the
former. In order, then, to give the young maples a rapid start, so
as to have them soon fitted for affording considerable supplies of
sap, let due attention be paid to this particular. Let the holes
for the trees be dug, say, a foot in depth, and five in diameter,
and then spade or loosen the ground at the bottoms to the depth of 8
or 10 inches more before the young trees are to be set in.
In addition to planting maples in grounds intended as permanent
pastures, and mowing grounds, each side of the highway, leading
through any farm, might be profitably occupied and adorned with
these trees, set at the distance of about every two rods. Suppose
also that the farm house were placed in a spacious court yard, say
of an acre in extent, and this planted with a suitable number of
maples, could any thing confer more of an air of pleasantness and
elegance to the mansion?
I shall not attempt any computation of the probable profits to
be derived from this proposed improvement in rural affairs, but
doubtless the gain would be very considerable. Every farmer
might, in this way, stock his lands with a permanent growth that
would afford him a plentiful supply of sugar, that would at times
afford him additions of fuel, and that would eminently serve as an
embellishment of his domain, and all these essential advantages
would be derived without any essential diminution of the usual
products of his lands.
It is probable that if the young trees be planted in the manner just
mentioned, they would attain a size fit for tapping in about 15
years, after which they would probably afford yearly supplies of sap
for more than a century, if tapped in the manner least calculated to
injure them. This is to be performed, not by cutting large gashes
in them with an axe, but by boring one or more holes in them, with
a small auger, to the depth of about 3 inches, or at all events not
beyond the extent of the sap wood. The holes should be made every
year in different parts of the trees, sometimes higher and sometimes
lower, and after the sap has ceased running for the season, they
should be filled with pieces of durable wood, drove in, in order
that the wounds may be soon healed over by the subsequent growth of
the trees.
J. N.
[_Plough Boy_.
FLEMISH HUSBANDRY.
From the Plough Boy.
Sir--Much has been said in praise of English husbandry, though it
is a well known fact, that this vaunted system is surpassed in
many countries which do not possess equal natural advantages. In
Scotland, agriculture has progressed at least half a century beyond
that of England, where the soil and climate is far more congenial
to the productions of the earth than the "bleak mountains of
Caledonia." But no where in the world is the contrast so marked as
that between the Flemish and English mode of cultivation.
The average produce of a crop of wheat, in England, is 24 bushels
per acre. In Flanders, it is 32 bushels. In England, the system of
_fallows_ almost universally prevails. In Flanders, it has been
unknown from time immemorial; two crops, in many cases three,
being uniformly raised annually upon the same field. The following
comparative tables, as exhibited in "Vanderstracten's sketch of the
Flemish system," shew clearly and correctly its superior advantages
over that of England.
_Produce of the Flemish farmer | _Produce of the English farmer,
from one acre, for 12 | according to the Norfolk
years._ | course, for the same period._
|
Wheat, 32 bush. per | Wheat, 24 bush. per
acre 4 crops | acre, 3 crops
Barley, do. do. 4 do. | Barley, 32 do. do. 3 do.
Flax, hemp, coleseed | Turnips, 3 do.
& potatoes, 4 do. | Clover, 3 do.
Roots and vegetables |
for the food |
of cattle, 10 do. |
-------- | --------
|
In 12 years, 24 crops | In 12 years, 12 crops
This immense difference in favour of the produce of Flanders, does
not arise, as might be supposed, from its possessing a better
natural soil, or a milder climate, than England; but entirely from
the different mode of cultivation pursued in these two countries. At
no very distant period, the fields of Flanders, now so productive,
were little else but loose sand and gravel, whereas the soil of
England, was always naturally fertile, and in part, lies under a
more southerly parallel than Flanders.
The rich, abundant, and healthy crops obtained by the Flemish
farmers, may be traced to the following causes:
I. The abundance and judicious application of manure. II. Digging
all the lands on their farms with the spade, every six or every
three years. III. The complete extirpation of weeds and noxious
roots. IV. Regular and repeated hoeing. V. A careful choice, and
alternation, of grain and seeds for sowing. VI. An improved rotation
of crops.
"The whole secret (observes Vanderstracten) respecting the
superiority of Flemish agriculture, consists in this; the farmers
procure plenty of food for their cattle--food which, excepting
clover, is raised from the same lands which have already yielded
their crops of grain, &c. They keep the greatest possible number of
cattle, feed them in the stables plentifully, and render their food
palatable. They collect the greatest possible quantity of manure, of
which they preserve the fertilizing salts by a suitable process of
fermentation.--They weed their grounds thoroughly and repeatedly.
They totally extirpate noxious plants and roots, every six or every
three years, by digging all the lands on their respective farms--an
operation by which they revert to the surface a stratum of fresh
soil, that for three or for six years has been absorbing the salts
of manure as they filtrated to the bottom of the roots: a stratum
of soil which has produced no crop during the same period. They,
moreover, dress their grounds to the precise point of perfect
pulverization. These are inestimable advantages, which cannot be
obtained by any plough whatever; hence the drift of the Flemish
adage--"Never to let the naked ground lie open to the sun in summer
for more than three days."
"In truth, to say that there exists a vast province, in which the
price of lands has been quadrupled within fifty years, and which is
neither placed under a more favourable climate, nor enjoys a greater
fertility of soil, than England; from which fallows in general have
been banished from time immemorial; in which the greater part of
the lands produce in 9 years at least 15 harvests, of which those
of grain yield, one year with another, as high as 32 bushels of
wheat per acre; those of barley, 60 bushels; and those of oats, 90
bushels; and where the borders of the fields are planted with trees,
in such numbers, that by their sale the proprietors acquire, every
40 years, a sum of money equal to the soil; to say this, appears,
to other than English readers, to repeat a tissue of fables.[9] The
less informed attribute this uninterrupted succession of harvests
to the inexhaustible fertility of the soil; but intelligent and
well-informed travellers attribute it, on the contrary, and with the
best reason, to the indefatigable industry of the inhabitants, and
to a highly improved mode of culture, of the details of which they
themselves are ignorant, and which beside, from their complication,
and the great variety of the productions of the soil, require a
profound study, of many years duration, to which few of them have
either the inclination or the leisure to apply."
[9] In Flanders, wheat yields 20; rye, 26; barley, 26; and oats, 40,
for one.--Wheat holds only the fifth rank in value in the harvest of
Flanders. In England, wheat never yields more, on an average, than
10 or 11 for one; barley, something less than 10 to 1; and oats only
between 8 and 9 for one. In some highly ameliorated farms in the
county of Suffolk, Arthur Young reports a produce of 36 bushels of
wheat, and 64 bushels of barley to the acre; and that in the county
of Kent, soils of middling quality, equally ameliorated, yield per
acre 52 bushels of wheat, and the same quantity of barley. But in
Flanders, there are soils which yield much more than this--namely,
72 bushels of wheat, 120 of barley, 128 of beans, and 72 of
coleseed.--These, however, are extreme cases, which do not affect
the general question of comparative growths; while, however, they
shew that the amelioration of land, in any country, is calculated
greatly to increase its productiveness.
This correct, though "bird's eye" view, of Flemish husbandry,
merits farther amplification, in order to furnish distinct data
to the intelligent and enterprising agriculturist. My subsequent
communications will be directed to that subject.
Respectfully, yours,
GEO. HOUSTON.
_New York, April 18, 1820._
_From the Raleigh Star._
LINCOLN CORN POUNDER.
The usual mode of feeding Indian corn to cattle and hogs, is
wasteful in the extreme. The cob is not eaten, and the corn is
neither ground nor boiled. It is a well established physiological
fact, that the good health of animals requires, that the aliments
for the stomach should afford both nutriment and mechanical
distention in due proportions. In the usual method of feeding, these
proportions do not exist, and besides the nutritious quality is only
partially extracted. The grinding of corn is sometimes practised
by those who have mills, and boiling by those who have not. Meal
is sometimes mixed with hot water and fermented. All these are
improvements in feeding, but these are not sufficient. Lately, a
mill of cast iron has been invented, which converts both corn and
cob into meal, and is used also by tanners in grinding their bark.
This improvement is valuable. The cob, while it affords in itself
much nutriment, furnishes a degree of distension to the stomach,
which is necessary to its proper action. If to this grinding of the
cob and grain is superadded fermentation, or boiling, the economical
process is nearly complete. I have not time to say what the subject
requires in regard to fermentation. Boiling not only renders the
articles acted on soluble in the stomach, but it does more--it adds
nutriment furnished by the water itself. The experiments of Count
Rumford are full and satisfactory on this head. Let those who doubt
the nutritive qualities of water be reminded that many kinds of
fish live, grow and fatten in pure water, without any other food
whatever.---Every one has seen the gold fish, which have lived
for years in globes of pure water, that are sometimes put by the
curious into cages of canary birds. Water and air constitute the
entire aliment of vegetables, and give them bulk without diminishing
at all the quantity of soil in which they grow. The perfection of
feeding corn consists in preserving the cob, grinding the whole
into meal, and in the cookery. The iron mill is excellent, but too
expensive for most farmers. What is wanting, then, is to have the
corn, with its cob, powdered by some cheap and simple method, that
every one may avail themselves of. Such a one, accident lately made
me acquainted with; and I think it is so valuable that I am desirous
of seeing it introduced into general use, and shall attempt a
description of the machine by which the process was effected.
This machine I saw last summer in operation, on the road between
Lincolnton and Morgantown. It was a horizontal shaft with a beater
at one end, poised by the weight of water falling into an excavation
at the other. The shaft or helve was about fourteen, possibly
sixteen feet long. At two thirds of its length from the beater, it
rested by a notch across the sharpened edge of a piece of timber
lying in a transverse direction, serving as a pivot or fulcrum for
the shaft to move on. The beater was a piece of wood two feet, or
rather more, in length, fixed by a mortice and tennon to the end of
the shaft; its face was about two inches and a half in diameter,
and plated with iron. The mortar which received this pestal, or
beater, was the hollowed end of a log, wide at top, narrower at
bottom, and would contain nearly a bushel. The other, or shorter end
of the shaft, was excavated into a trough about three feet long,
eight inches wide, and the same in depth. The extreme inner end of
the trough formed an angle of ascent from the line of the bottom
of about 35 degrees, affording thereby an easy exit to the water
when depressed by its weight. This very simple machine, for I have
described the whole of it, was placed upon the small run of a spring
branch, where there was a descent of about two feet. The water was
conveyed into the trough by a spout which approached it at right
angles, and the trough was filled and discharged about twice in a
minute. Every morning, and again at evening, this mortar was filled
with ears of corn, which in twelve hours were found reduced to a
very fine meal. It was capable of converting to meal three or four
mortars full in a day, but two were sufficient for the use of the
plantation, and the mortar was attended to only when it could be
done with convenience. In a wet season, when the spring run afforded
more water, it moved with increased celerity, and was capable of
increased work. The machine was without cover, and I observed
barn-door fowls around it, but afraid of the motion of the shaft,
they never ventured to purloin from the mortar. The whole expense of
this, I think, could not have exceeded four or five dollars.
I know not the inventor of this machine. There were a few others, I
was told, in Lincoln and Burke. Its extreme simplicity, cheapness
and utility, and the means afforded to almost every one of putting
it in motion, ought to recommend it to general use. I am persuaded
this method of pounding corn, united to boiling or fermentation,
would double the value of crops for feeding. No rule is necessary
to be observed with regard to the dimensions, or proportions of the
machine. It must duly be noticed that the trough filled with water
is heavy enough to raise the bearer; and this can be ascertained,
and the proportions duly adjusted by experiment.----If Mr. Henderson
think but half as favourably of this machine as I do, he will give
the foregoing a place in his useful paper.
CALVIN JONES.
_Raleigh, Dec. 20, 1820._
TRANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.
_An improved method of cultivating the Alpine Strawberry._----The
strawberry is a fruit which is agreeable to the palate of so many
persons, and which disagrees with the constitution of so few, that
any means of improving the culture of it, and of prolonging the
season of its maturity and perfection, will be acceptable to the
Horticultural Society: I am therefore induced to send an account of
an improved method of cultivating the _Alpine Strawberry_, that is,
I believe, little if at all known, and that I have practised with
the best possible success.
Though the flavour of the Alpine varieties is generally approved,
they are not much thought of while the larger varieties continue in
perfection, and are valued only as an autumnal crop. I was therefore
led to try several different methods of culture, with a view to
obtain plants that would just begin to blossom when the other
varieties cease; conceiving that such plants, not having expended
either themselves, or the virtue of the soil, in a previous crop
of fruit, would afford the best and most abundant autumnal produce.
Under this impression, I sowed the seeds of the best Alpine variety
that I had ever been able to obtain, in pots of mould, in the
beginning of August, the seeds of the preceding year having been
preserved to that period; and the plants these afforded were placed,
in the end of March, in beds to produce fruit. This experiment
succeeded tolerably well; but I was not quite satisfied with it;
for though my plants produced an abundant autumnal crop of fruit,
they began to blossom somewhat earlier than I wished, and before
they were perfectly well rooted in the soil. I therefore tried the
experiment of sowing some seeds of the same variety early in the
spring, in pots which I placed in a hotbed of moderate strength in
the beginning of April, and the plants thus raised were removed to
the beds in which they were to remain in the open ground as soon
as they had acquired a sufficient size. They began to blossom soon
after midsummer, and to ripen their fruit towards the end of July,
affording a most abundant crop of very fine fruit. The powers of
life in plants thus raised, being young and energetic, operate
much more powerfully than in the runners of older plants, or even
in plants raised from seeds in the preceding year; and therefore I
think the Alpine strawberry ought always to be treated as an annual
plant.
OILING FRUIT TREES.
Sir George M'Kenzie has discovered that oil rubbed upon the stems
and branches of fruit trees destroys insects, and increases the
fruit buds. Mr. John Linning has added to the discovery, by using it
successfully upon the stems of carnations, to guard them against the
depredations of the ear-wig. The coarsest oil will suit, and only a
small quantity is required.
CULTURE OF FOREST TREES.
Sir Watkin Williams Wynn has planted within the last 5 years, in the
mountainous lands in the vicinity of Langollen, situated from 12,000
to 14,000 feet above the level of the sea, 39,000 oaks, 63,000
Spanish chesnuts, 102,000 spruce firs, 110,000 Scotch firs, 90,000
larches, 30,000 wych elms, 35,000 mountain elms, 80,000 ash, and
40,000 sycamores, all of which are at this time, in a healthy and
thriving condition.
TO PREVENT DECAY IN TREES.
When old chesnut or other trees are rotted within the trunk, and
threaten with speedy destruction by the progress of the carious
taint, it may be stopped by applying fire to the decayed part, so as
to _char_ the whole of the neighbouring surfaces. By this management
the life of a favourite tree may often be preserved.
[_Chaptal's Chemistry_.
ON PLASTER.
I have just received my _plaster_ from the mill. I remarked to the
man who brought it, that it was too coarse. He replied that all
our farmers preferred it coarse, and assigned this reason--that in
grinding it fine, _it becomes so heated as to injure it_. I delay
not a moment in expostulating against a doctrine so unphilosophical,
and so injurious to the interests of agriculture. Every farmer knows
that _grain_, as _food_ for _animals_ cannot be made too fine. Upon
the same principle, _plaster_, which is _food_ for _vegetables_,
affords the most nutriment when reduced to the finest powder.
_Heat_ so far from injuring the properties of plaster, is the best
agent for bringing them into action. This theory is the result
of repeated experiment. Calcined plaster, which is produced by a
process of _intense heat_, is found much more invigorating, and more
permanently beneficial, than plaster in its simple state.
While on this subject, I will suggest for consideration, whether
our farmers, generally spread a sufficient quantity of plaster
particularly on their grass land. Mr. Silas Gates, a well known
farmer in Marlborough, informed me, that he directed one of his men
to spread on a certain piece of mowing land, the usual quantity,
(if I mistake not, at the rate of one bushel to the acre.) He had
gone over about half the ground, at this rate, when other calls
prevented his finishing it. Soon after the business of plastering
was consigned to another, who, not knowing that any had been spread,
went over the ground, giving one half a double portion.--The result
was nearly a double portion of hay, which continued until the
surface was changed by a rotation of crops.
Your obed't, O FISKE.
Worcester, April 17, 1820.
[_Mass. Spy._
CATERPILLARS.
Farmers who are in the habit of _rearing_ CATERPILLARS, for
_ornament_ and _use_, will doubtless be gratified to learn, that
the late favourable weather has produced a goodly show of their
favourite vermin. They are already basking in the sun, and expanding
by the nutricious aliment of foliage and fruit buds; and if not
prematurely molested, (which there is little reason to apprehend) we
may, in due time, taste from our kneading troughs the former repasts
of Egypt.
Judging from the produce of last year, it may be fairly calculated
that many of our farmers, (and some who _do not belong to the
Agricultural Society_) will, this year, raise double as many
bushels of _caterpillars_ as of _apples_. Those (and there are
some,) who prefer the appearance and flavour of the latter, will do
well to look to their trees immediately. A thimble full of these
reptiles, which can now be destroyed in an instant, would fill a
hat a month hence, and would require tenfold the labour to subdue
them. Every farmer's common sense will suggest the best method of
extirpation.--_Ibid._
_A method of taking the Honey without destroying the Bees._--The
common practice of killing the bees, in order to obtain the honey,
few can witness without some little compunction; and as there is
a very simple method of effecting the object without any injury
to this most interesting little animal, (which, on the score of
interest, as well as humanity, claims regard,) I beg leave to
communicate it through your paper, should you deem it worthy a place
in it.
In the evening, when the bees have retired, take the hive gently
from the stand; spread a table cloth on the ground; set the hive on
it, placing something under to raise it three or four inches; then
draw up the corners of the cloth, and fasten them tight around the
middle of the hive, leaving it so loose below, that the bees will
have sufficient room between it and the hive--then raise the lid of
the hive a little, and blow in the smoke from a segar; a few puffs
of which, as it is very disagreeable, will drive them down: continue
raising the lid gradually, blowing in the smoke all around, and in
a few minutes it will be found that they have all gone out of the
hive. You may then take off the lid, and cut away as much of the
honey as you may think proper. If the operation be performed the
beginning of July, you may take nearly all, as there will be time
enough to provide a sufficiency for their support during the winter.
As soon as you have taken the honey, put on the lid, loosen the
cloth, and spread it out, and in an hour or two the bees will have
returned into the hive. It may then be replaced on the stand, and on
the following day they will be found at work as usual.
This method is very simple, and preferable to that sometimes
practised, of driving the bees into another hive; as you get all
the honey, and moreover the new comb, which is still empty; and the
young bees, not yet out of the cells, are preserved. There is also
danger in driving, of their not liking their new habitation, and, in
that case, of their sallying out and making war on their neighbours.
The above method has frequently been practised by myself and others,
and we have always found it to do well.
AMATOR MELLIS.
_Washington, June, 1819._ [_Am. Farm._
_Conversion of Rags into Sugar._--We find this is no joke. There is
in the _Annales de Chemie_ a long and very circumstantial account,
from the pen of M. Henry Braconnot, of Geneva, of the whole process
of this singular discovery; and are now so well satisfied there is
nothing of "pleasantry" in the matter, as at first sight appeared
to many, that, should we be told to-morrow that, as linen may
be converted into its constituent principle, sugar--(a piece of
fine Irish linen into a loaf of double refined!)--so may wool be
converted into its constituent principle, fat--(an old threadbare
coat into a basin of fine gravy soup!)--we shall be prepared to look
quite grave at the announcement.
"The conversion of wood into sugar (says M. Braconnot) will, no
doubt, appear remarkable; and when persons not familiar with
chemical speculations are told that a pound weight of rags can be
converted into _more_ than a pound of sugar, they may regard the
statement as a piece of pleasantry, though nothing can be more real."
The agent in making this wonderful conversion is sulphuric acid,
and those to whom it may not be enough to know that the thing can
be done, will find ample directions as to the _modus operandi_ in
M. Braconnot's Memoir. We shall content ourselves here with one
extract:
"I made these 359.2 gr. of sugary matter (obtained from old cloth
well dried) into the consistency of sirup; at the end of twenty-four
hours it began to crystallize; and some days after, the whole was
solidified into a single mass of crystallized sugar, which was
pressed strongly between several folds of old cloth; crystallized
a second time, this sugar was passably pure; but, treated with
_animal_ charcoal, it became of a shining whiteness.--The crystals
were in spherical groupes, which appear to be formed by the union
of small diverging and unequal plates. They are fusible at the
temperature of boiling water. This sugar, of a fresh and agreeable
flavour, produced in the mouth a slight sensation of coolness. It
dissolves in hot alcohol, and crystallizes by cooling. Dissolved
in water, and mixed with a little yeast, it fermented; the vinous
liquor which resulted, furnished alcohol by distillation. Burned
with potash, and its charcoal washed with diluted nitric acid, it
yielded a fluid not troubled by nitrate or barytes. It would be
useless to insist farther on the properties of this sugar: it is
evident that it is perfectly identical with the sugar of grapes or
of starch."
RUTA BAGA EXPERIMENTS.
1819, July 27--Sowed three fourths of an acre of Ruta Baga, in
ground prepared as follows, viz.--Stubble turned in deep--harrowed
fine--furrowed deep at four feet distance--filled the furrows with
_earth burnt ashes_, (burnt according to the plan prescribed by Mr.
Cobbett, in his "Year's Residence,") which I covered by turning a
furrow over them on each side; this formed a ridge about eighteen
inches broad at top, which being smoothed a little with a hoe, and a
drill made along the middle of it with the same instrument; I then
sowed the seed and covered it with a hoe, from one to two inches
deep; it came up on the 7th of August. When the roots were nearly
a fourth of an inch thick, I thinned them to about a foot distance
in the rows, and kept them free from weeds by two good ploughings
and hoeings, (they would have been the better for a third)
notwithstanding the unexpected dry season;--the last of November,
many of them would measure fifteen inches in circumference--I left
them to stand in the ground all winter. I was off the state, from
the middle of December to the middle of February; on my return at
the latter period, the snow had just disappeared, when I found my
turnips had grown at least one fifth larger, since I saw them in
December; many of them measuring six to seven inches diameter. The
latter part of February was unusually warm for the season. The tops
began to grow rapidly, but the severe cold nights of the early part
of March, first freezing, and the warmth of the middle of the day,
as often thawing them; many rotted in the ground--had they been
pulled when the warm weather _commenced_, this would have been
prevented. They are the cheapest, and with the exception of corn,
they are the best food for milch cows and hogs, I ever met with--I
have been feeding mine upon them for the last 6 weeks. Within a
week past, I had them all pulled, (except those left for seed,) and
thrown in heaps. Should the weather prove too warm, I shall spread
them, in which way they will keep good until midsummer. Having
repeatedly heard it asserted, that horses would not eat them, I
determined to ascertain the truth of the assertion; accordingly, a
parcel of them were washed and cut in pieces, and each horse served
with about 3 galls. of them, when two out of five eat them greedily,
two others eat them, but with less appetite, and the fifth refused.
They had no other food allowed them for the night, and the next
morning not the smallest piece was to be found in their trough.
[_Am. Far._
THE FRUIT GARDEN.
Mr. Southwick,
The art of inoculating or budding fruit trees, (although the
simplest and easiest of all things,) appears to be deemed a mystery
by most of our farmers, and is too generally neglected, under
a belief that it is a difficult or expensive operation. If the
following short directions should prove the means of changing even
one thorn bush into a pear or quince tree, I shall be fully paid for
the trouble of scribbling them down.
In the month of August and fore part of September, cut from the tree
you wish to increase some of the young wood of the last summer's
growth, (the cuttings should be thrifty and healthy) cut the leaves
off, leaving about half an inch of the foot stalk on the cutting;
at the foot, and immediately above the foot stalk, _lies the bud_;
with a keen knife begin to cut half an inch above the bud, and bring
out the knife a little below, taking about half the woody substance
with it; then separate the bark from the wood, carefully observing
that the bud be not injured in the operation. If the operation be
properly performed, the bud will be separated from the wood, and
remain unbroken and entire in the bark: this bark and bud is now
to be speedily inserted into the tree you wish to change. Choose a
smooth spot in some young and healthy branch, or sprout, and with a
keen knife cut gently through the bark, about one inch in length,
and a small cross cut near the upper end; separate the bark gently
from the wood at this cross cut, being careful not to wound the bark
or wood, and immediately insert the bud, laying it smooth and even
under the bark of the tree; with a string of bass wood bark, or
woollen yarn, tie it in so as to hold it close to the wood, being
careful not to injure the bud nor foot stock--and the operation is
done.--In two or three weeks after, the bud will have united to
the wood, and the tyings should be loosened or taken away. The
bud will remain dormant until the next spring. In April following,
they should be examined, and if the buds then appear healthy and
vigorous, the branch should be cut off immediately above the bud,
and removed: in a few weeks this bud will take place of the old
branch, and in two years produce fruit of the kind you wish.
By this simple operation, the ordinary sour peach tree, which is an
incumberer of the ground, may be made to yield the delicious Rare
Ripe, the Early Ann, or other favourite peaches; or may be converted
into a plum tree: and the ordinary _wild plum tree_ may be made to
yield the richest and most delicious of our cultivated plums and
peaches; our thorn bushes may be made to yield the rich and luscious
pear; and our crab apple stalks be loaded with the finest varieties
of our cultivated apples and cherries; apricots and nectarines are
equally susceptible of improvement by the same easy means; nay, our
wild gooseberry bushes may be converted into the best varieties, and
our native grape may be made to yield an elegant dessert fruit.--All
which I know by
EXPERIENCE.
[_Plough Boy_.
THE PEAR TREE.
A pear tree, brought from Holland, and planted in the year 1647, is
now in full bloom, standing in the Third Avenue at the intersection
of Thirteenth Street, New York. This is probably the oldest fruit
tree in America. About 70 years ago the branches of the tree decayed
and fell off, and at that time it was supposed the tree was dying;
but without any artificial means being resorted to, new shoots
germinated and gradually supplied the room of their predecessors.
The tree now is in full health and vigour, and appears to be not
more than 30 years old; the fruit ripens the latter part of August,
has a rich succulent flavour, and has been known by the name of the
spice pear.
[_Evening Post._
_On raising young Potatoes in the Winter months._--In the beginning
of May, lay a quantity of the largest ox-noble Potatoes, on a dry
cellar floor, two or three deep, and turn them over once in about
three weeks, rubbing off all the white sprouts as they appear, but
not the spawn or rudiments of the young potatoes. At the end of
September, have ready a few boxes; at the bottom of each put six
inches of decayed leaves, dried to a vegetable mould, and place
upon it a single layer of potatoes, close to each other; then put
another layer of the same mould, six inches deep, then another of
potatoes, and so on till the boxes are full.--Set the boxes in a dry
covered place, free from frost, never giving them any water.--They
will produce good fine young potatoes in December; and those which
are ready may be taken off, and the old potatoes replaced until the
remainder of the produce shall be ready.
_Cure for foundered horses, by a surgical operation._--"The
operation has succeeded admirably and will probably lead to a
similar practice in the human subject. It has hitherto failed
frequently in the _Tic Doloureux_ and other diseases, either
from the regeneration of the divided nerve producing a union and
restoration of sensation, or from the effect being produced by
the swelling of the ends of the cut nerve sufficient to effect
the union. But the excision of two inches in length effectually
prevents such a restoration of feeling. Mr. Sewell, the well known
assistant professor at the Veterinary College, who has the exclusive
claim to this improvement, in the course of the last eighteen
months, performed this operation on above 100 horses, with uniform
success, except perhaps two or three cases, in which there was
great organical disease of the foot. Although the operation requires
the skill of Mr. Sewell, it is very simple. It consists in cutting
down upon the trunks of the nerves which enter the foot in contact
with the arteries, on each side of either the small or large pastern
joint, and then removing a piece of the nerve. A few minutes after
the operation, the animal walks and trots like a sound horse, which
just before could scarcely move at all, and then in extreme pain.
The principle is obvious--it is that of removing the conductors of
sensation from the seat in the disease to the brain. The division of
the arteries accompanying the nerves is carefully avoided."--_Journ.
Arts and Science._
_To destroy insects which infest fruit trees._--Take a small
quantity of unslackened lime, mix it with soft water, to the
consistency of very thin whitewash--apply this mixture with a brush,
to the trees, as soon as the sap begins to rise, and wash the
stems and large boughs with it, taking care to have it done in dry
weather, that it may adhere and withstand rain. In the course of
the ensuing summer, this will be found to have removed all the moss
and insects, and give to the bark a fresh and green appearance. The
trial is simple, and not attended with much trouble, expense, or
danger.
AGRICULTURAL MEMORANDA.
_Oranges, &c._--If the cuttings of _Lemons_ or _Oranges_ are placed
in a pot, or box, so as to _touch_ the bottom of it, it will
considerably facilitate their growth.
_To preserve Peaches from frost._--After a cold night when there is
any appearance of frost on the _bloom_, or _young fruit_ of peach
trees--wet it thoroughly with cold water. Even if the blossoms are
discoloured, this operation recovers them, provided it is done in
the morning before the sun shines upon them.[10]
[10] This seems to be analogous to the condition of a frost bitten
joint or limb, which is recovered by the application of cold water;
but injured, sometimes destroyed, by being brought near a fire, or
the influence of sudden warmth.
_Method of forcing Fruit Trees to bear fruit._--With a sharp knife
make a cut in the bark of the branch, which you mean to force to
bear, and not far from the place where it is connected with the
stem; or if it be a small branch, or shoot, near where it is joined
to the larger bough. The cut is to go round the branch, or to
encircle it, and to penetrate to the wood. A _quarter of an inch_
from this cut, you make a second cut, like the first, round the
branch, so that by both encircling the branch, you have marked a
ring upon the branch a quarter of an inch broad, between the two
cuts. The bark between these two cuts you take clean away, with the
knife, down to the wood, removing even the fine inner bark which
lies upon the wood; so that no connection whatever remains between
the two parts of the bark, but the bare and naked wood appears white
and smooth. But this bark ring, which is to compel the tree to bear,
must be made at the right time, that is, when in all nature the buds
are strongly swelling, or are breaking out into blossom. In the same
year a callus is formed at the edge of the ring, on both sides, and
the connexion of the bark that had been interrupted, is restored
again without any detriment to the tree, or the branch operated
upon, in which the artificial wound soon again grows over.
_New mode of preparing Indian Corn._--Take the corn in its green
state, when it is fit to eat; boil it; then cut it off the
cob--spread it on a cloth in the sun to dry--put it in bags, and
when boiled again, it is as sweet and good as when first pulled.
THE GREAT LAKES.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A Table, shewing the quantity of water contained in the St. Lawrence,
and all its tributary Lakes and Rivers.
(From Darby's Tour.)
---------------------+-------+-------------------+--------------------
|_Medium| |
LAKES |depth._|_Superficial Area._| _Solid Contents._
---------------------+-------+-------------------+--------------------
| Feet. | Feet. | Feet.
---------------------+-------+-------------------+--------------------
Superior, | 900 | 836,352,000,000 | 752,716,800,000,000
Huron, | 900 | 527,568,000,000 | 501,811,200,000,000
Michigan, | 900 | 376,898,400,000 | 59,208,560,000,000
Erie, | 120 | 418,176,000,000 | 50,181,120,000,000
Ontario, | 492 | 200,724,480,000 | 98,756,444,160,000
St. Lawrence, and } | | |
other rivers and } | " | 41,176,000,000 | 83,520,000,000
smaller lakes, } | | |
---------------------+-------+-------------------+---------------------
| | 2,430,894,880,000 |1,742,757,644,160,000
---------------------+-------+-------------------+---------------------
Lake Superior, in its greatest length, is 381 miles; its breadth
is 161; and its circumference is little less than 1152 miles--it
is as remarkable for the transparency of its waters as for its
extraordinary depth.
Lake Huron, from west to east, is 218 statute miles long; at its
western extremity it is less than one hundred miles broad; and,
at about one hundred miles from its eastern shore, it is barely
60 miles broad; but near the centre it suddenly bends away to the
southward, and is a hundred miles in breadth; making a circumference
of little less than 812 miles.
Lake Michigan deepens into a bay of 262 miles in length, by
sixty-five in breadth; and its entire circumference is 731 miles.
_Slave Trade._--A letter from Sierra Leone, dated Dec. 14, states,
that there was more slave-dealing carried on at that period in
the neighbouring rivers, than when it was allowed by the British
government.
From the Boston Gazette.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES, &c.
The first Americans who are known to have visited the Western
country, were James M'Bride, and several others, who in the year
1754 descended the Ohio river, as far as the mouth of Kentucky river.
In 1769, Colonel Daniel Boon, and a few others, undertook to explore
this vast wilderness, then so little known. After many hardships and
fatigues, they reached the neighbourhood of Lexington, where they
remained until 1771.
In 1775, Colonel Boon, with a party of soldiers and emigrants, built
fort Boonsborough, which was the first settlement made in the state
of Kentucky.
Notwithstanding many obstacles, the inhabitants of Kentucky were
estimated, in 1784, at 12,000 souls.--No settlements were made north
of the Ohio, until three or four years afterwards.
On the 1st of March, 1786, the "Ohio Company" was formed at Boston,
consisting of officers and soldiers of the Revolution, who, by an
act of Congress, were entitled to a military grant of land, in the
territory northwest of the Ohio. This company completed a contract
with Congress for one million five hundred thousand acres, on the
27th of Nov. 1787. An association of 46 men, under Gen. Rufus
Putnam, proceeded to take possession of the purchase; and on the
7th April following, they pitched their camp and cleared the ground
where Marietta now stands.
In 1788, Congress passed an ordinance establishing a colonial
government over the Northwest Territory. Arthur St. Clair was
appointed governor.
Cincinnati was first called Losantiville, but Governor St. Clair,
in 1790, altered its name. In 1789, the population of this place
consisted of only eleven families.
In 1792, a Presbyterian church was erected at Cincinnati; and the
citizens were compelled by law, to take their fire arms with them,
when they attended church. The first school was also established
this year, and consisted of about 30 scholars.
In 1792, the small pox broke out among the soldiers at Fort
Washington, and one third of the citizens and soldiers fell victims
to its ravages.--[This was the same year it spread throughout
Boston.]
Since the above period, the western country has increased in a ratio
"truly astonishing."
In 1810, the population of Cincinnati was estimated at 2300; in
1813, at about 4000; and in 1819, at more than 10,000; "an increase
truly astonishing." The greatest part of the population are stated
to be from the middle and northern states; but there is also a mixed
assemblage of emigrants, "from almost every part of Christendom; and
it is not uncommon to hear three or four different languages spoken
in the streets at the same time."
In 1819, in Cincinnati, there were 1890 buildings, many of brick and
stone, of two stories and upwards; 10 places of public worship, a
college, five banks, court-house, jail, two market houses, several
manufactories, &c.
Some of the religious societies were formed in Cincinnati, with only
ten members; and all have been created within 16 years. There are
also several Bible societies, Sabbath school societies, a medical
society, humane society, &c.
Since the introduction of steam-boats, considerable attention has
been paid at Cincinnati to exportation; and from October, 1818, to
March, 1819, it amounted to $1,334,080, and consisted of flour,
pork, bacon, lard, tobacco, &c.; while the amount of imports, for
the same period, amounted to only $500,000. In 1817, the imports
amounted to $1,442,266, and in 1818, to $1,619,000! They seem to
be convinced that the only way to relieve the western states from
their "present embarrassments," is to _export more and import less_,
which will soon effect a rapid change in their affairs.
About 60 steam-boats, from 25 to 700 tons, and many of them finished
in a style of elegance and taste, are now in successful operation,
and most of them have been built within two or three years.
There are three auctioneers in Cincinnati, 25 attorneys, 22
physicians, 3 companies of "Independent Military," handsomely
uniformed, whose appearance is "nowise inferior to the Eastern
Military."
Three newspapers are now printed at Cincinnati, all upon an imperial
sheet.
It is estimated, that 120,000 bushels of salt are sold annually at
Cincinnati, which at $1.50 amounts to $180,000. The various kinds of
lumber sold are estimated at $150,000 a year.
We might enlarge these items, and several other articles worthy of
record, but our limits will not permit.
THE ROBBER DISAPPOINTED.
A few months ago, a farmer living a few miles from Easton, sent his
daughter on horseback to that town, to procure from the bank smaller
notes in exchange for one of one hundred dollars. When she arrived
there the bank was shut, and she endeavoured to effect her object by
offering it at several stores, but could not get her note changed.
She had not gone far on her return, when a stranger rode up to the
side of her horse, and accosted her with so much politeness that she
had not the slightest suspicion of any evil intention on his part.
After a ride of a mile or two, employed in very social conversation,
they came to a retired part of the road, and the gentleman commanded
her to give him the bank note. It was with some difficulty that she
could be made to believe him in earnest, as his demeanour had been
so friendly; but the presentation of a pistol placed the matter
beyond a doubt, and she yielded to necessity. Just as she held
the note to him, a sudden puff of wind blew it into the road, and
carried it gently several yards from them. The discourteous knight
alighted to overtake it, and the lady whipped her horse to get out
of his power, and the other horse who had been left standing by her
side, started off with her. His owner fired a pistol, which only
tended to increase the speed of all parties, and the young lady
arrived safely at home with the horse of the robber, on which was
a pair of saddlebags. When these were opened, they were found to
contain, besides a quantity of counterfeit bank notes, _fifteen
hundred dollars in good money_! The horse was a good one, and when
saddled and bridled, was thought to be worth at least as much as the
bank note that was stolen.
As this story is somewhat wonderful, I enclose you my name as a
voucher for the truth of it, and am yours, &c.
[_Nat. Recorder_.
MARIVAUX.
The following anecdotes from _Esprit de Marivaux_, a book, probably,
not known to many of your readers, may serve to amuse some of them.
Marivaux was scarcely less remarkable for his indolence than
his wit.--He was said to be "by nature the laziest creature
in the world;" but his goodness appeared on the most trifling
circumstances. He was one day setting out for the country with Mad.
Lallemand de Bez. Marivaux and the lady's sister were already in
the coach; she staid behind to give some orders to her domestics.
In this interval, a sturdy young fellow, about eighteen or twenty,
plump and fresh coloured, came to the coach door begging. Marivaux,
struck with the contrast between the appearance and profession of
the man, looked out, and reproved him. "Are you not ashamed,"
said he, "a young fellow in perfect health and vigour, to have the
meanness to beg your bread, when you might procure it by honest
labour?" The fellow, struck with this rebuke, was, at first,
confounded and silent; but presently afterwards, scratching his
head, exclaimed with a shrug and a sigh, "_Ah! sir, if you did but
know--I am so lazy!_" Marivaux, who was himself sensible of the pain
of labour, was so pleased with the fellow's confession, that he gave
him a crown.
Fontenelle having heard that Marivaux was sick, and having just
reason to fear that he, who never laid by any money, might be in
want of it at such an exigence, went to him, and when they were
alone, told him his suspicions. "Perhaps," says he, "more money may
be convenient to you than you have by you.--Friends should never
wait to be solicited; here is a purse with a hundred louis d'ors,
which you must permit me to leave at your disposal."--"I consider
them (said Marivaux) as received and used; permit me now to return
them with the gratitude that such a favour ought to excite."--"What
benevolence and generosity, in one of these friends," says the
author, "what delicacy and greatness of mind in the other!"
[_Nat. Gaz._
_A curious phenomenon._--Extract of a letter dated May 4th, 1820,
from a respectable physician of Northumberland, Pennsylvania, to an
eminent member of the faculty in this city.
"About twelve years ago the wife of the parish minister had twins.
She was a debilitated nervous woman. Her mother a healthy old lady
of seventy-five, who firmly believed the prayers of the faithful
could remove mountains, began to think what a comfortable thing it
would be, if she could nurse one of the twins. The consequence was,
that her breasts filled with milk, and she nursed it for twelve
months, affording all that time an abundant supply, to the great
relief of the mother.
"This story cannot be contradicted; for the most respectable persons
in Northumberland have related it to me, persons who could not be
deceived, and would not deceive me. They say that she often carried
the child abroad in the course of her visiting, telling the wonder
wherever she went, and giving her friends ocular demonstration of
the lactiferous miracle."
[_Ibid_.
_Works of Fiction._--Hannah More, in her last work, remarking on
the subject of "unprofitable reading," observes, "many works of
fiction may be read with safety, some even with profit; But the
constant familiarity even with such as are not exceptionable in
themselves, relaxes the mind that wants hardening, dissolves the
heart which wants fortifying, stirs the imagination which wants
quieting, irritates the passions which want calming, and, above all,
disinclines and disqualifies for active virtues, and for spiritual
exercises. The habitual indulgence in such reading is a silent,
mining mischief. Though there is no act, and no moment, in which any
open assault on the mind is made, yet the constant habit performs
the work of a mental atrophy; it produces all the symptoms of decay,
and the danger is not less for being more gradual, and, therefore,
less suspected."
GREENSBOROUGH, _(Pa.) May 5, 1820_.
_Law Case._--JACK VS. MAUNS.--The plaintiff brought suit against
defendant for a rifle gun, which defendant had exchanged for a
horse. The defendant insisted on the bargain being annulled, on
the ground of a special agreement, that if he did not like the
horse, he should be returned within a stipulated time. The cause
was referred to arbitrators, who awarded, that the plaintiff should
take back the horse, and the defendant his gun, the spectators pay
the drink, and the justice the cost of arbitrators. Judgment on the
award--_parties satisfied_.
THE SPANISH INQUISITION.
During the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, and in the Pontificate
of Innocent VIII. the Inquisition was established for the
prosecution of heretics. It was originally intended to take
cognizance of only the Jews and Moors--but so rapidly did it extend
its influence, that during the sway of Torquemada, the first
Inquisitor-General, it was calculated that 6000 persons were burnt
by his order; and upwards of 20,000 fell victims in various other
ways. From the above period to the present time, it is impossible
to calculate the number of persons who have fallen victims to its
horrid cruelties. The late revolutions in Spain have abolished the
Inquisition, opened the doors of its prisons, and set the captives
free. This measure alone is a subject of the highest congratulation
to the friends of freedom throughout the world.
[_N. Y. D. Adv._
_Mr. Ellery._--The venerable Mr. Ellery, the subject of the extract
which we give below, was one of the signers of the Declaration
of Independence, and upwards of ninety years old when he died.
The writer of the letter is a gentleman of Rhode Island, of much
distinction, who was intimately acquainted with the deceased.
_Extract of a letter, dated Newport, (R. I.) March 14, 1820_.
"Old Mr. Ellery died like a philosopher. In truth death, in its
common form, never came near him. His strength wasted gradually for
the last year, until he had not enough left to draw in his breath,
and so he ceased to breathe. The day on which he died, he got up and
dressed himself, took his old flag-bottomed chair, without arms,
in which he had sat for more than half a century, and was reading
Tully's Offices in the Latin without glasses, though the print was
as fine as that of the smallest pocket Bible. Dr. W. stopped in on
his way to the Hospital, as he usually did; and on perceiving the
old gentlemen could scarcely raise his eyelids to look at him, took
his hand, and found that his pulse was gone. After drinking a little
wine and water, Dr. W. told him his pulse beat stronger. "O yes,
Doctor, I have a charming pulse. But," he continued, "it is idle to
talk to me in this way. I am going off the stage of life, and it is
a great blessing that I go free from sickness, pain and sorrow."
Some time after, his daughter, finding him become extremely weak,
wished him to be put to bed, which he at first objected to, saying
he felt no pain, and there was no occasion for his going to bed.
Presently after, however, fearing he might possibly fall out of his
chair, he told them they might get him upright in the bed, so that
he could continue to read. They did so, and he continued reading
Cicero very quietly for some time; presently they looked at him and
found him dead, sitting in the same posture, with the book under his
chin, as a man who becomes drowsy and goes to sleep."
_[National Gazette_.
_Benjamin West._--This distinguished American artist died in London
at the advanced age of 82, being born on the 10th of October, 1738,
in Chester county, Pennsylvania. His genius and industry as a
painter have never been surpassed, and his productions will long be
admired for their great and unrivalled merit. He was much attached
to his native country, and took great pleasure in conversing
with his fellow citizens, and giving every facility to American
artists--he viewed our progress in arts and in science, with deep
interest, and his long absence did not alienate his affections from
his native land. "Yesterday," said he to an American, "was fifty
years since I first arrived in London--I remember travelling on
the top of the Canterbury coach, and stopping about two miles from
London, at a mean tavern, and taking a dinner before I entered the
metropolis to seek my fortune; and I could not avoid yesterday going
to the same tavern, calling for a dinner alone in the same room,
looking back on the fifty years I had spent, the progress I had made
in my profession, the friends I possessed, and the adventures I had
met with." This was a singular epoch in the life of an individual.
[_Nat. Advocate._
MISCELLANY.
_Other people's eyes the cause of ruin._--Almost all the parts of
the body, says Dr. Franklin, require some expense. The feet demand
shoes; the legs stockings; the rest of the body, clothing; and
the stomach a good deal of victuals. Our eyes, though exceedingly
useful, ask, when reasonable, only the cheap assistance of
spectacles, which would not much impair our finances. But the eyes
of _other people_ are the eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were
blind, I should want neither fine clothes, fine house nor fine
furniture.
_Enormous Bird._--Mr. Henderson has discovered, in New Siberia, the
claws of a bird, measuring each a yard in length; and the Yaknts
assured him they had frequently in their hunting excursions, met
with skeletons, and even feathers of this bird, the quills of which
were large enough to admit a man's arm. This is a fact in support of
the tradition, that the earth was formerly inhabited by giants, for
men, not exceeding ourselves in stature, would have been helpless
against birds of prey of this magnitude.
_Martial glory._--In the Edinburgh Review of Dr. Seybert's
"Statistical Annals of the United States," there is an admonition
to the Americans to abstain from martial glory. "We can inform
them," (says the Reviewer) "what are the inevitable consequences of
being too fond of glory. Taxes upon every article which enters into
the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed under the foot--taxes
upon every thing which is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, or
taste--taxes upon warmth, light, or locomotion--taxes on every thing
on earth, and the waters under the earth--of every thing that comes
from abroad, or is grown at home--taxes on the raw material--taxes
on every fresh value that is added to it by the industry of
men--taxes on the sauce which pampers man's appetite, and the drug
that restores him to health--on the ermine which decorate the judge,
and the rope which hangs the criminal--on the poor man's salt, and
the rich man's spice--on the brass nails of the coffin, and the
ribands of the bride--at bed or at board, couchant or levant, we
must pay! The school boy whips his taxed top--the beardless youth
manages his taxed horse with a taxed bridle on a taxed road; and
the dying Englishman, pouring his medicine which has paid seven per
cent., into a spoon which has paid fifteen per cent., flings himself
back upon his chintz bed, which has paid twenty-two per cent.--makes
his will on an 8l. stamp, and expires in the arms of an apothecary,
who has paid 100l. for the privilege of putting him to death.--His
whole property is then taxed from 2 to 10 per cent., besides the
probate. Large fees are demanded for burying him in the chancel; his
virtues are handed down to posterity on taxed marble; and he is then
gathered to his fathers to be taxed no more."
_Law Intelligence.--R. & C. Rhodes, vs. Peleg Congdon._ The court
are of opinion that the legal mode of computing interest, where
there have been partial payments, is, to cast the interest on the
principal, up to the time of the first payment, which add to the
principal; and from this sum deduct the payment, and so on through
all the endorsements when one year or more intervenes between the
payments, provided the sum paid is greater than the sum due for
interest, when the payment is made; if less than such sum is paid,
to be applied towards the payment of interest; and where the note
or mortgage has not run one year, then, cast the interest tin the
payment, as well as the principal, up to the end of the year.--The
above decision was made by the Supreme Court, at their late April
term, in Kent, Maryland.
_On Books._--Dr. Aikin in his valuable letters from a Father to a
Son, thus elucidates the value of a Library:--"Imagine (says he)
that we had it in our power to call up the shades of the greatest
and wisest men that ever existed, and obliged them to converse with
us on the most interesting topics--what an inestimable privilege
should we think it!--how superior to all common enjoyments! But in
a well furnished library we, in fact, possess this power. We can
question Xenophon and Cæsar on their campaigns--make Demosthenes and
Cicero plead before us--join in the audiences of Socrates and Plato,
and receive demonstrations from Euclid and Newton. In books we have
the choicest thoughts of the ablest men in their best dress. We can,
at pleasure, exclude dulness and impertinence, and open our doors to
wit and good sense alone. Without books, I have never been able to
pass a single day to my entire satisfaction; with them, no day has
been so dark as not to have had its pleasure. Even pain and sickness
have for a time been charmed away by them. By the easy provision
of a book in my pocket, I have frequently worn through long nights
and days in the most disagreeable parts of my profession, with
all the difference in my feelings between calm content and fretful
impatience."
_European Literature._---The catalogue of the fair of Leipsic, for
1819, contains one thousand two hundred and sixteen new works, in
Greek, Latin, and German; thirty-eight novels, thirty dramatic
pieces, twenty-seven geographical maps, fifty-nine pieces of music;
and seventy-seven works in foreign languages, the French, Italian,
Polish, Bohemian, Danish, and Spanish.
_Egypt._--The last news from this country, of inexhaustible
curiosity, contains information respecting the labours of that
magnificent undertaking, the Grand Canal of Alexandria. Already
the primary effects of it have given an impulse to agriculture and
industry, such as might be expected from it. The culture of cotton,
of the sugar cane, of the mulberry tree, is beginning to assume
a degree of activity, as also the rearing of silkworms; and some
important new manufactories are already at work, holding out the
promise of future commercial prosperity.
_Lakes in New Holland._--It appears that two large seas or sheets of
water have been discovered in the interior of New Holland, supplied
chiefly by two considerable rivers, whose sources are on the western
side of the Blue Mountains.
_Missions in India._--The Reverend James Bryce, in a sermon
preached in Calcutta, March, 1818, said, "Zeal the most active and
disinterested, and diligence the most assiduous, have not been
spared by the Christian missionary, in his pious attempts to convert
the natives of India. But, alas! it may be doubted, if at this day
he boasts a single proselyte to his creed, over whom he is warranted
to rejoice."
_Increase of Taxes in England._--A meeting of the magistrates, and
other owners and occupiers of land in Monmouthshire, was held lately
at Abergavenny, for the purpose of petitioning Parliament for
relief. The 1st clause of the petition states, "That the farmer at
this time can obtain but little more for his corn than in the year
1793, although the taxes are increased _four fold_, and the poors'
rates above trebled, since that period."
_British Exports._--The exports of white and plain calicoes from
Great Britain, were--In 1814, 58,928,174 yards; in 1815, 65,669 930;
in 1816, 50,251,102; and in 1817, 63,525,555.
_Scull of king Robert the Bruce._--Lately in the church of
Dumfermline, the grave of the celebrated warrior king Robert the
Bruce was opened, in presence of a numerous assemblage of men of
rank and science. The scull, and various parts of the skeleton,
were in a state of preservation: now that the opinions of Gall
and Spurzheim are not passed over as mere pieces of quackery, the
curiosity of anatomists, and even of the public in general, was
excited by this invaluable opportunity of inspecting and examining
such a scull as that of king Robert the Bruce. We are told, that
several of the propensities of this great man, were strongly
expressed in the eminences of the scull--in particular, that the
organ of _combativeness_ was the most prominent of the whole.
_Power of Ice._--The following singular account of the power of ice,
is taken from an English periodical publication, of January 1820.
"Huyghens, in order to try the force with which ice would expand
itself when confined, filled a cannon, the sides of which were an
inch thick, with water, and then closed the mouth and touch hole so
that none could escape. The instrument, thus filled was exposed in
a strong freezing air. In less than twelve hours the water within
was frozen, and began to dilate itself with such force, that it
actually burst the piece in two different places. Mathematicians
have calculated the force of the ice on this occasion; such a
force, they say, would raise a weight of 27,730 pounds. From hence,
therefore, we need not be surprised at the effects of ice destroying
the substance of vegetables, trees, and even splitting rocks, when
the frost is carried to excess.
"The late frost produced quite a phenomenon at the back of the
Cold-Bath-Fields prison, where the New River Water Company's leading
iron pipes cross the Fleet Ditch. The pipes not having been properly
cemented, or the cement having worn away, the water had spouted up
high in the air: and when the very severe weather was, it commenced
freezing, and continued to freeze till a large cascade or fountain
of ice was actually formed, as white as snow, about ten feet above
the pipe, and reaching in large icicles concocted together nearly
to the water in the ditch below. The bank was covered with a thick
coat of ice from the spray, which blew from the water-fall. The
circumference of the frozen pile could not be less than eight or ten
feet, at half that height from the pipe. At a distance it was not
possible to distinguish it from water spouting and falling down;
and when close to it the ice looked so clear and beautiful, and the
rarity of such an object being considered, made every one behold it
with wonder and admiration."
_Ingenious Machine._--The National Fire and Life Insurance
Association, (London) have introduced a newly invented machine,
which possesses the following properties: In case of fire,
it instantly awakens the party in whose sleeping room it is
placed--immediately lights a lamp--makes known the hour of the
night, and not only that a fire has commenced, but in what room.
_Chinese Superstition._--The following article, which gives some
idea of Chinese superstition, is taken from a Peking Gazette:--"The
1st of May, 1818, there arose suddenly at Peking, a tempest, that
obscured the heavens and filled the air with sand and dust. The
Emperor, thinking it was a judgment from heaven, was very much
alarmed, and very anxious to know what it meant: he assembled his
ministers of state, and commanded them to endeavour to discover the
cause of it: he then reprimanded his astronomers for not having
foretold it to him. 'You announced to me,' said he to them, 'three
days ago, the happy influence the stars had over me, foretelling a
long and prosperous life; this was mere flattery, while you either
would not or could not tell me of this impending misfortune.' Three
of those _sages_ gave their opinion, that the cause of this tempest
was the dismissal of the late chief minister, _Sung Tajin_, and
advised him to recall him; but his Majesty, far from approving their
proposal, reprimanded them for having the presumption to meddle with
the royal prerogative. The body of mathematicians gave in their
opinion, assuring him that if this whirlwind, accompanied with dust,
continued during the whole day, it indicated a perverse conduct and
variance of opinion between the sovereign and his ministers, as well
as a great drought and famine. If the wind disturbed the sand, moved
the stones, and made much noise, inundations were to be expected;
and if the dust continued to fall one hour more, the plague would
rage in the southern regions, and half the inhabitants to the
southeast would be sick."
The Gazette expresses his Majesty's uneasiness at this long drought.
His Majesty has ordered his sons to fast, to pray, and offer
sacrifices to heaven, to earth, and to the god of wind. There was
to be a solemn festival on the 25th of May, 1819, at which all
the princes, ministers, and nobles, were to appear in procession,
wearing mourning as a mark of their contrition!
_To Farmers' Wives._--A most excellent method of making BUTTER, is
now practised in England, which effectually prevents its changing
and becoming rancid.--The day before churning, scald the cream in a
clean iron kettle, over a clear fire, taking care that it does not
boil over. As soon as it begins to boil, or is fully scalded, strain
it, when the particles of milk, which tended to sour and change the
butter, are separated and left behind. Put the vessel into a tub of
water, in a cellar, till the next morning, when it will be ready
for churning, and become butter in less than quarter of the time
required in the common method. It will also be hard, with peculiar
additional sweetness, and will not change. The labour in this way is
less than the other, as the butter comes so much sooner, and saves
so much time in working out the buttermilk.--By this method good
butter may be made in the hottest weather.
DIED,
In the parish of Aiglish, in the vicinity of Killarney, Ireland, at
the very advanced age of _one hundred and fifteen years_, THEODORE
O'SULLIVAN, the celebrated Irish Bard.--This extraordinary man,
who was a great composer in his native language, expired suddenly,
in April last, whilst sowing oats in the field of his great grand
children, and retaining his faculties to the last moment! He is said
to have sung to the plough one of his favourite lyrics, and actually
breathed his last at the final stanza of his national melody. The
deceased also followed the occupation of a cooper, and is said to
have made a churn, from which butter was taken for the christening
of his 26th great grand child.
Lately, at the hospital at Bourges, France, aged 103 years, and
13 days, ETIENNE DELAMETAIRE. He was born blind, and employed for
upwards of 60 years in turning a grindstone.
FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.
The more disinterested our benevolence, the nearer we approach to
the gods, was the sentiment of a reflecting heathen, who lived at
a remote period of antiquity. Disinterested benevolence, though of
rare occurrence, is nevertheless, to the honour of human nature,
sometimes witnessed. 'When it is, the effect, like that produced
by beholding an island of verdure in a sandy desert, or a retiring
evergreen in the wintry waste, is in the highest degree cheering and
delightful. DAVID G. SEIXAS, a young man of this city, of limited
pecuniary resources, but of truly philanthropic and elevated views,
has for some time past gratuitously instructed a number of deaf and
dumb children, with singular success. His unobtrusive merit has at
length in some measure become cognisant to the public; and as it
is ascertained that there is a considerable number of unfortunate
individuals, of this description, in the city _and its vicinity_, an
association has been formed, under the most respectable auspices,
for establishing an Institution for their instruction.[11] It is
hoped and believed, that exertions to promote so excellent an
object, will be aided with ample and willing patronage.
[11] This truly laudable enterprise, as well as many others of a
similar character, (without derogating from the important services
of others,) is most essentially indebted to the enlightened zeal,
and public spirited benevolence of one of the Vice-Presidents,
ROBERTS VAUX, Esq.--The justice of this small tribute to
distinguished worth, although dictated by friendship, will be
cheerfully acknowledged by his fellow citizens generally.
THE DEAF AND DUMB BOY!
When smiles play around thee, why sad and forlorn,
Amid all the transports thy fellows enjoy;
In life's cheerful morning what prompts thee to mourn?--
Alas! he is SILENT--poor sad-fated BOY!
When nature is robed in her mantle of green,
And winter has fled with his vapours & snows,
Every bough has its vocalist gladd'ning the scene,
He naught of this soul-cheering melody knows!
His ear never welcom'd the music of sound,
His tongue never utter'd the wonders of thought,
His DUTIES and END wrapt in darkness profound,
Have ne'er to this child of misfortune been taught.
Perchance ere the period when heart-rending woes,
To a premature grave had a fond mother brought,
As maternal affection more fervidly glows,
When our path through existence with sorrows is fraught!
Life's gath'ring ills were dispell'd by her smiles,
For love an inaudible language can speak;
But bereft of that friend who all suffering beguiles,
The tear of affliction now traces his cheek.
His wants disregarded, his wishes unknown,
Yet generous bosoms with sympathy feel,
When they make his condition--a moment their own,
His eloquent, silent, resistless appeal.
Though drear be his prospects, we view with delight,
His sorrowing features now bright'ning with joy,
For Mercy descending in vesture of white,
Will solace the SPEECHLESS AND DESTITUTE BOY.
E.
TO THE EDITORS OF THE RURAL MAGAZINE.
The following is a copy of Verses which I took from a manuscript
above forty years ago. I think them good, and as I have never
seen them in any printed book, I infer they are very rarely to
be met with.
From your friend and well-wisher,
_May_ 8, 1820.
C. E.
ON MAN'S DEPENDANCE ON HIS CREATOR.
Through all the various shifting scenes
Of life's mistaken ill or good,
The hand of God conducts, unseen,
The beautiful vicissitude.
He portions with paternal care,
Howe'er unjustly we complain,
To each his necessary share
Of joy and sorrow, health and pain.
Trust we to youth, or friends, or power,
Fix we our foot on fortune's ball;
When most secure, the coming hour,
If he sees fit, can blast them all.
When lowest sunk with grief or shame,
Gorged with affliction's deepest cup,
Lost to relations, friends, or fame,
His powerful hand can raise thee up.
Before his throne the poor, opprest
With slanderous rage, acquitted stand;
He guides the exile to his rest,
And country, in a foreign land.
His powerful consolations cheer,
His smiles erect the afflicted head;
His hand can wipe away the tear
That secret wets the widow'd bed.
All things on earth, and all in heaven,
On his eternal will depend;
And all for greater good were given,
Would man pursue th' appointed end.
This be my care. To all beside,
Indifferent let my wishes be;
Passions be calm, and dumb be pride,
And fix'd my soul, my God, on thee.
TO THE EDITORS OF THE RURAL MAGAZINE.
My leisure hours are mostly employed in holding a sort of literary
_chit-chat_ with some favourite author or editor; but I am never
more agreeably entertained than at your _Evening Fire-side_, by
the various topics there introduced and discussed. The Essayist
_remarks_ the pride, extravagance, and vices, which at present
prevail, and _teaches_ us that these are unworthy of rational
beings, and that their opposites, humility, prudence, and virtue,
with the exercise of charity and forbearance, can alone ensure us
felicity. The Agriculturist descants on the improvement of the soil,
the rearing of flocks and herds, and the enviable pleasures of rural
occupations. The Mechanic sets forth the superior advantages of some
new invention; while the man of science communicates the result of
ingenious experiments in the particular branches of knowledge which
have engaged his attention. And last, though not less a favourite
than the rest, is the Bard, whose title to poetic inspiration is not
unfrequently evinced by his giving
----"_to airy nothing
"A local habitation and a name_."
While thus highly amused and instructed myself, I am unable, being
of humble capacity, to contribute in return to the edification of
others, unless by occasionally communicating what I may chance to
glean in the course of some of my _literary_ peregrinations. As this
may not be unacceptable, I send you, as a token of my good will, and
desire for the prosperity of your interesting Miscellany, a _scrap_
of American poesy, which, though published a few years since in some
of the public journals, it is believed will be new to many of your
readers. The writer is a young lady of Virginia, by the name of
HENNING, who thus modestly speaks of a production, which, it must be
admitted, is alike creditable to herself, her sex and country:--"The
subject which I have selected, has already employed the talents of
an eminent poet, (_Akenside_,) and as he has gathered in the rich
harvest which it presented to the sickle of his genius, I must, like
Ruth of old, be content to collect the scattered ears, not however
expecting the same result to my employment as that which attended my
fair-famed predecessor."--Your friend,
X.
ODE TO IMAGINATION.
Oh thou! whose power inspires the minstrel's song.
And pours the tide of tuneful verse along,
Whose rapid wings through ether speed their flight,
While earth extended lies beneath thy sight,
Send one bright beam of that celestial blaze,
That round thy brow in dazzling lustre plays,
One ray, to gild the gloom of mental night,
And burst its shroud with thy refulgent light!
By thee each scene, that meets the gazing view,
Is cloth'd in beauty's bright attractive hue:
'Tis thine to wake the bold exalted thought,
With splendour graced, with mental ardour fraught;
The lofty strain of eloquence is thine,
By thee its torrent rolls, its beauties shine;
Thy power directs the mind's adventurous flight,
And guides its course to Grandeur's lofty height.
'Tis thine fair Beauty's brightest forms to trace,
Adorned with charms and rich in every grace,
By thee the painter's mimic canvas shows
A youthful form where each attraction glows;
By thee the eye its seeming lustre sheds,
By thee the rose the snowy cheek o'erspreads,
Till to the sight the lovely semblance seems
A living goddess, sung in fabled themes.
Nor does the strain whose headlong torrent falls,
While sounding echoes strike the lofty walls,
Nor Venus robed in heavenly charms alone,
The potent magic of thine influence own.
Oft have thy visions cheered the drooping breast,
By anguish pierced, by gloomy cares opprest,
A while suppressed the deep complaining sigh,
And wiped the tear from sorrow's streaming eye.
The lonely exile, forced afar to roam,
And leave for ever his lamented home,
Though foreign scenes to meet his view arise,
By thee transported, sees his native skies.
Each scene, that gave his youthful heart delight,
Again salutes his fond enraptured sight,
And Friendship's voice, which once he loved to hear,
In tender accents meets his listening ear.
But who can tell how wide thine influence reigns?
The weary captive, bound in galling chains,
Cheered by thy light, forgets his dungeon's gloom,
And seems to gaze on Nature's vernal bloom,
The leafy grove, the blue ethereal sky,
The flowery field, delight his wondering eye,
While Nature's music breathes its thrilling notes,
And on his ear in melting softness floats.
Fair Queen of Visions! I invoke thine aid,
Whose wondrous force, what strain has e'er display'd?
For who can trace thy wild eccentric course,
Or paint of mental light the lovely source?
As well might Art with feeble skill essay
To paint the warm enlivening orb of day,
With mimic hues its sparkling beams to light,
And pour its radiance on the aching sight!
E'en though I gained that mountain's fabled height,
Where Music breathes the soul of warm delight,
I'd ask not power thy wondrous might to sing,
So far beyond my thought's sublimest spring,
But send one beam of that celestial blaze,
That round thy brow in dazzling lustre plays,
One ray to gild the gloom of mental night,
And burst its shroud with thy refulgent light.
AN INVOCATION TO POVERTY.
BY CHARLES JAMES FOX, ESQ.
Oh, Poverty! of pale, consumptive hue,
If thou delight'st to haunt me still in view;
If still thy presence must my steps attend,
At least continue as thou art--my friend!
Whene'er example bids me be unjust,
False to my word--or faithless to my trust;
Bid me the baneful error quickly see,
And shun the world, to find repose in thee:
When vice to wealth would turn my partial eye,
Or interest shut my ear to sorrow's cry,
Or courtiers' custom would my reason bend,
My foe to flatter--or desert my friend;
Oppose, kind Poverty, thy tempered shield,
And bear me off unvanquished from the field.
If giddy Fortune e'er return again,
With all her idle, restless, wanton train;
Her magic glass should false Ambition hold;
Or Avarice bid me put my trust in gold;
To my relief, thou virtuous goddess, haste,
And with thee bring thy daughters ever chaste,
Health! Liberty! and Wisdom! Sisters bright!
Whose charms can make the worst condition light,
Beneath the hardest fate the mind can cheer,
Can heal Affliction, and disarm Despair!
In chains, in torments, Pleasure can bequeath,
And dress in smiles the tyrant hour of Death!
GLORY TO GOD.
To thee, PROTECTIVE God, I owe,
All that I have, or hope, or know,
Each ray of mind that seems to shine
Is but a clouded gleam from thine.
The lust'red heavens present thy zone,
The peopled earth thy living throne,
The globe, which nature holds of thee,
Is bound by thy infinity.
Poor, and unbless'd, not mine the power
To shield from want one frugal hour,
Yet from thy rich regard I drew,
The bread of peace, and promise too.
How vain the pride of man appears,
How weak the vigour of his years;
But thou one _vital spark_ has given
To light, and lead _his hope_ to Heaven.
PRAYER AND PRAISE TO GOD.
O Thou, who ere the lapse of time
Wert glorious, with unfading prime.
Enduring God! thy pity give
To me who but a moment live.
Thy strength the elements controls,
And rest the axis of the poles,
To me in sinful suffering weak,
The words of pardoning mercy speak.
Thou Light of Worlds! whose quenchless ray
Blooms in the brilliant blush of day,
On me, in darkest error blind,
Pervading pour the all-seeing mind.
Parent of Life to thee we owe
The nerves that thrill, the veins that glow;
Me, who descend the oblivious grave,
May thy absolving goodness save.
Immortal Being! God alone,
All-giving Nature is thy own,
To Thee her wandered race restore,
And bid her breathing world adore.
[_P. Folio._
PRICES CURRENT,
_At Philadelphia, May 25, 1820._
D. C. D. C.
Beef, Philad. Mess,}
(plenty,) } _bbl._ 13.00 to 13.50
Butter, Fresh _lb._ 0.25 " 0.31-1/4
Cotton Yarn, No. 10, " 0.36
Flax, Clean (scarce) " 0.16 " 0.18
Flour, Wheat Superfine }
(dull,) } _bbl._ 4.75 " 5.00
Firewood--Hickory, _cord,_ 6.00
Oak, " 3.00 " 3.75
Grain--Wheat, _bush._ 1.00
Rye, " 0.55 " 0.60
Corn, Penn. " 0.55 " 0.60
Barley, " 0.75 " 0.85
Oats, " 0.37 " 0.42
Hams, _lb._ 0.11 " 0.13
Hemp, Kentucky, _ton._ 200.00
Plaster of Paris, " 4.50
Leather, Soal _lb._ 0.24 " 0.80
Pork, Jersey and }
Penn. Mess } _bbl._ 15.50 " 16.00
Shingles, Cedar 1000 25.00 " 27.00
Molasses, S. H. _gal._ 0.10 " 0.15
Nails of all sizes, _lb._ 0.07-1/2 " 0.12
Seed, Clover _bush._ 8.50 " 9.00
Wool--Merino, clean _lb._ 0.75 }
Do. in grease " 0.50 }Rising.
Common " 0.50 }
It is generally believed, we have not had a rain for several years
so beneficial in its consequences as the late one, taking into
consideration the season, the dry state of the ground and the
quantity fallen. An accurate Rain Guage is kept at the office of
the Board of Health, in Philadelphia, from which the following is
extracted.
In. Hun
May 6, Shower, 0 .12
" 11, do. 0 .25
" 12, do. 0 .15
" 14, do. 0 .03
" 16-17, Rain, 0 .40
" 17-18, do. 0 .16
" 18-19, do. 0 .80
" 19-20, do. 0 .40
" 20-22, do. 0 .45
" -24, Shower, 0 .32
---------
3 .08
_State of the_
THERMOMETER AT PHILADELPHIA,
_For the last Month._
Days. 9 o'cl. 12 o'cl. 3 o'cl.
1 65 76 77
2 60 65 65
3 57 69 69
4 60 70 73
5 66 72 72
6 62 63 51
8 58 66 69
9 65 68 68
10 64 73 76
11 62 67 70
12 70 75 73
13 68 75 68
15 62 67 67
16 56 59 57
17 50 51 51
18 53 56 55
19 50 52 52
20 55 56 58
22 62 69 70
23 68 75 79
24 76 80 74
25 68 72 71
26 55 54 53
27 60
BANK NOTE EXCHANGE,
_At Philadelphia, May 25, 1820._
Disc't.
U. S. BRANCH BANK Notes, 1/2
RHODE ISLAND--generally, 1
CONNECTICUT--generally, 2
MASSACHUSETTS--Boston, 1
Country generally, 4-6
NEW YORK--City Bank Notes, par.
Country generally, 2-3
NEW JERSEY--generally, par.
PENNSYLVANIA--Farmer's Bank, of }
Lancaster; Easton; Montgomery }
County; Farmer's }par.
Bank, Buck's County; Delaware }
Bank, at Chester, }
Northampton, 2-1/2
New Hope Bridge Co. 1
Susquehanna, 3
Farmer's Bank at Reading, 7-1/2
Lancaster Bank; York Bank; } 3
Gettysburg, }
Northumberland; Union, 17
Greensburg; Brownsville, 12-1/2
Farmers & Mechanics' Bank } 30
at Pittsburg, }
DELAWARE--generally, par.
Excepting the Commercial }
Bank of Delaware; } 5
and Branch Bank, do. at }
Wilmington, }
Laurel Bank, 50
MARYLAND--Baltimore Banks, 1/2
Baltimore City Bank; Annapolis; } 2-3
Hagerstown, }
Cumberland Bank of Allegany; } 50
Snowhill, }
Elkton, 37-1/2
VIRGINIA--Richmond and Branches, 1-1/2
Country generally, 2-1/2-3
N. W. Bank, at Wheeling, 10-12-1/2
COLUMBIA DISTRICT--Mech. Bank } 5
of Alexandria, }
Country generally, 1
NORTH CAROLINA--generally, 6
SOUTH CAROLINA--State Banks,
generally, } 2
GEORGIA--State Banks, generally, 2
Augusta Bridge Company, 50
KENTUCKY--No sales.
OHIO--Marietta; Stubenville, 15
Bank of Chillicothe, 5
Country generally, 25-50
TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS.
We present you with the SIXTH number of the RURAL MAGAZINE. You
will recollect the terms of subscription. We were now to receive
the first year's payment--THREE dollars; and annually, from this
time, the same sum. Your punctuality will confer on us an additional
favour, and afford a criterion by which we may, in part, judge of
our future support.
We contemplate no material alteration in our plan. In the first part
of each number we shall present you, as heretofore, with essays of
different kinds; in the second, with agricultural subjects; and in
the third, or last division, with a miscellany made up of every
variety that presents.
Our present list of subscribers is about what we had anticipated,
but is not yet sufficiently large. We calculate, however, before the
close of the year, to see it so increased as to support us in our
hope of success. This will, in some measure, depend on those who
have seen and desire the continuance of the work. Could each of you
procure among your neighbours two or three, or even one additional
subscriber, our purpose would be answered. We therefore request
your assistance in this way, and enclose a subscription paper.
Subscribers will be expected to take the numbers from the beginning
of the year. A complete index and title-page will be furnished for
each volume.
RICHARDS & CALEB JOHNSON.
PHILADELPHIA,
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY
RICHARDS & CALEB JOHNSON,
_No. 31, Market Street_,
At $3.00 per annum.
* * * * *
GRIGGS & DICKENSON, _Printers--Whitehall_.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rural Magazine, and Literary
Evening Fire-Side, Vol. 1 No. 6 (1820), by Various
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