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Title: The Rural Magazine, and Literary Evening Fire-Side, Vol. 1 No. 08 (1820)

Author: Various

Release date: April 24, 2015 [eBook #48775]

Language: English

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  THE

  RURAL MAGAZINE,

  AND

  LITERARY EVENING FIRE-SIDE.

  VOL. I. PHILADELPHIA, _Eighth Month, 1820_. _No. 8._




A FRIEND OF THE RURAL MAGAZINE TO ITS READERS.


There is nothing in which the honourable fame and steady prosperity
of our country, and the best interests of its inhabitants, are more
deeply involved, than in _the promotion of agriculture_. With one
hundred and twenty millions of acres of _cleared_, or _natural,
strong, unwooded_ land, and a population computed at nine millions
of persons, we have more soil already prepared for plantations,
farms and grazing, in proportion to our numbers, than any other
civilized people; and our capacities to add to our quantity of
cleared or unwooded land, extend to ten times the number of acres.
From the productions of these lands have our former happiness and
wealth arisen, and from the commerce and fabrication of these
productions, have our foreign and domestic trade, and all our home
manufactures, worth above two hundred millions of dollars, sprung
up. The merchants and manufacturers actually hold so real and great
a competition for the natural and agricultural productions of the
land, that none of these productions, capable of manufacture, were
exported even in the last year, except _cotton_, in the manufacture
of which we had made very great progress, in 1810; even without the
double and war duties, or those existing at this time. They were
supposed to be worth 15,000,000 of dollars in that year. The present
crisis, when all nations are revising and improving their systems of
agriculture, commerce and manufactures, appears to be a fit season
for increased attention, consideration and exertion on our part;
and first in the culture of the soil. It is proposed, as a suitable
object for such a work as _The Rural Magazine_, to make some of
those exertions in relation to _agriculture and the connected
subjects_, which are often demanded by those strong tides in human
life, which are dispensed to us in the course of divine Providence.
Pennsylvania, and the five other states which are contiguous to her,
making six in their whole number, contain about one hundred and
forty millions of acres of land in the most temperate and genial
_farming_ climates of our country. The southern parts of that noble
farming district even favours the cotton, the vine and the fig tree;
and every species of production, requiring the tone of the northern
part of the temperate zone for its growth or the fabrication of
those productions, is adapted to the higher latitudes of that
region of our country. The best culture of the eastern states is
comprehended in the proper farming of that district. The effectual
bearing of the productions of the south upon the profits of the
farming of the middle, northern and eastern states, will always
render the actual or new culture of our great southern district of
sugar, rice, indigo, cotton and grape vines, deeply important us;
because the cultivation of those and other productions, adapted to
their climates, will prevent their attention, as principal objects,
to those things which must always be produced by our cattle, grass,
apple, vegetable and grain farms. The cider and apple brandy, for
example, of the county of _Morris_, in New Jersey, which far exceeds
the general belief, the superfine flour of the white wheat country
of this middle district, and the fabrications of the dairy of the
eastern states, sustain no interference at home or abroad, from
the productions of those southern labourers who are employed on
sugar, rice, cotton, indigo and tobacco; or may be employed on the
fruit of the grape vine, the olive tree and their fabrications,
which annually yield to France one hundred and twenty millions of
dollars. The culture of the southern states is, therefore, in truth,
a fit subject of attention and solicitude for the Pennsylvanians,
and their surrounding northern and eastern brethren; and valuable
papers on that subject would always deserve a place in _The Rural
Magazine_. If the African TERENCE has been quoted, beyond any other
writer, for the beautiful exclamation of one of his personified
characters, "_Homo_ sum, et nihil humani a me alienum puto,"[1] how
impossible is it for a true and faithful member of this favoured
nation to forget to exclaim, "_Americanus_ sum, et nihil _Americani_
a me alienum puto."[2]

  [1] I am a _man_, and I consider nothing that affects _man_ as
  foreign to me.

  [2] I am an _American_, and I consider nothing that affects
  _America_ as foreign to me.

Some of the most important practices of agriculture belong to
all our climates. _Irrigation_, beautiful, elegant, profitable
_irrigation_, or the watering of grounds, by turning upon them
streams that have been wont to run waste, and pour their unused
vegetative powers into navigable rivers, is a great example. The
venerable and judicious ARTHUR YOUNG wrote to his compatriots
in England, from the districts of Piedmont and Milan, the best
irrigated parts of _the valley of the Po_, that such was the
perfection of that branch of agriculture and the connected branches
of working and neat cattle, dairies, rice, &c. that, excellent as
was their English system in his vicinity, his friends could have no
conception of perfection in farming, without visiting that part of
upper Italy. The orange trees are carefully irrigated in the kingdom
of Portugal, as are the vines of Madeira, and the rice in those
of our southern states which produce that wholesome, valuable and
delightful grain.

Let us, then, in every section of our country, keep attention on
the stretch _to improve our whole landed interest_, which, like our
great internal seas, our heaven dispensed lakes, is the natural
head, from which the sister streams of _commerce and manufactures_
are, unforcedly, to flow, and run till the end of time.




FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.

THE DESULTORY REMARKER.

No. VII.

     Travel in the younger sort is a part of education; in the elder
     a part of experience.

  _Bacon._


In pursuance of the plan proposed in the initial number of these
papers, which, although a mortifying consideration to the pride
of authorship, it is quite probable many of my readers have
already forgotten; I shall, on the present occasion, avail myself
of one of the sources of instruction and gratification there
indicated--foreign travel. The friend to whom I am indebted for the
following remarkable incidents, illustrative of the present state
of morals in Italy, has not long since returned from a tour through
England, France, Italy, Switzerland, and part of Germany; with
an increased attachment for his native country and her admirable
institutions.

He left Milan for Florence, passing through the towns of Lodi,
Plazenza, Parma, and Bologna, where he arrived after eight days
journeying. Among the passengers in the coach with him, was a young
gentleman of Rome, the Cavaliere V----, who was returning home after
a two years tour in _South_ America and Europe. Between these two,
as those who are strangers in any part of the world, particularly
when travelling together, experience a community of privation and
enjoyment, an intimacy was soon formed. The distance from Florence
to Rome is 193 English miles. The road passes over the Appenine
mountains, and by the tardy mode of travelling peculiar to the
country, there being no public coaches, it requires six days. The
highways in this neighbourhood are infested with banditti of the
most ferocious character, and almost every day furnishes accounts
of robberies and murders. On the 5th of January, 1819, they left
Florence. The first three days were marked by no striking incident,
but on the morning of the fourth, about dawn, their ears were
accosted with a sudden discharge of fire-arms close to the carriage,
which they soon found to proceed from the carbines of banditti.
Previously to quitting Milan, our friend had taken the precaution to
divide his gold, carrying part of it about his person, enveloped in
a bandana handkerchief in the form of a belt, and the remainder in
a portmanteau. He had also a number of Bank of England notes, which
he carried in his pocket-book, with his passport, &c. The bandana
soon attracted their attention, and its contents, 30 Napoleons, with
his purse, &c. fell into their hands. His portmanteau being securely
lashed to the imperial, escaped the plunderers, as well as his watch
and pocket-book. It was within a league of Montifiascone where the
attack was made. The robbers were interrupted in the height of their
villainy, by the tramp of approaching horses, which proved to be the
neighbouring peasantry commencing their daily toils; and retreated
with precipitation to the impenetrable thickets of the Appenines.
The travellers then proceeded on their journey to Rome, without
experiencing further molestation.

On their arrival there, our countryman congratulated himself on his
good fortune in having become acquainted with the Cavaliere V----,
whose politeness and attentions were particularly grateful; and
as Rome was the place of his residence, every object of interest
and curiosity to be found there, was perfectly familiar to him. He
introduced his American acquaintance to his father, who was a man of
rank, living in splendour and opulence; and to his sisters, whose
society the latter felt every disposition to cultivate. Thus various
circumstances appeared to combine to render pleasant a residence in
this celebrated metropolis, and to aid him in his contemplations
among the remaining monuments of her former magnificence and power.

One morning having a leisure hour on his hands, our townsmen was
engaged in his chamber counting his money, in order to ascertain the
extent of his loss, sustained by the unwelcome visiters who had paid
him their respects on the road; when the Cavaliere unceremoniously
entered the room, and seeing a pocket-book in his hand, immediately
inquired what he had lost. The fact was, that a 20 pound note of
the Bank of England was missing, and as the pocket-book in which
the notes were contained, was not discovered by the banditti, in
their haste to make their escape, he concluded that it had been
carelessly dropped at some time or other, and would never again be
heard of; which he stated at once to his pseudo friend. The latter
expressed some surprise, and evinced considerable embarrassment
on the occasion. His quondam fellow tourist, however, made light
of the matter, and endeavoured to change the conversation by
stating, that he would ask the advice of his banker the duke of
Torlonia, fortunately the only house in the habit of discounting
English notes; and would also write to his banker in London, to
have the payment stopped at the Bank of England. To this plan the
Cavaliere strenuously objected, but said, that he knew a man in
Rome, who would procure him the note if it was to be found; and in
consequence of this suggestion, the application to the Duke was
not made. Our traveller, reflecting on the circumstances connected
with this interview, his being interrogated as to his loss before
any intimation had been given that such loss had been sustained,
the hurried and peculiar manner in which the inquiries were made,
in addition to the fact that the Cavaliere was the only person
who had seen them counted, and that he was careless of locking up
his pocket-book, began to suspect, although his rank and standing
might forbid it, that the gentleman knew something about the note.
As the numbers of the different bills had been taken, there could
not readily have been a mistake. A few days subsequently it was
distinctly intimated, that the person to whom application had been
made, knew where the note was. An interview with the _conjurer_ was
zealously urged, in the hope of visiting the thief with merited
punishment. To this the Cavaliere replied, that he had pledged his
honour that the affair should remain in profound secrecy, and that
he would himself be responsible for the payment, and accordingly
gave his note of hand for it payable in two days! After _many_
days had elapsed without receiving the amount, the patience of
our traveller was nearly exhausted, and under the influence of
irritation, produced by the unprincipled conduct of this modern
Roman, it was determined to disclose the whole transaction to his
father. The subject was introduced with the utmost delicacy. The old
gentleman, after hearing a detail of all the circumstances, coolly
observed, that it was no business of his, and that his son would
doubtless attend to it. He was then explicitly told, that respect
for his supposed parental feelings had induced the reserve which he
had witnessed; but as this reserve, it was perfectly apparent, was
altogether unnecessary, the facts of the case should be made known,
and the moral turpitude of his son publicly exposed.--The expression
of this determination caused an immediate change of tone and manner;
he was now all sensibility to the reputation of his son and that
of his family, and gave a positive assurance that the money should
be immediately forthcoming. Shortly after this conversation it was
brought by his quondam friend, and was principally in various gold
coins, which had probably been procured for him by a broker, on the
lowest terms.

The family, in which our countryman resided, while at Rome, was
highly agreeable; and the society of the lady, and her amiable
daughters, was a source of pleasure to the gentlemen who lived
in the house. On the evening of the day on which this affair was
settled, he had taken his wonted seat in this interesting circle,
which so delightfully reminded him of that which he had left at
home, when the brother of the Cavaliere, who was invested with
some office of dignity, entered in full dress. He very courteously
and gracefully paid his respects to all the individuals composing
the company, with the exception of the American, of whom,
notwithstanding his being well acquainted with him, he took no
notice whatever. He then intimated to the lady of the house, that
he wished to speak with her in private. She accordingly withdrew,
and very soon afterwards returned, and informed our tourist, that
the gentleman desired to see him in the adjoining room. On entering,
he was charged with attempting to sully the character of a family,
which could trace its reputation and fame through a long line of
noble ancestry; and that for this injustice, instant reparation
should be made. He then drew his sword in a tempest of passion,
but recollecting immediately, that his antagonist was unarmed, he
sheathed it, and drew from his pocket a pair of pistols, with which
he insisted they should fight without delay. By this time one of
the party, alarmed by the noise occasioned by their altercation,
hurried into the room, and on learning the cause which produced it,
gave such explanations to the enraged Italian as were acknowledged
to be perfectly satisfactory, as to the treatment his brother had
received; and with a smile, which he could assume at pleasure,
he took his leave. After his departure, the lady took occasion to
caution our traveller against venturing out during the evening,
assigning as a reason for this advice, that the officer was very
vindictive in his disposition, and that an Englishman, who had not
long previously given him some offence, lost his life in consequence
of the attack of an assassin. This admonition was not disregarded.
In the course of the evening, a member of the family, who had heard
nothing of the previous occurrences, on his return home, observed,
that he could not conceive what mischief was in agitation, as his
face had been closely examined by more than one person, in passing
the lamps, who wore masks, and appeared to be actuated by curiosity,
or some other motive, to an extraordinary degree. Those who were
acquainted with the events of the evening, were at no loss to
conjecture for whom they were on the watch. An obnoxious individual
can at any time be put out of the way, in Rome, for a very small
reward. To save these obliging and tender-hearted gentry further
trouble, and to consult his own safety, he early the next morning
left the dominions of the church, and pursued his journey to Naples.

If individuals, and incidents of such a character, should frequently
present themselves to the notice of the tourist, it would almost
induce him to deny himself the delights and advantages of foreign
travel, and adopt this sentiment of COWLEY,

    _About the spacious world let others roam,
    The voyage life, is longest made at home._
                                               ☞



FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.

THE VILLAGE TEACHER.


Twice in every year our otherwise quiet village is thrown into a
ferment, which agitates its little community like an earthquake,
and unsettles all the habits of order and industry for which we are
usually remarkable. The cause of this great tumult is the militia
training--that system which supposes every citizen to be a soldier,
and undertakes to instruct him in the art and mystery of holding a
musket and putting the right foot foremost. On the last of these
occasions, I was surprised to find that my whole school had played
truant; and observing an unusual ferment in the streets, found,
upon inquiry, that at the last election for officer, Ezekiel Snip,
the village tailor, a man with fierce red whiskers and a peculiar
altitude of chin, had been elected captain. Ezekiel had dipt into
Duane's Hand-Book, and was esteemed profoundly skilled in the
manual exercise; so that the neighbours were all on the tiptoe of
expectation to witness the parade of the day. As this took place
opposite to my school-room, I seated myself quietly at the window
to watch how matters proceeded. About eight o'clock, the tavern
porch began to be filled with people, some bringing old rusty
rifles, others their fowling pieces, and some armed with a stout
oaken stick. Then sallied forth a valiant drummer, aided by a no
less valiant fifer, at the head of some dozens of the town boys,
to alarm the village. They marched up the street, and down the
street, and beat tantarara, and whistled out of all tune,--till my
head ached,--to the infinite delight of the idle urchins at their
heels, and the gaping housemaids at the doors and windows, as they
passed. When this preparatory ceremony was gone through, forth
issued captain Snip from the tavern door, in all the glory of a blue
coat, epaulettes, a sword and feather. The militia-men were then
ranged out in ranks, and the muster-roll called. I was particularly
struck with the assemblage present. I looked in vain for the most
respectable of our mechanics and neighbouring farmers.--The ranks
were chiefly filled with the idle young men of the village and the
tavern frequenters of the neighbourhood; in short, with men who
hung loose upon society, and were eager for every adventure that
would enable them to get through a day, without work, and might
end in a drinking match. Captain Snip bustled about with becoming
self-importance,--fixed this man six inches back, and that one
as much forward, and having thus ranged them _a la militaire_,
proceeded, by the aid of his Hand-Book, to induct them into the
manual exercise. At the word "Shoulder fire-locks," a scene of
confusion ensued. Some had their pieces on the right and some
on the left shoulder, and they were ranged at all angles from a
perpendicular to a horizontal line.--With infinite difficulty, and
after repeated trials, the captain got them to order and proceeded
to the next command. As he went on I observed that he became
impatient and confused; the disorder into which his company were
continually getting, surpassed his abilities to rectify, and his
limited and superficial knowledge began to fail him. He quite lost
his authority over his men; but by dint of storming, succeeded
at last in getting some how through the business. The drum then
sounded, and the gallant troop marched out to the commons, there to
encamp for the day, carrying in their train all the noisy and idle
boys of the town.

In the afternoon they again made their appearance, dusty, fatigued,
and disorderly, and after a sham exercise in the street, were
dismissed. It was a glorious day for the sellers of cakes, and
beer, and brandy, and whiskey. Many a bottle that day was emptied
of its fiery contents, and many a miserable wretch strengthened in
the habits of vice and dissipation. Scarce a man of this valiant
corps returned home sober. The tavern door was a scene of continued
quarrelling and the most shocking profanity, till eleven o'clock.

Battle succeeded battle, to the infinite diversion of the
by-standers, and to the edification and instruction of the lads of
all sizes that were thronging to this school of morality. I know not
how captain Snip felt upon descending to his ordinary employment,
from such a height of military glory, but I myself have been sad and
melancholy ever since, when I reflected upon the events of the day.

And what, fellow citizens, is the great good attained by these
militia trainings? It is the idlest of idle dreams to suppose
the recurrence, four times in the year, of such scenes as I have
described, can make soldiers of our yeomanry. It may make idlers,
it may make bullies, and drunkards, and gamblers of them; but what
they learn of military discipline, of the subordination of a camp,
is not worth a farthing candle. You lose to the state the labour of
a hundred thousand men, that they may be placed under the tuition
of some half-learned captain, who, perhaps, has never been in a
camp, and who does not, in the course of years, teach them more than
they could at any time learn as well and better in half a day's
real service. The good done to the state by these militia laws is
a mere shadow, and the wounds which they inflict upon the steady
habits, the industry and the morality of the country, are awful and
portentous. I believe I do not exceed probability in asserting, that
one half of the drunkenness in the state, is induced or confirmed at
these militia trainings.

But it is not only in the effects upon those who obey the mandate
of the law, that this system is to be deprecated. Look at it,
in what light you will, it is injurious and oppressive. A large
portion of your fellow citizens are men who will not, in any cause,
take the life or connive at the death of a fellow creature. They
believe that the great Author of being retains in his own hand the
power over life, and that it is impious in mortals to assume his
prerogative.--No matter how true or false this may be, it is with
them an article of religious faith, and as such is held sacred by
our constitution. Whatever law interferes with this article of
their belief is, to them, persecution. If man has no moral right
to take the life of his fellow, government can have no moral right
to oblige him to do it; and they who obey the law, in preference
to their conscience, are traitors to their God. If they obey your
military requisition, they become a party to a system altogether
at variance with their faith. They cannot pay the fines which you
impose for their refusal, for you demand them as an equivalent for
what they cannot concede to you. Here then are they placed, without
(according to their belief) the power of moving. If you insist upon
the payment, you must despoil them of their goods. It is to be sure
alleged, that the state cannot, with a due regard to its own safety,
dispense with the military allegiance of its citizens. Admit this
to be the case. Do you, in abstaining from the petty, alienating
vexations of a militia law in time of peace, yield or forego the
claim to this allegiance? You pass an edict oppressive to a class
of citizens, whose motive for non-compliance is sacred in the eye
of the constitution,--an edict, which your experience of the past
assures you, they will not comply with, and you create, in order
to enforce it, a race of harpies, who are trained under it in all
the arts of oppression and plunder. And to what good end? Does one
solitary dollar of these militia exactions pass into your treasury?
Is it not, on the contrary, a well known fact, that after seizing
upon twice or thrice the just amount of the claim, the proceeds
of the sale of these goods melt away before they reach the public
treasury? The ostensible object of the law is to train the yeomenry
in the art of war. My word for it, its actual operation is more
to enervate than to strengthen, and while it forms a dark blot on
the escutcheon of our state, there is not, in its consequences, a
single salutary effect to compensate for the hardships it inflicts
upon the followers of the great statesman, who laid the foundations
of our public and private prosperity, our liberal institutions; of
all, in short, which has rendered Pennsylvania the boast and the
envy of nations.




FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.

ROUTE TO NIAGARA PALLS.


_To the Editors._--During the continuance of the fervid season, some
of your readers will probably beguile the tedium of mid-summer, by
taking excursions in various directions, as health or curiosity may
happen to invite them. The gratification to be derived from pursuing
the route to NIAGARA FALLS, and thence to Montreal and Quebec, will
amply repay all its fatigues, and realise the expectations of the
tourist however highly excited. The following indicates one of the
most agreeable avenues of approach to that unparalleled wonder of
Nature. Having felt the want of some such information myself, it
was thought it might be acceptable to others, who have no better
guide. These distances, though derived principally from innkeepers,
stage-drivers, &c. are sufficiently accurate for the purposes of
travellers generally.

  _Distance from Philadelphia to the Falls._

                                    Miles.
  New York,                          100
  Albany,                            160
                                    ---- 260
  Schenectady,                        16
  Amsterdam,                          15
  Tripe's Hill,                        6
  Cachnewaga,                          5
  Paletine,                           18
  St. Johnsville,                      4
  Manheim,                             3
                                    ---- 327
     Little Falls,                     7
     Herkimer,                         7
     Utica,                           15
  1st day's journey from Albany,    ----  96
     Vernon,                          16
     Lennox,                          12
     Chetenengo,                       5
     Manlius,                         12
     Jamesville,                       5
     Onondaga,                        10
     Skaneatelis,                     16
  2d day's journey from Albany,     ----  76
     Auburn,                           7
     Canandaigua,                     37
  3d day's journey from Albany,     ----  44
     Victor,                          10
     Pittsford,                       11
     Rochester,                        9
     Palma,                           11
     Murray,                           7
     Gaines,                          11
  4th day's journey from Albany,    ----  59
     Ridgway,                         13
     Hartland,                        11
     Cambray,                         12
     Lewistown,                       15
     FALLS OF NIAGARA,                 7
                                    ----  58
                                        ----
                                         593

  _From the Falls to Quebec._

     Lewistown,                       7
     Fort George,                     7
     YORK,                           33
     Kingston,                      170
     Prescott,                       70
     La Chine,                      130
     Montreal,                        9
     QUEBEC,                        170
                                   ----  596

  _From Quebec to Philadelphia._

     Montreal,                      170
     St. John's,                     27
     Shoreham,                      150
     Ticonderoga, (village)           3
     Caldwell,                       35
     Albany,                         61
     New York,                      160
     PHILADELPHIA,                  100
                                   ----  706

This journey may be readily accomplished in about four weeks,
without extraordinary haste, at an expense of from one to two
or three hundred dollars; according to the mode of travelling
adopted, and the habits of the tourist in relation to economy or
extravagance. But in times like the present, even those who are
wealthy, should be edifying examplars of simplicity and frugality.

  OSCAR.




FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.

EXTRACTED FROM THE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS OF C. E.

     _A remarkable instance of premonition of impending death._


Your readers may rely on the authenticity of what follows, as I
assure them I copied it myself from the original letter in the well
known hand writing of John Ross, Esq. deceased, who was an eminent
attorney at law in this city, for many years before the American
revolution, and also a member of the legislature, as a number still
living can remember. The letter was addressed to his friend Dr.
Cadwalader Evans, of this city, but then settled for a few years in
the Island of Jamaica. The accident happened to John Kinsey, Jun. He
was the son of John Kinsey, Esq., one of the most eminent lawyers
of his time, also speaker of the Assembly and chief justice of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

  C. E.


DEAR DR. EVANS,

I am going for Newcastle, early in the morning. I just heard of a
vessel going to Jamaica before my return; so in haste determine to
give you one scrawl, lest you should think the neighbourhood forget
you. But you may depend that will never happen: we gratefully and
cordially remember you often. I would tell you all the news in a
word, if possible, with all haste. To begin--our neighbourhood
just as you left us, only B. Franklin lives in your house. The
Col. Hellier not yet gone to sea. I think all your acquaintance
continue well, save poor Johnny Kinsey, jun. on Tuesday, the 8th
inst. by accident shot himself dead, coming over Gray's ferry, by
Schuylkill falls, while in the boat. He had loaded his gun, and, as
is supposed, let the butt drop on the bottom of the flat, the gun
in a line with his body by his side; went off when half cocked. The
whole load of shot struck his left cheek, and went up directly into
his brain. He dropped and was dead in an instant--never groaned.
Great sorrow attended his father, and all his friends, for the
accident. He had strange apparitions of his death the night before,
which he informed his aunt Bowene of at breakfast, the morning of
the accident. I must relate to you the particulars which are as true
as surprising. He, talking with his aunt at breakfast concerning
his being admitted as an attorney and going into business, said,
he believed he had nothing to do with business, for his time, he
thought, was not long in this world. He said that last night he
was strangely disturbed in his sleep with dreams and apparitions;
that his cousin Charles Pemberton, who died last spring, appeared
to him, wrapped in a sheet, and said to him, "Kinsey, your time
approaches, you must go with me," and he disappeared. Soon after,
appeared a person before him in the form of an angel, (according
to the idea he had of an angel) and said to him "Kinsey, your hour
is come, you must go with me," and instantly he thought a flash of
lightning struck him on the cheek and he instantly died. This was
followed by a severe clap of thunder and lightning that awaked him
from his sleep, and all those particulars came fresh to his memory,
and gave him a great uneasiness. (Note--no thunder or lightning that
night.)--Upon this he endeavoured to get asleep again, and after
dozing a short time, he was awaked by the noise of a person walking
across the room, giving a heavy groan. He heard or saw no more, but
got out of bed and went into the other room, called the Scotch boy
to bring in his bed and lay by him the remainder of the night. In
the morning, at breakfast, on Tuesday last, he communicated all the
before related to his aunt Bowene and Hannah Kearney. He seemed much
dejected upon it, was confident he was near his end; but to divert
himself for that day, he determined to take his gun and go fowling
with young J. Derborow, young Oxley, and two or three more. They
walked to Coultas' ferry and crossed Schuylkill, and up to the falls
ferry. He told the company several times, as they walked, he wished
no accident might befall him before he got home. On their return,
crossing the ferry in the boat, the unhappy accident happened him.
Thus you have the particulars of this melancholy affair, as fully
as I could relate it if with you, and I chose to be particular in
it, because I have met with no story in history so well attested as
this concerning the premonitions from heaven of our dissolution.
The flash that struck his cheek when asleep, was clearly answered
by the flash of the gun and the shot thereof first striking. His
aunt laboured to persuade him not to go a gunning that day, and he
agreed; but afterwards meeting his company, they prevailed with him,
as they had all agreed to go the night before.

Your father and all friends are well. I sincerely wish you all
imaginable felicity, and with all the haste I began, I cannot help
now concluding that I am your very affectionate friend and humble
servant,

  JOHN ROSS.

  Dr. Cadwalader Evans, St. Anns, Jamaica.

  _Philad. Sunday Evening_, }
  _13 Nov. 1748._           }




FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.

FIRMITY AND HOMINY.


There are two ancient very wholesome and pleasant dishes, which are
much used in the states south of Pennsylvania, to which the middle
and northern states have not yet paid sufficient attention. The
first called FIRMITY, is made of WHEAT. The second, called HOMINY,
is made of INDIAN CORN, or MAIZE. The grains of wheat and Indian
corn are prepared by beating in the same manner in a wooden mortar,
with an iron pestle, filed in crosses or ridges at the bottom, like
a modern stamp or seal for letters.

To make the firmity mortar, or hominy mortar, select a tree of from
two feet to two feet and one half in diameter. Cut off a length (or
piece as nearly as possible cylindrical) of about the height of a
man's waistband from the ground. Let an iron hoop be well secured
on and around each of the ends, to bind and keep the wood together.
Then make a hole at each end of this cut of wood, like the cavity
of a common mortar, as wide as the wood will admit, at top, and
narrowing to a blunt point at the bottom. Both cavities are to be
made alike, so that in fact, in the one cylindrical piece of wood,
there will be two mortars; one in and at each end. These may be
used indiscriminately for wheat or firmity, or for Indian corn or
hominy, and will occasion the utensil to last longer.--It will be
proper not to have the bottoms of the two mortars, or mortar holes,
so deep as to endanger the driving a hole from one into the other,
which would destroy the use of both. When the mortar is thus well
made, a moderate quantity of wheat, to make firmity, is to be put
into the mortar, in the upper part, as it stands on the end, and the
grain is to be moistened with a little warm water, to make the skin
or bran come off easily and perfectly, by the beating. The pestle
is then to be used by a man so as, by striking in among the grains
of wheat, from the top to the bottom of the parcel, from time to
time, and repeatedly, to skin the grains of wheat, which it will do
effectually. When this is done, the grains are to be separated from
the hulls or bran, by a sieve large enough to let the wheat through
and keep out the bran or skin. When this has been done, the parcel
is spread to dry, on a clean coarse linen or cotton cloth. The
proper quantity is put into a large family pot, with a sufficient
quantity of water to boil it, and to be evaporated by a steady
simmering heat from 8 or 9 in the evening till 9 or 10 next morning.
Thus the firmity will be made into a large mass of white mixture of
paste or pulp of wheat, and of whole wheat. This is to be taken out
in portions, as wanted to make a mess, boiled with skim or common
milk, as thick as pea-soup or rice-milk, and sweetened to the taste.
A small lump of butter, of the size of a nutmeg, is often put into
the tureen or soup-dish of firmity, at the moment when it is served
up hot. Some use a little nutmeg and a very little salt. Firmity
is used after the meat meal, which need be but small when there is
firmity for dinner, for it is a very hearty and pleasant food. At
supper there is no occasion for meat.

Hominy is prepared in like manner, except that it is served up
without milk, and that it is diluted moderately with hot water. A
little butter and salt may be added; and on following days hominy
is often fried in a large cake to the size of the pan.--Hominy, in
every form and state, is very good with the gravy of roasted beef,
mutton, lamb, and poultry, steaks, chops, and cutlets.

It is believed, that wheat and Indian corn are much more wholesome
in firmity and hominy, than in bread or _pone_. No yeast is
required.--Great quantities of grain might be used in this way.
Every thing that employs our grain, which is becoming redundant, is
an object worthy of consideration and attention. A great number of
the best living and most expensive families in Philadelphia, from
Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, use hominy and firmity with the
greatest relish; and if suitable mortars were sent thither for sale,
the use of this food would increase.




FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.


Weeds, and larger growths, which interfere with cultivation or
impoverish the ground, should be cut down or pulled up, _before the
seed ripens_, in August, which prevents their growing in a following
year. Weeds are the successful rivals of grain, garden vegetables,
and grass.

Now is the BUILDING season. All our country houses and places
for work, should be built on the south and west sides of swamps,
marshes, ponds, and other fresh waters, _on account of health_; and
not on the north or east sides of any such wet or watery places. The
summer winds blow from the south and west, and carry the unwholesome
vapours, exhaled from those fresh waters, from places on their south
and west sides, to places on the north and east sides, preserving
the people's health.

WHITE COVERS of linen, cotton, or even paper, to the hats of people
working in the fields, fishing, fowling, travelling, &c. protect
them from morbid or sickening strokes of the sun. This is an old
practice among the judicious Swiss.

Now, when all the waters are becoming low, we should observe the
places for tapping swamps, marshes, and ponds. By cutting a drain to
draw off the water in its low state, in August, we begin to reclaim
our lands from the marsh and swamp.--The ground becomes firmer to
haul off the wood and timber in the cutting season. Wet grounds
should be drained, before they are cleared of their wood. For, if
they are freed from trees, _in their wet state_, the sun produces
sickening and often fatal evaporations. This is true in France,
Germany, Holland, and the marshy parts of England, though several
degrees further north than the United States.

       *       *       *       *       *

_Dry Rot._--This destructive enemy of building, which generally
commences its ravages in the cellars, may be prevented or checked,
by whitewashing them yearly, mixing copperas with it to give it a
yellow hue.




Communicated for the Rural Magazine.

ABSTRACTS

     From the IVth volume of the Memoirs of the Philadelphia
     Agricultural Society; Richard Peters, President; Wm. Tilghman,
     James Mease, George Logan and Robert Coleman, Vice Presidents;
     Roberts Vaux, Secretary.


1. The SESAMUM ORIENTALE or BE-NE, written BENE, for making oil of
the seed, from Bengal, Africa, Georgia, and the Mississippi. See
Archives of Useful Knowledge, by Dr. Mease; Encyclopædia Britanica;
Accounts of East India Agriculture, &c. It is planted in the end of
April and gathered in the end of September, in 32° N. lat.; raised
also in 34° 50' N. lat. The oil is fine for salad, and all the other
uses of _olive_ oil, and may be extracted, as is the flax-seed oil,
or by boiling water, to the top of which it will rise, and may be
skimmed, and bottled or put into casks. It is very common on the
west coast of Africa, and grows to most advantage on poor, sandy
hills. It is said never to become rancid, but to improve with age.
[Letter of Thomas M. Forman, Esq. Rose Hill, near Savington, Cecil,
Md.] In the same letter is an account of Napoleon or Crawford RYE.
It is described to grow very tall, having a solid stalk, probably
capable of resisting the fly, like Jethro Tull's solid-stalked
wheat. This grain is said to improve in the Cecil county soil and
climate.

2. Plan of FENCES of living trees for posts, such as the Sugar
Maple, and _wire_ for rails; by White & Hazard, Whitestown,
Philadelphia county, lowest falls of Schuylkill. Common fence for
100 acres, for 50 years, costs $3,080. Do. of wire fence for 50
years, costs $1,751. Add profit on trees, such as American black
Walnut, curled or sugar Maple, Mulberry, Apple, (244 trees producing
annually, at one dollar, $244) Buttonwoods, &c. which the projectors
make to produce $14,098, in fifty years. Interest on annual produce
sufficient to keep such wire and live-tree fence in repair, from
the time of completion for ever. Other orchard lands can be spared.
These fences are good against the worst cows;--they are easy to
repair. Inquire at R. Watkin's tavern, at the falls of Schuylkill.

3. Accounts of LIME and KILNS, and cooking STOVES, in Spain; by
Anthony Morris, Esq. formerly of Philadelphia, now of Bucks county,
Pennsylvania, A. D. 1816.--In burning lime, the Spanish peasants
use only the small Shrub or brush wood, not larger than a man's
little finger to the size of a pipe stem. The kiln is like ours in
Whitemarsh, &c. except that the top of the kiln is very little above
the surface of the ground, and is covered with clay to confine the
heat. The arch within is of such height as to give the full benefit
of all the flame of those dry, light materials. The Spanish lime,
like our best Pennsylvania lime, is very good. The Spanish practice
is recommended, where lime stone is plenty, wood scarce, and brush,
trash and weeds so abundant as to impede or injure culture. In the
same letter is a cheap method, as to fuel, for heating irons; and an
economical kitchen, as to fire, for cooking.

4. A letter from Mr. Jefferson, concerning the success of the
GYPSUM, or Plaster of Paris, in Albemarle, Virginia, 200 miles from
the sea-coast; also concerning improved hill ploughing, by his
ingenious son-in-law, Col. Thomas M. Randolph.[3]

  [3] See the engraving of Col. Randolph's Hill-side Plough, page 18,
  vol. IV. Philadelphia Agricultural Society's Memoirs.

5. An American Plough, approved in England; as is our Cradling
Scythe.

6. Also, further notice of the Mangel Wurtzel, for the culture of
which see the Philadelphia Society's Memoirs, vol. III. Seed of a
new kind, called the orange-coloured Mangel Wurtzel, has been sent
to President Peters by Robert Barclay, Esq. grandson to the old
Apologist of Uri. The progress in the culture of this root, in Great
Britain, is great. Mr. Peters thinks the mottled kind best, and
recommends the greatest care as to seed. It appears in other parts
of this volume that 60 to 90 tons of Mangel Wurtzel, or Scarcity
Root, or the improved Beet, have been produced by an acre.

5. In pages 107, 108, 109 and 110, are some interesting notices of
the Mangel Wurtzel, or Scarcity or Beet root, by Mr. Isaac C. Jones,
of Philadelphia. It appears that this gentleman was led into some
experiments, after an entire city occupation of 20 years, by reading
some interesting accounts of such experiments in the European books.
In April, 1816, a piece of ground, not quite one fifth of an acre,
was planted with the seeds, in parallel rows, of two feet three or
four inches one way, by one foot the other. On gathering the crop in
November, 1816, it was found that it weighed 8180 pounds, and that
the weight of the leaves, pulled off from those roots, at different
times through the season, was 5,595 pounds. They would have been
more, but as the season of 1816 was uncommonly dry, the pulling was
omitted for some weeks. This plant is very valuable for farm stock,
and _most so for milch cows_. The leaves are excellent through the
summer, and the cut or chopped root through the winter, when dry
food is used. The Mangel Wurtzel, or Scarcity root or improved Beet,
is excellent for the table, and is preferred by Mr. Jones' family
to the red or garden beets, which are abundant and very fine in the
Philadelphia market. The same gentleman raised in 1816, on 23 square
poles (23/160ths of an acre,) 110 bushels of the long or orange
Carrot root, being at the rate of nearly 800 bushels to the acre. A
bushel of those Carrots (cut with an approved instrument in the form
of an S) weighed 47 lbs., and a bushel of the Mangel Wurtzel, cut
in like manner, weighed 55 lbs. The Carrots produced 800 bushels,
and the Mangel Wurtzel, at this rate, 900 bushels to the acre, each
_in the uncut state_. As he planted the Mangel Wurtzel, Mr. Jones
found it easy to dress with the plough and one horse. The Carrots,
when up, require the hoe and the hand altogether. It appears, that
the seeds of this plant, about which the utmost care is necessary,
may be had of John S. Skinner, Esq. Baltimore, and Mr. M'Mahon,
Philadelphia, and of the seedsmen in New York, Hartford, Boston,
&c. The Mangel Wurtzel fell into some disrepute in England, about
the year 1810, but the marchioness of Salisbury revived it. It
was introduced into Ireland, in 1787, by seed from Dr. Letsom, of
London, but the good qualities not being known, nor the culture, it
fell into disuse in Ireland also. But a machine for the planting
of it was invented by Mr. Edward Linsey, and now it is extensively
cultivated there and much approved. The leaves produce two or more
crops in the north of Ireland in summer and autumn, and those
leaves and the roots in winter are deemed excellent for milch and
beef cattle, in that great butter country. Irish sowing time is
April and May. Preparation the same as for turnips and potatoes:
two drills to be opened two feet apart; sufficient dung to be used,
according to the state and quality of the ground. Then cover the
dung with the double mould board plough, at once, or the single
plough at twice, by ridging them up as high as can be well done,
with a man shovelling between the drills, right and left, smoothing
the surface of the dung, which will leave the ridge about a space of
ten or twelve inches broad. This complete method of fallowing will
repay the trouble of shovelling, by raising a full proportion of
earth under the roots. When the ground is thus completely prepared,
two boys or girls can sow from two to three acres per day. After
sowing, it should be well rolled, which completes the process.

The crop is afterwards to be treated in the same manner as turnips
or potatoes, by putting to and taking off mould, &c. After the roots
have been raised, the ground is in fine order for wheat or any other
crop.

_Example of Cultivation._--Wolf M'Neil, Esq. Ireland, sowed one
acre; from the leaves, fed 40 pigs through the seasons of last
summer and fall; then gathered 84 tons of roots.--On these fed nine
cows and five calves during winter, and had, on 22d April, 1815,
eight tons remaining, besides 100 roots, which he transplanted for
securing good seed, _an all-important object_ in this culture.

(To be continued.)

     [We recommend to our readers the purchase and study of "_The
     Code of Agriculture_," written by Sir John Sinclair, the first
     president of the _public_ British Board of Agriculture. London
     edition, about 612 pages in one octavo volume; also, American
     Hartford edition, Connecticut. It is probably the first farmer's
     manual, or _handbook_, extant in our language, and was concocted
     by the labours of 26 years, and with the aid of 1000 persons.]




_Valuable Breed of Cattle._


The attention of farmers being again called to the bull imported by
Stephen Williams, Esq. of Northborough, we have thought it might
gratify them to learn the high estimation in which cattle of the
same breed are held in England.--About two years since, the stock
of a celebrated agriculturist of that country, consisting of cattle
of this breed, was sold at public auction: One two year old cow,
sold for $1,544; one four year old cow, for $1,400; one five year
old cow, for $1,726; a one year old bull calf, for $1,426; one four
year old bull, for $2,898. And it appears by the catalogue, with
the prices affixed, that 34 cows sold for $19,324; 17 heifers for
$6,006; 6 bulls for $6,267; and 4 bull calves for $3,327--making
for 61 head of cattle, the enormous sum of $34,924.

  [_Mass. Spy._

       *       *       *       *       *

_The Vineyards._--The present crop of grapes promises a more
abundant yield than that of the last season. There are about 24
acres under culture, which, at the last vintage yielded upwards of
5000 gallons of wine, besides a vast quantity of grapes used for
other purposes. The situation is delightful, running parallel with
the river; it is the admiration of strangers, and a grateful retreat
to those who live in its vicinity. The intelligent traveller, while
he rests from the fatigues of his journey, finds a source of true
gratification mingled with delight, in contemplating the beauties
of nature and art, which are here so happily blended--the abode of
rural felicity. _Vevay, (Indiana) June 22._




A DISCOURSE, READ BEFORE THE

Essex Agricultural Society,

In Massachusetts, February 21, 1820,

_Suggesting some Improvements in the Agriculture of the County._

BY TIMOTHY PICKERING,

President of the Society.

(Concluded from page 272.)


II. _On Root Crops._

Premiums having been proposed to encourage the raising of Carrots,
Rutga Baga and Mangel Wurtzel; and as these articles, cultivated
extensively, are of vast importance to farmers; I can perhaps in no
way better promote the views of the Society, in their vote before
mentioned, than by describing the methods of cultivating those
roots, which elsewhere have been practised with great success, but
to which, and indeed to the roots themselves (Carrots excepted) most
of our husbandmen are strangers.

The introduction of Clover, and subsequently carrying the culture of
the Common Turnip extensively into the field, marked distinguished
eras in the improvements of English Husbandry. At a later period,
Carrots were cultivated by some farmers: and within a few years
past, the Mangel Wurtzel and the Rutga Baga have become objects
of general cultivation. And now these five articles constitute
essential branches of the highly improved Husbandry of Great Britain.

COMMON TURNIPS. These for a long time were raised (and perhaps this
practice is still very general) by sowing the seeds broad-cast, and
weeding and thinning them with hoes, till the plants stood from a
foot to fifteen inches apart. But the most correct practice appears
to be that of drilling the seeds in rows, thinning them at the
distance of ten or twelve inches in the rows, and hoeing and keeping
them clear from weeds. And this weak, watery root has been the
principal food of immense flocks of store sheep, during the winter;
and when plentifully given, only with the addition of straw, has
served to fatten cattle and sheep for the market.

CARROTS, Even these plants, so long after they vegetate extremely
small, were also raised from seed sown broad-cast. But this awkward
practice, I believe, has generally given way to the row-culture,
whether the seeds were sown by hand, or by the instrument called a
drill. In very rich land, great crops have been raised where the
rows were only from twelve to fifteen inches apart. The great crop
of 752 bushels, weighing eighteen tons and three quarters raised
on one acre, in Salem, by Erastus Ware, in 1817, was in rows about
sixteen inches apart. The seed was sown the 14th of May. But I am
inclined to think a preferable mode would be, to sow the seeds in
double rows about ten inches apart, with intervals of three feet
between the rows, so as to admit a small plough, as well as the
hoe, in their cultivation. In this case, a deep furrow being opened
by the plough, the manure should be regularly thrown into it, and
covered by four back furrows, so forming a ridge over the manure;
and this ridge being laid level with a light harrow, or with rakes,
or if the soil be in fine tilth, by a light roller, will then be
ready to receive the seed. As soon as the Carrots are plainly to
be seen, they should be hoed and weeded; or the weeds will soon
outstrip the Carrots (which are of very slow growth at first) and
render their cleansing vastly more troublesome and laborious.--They
should also be thinned, to stand single, and only from three to five
inches apart in the rows; or the roots will be small, and cost much
more time in handling and topping (cutting or wringing off the tops)
at the time of harvesting them. The entire crop, too, will doubtless
be smaller than when the plants are thinned as here recommended.

THE MANGEL WURTZEL. This plant yields a much more abundant crop than
the Carrot; and at the same time contains, in the same quantity or
weight of roots, a great deal more nourishment; whence it is natural
to suppose that it requires a richer soil than Carrots. I have not
made sufficient trials to enable me to express a decided opinion on
the best mode of cultivating the Mangel Wurtzel; and will therefore
lay before you the successful practice, on strong land, in the
county of Essex, in England, as it is stated, from a recent English
publication, by the Philadelphia Society of Agriculture.[4]

  [4] Memoirs of the Society, Vol. III. Appendix.

The Mangel Wurtzel is sometimes called the Great, or Improved Beet,
and Root of Scarcity; but now, more generally, Mangel Wurtzel, its
German name. The following is the account of its culture at Bedford,
in Essex.

"It may be proper, in the first place, to state what is meant by
_strong land_. The surface soil is loamy, and from four to twelve
inches deep, upon a bed of strong clay mixed with gravel. It is
too heavy, and generally too wet, in the winter, even for sheep to
eat a crop of turnips on the ground; and although good turnips are
raised upon it, it is always necessary to draw them for the sheep,
stall-fed cattle, or cattle in the yards."

"In the middle, or latter end of the month of April, the furrows are
set out with the plough, two feet apart, and double ploughed; that
is, the plough returns on the [same] furrow to the point whence it
set out, forming a ridge between each two furrows."

"Double ploughing with a common plough is preferable to single
ploughing with a double mould board plough, because it affords a
greater depth of loose earth than the double mould board plough
would produce."

"In these furrows, the manure, which should be in a rotten state, is
deposited, after the rate of six cubic yards to an acre."[5]

  [5] Six cubic yards contain 162 cubic feet, or three cart loads for
  a pair of oxen. A cart body, 7 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet
  high, _in the clear_, contains 56 cubic feet; and three times 56 are
  168.--I doubt the necessity of manure being "in a rotten state,"
  seeing it is to be so deeply buried, for this or any other root crop
  intended for the food of domestic animals; especially for Mangel
  Wurtzel, which to obtain a full crop, should be sown very early,
  as soon as the ground is dry enough to be ploughed. The powerful
  fermentation of fresh dung might impart to the soil a salutary
  warmth in the cool spring season--At least it may be worth while to
  try it.

"The ridges are then split by the plough, going and returning the
same way as before mentioned; leaving the manure immediately under
the middle of the new ridges. A light roller is then passed along
the ridges,[6] in the middle of which the seed is dibbled, so that
the plants may receive all the benefit which can be derived from the
manure."[7]

  [6] These narrow ridges, as formed by the plough, are sharp; by
  passing a light roller over them, they are flattened to a breadth of
  8 or 9 inches. The light roller, drawn by a horse, that walks in the
  furrow between them, flattens two ridges at a time. Thus rolled, the
  manure will be covered 8 or 9 inches deep.

  [7] A dibble is a simple tool, which may be of different sizes and
  forms, according to the uses it is intended to serve. If for setting
  (in transplanting) cabbages or other like plants, it may be a round
  stick about an inch and a quarter in diameter, shaved down at one
  end (in a slope of 8 or 10 inches long) to a blunt point. An old
  spade or shovel handle is well adapted to the purpose. If much used,
  the slope may be advantageously covered smoothly with iron. But for
  putting in _seeds_, the dibble may be in the form of the letter T.
  To make one, take a piece of wood about 3 feet 4 inches long, and
  about an inch and a quarter square. In one of the sides bore holes
  in a line, and insert teeth at the proposed distance of the plants
  in the row: if for Mangel Wurtzel, at 10, 11 or 12 inches apart; and
  let the teeth be as long (projecting from the head place) as the
  proposed depth at which the seeds are to be sown. On the opposite
  side of the head-piece, bore a hole in the middle, large enough to
  receive a handle of convenient length. On the top of the handle fix
  a cross-piece 5 or 6 inches long, to be grasped by the hand in using
  the tool.--With it, as many holes for seeds will be made, at every
  movement, as there are teeth in the head. The handle may require
  bracing, in like manner as a rake handle and its head is braced by
  means of bows.

  It now occurs to me, that perhaps the light roller used in levelling
  the tops of the ridges may be set with teeth, and thus perform the
  additional office of making holes for the seed; and with vastly
  greater expedition than by dibbling. A light roller, long enough to
  flatten two ridges at once, of 13 inches in diameter, and furnished
  with two sets of four teeth each to pass along the middle of two
  adjoining ridges--and the four teeth of each set being inserted at
  equal distances in a circle of the roller,--the holes for the seed
  would be made at the desired distance of near one foot from each
  other. The teeth should be so shaped as to leave the holes made by
  them fairly open. For this purpose they may be an inch and a half
  wide and three quarters of an inch thick, where their shoulders are
  fayed to the roller, and taper thence to a rounded thick edge at
  their extremities. The same teeth, if not too long, may serve to
  regulate and expedite the sowing of the Ruta Baga seed.

"The seed is deposited about an inch deep, whilst the moisture
is fresh in the earth,[8] and covered by drawing a garden rake
along the rows. After this, the light roller is again passed along
the ridges, [to press the earth upon the seeds] and the work is
finished."

  [8] It is very important to have seeds of all kinds sown as soon as
  possible after the ground is ploughed and prepared to receive them,
  and before the moisture of the fresh-stirred earth is dissipated by
  the sun and drying winds; otherwise some may never vegetate, or not
  till after a fall of rain; and so precious time may be lost, and an
  uneven crop be produced.

"When the plants are about the size of a radish, they are hoed with
a turnip hoe, leaving the plants in the row about twelve inches
apart. If any of the seeds fail, and there happen not to be an even
crop, the roots where they are too thick are drawn out before the
hoeing takes place, and transplanted to fill up the vacant places,
and ensure a full crop; which is always certain, inasmuch as 99
plants out of 100 thrive and do well. In transplanting, care is
necessary to prevent the point of the root from turning upwards."

"The weeds, while the plants are young, are kept hoed; but after the
head of the plant has once spread, no weed can live under its shade;
and the expense of hoeing afterwards is trifling indeed."

"The whole of the crop is taken up in the month of November,[9] in
dry weather. The tops are cut off near the _crown_ of the plants,
and the plants, when perfectly dry, are piled up in a shed, and
covered with straw sufficiently thick to preserve them from the
frost. They kept last year till the latter end of March, and they
would have kept much longer."

  [9] The time of taking up the Mangel Wurtzel must be regulated
  by the climate. There is sometimes a frost in the latter part of
  October, in this county, severe enough to injure this root, exposed,
  as the greater part of it is above ground. Light frosts, however,
  will do it no harm, while the roots remain in the ground, and in a
  degree sheltered by their leaves.

"Where a field selected for a crop of Beet [the Mangel Wurtzel]
happens to be in a foul state, the seed had better be sown in a
garden, and the whole field planted with the young Beet, when of
the size of a radish. This will give time for cleaning the ground,
and fitting it for a crop; for although the Beets are destroyers of
weeds, it is not meant to recommend sowing them on foul ground, or
in any way to encourage a slovenly system of farming."

"The method of cultivating the Beet root, here recommended, is the
same as that used in the cultivation of turnips, in Northumberland,
and other parts of the North of England with this exception, that
the rows there are 27 inches apart.--There may be reasons in the
North for still preserving that space; but in Essex the effect of
it, in the cultivation of the Beet root, would be, that instead
of 48 tons per acre, 43 tons only would be obtained. Experience
has proved, that the roots do not get to a larger size in rows
three feet apart, than they do in rows two feet apart. It may
therefore fairly be presumed, that they would not be larger, in rows
twenty-seven inches apart; and if not larger, the weight of the
crop, per acre, must be less, because the plants decrease in number
as the rows increase in space."

To the preceding account of cultivating the Mangel Wurtzel, I will
subjoin a few

REMARKS.

In this mode it is intended that every two feet of ground should
bear one plant: and as an acre contains 43,560 square feet, there
will be half of that number of plants on an acre, and the roots must
weigh nearly five pounds each, on an average, to yield forty-eight
tons. The land must indeed be strong to produce so heavy a crop. If
our lands, enriched and prepared in the best manner conveniently in
our power, can be made to yield half as much, we shall have reason
to be satisfied: especially as the Mangel Wurtzel, quantity for
quantity, contains more than twice as much nutritive matter as the
Ruta Baga, and even 50 per cent. more than Carrots; according to
the experiments (by analysis) of a celebrated English Chymist, Sir
Humphrey Davy, which he stated to the British Board of Agriculture.
These experiments were made with the red and white Beets; but it is
presumed that the Mangel Wurtzel produces as much nutriment as any
other Beet.

Instead of 6 it may be advisable to apply at least 12 cubit yards
(that is 6 such cart loads as were before-mentioned) of manure to
an acre; and to distribute the same in deep furrows 4 feet apart.
This would give four square feet of ground to each plant, the plants
being at a foot distance one from another in the rows, four feet
apart, would admit the use of the common horse plough in their
cultivation.

Carrots and the Mangel Wurtzel possess one eminent advantage; that
they are not, to my knowledge, annoyed by insects at any period of
their growth. Whereas the Ruta Baga and other turnips, while in the
seed leaf, are injured (in England whole fields are often destroyed)
by a small black fly: and the Ruta Baga (like cabbages) when far
advanced in growth, is sometimes infested, and in dry seasons half
ruined, by plant lice; as was my small crop in 1818.

The Mangel Wurtzel also possesses one peculiar advantage above all
other root crops, that as soon as the tops or leaves, are full
grown, they may be stripped off (leaving only the small heart-leaves
uninjured) and given to cattle and swine.--This stripping may
be repeated once or twice; and it is said that the roots thrive
better for the stripping. If not stripped off many of the under
leaves perish. The leaves are pronounced excellent for increasing
the richness and quantity of milk in cows; and so are calculated
to supply the deficiency of herbage in the common pastures, which
generally fail, more or less, by the beginning of August. An acre
twice stripped will yield several tons of leaves.

THE RUTA BAGA. This root may be cultivated in the manner just
described for the Mangel Wurtzel; the ground being prepared in the
same manner. In England, they appear to be most commonly grown in
rows 27 inches apart, with the plants at a foot distance in the
rows. But William Cobbett, who in a small book, published in New
York, has minutely described his own practice, both in England and
America, asserts, that the largest crops are attainable by growing
the Ruta Baga in rows four feet apart, with the plants about 10
inches or a foot distant from each other in the rows: and in this
mode of culture, he has raised, in England, 30 tons to the acre.

For this mode of culture, the manure, being deposited in furrows
4 feet apart, is covered by 4 back furrows, 2 on one side and 2
on the other, of each line of manure; by which little ridges are
formed: and if the ploughing be deep (as it ought to be) there will
be a deep gutter between every two ridges.--The tops of the ridges
being made fine with a light harrow, or with rakes, the seeds are
sown with a drilling machine; or by hand, which Mr. Cobbett says he
prefers to a drill. Two men sowed for him 7 acres in 3 days, using
about 4 pounds of seed, in this manner; a man went along by the
side of each ridge, and put down 2 or 3 seeds in places at about
10 inches from each other, just drawing a little earth over, and
_pressing it on the seed_, in order to make it vegetate quickly,
before the earth became too dry. But, he adds, the 7 acres might
have been sown by one man in a day, by just scattering the seeds
along on the top of the ridge, where they might have been buried
with a rake, and pressed down with a spade or shovel, or other flat
instrument. But he used a light roller, to take two ridges at once,
the horse walking in the gutter between.

The time of sowing the seeds must vary with the climate. On Long
Island, (state of New York) Mr. Cobbett's trials of one year led him
to prefer the 26th of June; but in our own county, I would not pass
the middle of that month. Indeed I think it expedient (in order to
ascertain the fittest time) to commence sowing the seed as soon as
the ground can be prepared after the planting of Indian corn, and to
continue to sow, in small plots, weekly, until the middle of June.

As soon as the plants are fairly up, hoes and the fingers are to
be used, taking out all the plants but 1 in each 10 or 12 inches.
As soon as weeds appear, hoeing is to commence; hoeing the tops
of the ridges to the width of about 6 inches, showing the plants
distinct and clean. Then the plough is introduced, taking a furrow
from the side of one ridge, going up the field, a furrow from the
other ridge coming down, then another furrow from the same side of
the first ridge going up, and another furrow from the same side of
the other ridge coming down. In taking away the last two furrows,
you go within three inches of the turnip plants. Thus a ridge is
formed over the original gutter. The next process is, to turn these
furrows back again to the turnips. This hoeing and ploughing is
to be repeated, when the appearance of the weeds requires it; and
afterwards, the few weeds which may rise are to be hoed or pulled
up. In this way, Mr. Cobbett thinks, a thousand bushels of Ruta Baga
may be raised on an acre that will yield 50 bushels of Indian corn.

In describing the culture of the Mangel Wurtzel, transplanting was
mentioned, to fill vacant places. The same may be practised with
the Ruta Baga. But unless those vacant spots be dug afresh, the
transplanted roots will be much inferiour to their transplanted
neighbours; as I found in my last year's experiment. And Mr.
Cobbett mentions the like difference in his practice.--At the
same time he strongly recommends the raising of the Ruta Baga, by
_transplanting_, for _entire crops_, as for preferable to the sowing
of the seeds, and letting the plants grow where their seeds first
vegetated. But then he considers it indispensable to perform this
transplanting _on ground fresh ploughed_. And by sowing the seeds in
beds, to raise plants, as we do for cabbages, a month's more time
is allowed to prepare the ground for their reception. In the work
of transplanting, the plain dibble before described is a necessary
instrument. The hole made by it must be fully as deep as the length
of the root; and this being introduced (taking care in putting it
into the hole not to bend its point) the dibble is thrust down by
its side, and by a dexterous twist, or circular motion of the hand,
the earth is pressed close against the root, in its whole length.
The largest crop of Ruta Baga he ever raised in England, Mr. Cobbett
says, was by transplanting, on 17 acres, which produced 33 tons to
the acre; the rows (on ridges) 4 feet asunder, and the plants a foot
asunder in the rows.

In this mode of raising the Ruta Baga, by transplanting the entire
crop, so much time is gained for preparing the ground, that two
crops of weeds may be destroyed, by that number of ploughings;
the first in the beginning of June, and the second immediately
before transplanting. But Mr. Cobbett recommends a previous _deep_
fall-ploughing, and another _deep_ ploughing in April, of the ground
intended for the Ruta Baga. The like two deep ploughings will be
equally proper and beneficial for the Mangel Wurtzel and Carrots.

Among the advantages of the transplanting method, mentioned by Mr.
Cobbett, one is, that it "saves almost the whole of the _after
culture_. There is no _hoeing_, no _thinning_ of the plants; and not
more than one ploughing between the ridges."

_Harvesting of Roots._ The Mangel Wurtzel, growing chiefly above the
surface, and thus exposed to frost, should be taken up the latter
end of October or beginning of November, according to the nature
of the season. The harvesting of Carrots may follow that of the
Mangel Wurtzel; and the Ruta Baga succeed the Carrots. In the first
experimental culture of the roots, in which but small quantities
are raised, they can be preserved in dry cellars not liable to
freezing. Where large quantities are raised, they may be deposited
in heaps, sufficiently covered, in a dry field. The common method
of heaping and covering roots in the field, and which Mr. Cobbett
practised with the Ruta Baga, is perhaps, as good as any. Holes of
a round or square form are dug about a foot deep, and about fifty
bushels are put into each, piling up the roots above the level of
the surface of the land, sloping to the top: then covering them
with straw, throw earth over the whole to a depth sufficient to
guard them from frost. Smooth the surface of this earth by beating
it close with the back of a spade, or other instrument, the better
to cast off rain. On Long Island and in Pennsylvania, a covering
of earth, a foot or 15 inches deep has been found sufficient. A
greater depth will probably be necessary here. In throwing up this
cover, a trench will be formed on all sides of the heap, to receive
the water running off it. It may be well to sink the bottom of the
trench lower than the bottom of the hole in which the roots are
deposited. Where large quantities are to be thus preserved, several
loads may be put into one hole: and then oblong heaps will be best
as requiring less labour in covering them. A quantity of roots,
for feeding cattle till the middle of December, may be kept in a
barn or stable covered with straw or any dry litter. I would begin
feeding with Mangel Wurtzel--follow next with Carrots--and conclude
with Ruta Baga; for the latter root will keep sound until the
commencement of the summer succeeding their growth.

All the roots, especially the Mangel Wurtzel and Carrots, should
be fully dried before they are housed, or covered in the field, to
guard them against rotting.

_Roots for raising Seed._ Of the Mangel Wurtzel I would select
large and fair roots of a red colour, whose bodies have grown most
above ground, and with a moderate, if not the smallest, quantity of
leaves; for although _these_ are valuable for stripping, the _roots_
are much more valuable; and I am inclined to think those with small
tops are least liable to rot.

Of Carrots, large and fair roots of the deepest yellow colour, and
with the smallest tops in proportion to the size of the roots, are
to be preferred.

With regard to the Ruta Baga, Mr. Cobbett says, it is apt to
_degenerate_, if the seed be not saved with care. "We in England
(said he) examine well to find out those that run least into _neck_
and _green_. We reject all such as approach at all towards a
_whitish_ colour, or which are even of a _greenish_ colour _towards
the neck_, which _there_ ought to be a little of a _reddish cast_."

Varieties of plants of the _same kind_ (the different sorts of
cabbages, for instance, or of Indian corn) if growing near together
and bearing seed, will impart to one another their respective
peculiarities, and injuriously, whenever it is desired to preserve
their distinct qualities unmixed, and to prevent an inferiour
engendering with one of a superiour quality; the impregnating dust
of the flowers of plants falling on the flowers of other plants of
the same kind, producing effects similar to the crossing of animals
of the same kind but of different breeds. In a word, the _sexual_
system exists in plants as well as among animals; only in plants the
male and female are generally united in the same plant; as in Indian
corn, the male impregnating dust (the farina) is in the tassel or
flower, at the top: the ear is the female, and from every cell of
the future grain proceeds a thread, which together constitute what
is called the silk, on which the farina falling causes the cells
to fill, and become, when ripe, kernels of corn. In most fruits,
as the apple and pear, the male and female are in the same flower.
But in hemp, some of the plants are exclusively male, and others
exclusively female.

The Ruta Baga, therefore, when set out for bearing seed, should be
placed at a distance from every other seed plant of the Turnip or
Cabbage kind. So likewise the Mangel Wurtzel intended to bear seed,
should not be set near any other seed beet plants. It may not be
amiss to add, that for the same reasons, pumpkins, squashes, melons,
cucumbers, in all their varieties, in order to preserve them in
purity, should be planted at some distance from each other.

Pumpkins, as food for domestic animals, seem closely connected with
the roots before-mentioned. Every farmer knows their value for
milk cows, for fattening cattle, and for swine. Their consumption
conveniently precedes that of the Mangel Wurtzel.

With ample supplies of the Vegetables whose culture I have mentioned
and described, our present Stocks may be better fed, their numbers
enlarged, our coarse fodder be more advantageously consumed,
our manure increased, and pork and beef and the products of the
dairy, probably doubled. The latter, in particular, are miserably
deficient, from the want of juicy food for cows, in continuance
of the supply yielded by our common pastures just at midsummer.
Pumpkins and the roots, indeed, will not be ready to keep up that
supply; but oats and barley, and above all Indian corn, may be sown
and planted, to be cut green, and carry along our cows to the last
of September, when pumpkins will begin to ripen. The consumption
of these green crops and roots, by producing vast additions to our
manure, will enable us to enrich our fields, and to make annual
additions to the products of our farms.

The immense importance of providing for cows a full supply of food,
and of food which they relish, to the extent of their appetites, has
been demonstrated by many examples of very large products of milk,
butter and cheese, from cows so supplied. The following statement
from a recent English publication, is a further illustration of the
fact:--"A farmer, some years since, kept _eighteen_ cows upon a
_Common_, and was often obliged to buy butter for his family. The
Common was _enclosed_, (which deprived the farmer of his pasture,)
and the same person supplied his family amply with milk and butter,
from _four_ cows _well kept._"


_III. On Indian Corn and Winter Grain._

The ancient, and to this day the general practice, in cultivating
Indian corn, has been to plant it in squares, and in the course of
its growth to draw up earth about the stems of the plants, forming
_hills_; under the idea of supporting them against strong winds; but
the necessity or utility of this practice has long been doubted.
I have sometimes cultivated Indian corn without raising any hills
about the plants; and, from the result, am satisfied that hills
are not necessary. If, indeed, winter wheat, or rye, is to be sown
among the corn, at its last dressing, I think the hilling must be
injurious; for the richer mould being drawn up into hills, the
intervals are robbed of what is requisite to produce an even crop.

I am aware that some intelligent farmers consider it bad husbandry
to sow winter grain among Indian corn--to _double-crop_ the ground.
But if this be _rich_, and in _fine tilth_ by deep ploughing before
the corn crop is put in, and good and clean tillage accompanying
its growth, I can perceive no solid objection to the practice. With
us, the early sowing of winter grain is of the first importance, to
insure a full crop, early ripe, and most secure from mildew. The
husbandry of Mr. Ducket, already described, justifies the practice.
I know it is already common amongst us; but without the _deep
tillage_ which enabled him to put in seven crops with only four
ploughings. With such complete tillage, of a soil so enriched as to
yield forty or fifty bushels of Indian corn to the acre, grown on
a level, without hills or ridges; and if, in harvesting the corn,
it be cut close to the ground; I see no reason why grass seeds may
not properly be sown on the winter grain, in the spring. In this
way, may be obtained a crop of Indian corn the first year--a crop of
wheat or rye the second year--and hay the third and fourth years;
and all from one deep ploughing, and a handsome culture of the
Indian corn.

By the early sowing of winter grain among Indian corn, it quickly
vegetates, and sends forth numerous branches; and soon covering the
ground, prevents or checks the growth of weeds. Probably, too, the
plants, acquiring so much strength by early sowing (for the roots
must multiply and extend in proportion to the growth above ground)
are less liable to be winter-killed.


_IV. On Live Stock._

I have now to present to your notice the other of the three
celebrated English Farmers, described by Arthur Young--Mr.
Bakewell--the most distinguished improver of live stock, on
principles of his own, in Great Britain. "The principles he began
upon (says Mr. Young) were _fine forms_, _small bones_, _and a
true disposition to make readily fat_, which is indeed inseparable
from small bones, or rather fine bones, and fine forms, or true
symmetry of the parts." Before Bakewell's day, the rules which
governed Breeders of Live Stock, Mr. Young pronounces a tissue "of
absurdities."

He began his improvements of sheep, by selecting from the best
in his neighbourhood. And so little had any correct principle of
improvement been known, or regarded, that a guinea or half a guinea
extraordinary would give Mr. Bakewell the choice of any sheep in
any flock. And his uncommon sagacity enabled him, by the best
selections and judicious crossings, to form a breed distinguished
above all others, for _the disposition to fatten_, _early maturity_,
_a form indicating strength of constitution_, _weight in the most
valuable parts_, with _lightness of offals_. Mr. Young expresses
his opinion, that there is not a breed of any sort of live stock
in Great Britain, that does not derive its improvement from the
skill, knowledge and principles of Mr. Bakewell. Another eminent
Agriculturalist declares, (and Mr. Young does not think he
exaggerates) "that Mr. Bakewell enabled those who followed his
ideas, to produce two pounds of mutton where only one was produced
before."

Mr. Young adds, that Bakewell was the most careful feeder of stock
that he ever met with, and who made his food go the farthest. To
horses and cattle in stalls, he did not permit more than a handful
of hay to be given at a time; and the same economy was used in all
other feeding.--But his stocks were so large as to require one or
more persons to be appropriated to that service. This practice, in
our small farms and with our small stocks, cannot be fully adopted;
but it may be imitated, in some degree, during the season (winter)
most requiring such attention. By feeding them in this manner, the
cattle will doubtless _eat more_, but they will _waste less_; so
that while, in the whole, no more fodder will be consumed, the stock
will be put into much better plight.

Cleanliness, also, will materially contribute to the health and
thriving of stock. The common cattle-stalls of our country are so
ill contrived, and so straitened in their dimensions, that the
cattle are constrained to lie down, in part in their own dung. This
dries and forms a thick coat on their hind quarters, from which
they are not relieved till they shed their hair in the spring. They
are thus rendered _uncomfortable_; to be _uncomfortable_ is to
suffer some degree of _pain_; and no one will suppose that animals
in _pain_ can _thrive_, or _preserve their plight_, with the same
food, equally with others perfectly at ease. Even hogs, though prone
to wallow in the mire, in warm weather, are always pleased with a
dry bed, and thrive best when kept clean. I have some where read an
account of an experiment made with two, confined in separate pens,
and fed exactly alike: one was suffered to be constantly foul with
the mire of his sty; the other, washed every day, and kept clean,
far outstripped the former in thriving.

It may be useful to add some further information on Live Stock,
from the writings of Sir John Sinclair, President of the British
Board of Agriculture. He proposed to a gentleman in England,[10]
who is eminent for his knowledge and accurate observations relative
to plants and animals, some questions concerning Live Stock.
In one of his answers, he says--"I have found the food animals
generally require, to keep them in proper condition, is much more
nearly proportioned to their _height_ and _length_, than to their
_weight_." In confirmation of this opinion, he adds, that one of his
neighbours made a comparative experiment with the Devon and Hereford
cows; and though fond of the former for their neatness, he gave
them up, because "they would not nearly live upon the same food
which supplied animals _stouter_ and _more compact_, of the same
weight."

  [10] Thomas A. Knight, Esq.

To the question, "What is the best shape for feeding with little
food?" Mr. Knight answers--"The more deep and capacious the chest,
and the shorter and lower any animal is, relative to its weight,
the better adapted it will be to live and fatten upon little food;
the more labour it will also go through; and I have always found
the short legged oxen to be the best labourers. Mr. Marshall also
observes, in his Rural Economy of Gloucestershire, that the best
labouring ox he ever saw, had the shortest legs."

I will detain the Society no longer than to make a few observations.


_V. On Orchards._

I advert to this subject for the purpose of suggesting the utility
of propagating Sweet Apples.

After providing a due proportion of apples for the table, and the
ordinary purposes of cookery, I do not hesitate to express my
opinion, that for all other uses, sweet apples are entitled to the
preference. The best cider I ever tasted in this country, was made
wholly of sweet apples. They afford also a nourishing food to man
and all domestic animals. What furnishes a more delicate repast
than a rich sweet apple baked and eaten with milk? I recollect the
observation made to me by an observing farmer, before the American
revolution, that nothing would fatten cattle faster than sweet
apples. Mentioning this, a few years since, to a gentleman of my
acquaintance in an adjoining state, he informed me, that he was once
advised to give sweet apples to a sick horse. Happening then to have
them in plenty, the horse was served with them, and he soon got
well: and continuing to be fed with them, he fattened faster than
any other horse he had ever owned (and he had owned many) that was
fed with any other food.

Mentioning to the same gentleman, what I had long before heard, that
a good molasses might be made of sweet apples, he confirmed the
fact by an instance within his own knowledge: and further expressed
his opinion (and I have not known a man whose practical judgment
was entitled to more respect) that it would not be difficult,
by forming orchards of sweet apples, to supply molasses for the
general consumption of the United States. I have never tasted any
sweet apple molasses; but I suppose it has not (nor has honey) the
rich sweet of molasses from the sugar-cane; yet, for family uses
in general, it would be a useful substitute for the latter. The
process in making it I suppose to be very simple.--The apples being
ground, and the juice (or cider) expressed, at the cider-mill, it is
immediately boiled, (that is, before any fermentation takes place)
and the scum being taken off as it rises, the boiling is continued
until the liquor acquires the consistence of molasses.

Sweet apples are of different degrees of sweetness. Those of the
richest kinds should be chosen for the purpose of making molasses.
But in grafting, the cions should be taken (as they ought to be for
all kinds of fruit) not from old, worn out trees, but from those
whose originals are in full health and vigour.--For it has been
satisfactorily ascertained in England, (and proofs of it are not
wanting in our own country) that fruit trees have their infancy,
(springing from seeds) youth, maturity, and old age; and that when
they have reached this last stage, it is in vain that attempts are
made to continue them. Or if the cions take, and grow for a few
years, they are unproductive, and soon decay. The reason is plain:
every cion is a part of the tree from which it is taken; and if this
be in a state of decrepitude, so will be the cion; and although
grafted on a youthful, thrifty stock, it will be of no avail.




NEW WHEAT.


A cargo of new wheat from North Carolina, of 1200 bushels, was sold
last month, in Philadelphia, at 94-1/2 cents cash.




(From the Plough Boy.)

FLEMISH HUSBANDRY.


_Weeding and hoeing._--The Flemish farmer never considers his work
half done until his fields are completely freed from weeds. This
is effected, in a great measure, by repeated digging, by which the
upper stratum that contains the seeds and roots of noxious plants,
is buried sufficiently deep into the ground to prevent their
vegetating. When weeds do appear, they are immediately extirpated
either by the harrow before the grain is sown, or afterwards
by careful and repeated hand hoeings. This they find the more
necessary, to rid the earth of parasite plants, the seeds of which
are mixed with the seeds of culinary vegetables, and produce
plants that feed on the juices of the dung, to the great injury
of the legitimate stock. A Flemish farm, in consequence of these
attentions, resembles more a highly cultivated garden, than many
places which bear that name. When I first beheld these fields,
I supposed them actually to be gardens, and was only undeceived
when further observation and inquiry convinced me, that the whole
country was cultivated in a similar manner, and presented the same
delightful scene.

_Choice of Seeds._--It is an invariable practice in Flanders, never
to use for seed the grain grown on the land to be sown; nor is the
expense regarded when the object is to obtain heavy and healthy
seed. Farmers in distant districts exchange seeds with each other,
and journies of hundreds of miles are frequently taken to accomplish
this desirable purpose. Vanderstractan mentions two farmers, whose
grounds were alike, and who cultivated them with equal skill and
industry. They had both been long in the practice of procuring
excellent seed potatoes from Brabant, which yielded in that province
two hundred cwt. per English acre. When transplanted, the produce
was regularly, year after year, five hundred and forty cwt. per
acre.[11] One of these men having, one year, to save the expense
of carriage, used potatoes of his own growth, the original produce
of Brabant, soon repented the step, and returned to his former
practice. Flanders usually receives its supply of flax-seed from the
north of Europe; but having, during the latter years of the reign
of Napoleon, been deprived of that supply, through his restrictive
decrees; the produce of that valuable plant was not more than half
the usual quantity, which besides was greatly inferior to preceding
crops.

  [11] This great produce cannot fail to astonish many persons living
  in this country. But let them recollect, that the upper layer of the
  soil, from which the crops are produced, is never changed here; that
  this layer, having been so often used, must have lost part of its
  ancient fertility; that dung is not spread in abundance with us as
  in Flanders; and that it is possible the species of potatoes grown
  here have degenerated.

Although the Flemish are the most particular people in the world
as to the choice of their seeds, they are sometimes deceived. An
instance of this happened a few years ago, which was followed by
very injurious consequences. A person brought some flax-seed from
Riga, which he sold for sound seed. It was, however, superanuated,
but he had contrived to give it a fresh and healthy appearance,
and thus imposed on the best judges. The farmers, deceived by the
false mark, bought and sowed the seed, none of which ever appeared
above the ground. "The desolation of the country was universal; the
loss was estimated at several millions of florins; and the offender
escaped the punishment he merited, only through the intercessions
of several powerful friends, who found means to stifle the affair,
notwithstanding the cries of its numerous victims." I recollect a
case somewhat similar to this, which happened a few years ago in
Edinburgh. A respectable seed merchant there purchased a quantity
of flax-seed from a foreigner, which he sold again in small parcels
to the farmers, who, on sowing it, found that it was unsound, as no
part of it was productive. The seed merchant was sued, and although
he distinctly proved, that he made the purchase himself under the
impression that the seed was fresh, and paid a fair price for it, he
was found liable in damages to the amount of the loss sustained by
the farmer who sued, upon the ground that he was bound to guarantee
every article which he sold at the regular market price, whether he
was imposed upon himself or not. These lessons were not thrown away.
In Flanders, as well as in Scotland, no foreign seed is purchased,
until the purchasers be fully satisfied as to the quality of the
article, and the character of the seller.

The Flemish practice, with regard to a change of seeds, has long
prevailed in Scotland, not only as to potatoes, but as to wheat,
barley, oats, and all other grain. The Scotch potatoes have
always appeared to me superior to those raised in England, where
the same attention is not shown to the choice of seed. It is a
fact, also, well known in these countries, that the barley raised
in Scotland, though greatly inferior in _appearance_ to English
barley, and raised in a colder climate, contains more saccharine
matter, or nourishment. This has been tested by experiments at
the distilleries, under the immediate inspection of officers
appointed by the government, who reported a greater quantity of
spirit obtained from barley, the growth of Scotland, than from that
produced in England. The beef sold in the London markets, which
had been reared in the Scotch distilleries upon the refuse grains,
uniformly sells at from three to four cents a pound more than that
fed at any of the English distilleries.

This superiority unquestionably arises from the greatly improved
system of agriculture, _generally_ introduced into Scotland, but
it is owing in nothing so much as to the very scrupulous attention
there paid to the choice of seed. Of late years, this branch of
husbandry seems to have considerably attracted the notice of
the English farmers; some of whom, as appears from the English
newspapers, have found it greatly to their interest to cultivate
wheat, in particular, obtained from foreign places, which, when
grown, they convey to distant parts of the country, and sell
exclusively for seed wheat. It was mentioned in the Cumberland
Packet (an English journal) of 14th October, 1816, "that a farmer
had obtained _l._40, ($170,) per load, of 30 bushels, for seed
wheat, on account of its great product. He had also, obtained the
same price for seven years past for this wheat, which had been
originally imported from abroad."

_Rotation of Crops_--The intelligent agriculturalists of England are
well aware, that the more the rotation of crops are varied, the more
abundant is their produce; but this opinion is confined to a few in
that country. It is only in Flanders that the idea of exhausting the
soil, by repeated cropping, is exploded, and the rotation system
brought to the greatest possible state of perfection. The ground
being prepared in the manner before stated, the Flemish farmer
adopts either one or the other of the following courses:


FIRST COURSE FOR THREE YEARS.

_First year._--Oats are sown about the end of February, or beginning
of March. These are cut green toward the end of April, or beginning
of May, and given to the cattle for food, which they eat with great
pleasure. It is found that this crop, as it is not allowed to throw
out the ears, does not exhaust the soil, or take anything from the
subsequent crop.[12] Winter potatoes are now sown for a _second_
crop; previous to which the land is dug and manured. When of a
middling size the potato is planted whole, but if very large, the
eye only is used.

  [12] It is well known, that vegetables will grow in pure sand, by
  watering them, and that it is not till they blossom, or rather till
  they produce seed, that they perish. It is mentioned by Bracconnot,
  in the _Annales de Chimie_, for February and March, 1808, that he
  sowed the seeds of various plants in pure river sand, in litharge,
  in flour of sulphur, and even among metal, or common leaden shot;
  and in every instance he employed only _distilled water_ for their
  nourishment. The plants throve, and passed through all the usual
  gradations of growth to perfect maturity. The author then proceeded
  to gather the entire produce, the roots, stems, leaves, pods, &c.
  These were accurately weighed, dried, and again weighed; then
  submitted to the ordinary means used in a careful analysis, when
  he obtained from these vegetables, all the materials peculiar to
  each individual species, precisely as if it had been cultivated
  in a natural soil. "Oxygen and hydrogen, (says this writer) with
  the assistance of solar light, appear to be the only elementary
  substances employed in the constitution of the whole universe: and
  Nature in her simple progress, works the most infinitely diversified
  effects by the slightest modification in the means she employs."

_Second year._--Wheat forms the first crop; and scarcely are the
sheaves removed from the ground, when the farmer promptly turns up
the earth, and sows spurry. Sometimes carrots are sown with the
wheat.

_Third year._--Rye; which is followed by Turnips.


SECOND COURSE FOR THREE YEARS.

_First year._--Flax preceded by green oats. After the flax, carrots.

_Second year._---Wheat; followed by Spurry.

_Third year._--Rye and turnips.


THIRD COURSE FOR THREE YEARS.

_First year._--Female Hemp; after which, Turnips.

_Second year._--Flax, then carrots.

_Third year._--Wheat and spurry.


FOURTH COURSE FOR THREE YEARS.

_First year._--Flax, preceded by green corn. After the flax, carrots.

_Second year._--Cole-seed; then turnips.

_Third year._--Wheat; then spurry.

These courses are sufficient to give a pretty correct idea of
the Flemish system of rotation. It will be seen that wheat never
succeeds to clover: it almost always follows flax, hemp, cole-seed
or potatoes. Clover greatly encourages the growth of dog grass,
which, if not completely torn up, with all its roots, the least
fibres of the latter which escape, will each produce a new plant,
greatly to the prejudice of the wheat. In England the fields are
always more or less infected with this pest, while the practice
pursued in Flanders completely protects them against it--Wheat is
also materially benefited in Flanders, by the repeated digging up,
and hoeings, which potatoes require; and by the abundance, and
judicious application of manure, spread during the first year of
the course. This loses only part of its fertilizing salts, leaving
the earth in a high state of fertility, which the Flemish farmer
knows well how to augment to the requisite degree without causing
the wheat to shed; a circumstance apt to occur, where too great a
quantity of manure is used.

The following comparative tables, shewing the value which is
obtained from one acre in _four_ years, by a farmer, following
the Norfolk course, in England, and that obtained, from the same
space in _three_ years according to the Flemish course, will best
illustrate the superior advantages of the latter over the former:

           TABLE I.----ENGLAND.

  1st. _year_. Turnips, according
  to Arthur Young,             _l._2    4  0
  2d. do. Barley,                  4    0  0
  3d. do. Clover,                  3   12  0
  4th. do. Wheat,                  6    0  0
      Wheat Straw,                 3    2  6
      Barley, do.                  0   15  7
                               -------------
  Total produce in 4 years,   _l._19   14  1

Giving one year with another, _l._4 18 6-1/4 per acre.

                TABLE II----FLANDERS.

  1st. _year_. Green Oats,           _l_. 0   16   8
             Potatoes,                   10    5   1
  2d. do.    Wheat,                       3    7   8
             Spurry,                      2    0   1
  3d. do.    Rye,                         2    0   0
             Turnips,                     2    1   6
             Wheat Straw,                 1    0  10
             Rye  do.                     1    3   2
             Halm, or straw of
             potatoes,                    0    6   2
                                        -------------
  Total produce in 3 years,          _l._23    7   2

Giving one year with another, _l._7 9 1 per acre.

From these statements, proceeding upon the most correct data,
it is seen that the value of the produce of one acre of ground,
cultivated according to the Flemish system for _three_ years, is,
(within a fraction,) 50 per cent. more than what is produced in
_four_ years from an equal space of ground, managed agreeably to
the most approved principles of English husbandry. The advantages
of the Flemish farmer, will appear still more striking, when the
nett profit which he clears, after paying the necessary expenses of
cultivation is contrasted with that of the English farmer. According
to Arthur Young, the English farmer receives about four and a half
twentieths of the produce, calculating the gross produce of the soil
at twenty. This upon _l._4 18 6-1/4, (the result per acre, for one
year, as in Table I.) would give _l._1 2 1-1/4.

The produce, per acre, for one year, in Flanders (see Table II.) is
_l._7 9 1; the expense of cultivation, land tax, and rent, according
to Vanderstraten, is _l._4 0 1; leaving to the farmer _l._3 9 0; or
nearly _four_ times the amount obtained by the English farmer.

The subject of _Flemish Husbandry_ is by no means exhausted. I shall
resume it in future communications.

  Your's, respectfully,

  GEO. HOUSTON.

_New York, June 1, 1820._




CHESTER AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

WESTCHESTER, (PENN.) JUNE 21, 1820.

     [The following interesting document giving an account of the
     proceedings of the Chester County Agricultural Society, is well
     worthy the attention of our agricultural readers.--ED.]


At a meeting of the Agricultural Society of Chester County,
held at the Courthouse in Westchester, 6th Mo. 10th, 1820, Dr.
William Darlington, Vice-President, in the Chair; Isaac Sharpless,
Secretary. The Committee of Correspondence produced to the meeting
the following Report; which being read was unanimously adopted, viz.


REPORT.

The Committee appointed by the Society to propose plans for its
adoption, believing that the objects which may properly claim the
attention of the Association, are very numerous, are therefore
free to suggest, whether it would not be advantageous to institute
several standing committees, each of which should cultivate a
particular department of Agriculture, or some of the sciences that
may minister to its improvement.

If the Society should approve of this plan, we propose that these
committees should be made up by voluntary associations among the
members as far as practicable, each being at liberty to join himself
to such as he may choose, and all vacancies and deficiences in
the numbers of said committees should be filled by the presiding
officer. They should in no case consist of less than five members,
whose names should be entered on the minutes of the Society; and
they should each have a secretary to receive communications, to
arrange and digest the scattered materials they may collect, and
to lay before the society such as may be thought worthy of its
attention.

All books, models, drawings, or specimens, that any of these
committees procure in the course of their labours, shall be kept in
such place as it should direct.

It is recommended that the formation of the following standing
committees be authorized at the time--to be renewed at the first
stated meeting in each year.

1st. A committee on farm buildings, fences and implements of
husbandry. To study the improvement of houses, barns, barn-yards and
out buildings, both as it regards the plan and materials. To examine
the relative cost of the different kinds of fences, and the best
methods of constructing or raising them. To make improvements in
the implements of husbandry, and to introduce such as may be made in
other places.

2d. A committee on the Veterinary Art--To investigate the nature
and origin of the diseases of domestic animals, and endeavour to
ascertain the best methods of prevention and cure.

3d. A committee on Natural History, particularly Mineralogy and
Entomology. To develope the mineral productions of the County, and
to ascertain its geological structure, partly for the purpose of
designating the kind of soil in each neighbourhood. To examine the
habits of such insects as injure the crops of the farmer, with a
view of discovering the means of destroying them, or preventing
their ravages; and such other branches of Natural History as are
interesting to the Agriculturalist.

4th. A committee on Political Economy. To attend to the political
interests of Agriculture, and examine the manner in which public
measures affect it. To inquire into the utility of public
improvements, such as canals, bridges, and turnpike roads, and into
the means of giving the Agricultural class its due weight in the
government.

5th. A committee on Domestic Animals. To inquire after and introduce
the best kind, to endeavour to ascertain the most economical and the
best methods of rearing, managing and feeding them, together with
facts on the relative advantages of the employment of horses and
oxen for labour.

6th. A committee on grasses, grains and roots. To inquire after and
recommend the best and most profitable kinds, the time and manner of
sowing and planting, with the most proper quantity of each per acre,
also the previous preparation of the ground and seed, together with
the best method of culture.

7th. A committee on Manures.--To endeavour to ascertain the
relative advantages of barn-yard manure, plaister, lime, burnt
clay, ashes, and all other kinds of manure, with the time and manner
of application of each, whether best applied on ploughed or grass
lands, on the surface or ploughed in, deep or shallow; together with
the best methods of accumulating and preparing barn-yard and stable
manure.

8th. A committee on fruit and forest trees.--To endeavour to
ascertain the best and most useful fruits of all kinds, with the
best method of making wine, and cider, &c. To examine the causes
of the premature decay of fruit trees, with a view to their
preservation. To ascertain the best time of cutting forest trees, as
it respects the durability of the wood, under ground, or exposed to
the weather; also for fuel.

9th. A committee on irrigation and draining.--To ascertain the most
profitable times of irrigation, with its uses. Also, the best and
most effectual methods of constructing drains.

10th. A committee on Horticulture.--To ascertain the best and
most approved methods of managing kitchen gardens, attend to the
introduction of useful vegetables, modes of culture, &c.; and also
to promote good taste in the planning and arrangement of gardens
generally.

We further propose that the society recommend to each of its
practical members, regularly to enter in writing, the preparation
and state of the ground, at the time of sowing or planting each
crop, the quantity and kind of manure and seed per acre, particulars
relative to the weather, the process of culture, the times of sowing
and gathering, and the amount of produce per acre, with such other
particulars as may be thought worthy of notice, each part of which
to be annually laid before them, in order that such facts as are
deemed worthy of preservation, may be laid before the society.

Resolved, That the members of the society generally, and such
others as are friendly to the objects of the association, be
requested to furnish the several committees above named with such
information relative to the subjects for which they are appointed as
may be in their possession.

  WM. DARLINGTON, _V. Prest._

  ISAAC SHARPLESS, _Sec'y._




ON THE CULTURE OF TURNIPS.


Turnips for fall and winter use are generally sown in the last of
July. I have been long apprehensive that this sowing was too early.
The weather at this season of the year is generally very hot and
very dry; and drought has a direct tendency to dwarf and spoil a
field of young turnips; the black fly, also, a natural enemy of the
turnip, is at this period very voracious, and the crop is too often
destroyed, or rendered unprofitable from one or the other of these
causes.

With a view to remedy these evils, I sowed my turnips two seasons
ago, very late in August. My neighbours laughed at me, and said
I would not have a single mess. I had, however, more and better
turnips than any of them. Encouraged by the success, I sowed the
last year, on the 25th of August, a small piece of ground, eight
rods only, with turnips. They came up well, and not a fly touched
them. When they had four or five leaves I directed one of my men to
weed and thin them, so as to have them stand eight or ten inches
apart. The ground afterwards was slightly stirred with a garden
hoe. The leaves grew rapidly, covered the ground, and prevented
the further growth of weeds. On the 11th of November, I pulled the
turnips, trimmed and measured them, and had on the eight rods of
ground, (the twentieth part of one acre only,) forty-five bushels of
as large and well formed turnips as I ever saw. This produce is at
the rate of nine hundred bushels to the acre. The soil is a sandy
loam, in good heart, but by no means in high tilth.

I sowed two other small pieces of ground, the one on the 1st, and
the other on the 8th of September. Neither of these yielded like the
one sowed on the 25th August; but each of them produced much larger
and better turnips, than I have seen, that were sowed at the usual
time.

I attribute my success altogether to the late sowing; the heat is
then less intense, the rains more frequent, the dews more copious,
the fly harmless, and the crop abundant.

I would earnestly recommend to the farmers to set apart a small
piece of ground, and try the experiment of late sowing, and I am
confident they will be amply compensated for making the attempt, by
a greater increase of crops.

  [_Connecticut Courant._



(From the American Farmer.)

_On the use of Oxen and deep ploughing in New England, by Josiah
Quincy, Esq._

  BOSTON, Nov. 2, 1817.

_My dear Sir_,

In reply to your inquiries in your last letter I answer:--Oxen are
used almost wholly for plough and team work in this quarter of the
country. A single horse is usually kept by our principal farmers, to
go to mill, and to church, and for the convenience of the family.
Occasionally he precedes the oxen at plough, or on the road. This
is so universal as to be almost without exception, among mere
farmers. They certainly answer all purposes, except perhaps speed;
and in this, on a long journey, they are considered as quite equal
to horses. But of this our farmers have not many opportunities of
comparison, oxen are so universally used. They are "worked" with
yokes, and "broken" when very young, pretty much as men break
horses.--Our farmers are so satisfied with their utility and economy
that no argument would induce them to change.

A very good yoke of oxen will cost when well broke, and about
five years old, if well matched and of good size' from 80 to 100
dollars. They continue good, without accident, and with good usage,
until ten years old; then they are usually fatted, and bring from
the butcher according to their size and fatness from 100 to 120
dollars.

Whether oxen are not more susceptible of _heat_ than horses, I
am ignorant. My opinion is that they are. A circumstance in your
climate to be ascertained in forming an opinion of their comparative
utility.

With respect to "deep ploughing," a considerable change is producing
in this state, in the opinion and practice of farmers in this
respect. Deep ploughing begins to be more general than formerly.
I should state _five_ inches to be the most approved practice, on
turning up the sord for corn. With respect to deepening it for other
crops, after the sord is broken, it depends upon the nature of the
crop and the resources of the farmer, and also the state of his
soil. My own rule is never to lay down land to grass until it has
been turned up to the depth of _fourteen inches_. But my practice is
peculiar, as I carry a regular succession of, 1st corn, 2d potatoes,
3d carrots, 4th grain, 5th grass, over my whole farm; considering,
as I do, that _carrots_ is of all farm products the most profitable,
and using them as the test of the actual state of the depth of tilth
on my farm.

Undoubtedly when the depth of ploughing pass the old tilth, and
enters upon the virgin soil, "manuring" must be in proportion to the
depth of the virgin soil, which you turn, otherwise you sacrifice
present crop to future crops;--a practice very discouraging to any
farmer.

I enclose you the newspaper account of our last cattle show. A more
detailed statement will appear in our Repository.

      Respectfully,

        I am your humble servant,

               JOSIAH QUINCY.

  GEO. W. JEFFRIES, ESQ.




SUGAR MAPLE.


A letter writer in the Albany Statesman, in giving an account of the
New York canal, says--

"I saw for the first time the famous ascersaccharinum, or sugar
maple. It grows spontaneously like all other trees of the forest,
and is a most beautiful and stately tree.--It is said that each
tree will produce from three to five pounds of sugar. An acre will
contain 30 trees, and a tree will be fit for use in 15 years, and
will probably continue so for two centuries. An orchard of ten acres
would produce annually two hogsheads and a half of sugar, which can
be made as good in all respects as the produce of the cane or the
sweet beet. I speak from ocular observation and from taste. Mon.
Le Ray, a very respectable and sensible land holder in Jefferson
county, showed me at Washington Hall, in New York, a sample of
maple sugar, which I have never seen excelled, and which was raised
on his estates in that county; and I have been told by Mr. George
Parish, a most accomplished and public spirited gentleman, from St.
Lawrence county, that the inhabitants of that region not only supply
themselves with maple sugar for domestic uses, but have a surplus
for market. A plantation of maple trees of ten acres, beside being
highly ornamental and beneficial for pasture--besides the use of
the decayed trees for fuel, and the acquisition of excellent syrup
and molasses, and a sufficiency of sugar, for family purposes, will
yield a profit of $100 to the proprietor; and these operations are
carried on in the month of March, continue but a short time, and
interfere with no other business. The forests of the north and west,
will supply the other parts of the state with the best of sugar and
molasses through the great canals."




From Scoresby's Voyages.

SURPRISING VIGOUR OF A WHALE.


On the 25th of June, 1812, one of the harpooners belonging to the
Resolution, of Whitby, under my command, struck a whale by the
edge of a small floe of ice. Assistance being promptly afforded, a
second boat's lines was attached to those of the _fast-boat_, in a
few minutes after the harpoon was disgraced. The remainder of the
boats proceeded at some distance, in the direction the fish seemed
to have taken. In about a quarter of an hour the fast-boat, to
my surprise, again made a signal for lines. As the ship was then
within five minutes sail, we instantly steered towards the boat,
with the view of affording assistance by means of a spare boat we
still retained on board. Before we reached the place, however, we
observed four oars displayed in signal order, which by their number,
indicated a most urgent necessity for assistance. Two or three men
were at the same time seen seated close by the stern, which was
considerably elevated, for the purpose of keeping it down; while the
bow of the boat, by the force of the line, was drawn down to the
level of the sea, and the harpooner, by the friction of the line
round the bollard, was enveloped in smoky obscurity. At length, when
the ship was scarcely 100 yards distant, we perceived preparations
for quitting the boat. The sailor's pea-jackets were cast upon the
adjoining ice, the oars were thrown down, the crew leaped overboard,
the bow of the boat was buried in the water, the stern rose
perpendicularly and then majestically disappeared. The harpooner
having caused the end of the line to be fastened to the iron ring at
the boat's stern, was the means of its loss;[13] and a _tongue_ of
the ice, on which was a depth of several feet of water, kept the
boat, by the pressure of the line against it, at such a considerable
distance, as prevented the crew from leaping upon the floe. Some
of them were therefore put to the necessity of swimming for their
preservation, but all of them succeeded in scrambling upon the ice,
and were taken on board of the ship in a few minutes afterwards.

  [13] "Giving a whale the boat," as the voluntary sacrifice of a boat
  is termed, is a scheme not unfrequently practised by the fisher when
  in want of line. By submitting to this risk, he expects to gain
  the fish, and still has the chance of recovering his boat and its
  materials. It is only practised in open ice or at fields.

I may here observe, that it is an uncommon circumstance for a fish
to require more than two boats' lines in such a situation; none of
our harpooners, therefore, had any scruple in leaving the fast-boat,
never suspecting, after it had received the assistance of one boat
with six lines or upward, that it would need any more.

Several ships being about us, there was a possibility that some
person might attack and make a prize of the whale, when it had
so far escaped us, that we no longer retained any hold of it; as
such, we sat all the sail the ship could safely sustain, and worked
through several narrow and intricate channels in the ice, in the
direction I observed the fish had retreated. After a little time it
was descried by the people in the boats, at a considerable distance
to the eastward; a general chase immediately commenced, and within
the space of an hour three harpoons were struck. We now imagined
the fish was secure, but our expectations were premature. The whale
resolutely pushed beneath a large floe that had been recently
broken to pieces by the swell, and soon drew all the lines out of
the second fast-boat; the officer of which, not being able to get
any assistance, tied the end of his line to a hammock of ice, and
broke it. Soon afterwards, the other two boats, still _fast_, were
dragged against the broken floe, when one of the harpoons drew out.
The lines of only one boat, therefore, remained fast to the fish,
and this with six or eight lines out, was dragged forward into the
shattered floe with astonishing force. Pieces of ice, each of which
was sufficiently large to have answered the purpose of a mooring
for a ship were wheeled about by the strength of the whale; and
such was the tension and elasticity of the line, that whenever it
slipped clear of any mass of ice, after turning it round, into the
space between any two adjoining pieces, the boat and its crew flew
forward through the crack, with the velocity of an arrow, and never
failed to launch several feet upon the first mass of ice that it
encountered.

While we scoured the sea around the broken floe with the ship,
and while the ice was attempted in vain by the boats, the whale
continued to press forward in an easterly direction towards the sea.
At length, when 14 lines (about 1680 fathoms) were drawn from the
fourth fast-boat, a slight entanglement of the line, broke it at the
stem. The fish then again made its escape, taking along with it a
boat and 28 lines. The united length of the lines was 6720 yards, or
upwards of 3-3/4 English miles; value, with the boat, above 150_l._
sterling.

The obstruction of the sunken boat, to the progress of the fish,
must have been immense; and that of the lines likewise considerable;
the weight of lines alone, being 25 hundred weight.

So long as the fourth fast-boat, through the medium of its lines,
retained its hold of the fish, we searched the adjoining sea with
the ship in vain; but, in a short time after the line was divided,
we got sight of the object of pursuit, at the distance of near two
miles to the eastward of the ice and boats, in the open sea. One
boat only with lines, and two empty boats, were reserved by the
ship. Having, however, fortunately fine weather, and a fresh breeze
of wind, we immediately gave chase under all sails; though, it must
be confessed, with the insignificant force by us, the distance of
the fish, and the rapidity of its flight considered, we had but
very small hopes of success. At length, after pursuing it five or
six miles, being at least nine miles from the place where it was
struck, we came up with it, and it seemed inclined to rest after its
extraordinary exertions. The two dismantled or empty boats having
been furnished with two lines each, (a very inadequate supply,)
they, together with the one in a good state of equipment, now made
an attack upon the whale. One of the harpooners made a blunder; the
fish saw the boat, took the alarm, and again fled. I now supposed it
would be seen no more; nevertheless, we chased nearly a mile in the
direction I imagined it had taken, and placed the boats to the best
of my judgment, in the most advantageous situations. In this case
we were extremely fortunate. The fish rose near one of the boats,
and was immediately harpooned. In a few minutes two more harpoons
entered its back, and lances were plied against it with vigour and
success. Exhausted by its amazing exertions to escape, it yielded
itself at length to its fate, received the piercing wounds of the
lances without resistance, and finally died without a struggle. Thus
terminated with success, an attack upon a whale, which exhibited the
most uncommon determination to escape from its pursuers, seconded
by the most amazing strength of any individual whose capture I
ever witnessed. After all, it may seem surprising, that it was not
a particularly large individual; the largest lamina of whalebone
only measuring 9 feet six inches, while those affording 12 feet
_bone_ are not uncommon.[14] The quantity of line withdrawn from
the different boats engaged in the capture, was singularly great.
It amounted, all together, to 10,440 yards, or nearly six English
miles. Of these, 13 new lines were lost, together with the sunken
boat; the harpoon connecting them to the fish having dropt out
before the whale was killed.

  [14] It has been frequently observed, that whales of this size are
  the most active of the species; and that those of a very large
  growth are, in general, captured with less trouble.

"_Fishers thrown overboard, by the jerking or sudden heeling of
the Boats, in consequence of blows from Whales._--On the third of
June 1811, a boat from the ship Resolution, commanded at the time
by myself, put off in pursuit of a whale, and was rowed upon its
back. At the moment that it was harpooned, it struck the side of
the boat a violent blow with its tail, the shock of which threw the
boat-steerer to some distance into the water. A repetition of the
blow projected the harpooner and line-manager in a similar way, and
completely drenched the part of the crew remaining in the boat,
with the sprays. One of the men regained the boat, but as the fish
immediately sunk, and drew the boat away from the place, his two
companions in misfortune were soon left far beyond the reach of
assistance. The harpooner though a practised swimmer, felt himself
so brushed and enervated by a blow he had received on the chest,
that he was totally incapacitated from giving the least support to
his fellow sufferer. The ship being happily near, a boat which had
been lowered on the first alarm, arrived to their succour, at the
moment when the line-manager, who was unacquainted with the art of
swimming, was on the point of sinking, to rise no more. Both the
line-manager and harpooner were preserved; and the fish, after a few
hours close pursuit, was subdued.

A large whale harpooned from a boat belonging to the same ship,
became the subject of a general chase on the 23d of June, 1809.
Being myself in the first boat which approached the fish, I struck
my harpoon at arm's length, by which we fortunately evaded a blow
that appeared to be aimed at the boat. Another boat then advanced,
and another harpoon was struck, but not with the same result;
for the stroke was immediately returned by a tremendous blow from
the fishes tail. The boat was sunk by the shock; and, at the same
time, whirled round with such velocity, that the boat-steerer was
precipitated into the water, on the side next to the fish, and was
accidentally carried down to a considerable depth by its tail.
After a minute or so, he arose to the surface of the water and was
taken up, along with his companions, into my boat. A similar attack
was made on the next boat which came up; but the harpooner being
warned of the prior conduct of the fish, used such precautions,
that the blow, though equal in strength, took effect only in an
inferior degree. The boat was slightly stove. The activity and skill
of the lancers soon overcame this designing whale, accomplished
its capture, and added its produce to the cargo of the ship. Such
intentional mischief on the part of a whale, it must be observed, is
an occurrence which is somewhat rare."




     From a work, entitled, "A Statistical, Commercial and Political
     Description of Venezuela, Trinidad, Margarita, and Tobago."

WILD HORSES AND ASSES.


There are thousands of horses which are wild in the forests, and do
not belong to any one. I was enabled to ascertain a fact, known to
all who have travelled in this country. The horses live there in
societies, generally to the number of five or six hundred, and even
one thousand: they occupy immense savannas, where it is dangerous to
disturb or try to catch them. In the dry season they are sometimes
obliged to go two or three leagues, and even more, to find water.
They set out in regular ranks of four abreast, and thus form a
procession of an extent of a quarter of a league. There are always
five or six scouts, who precede the troop by about fifty paces. If
they perceive a man or jaguar (the American tiger,) they neigh,
and the troop stops: if avoided, they continue their march; but,
if an attempt be made to pass by their squadron, they leap on the
imprudent traveller, and crush him under their feet. The best way
is always to avoid them, and let them continue their route: they
have also a chief, who marches between the scouts and the squadron,
and five or six other horses march on each side of the band,--a
kind of adjutants, whose duty consists in hindering any individual
from quitting the ranks. If any one attempts to straggle either
from hunger or fatigue, he is bitten till he resumes his place, and
the culprit obeys with his head hanging down. Three or four chiefs
march as the rear guard, at five or six paces from the troop. I
had often heard, at Trinidad, of this discipline among the wild
horses, and confess that I could scarcely believe it, but what I
have just stated is a fact which I witnessed twice on the banks of
the Guaripiche, where I encamped five days, for the express purpose
of seeing those organized troops pass. I have met, on the shores of
the Orinoco, herds of fifty to a hundred wild oxen: a chief always
marched at the head, and another at the rear.

The people of the country have assured me, that the wild asses, when
they travel, observe the same discipline as the horses; but the
mules, though they also live in troops, are continually fighting
with each other, and it has not been observed that they have any
chief. They however unite, at the appearance of a common enemy, and
display still more trick and address than the horses, in avoiding
the snares which are laid for catching them, and also for escaping
when taken.




PREMIUMS FOR WORKMANSHIP.


_Boston, July 6._--Agreeably to custom, that useful and popular
Institution, the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association,
availed themselves of this Anniversary, to distribute the MEDALS
and PREMIUMS offered by them for exhibitions of superior workmanship
and genius.--We think the occasion happily selected, as the
_Mechanic Arts_ are one of the first sources of the _Independence_
of a nation, and are free from any of the objections which are made
to the undue increase of manufactures.

The Government Judges of Premiums, and Marshals, having breakfasted
with their President, proceeded at an early hour to the Washington
Gardens, where the examination of the articles presented, was
finished, and the awards made. The President then announced, that
Judges had awarded the Medal, of the value of twelve dollars, to
Messrs. Fearing and Emerson, harness makers, of this town, for
the best specimen of an entire Chaise Harness, silver plated, and
entirely of American workmanship. The second premium of six dollars,
was also awarded to these gentlemen.

That a Medal, of the value of twelve dollars, was awarded to Mr.
Thomas Burdle, of Boston, for the best made six-pannelled door; and
that the premium of six dollars was awarded to Henry Chulbrick, for
the next best.

That a Medal, of the value of twelve dollars, was awarded to Mr.
Addison Bacon, Hanover-street, for the best made pair of Chaise
Wheels; and that a premium of six dollars was awarded to Mr. Oliver
Ames, of Norton, for the next best.

That a Medal, of the value of eight dollars, was awarded to Wm.
Jordan, (an apprentice of Mr. Daniel Adams) for the best made Ship
Block, with two sheeves; and that the premium of four dollars was
awarded to John B. Ingolls, (an apprentice of Messrs. Dupee and
Badger) for the next best.

That a Medal, of the value of six dollars, was awarded to Peter
Albern of Boston, (an apprentice of Mr. David Peeler) for the best
made pair of Half Boots; and the premium of three dollars to Samuel
B. Pope, (an apprentice to his father, in Quincy) for the second
best made pair.

John J. Bickner, an apprentice of Attleborough, presented a
Barrel, for which no premiums has been offered this year; and the
government, in consequence of the expense he had incurred by the
mistake, directed the Treasurer to present him with the sum of seven
dollars and seventy-five cents. The medals and premiums, were now
delivered.

The articles exhibited, were mostly of excellent workmanship, and it
was only regretted that the specimens were not more numerous, and
which we trust they will be, should the premiums be repeated.




MISCELLANY.

     _From Johnson's Influence of Civil Life, Sedentary Habits and
     Intellectual Refinements, or Human Health and Happiness, &c._


_Parallel of enjoyment and suffering in drink._--The water drinker
glides tranquilly through life, without much exhileration or
depression, and escapes many diseases to which he would otherwise
be subject. The wine drinker experiences short, but vivid periods
of rapture, and long intervals of gloom; he is also more subject to
disease. The balance of enjoyment, then, turns decidedly in favour
of the water drinker, leaving out his temporal _prosperity_ and
future anticipations; and the nearer we keep to his regimen, the
happier we shall be. Here, however, as is in all other things, there
is a certain latitude within the range of health and happiness which
the wise man and the philosopher will occasionaly travel round, but
not exceed.--The _native fountain_ is in the centre, and from it
our eccentric divergences should be narrowly watched and carefully
limited.

_Density, weight, &c. of the earth._--From the experiment of
Maskelyne, and the calculations of Hutton, Cavendish, Laplace, &c.
it appears, that considering the specific gravity of water as unity,
the mean density of the earth would be according to Hutton, 4.95,
or according to Cavendish, 5.48. The mean most commonly adopted is
5.4. Taking this as our ground work, we may now proceed to that most
singular question of _weighing_ the earth.

Assuming 7920 miles as the mean diameter of the earth, the number of
cubic miles will be 239,979,311,961. Now each cubic mile contains
147,197,952,000 cubic feet; also every cubic foot of water weighs
1000 avoirdupoise ounces.

Hence a cubic mile of water will weigh 4,107,085,714 tons, and
consequently a globe of water of equal dimensions with our earth
would weigh 985,594,985,000,000,000,000 tons, and that multiplied by
the calculated density 5.4, gives 5,322,212,919,540,000,000,000 tons
for the weight of our earth.

_Fruit._--The Poughkeepsie Herald states, that Mr. Joseph Waddle,
of the town of Washington, Dutchess county, has sold, at the New
York market, during the last six weeks, the produce of ten apple
trees for the almost incredible sum of three hundred and sixty
dollars--they were of a species called Summer Russets; the quantity
fifty barrels. These apples grew on ten trees, which altogether
occupy less than one quarter of an acre of ground. When the apples
were first gathered last fall they filled fifty-three barrels, and
on being picked over this spring, preparatory to sending them to
market, they were reduced to fifty barrels.

_Agricultural Anecdote._----Furius Cresinus, as mentioned by Pliny,
the Roman historian, was originally a slave. Having been made
a freedman, he purchased a small spot of ground, from which he
obtained, through his unwearied industry, much finer crops than
many of the neighbours, who had larger farms. This excited general
envy, which his enemies carried to such a length as to accuse him
of employing magic charms to render his own grounds fertile and to
impoverish heirs. The _Edile_ caused him to be summoned to appear
and answer the charge before the people of Rome. Crecinus obeyed the
mandate, accompanied by his daughter, a fresh and healthy coloured
girl--charms which appeared to greater advantage from the symplicity
of her dress. The accused also brought with him the tools and
instruments of his profession. They were in excellent condition. His
mattocks were remarkably heavy, his plough was of an enormous size,
and his cattle were all sound and fat. "Behold!" said this truly
dignified and indignant farmer, "behold my whole magical equipage!
behold the charms which I have recourse to! There are others,
indeed, which I am not capable of producing before you; I mean the
sweat of my brow, and incessant toils both by day and night." This
native eloquence decided the matter; he was honourably acquitted by
the unanimous voice of a numerous and applauding assembly.

A mechanic in the North has invented a machine for seminaries,
which, by means of steam, not only warms the room, but _flogs all
the boys_ "on a graduated scale," according to their offences.

_Dr. Line._--This noted Irish physician, who died of the small pox
at the age of 85, built a house in a peculiar manner, so as to have
the full benefit of the circulation of the air. Every window had
another opposite to it, none of which he ever suffered to be shut
or glazed. The room in which he slept had four open windows, two on
each side of his bed. It was remarked that, for fifty years together
nobody died in his house. He carried this doctrine to such an
excess, as to contend that no house could be wholesome, where a dog
could not get in under the door and a bird at the window. Upon his
death, his son had all the windows glazed; soon after which, several
persons were _buried out of the house_.

The late king of England concurred a little in this practice of
Dr. Line. In the rooms where he and his family resided, he never
suffered a carpet to be laid; and in the chimney places allowed but
a very scanty portion of fire--barely enough to aid the circulation
of the air and prevent damps.

_Internal Improvements._--In consequence of the facilities afforded
by that part of the great canal which is completed, Plaster of
Paris, or Gypsum, which abounds in the western parts of New York,
is now selling at Utica at from $1.50 to $2.00 per ton, and it is
supposed that any part of that great tract of country lying on the
Hudson, may be supplied with it at from 4 to 5 dollars! Onondaga
salt will be sold at Albany at from 31 to 37 cents per bushel; and
a bushel of wheat, which formerly cost 44 cents to transport it to
that city, will be brought there from the interiour, for the small
sum of 5 cents. In truth, this canal when finished, will, seemingly,
bring the most remote places, even the most distant points of the
great lakes, into the neighbourhood of the port of New York.

_The Coronation of George IV._ which is to take place August, 1st,
is to be conducted on the most economical scale, and is not to cost
more than about $450.000!! The price of a coronation dress for a
peer and peeress is estimated at about $3.600.

_Marriage Promise._--In Somerset county, New Jersey, a young lady
lately received the sum of 1250 dollars damages, for a breach of
promise of marriage.

_Mobile_ is becoming a place of great importance; about 10,000 bales
of cotton have been shipped from this port in the present year, and
6,000 remained on hand. This shews an increase of 10,000 bales since
last year; and it is calculated that at least 10,000 more will be
shipped next year than in the present.

_The number of letters_ delivered daily by the post in Paris is, on
an average, 32,000; of journals, 18,000. In London, the average of
letters is 133,000, and journals 26,000.

_Cincinnati, June 15._--On Saturday last, in digging the well of Mr.
Wright, near Harrison, in this county, near a mile from White-Water,
and about 14 feet from the surface, in a bed of rounded limestone
pebbles, a living frog was dug up, which in a short time, hopped
away as nimbly as if he had been but a year old. There are trees
contiguous, and in lower ground, more than 500 years old, which have
evidently taken the places of others of equal growth; so that this
frog had probably lain buried for 1000 years.

_Mean temperature of the Earth._--According to Laplace, any actual
diminution of the mean temperature of the earth would be detected by
a diminution of the length of the day.--It appears by computation,
that one degree of Fahrenheit's thermometer would make an alteration
of nearly one second in the length of a day, and four or five
minutes in that of a year.

_Heat._--The effect of heat in expanding iron is strongly shown by a
gate of that material in this town.--In the cool of the morning it
shuts with a considerable spare space, (in the winter perhaps an 8th
of an inch) in the middle of a hot day the joints touch, and some
force is necessary to close it. The gate is about 3-1/2 feet wide.

  [_Boston Pal._

"Let not sleep," says Pythagoras, "fall upon thy eyes, till thou
hast thrice reviewed the transactions of the past day. Where have
I turned aside from rectitude? What have I been doing? What have I
left undone which I ought to have done? Begin thus from the first
act, and proceed; in conclusion, for the ill which thou hast done,
seek repentance, and gratitude for the good."




AGRICULTURAL MEMORANDA.


_To preserve Cattle from Disease in the Winter._--When cattle are
kept out in the winter, it is recommended as a useful practice to
rub some tar at the root of the horn, which prevents the wet from
getting between the root and the skin; and it is said, contributes
so preserve the health of the animal, and to keep it free from
various diseases to which it may otherwise be liable.

_Rules for Milking Cows._--Cows should be milked three times a day,
if fully fed, throughout the summer, and _great caution should
be exercised by the persons employed, to draw the milk from them
completely_, not only to encrease the quantity of produce, but
to preserve its quality. Any portion which may be left in the
udder, seems gradually to be absorbed into the system, and no
more is formed than enough to supply what is taken away; and by
the continuance of the same mode, a yet further dimunition of the
secretion takes place, until at length scarcely any is produced.
This last mode of milking is always practised when it is intended
that a cow should be rendered dry.

_Additional quantity of Milk to be gained by keeping Milch Cows in
the house._--In the management of cows, a warm stable is highly
necessary; and currying them like horses, not only affords them
pleasure, but makes them give their milk more freely. They ought
always to be kept clean, laid dry, and have plenty of good sweet
water to drink. Cows treated in this manner, have given ten gallons
of milk at a time, when within ten days of calving.

_To prevent Cows from contracting bad habits while milking._--Cows
should be always treated with great gentleness, and soothed by mild
usage, especially when young and ticklish, or when the paps are
tender, in which case the udder ought to be fomented with warm water
before milking, and touched with the greatest gentleness, otherwise
the cow will be in danger of contracting bad habits, becoming
stubborn and unruly, and retaining her milk ever after. A cow never
lets down her milk pleasantly to the person she dreads or dislikes.
The udder and paps, should always be washed with clean water before
milking; but care should be taken that none of that water be
admitted into the milking pail.

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 earwig. The coarsest oil will suit, and only
a small quantity is required.

_To prevent smut in wheat._--Take four quarts of good lye, or
a sufficient quantity to wet your seed, and add to it a bushel
of wheat, stirring till the whole is alike wet, then sow it
immediately, as the strong lye will injure the seed if delayed. The
lye may be as strong as you can bare to sow without injury to the
hand. A little tallow applied to the hand will prevent injury from
the lye. I have continued this practice 12 years out of 20; and have
never known it to fail of success. I have frequently made use of
smutty wheat for seed, and found my crops perfectly free from smut.
Much depends on having the lye sufficiently strong to take off the
fuz on wheat.




JOSIAH BENJAMIN.

Berlin, April 26, 1820.


_For preserving Eggs._--In March, put about half a pound of
quick lime in a stone or earthen pot, and add a gallon of cold
water;--next day fill the pot with new eggs, tie a paper over it and
put the pot in a cool place. The eggs will be found perfectly good
after being kept a year.

It is quite necessary to keep lime in the walks of your hens, as it
causes their laying eggs throughout the winter.




FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.

EXTRACTED FROM THE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS OF C. E.


The following piece was handed about in manuscript, about the year
1776, and I do not know that it has been ever printed till now. It
was said to be the production of the Rev. THOMAS COOMBE, a native
Pennsylvanian, and about that time a clergyman of the Episcopal
Church, in this city. C. E.




A HYMN TO RESIGNATION.


    Oh! from that high and holy sphere,
      Where, thron'd in light, you dwell,
    Sweet maid, in all thy charms descend
      To gild my humble cell.

    Thy presence heightens every bliss,
      Draws out the sting of wo,
    Allures to brighter worlds above,
      And makes a heaven below.

    The pilgrim, roving all night long,
        Through dreary tracts forlorn,
    Oft sighs, oppress'd, and sighs again,
      The wish'd return of morn.

    As I in sorrow's gloomy night,
      Condemn'd awhile to stray,
    Look up with ardent eye to heav'n,
      And ask the devious way,

    O! screen me from surrounding ills,
      Let dangers ne'er annoy,
    The arrow that in darkness flies,
      Commissioned to destroy.

    Inconstant as the idle wind,
      That sports with every flow'r,
    When earthly friends by turns drop off,
      Friends of our brighter hour;

    Do thou, mild cherub, fill my breast,
      With all that's good and wise,
    Snatch me from earth's tumultuous scenes,
      And lead me to the skies.

    There kindred spirits ne'er deceive;
      Soul mingles there with soul;
    Sweet Sympathy and Truth are there,
      And Love cements the whole.

    More welcome to this sorrowing heart,
      Oh, pensive queen, thy strain,
    Than all the joys mad Riot gives
      To sooth the clamorous train.

    You shade the poor man's evening walk
      With wreaths of endless green,
    And, when the lamp of life declines,
      You tend the last dread scene.

    Oh! then from heaven, thy holy sphere,
      Where, thron'd in light you dwell,
    Come, Resignation, sainted maid,
      And gild my humble cell.




TO THE EDITORS OF THE RURAL MAGAZINE.


The following little poem was written by JOHN BYRON, a minor English
poet, who died at Manchester, in the year 1763, aged 72. In his
23d year, he wrote the beautiful pastoral of Colin and Phebe, on
which his poetick reputation is principally founded. It appeared in
the eighth volume of the Spectator; and many of your readers will
remember, what has been so generally known and admired.

    My time, O ye Muses, was happily spent,
    When Phebe went with me wherever I went;
    Ten thousand sweet pleasures I felt in my breast:
    Sure never fond shepherd like Colin was blest! &c.

The subjoined extract, it is believed, is not so familiar; and for
that reason, as you must doubtless wish to exclude from your poetick
corner whatever is trite and common-place, whether _professedly_
original, or selected from old or distant writers, it is hoped,
though a small matter, it will not prove altogether unacceptable. I.




THE BEAU AND THE BEDLAMITE.


    A patient in Bedlam, that did pretty well,
    Was permitted sometimes to go out of his cell;
    One day, when they gave him that freedom, he spy'd
    A beauish young spark with a sword by his side;
    With a huge silver hilt, and a scabbard of steel,
    That swung at due length from his hip to his heel.

    When he saw him advance on the gallery ground,
    The Bedlamite ran, and survey'd him all round;
    While a waiter supprest the young captain's alarm,
    With, "You need not to fear, sir, he'll do you no harm."
    At the last he broke out--"Aye, a very fine show!
    May I ask him one question?"--"What's that?" said the beau?

    "Pray what is that long, dangling, cumbersome thing,
    That you seem to be ty'd to with riband and string?"
    "Why, that is my sword."--"And what is it to do?"
    "Kill my enemies, master, by running them through."
    "Kill your enemies! Kill a fool's head of your own;
    They'll die of themselves, if you'll let them alone."




(From the London Literary Gazette, April 22.)

SILENT WORSHIP.


    Though glorious, O God! must thy temple have been,
      On the day of its first dedication,
    When the Cherubim's wings, widely waving, were seen
      On high, o'er the ark's holy station.

    When even the chosen of Levi, though skill'd
      To minister, standing before Thee,
    Retir'd from the cloud which the temple then fill'd,
      And thy glory made Israel adore Thee:

    Though awfully grand was thy Majesty then;
      Yet the worship thy gospel discloses,
    Less splendid in pomp to the vision of men,
      Far surpasses the ritual of Moses.

    And by whom was the ritual for ever repeal'd?
      But by Him, unto whom it was given
    To enter the Oracle, where is reveal'd,
      Not the cloud but the brightness of Heaven.

    Who, having once enter'd, hath shown us the way,
      O Lord! how to worship before Thee;
    Not with shadowy forms of that earlier day;
      But in _spirit_ and _truth_ to adore Thee!

    This, this is the worship the Saviour made known,
      When she, of Samaria, found him
    By the patriarch's well, sitting weary, alone,
      With the stillness of noon-tide around him.

    How sublime, yet how simple the homage he taught
      To her, who inquir'd by that fountain,
    If JEHOVAH at Solyma's shrine would be sought?
      Or ador'd on Samaria's mountain.

    Woman, believe me, the hour is near,
      When he, if ye rightly would hail him,
    Will neither be worship'd _exclusively_ here,
      Nor yet at the altar of Salem.

    For God is a Spirit! and they, who aright
      Would perform the pure worship he loveth,
    In the heart's holy temple will seek, with delight,
      That Spirit the Father approveth.

    And many that prophecy's truth can declare,
      Whose bosoms have livingly known it;
    Whom God hath instructed to worship him
         there,
      And convinc'd that his mercy will own it.

    The temple that Solomon built to his name,
      Now lives but in history's story;
    Extinguish'd long since, is its altar's bright
         flame,
      And vanish'd each glimpse of its glory.

    But the Christian, made wise by a wisdom divine,
      Though all human fabrics may falter,
    Still finds in his heart a far holier shrine,
      Where the fire burns unquench'd on the altar!




(From the Illinois Gazette.)


    "What's the news," said a Quidnunc to Paddy M'Shane,
    "Of our _foreign relations_--and what about Spain?"
    "Our _foreign relations_," cried Pat, with a tear,
    "Och! they're hanging them up by the dozen, my dear!"
    p?

    O.




STATE OF THE THERMOMETER.


            9 o'clock. 12 o'clock. 3 o'clock.
  June 26,      --         --         76
       27,      72         74         76
       28,      75         78         80
       29,      76         81         85
       30,      82         87         90
  July  1,      85         89         90
        3,      78         81         84
        4,      77         80         83
        5,      81         85         88
        6,      82         87         90
        7,      82         86         85
        8,      79         81         81
       10,      77         81         82
       11,      78         81         84
       12,      78         81         85
       13,      81         86         89
       14,      83         78         76
       15,      74         76         78
       17,      74         78         78
       18,      77         80         82
       19,      78         81         85
       20,      79         81         81
       21,      79         77         76
       22,      73         75         76
       24,      71         73         76
       25,      74         --         --




BANK NOTE EXCHANGE,


AT PHILADELPHIA--_July 27th, 1820_.

                               Per cent 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.
        Patterson Bank and Sussex
         Bank,                              1

  PENNSYLVANIA---Farmer's Bank, of }
         Lancaster; Easton; Delaware      }
         County, at Chester;              }
         Chester County, at Westchester;  } par.
         Farmer's Bank,                   }
         Buck's County; Montgomery        }
         County,                          }
       New Hope,                              1
       Northampton; Susquehanna           }
         Bridge Company; York             } 2-3
         Bank, Chambersburg,              }
       Northumberland; Union,                20
       Greensburg; Brownsville,          12-1/2
       Centre,                               20
       Meadville,                            50
       Farmers & Mechanics' Bank          }  40
         at Pittsburg,                    }

  DELAWARE--generally,             par.
         Commercial Bank of Delaware;     }
         Branch of ditto at               }   5
         Milford,                         }
       Laurel Bank,                          50

  MARYLAND--Baltimore Banks,                1/2
       Baltimore City Bank,                   5
       Annapolis; Hagerstown,             2-1/2
       Snowhill, Elkton,              37-1/2-50
       Havre de Grace,                    1-1/2

  VIRGINIA--Richmond and Branches,        1-1/2
       Country generally,                 2-1/2
       N. W. Bank, at Wheeling,          12-1/2

  COLUMBIA DISTRICT--Mech. Bank  }            5
         of Alexandria,                   }
       Country generally,                     1

  NORTH CAROLINA--State Bank at  }        6-1/2
         Raleigh, and Branches,           }
       Cape Fear; Newbern,                    7

  SOUTH CAROLINA--State Banks, generally,     3

  GEORGIA--State Banks, generally,            6
       Augusta Bridge Company,               50

  TENNESSEE--No sales.

  KENTUCKY--No sales.

  OHIO--Marietta,                         15-20
       Steubenville Bank,                    15
       Bank of Chillicothe,                   5
       Country generally,                 20-50


PRICES CURRENT.--_July 27, 1820._

                               Per     D. C.    D. C.

  Beef, Philad. Mess, (pl.)  _bbl._    13.00_to_ 13.50
  Butter, Fresh               _lb._     0.18  "   0.25
  Beans, (scarce)           _bush._     1.30  "   1.40
  Cotton Yarn, No. 10,        _lb._     0.36
  Cotton, (Louisiana)         "         0.18  "   0.21
  Flax, Clean, (scarce)       "         0.18  "   0.19
  Flaxseed, Clean,           _hhd._    11.00
  Firewood, Hickory,        _cord_,     5.50  "   6.00
            Oak,              "         3.50
  Flour--Wheat, super.       _bbl._     4.62  "   4.75
         Rye,                 "         2.75  "   2.87
         Corn Meal, sales     "         3.00
  Grain--Wheat,             _bush._     0.85  "   0.90
         Rye,                 "         0.50  "   0.60
         Corn, Pa. do.        "         0.50  "   0.55
         Barley,
         Oats,                "         0.33  "   0.37
  Hams--Jersey,              _lb._      0.11  "   0.13
  Hemp, Kentucky,           _ton_,    150.00    160.00
  Leather--Sole,             _lb._      0.24  "   0.30
         Upper, undrs'd.   _side_,      2.75  "   3.50
  Molasses,                _gall._      0.50  "   0.55
  Nails, Cut, all sizes,     _lb._      0.07  "   0.12-1/2
  Pork, Jersey & Penn. }    _bbl._     15.50
    Mess,              }
  Plaster of Paris,         _ton_,      4.37
  Shingles--Cedar,          _1000_     25.00  "   27.00
           Cypress,           "         5.00
  Seed, Clover, out of season.
  Wool--Merino, Clean,       _lb._     0.75
        Do. in Grease,        "        0.40
        Common,               "        0.50




RAIN GUAGE AT PHILADELPHIA.

                        In. hun.
  July 14,   --  Rain,  --   1. 55
       17,   -- Shower, --   0. 13
       19,   --   do.   --   0. 09
       21,   --   do.   --   0. 16
        "    --   do.   --   0. 70
       22,   --  Rain,  --   1. 16




_References to the Cut of the Brewing Machine, omitted in last
Number._


A Moveable Fire-Place.

B Cylindrical Boiler, to be placed on A.

C Cover for B.

D Extracting Cylinder, with a small one in its centre, fixed to the
perfora, to be placed within B.

F F Coolers, one to pack within the other.

G Machine ready for use, the cover raised to show the internal.

In page 252, at the words _some time_, put a comma, instead of a
period; and add, "after its temperature is sufficiently lowered,
which must be effected by damping or extinguishing the fire."

       *       *       *       *       *

ERRATA.--Page 252, note, for sachorometer, r. saccharometer. P. 253,
1st column, line 25, for fomenting r. fermenting.




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*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RURAL MAGAZINE, AND LITERARY EVENING FIRE-SIDE, VOL. 1 NO. 08 (1820) ***


    

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