California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



peuds very muc-li, or mainly, upon our 

 sulves, on a parity of reasoning, may we 

 \ not expect it to be so in the other? 



As I told you Viefore my pleasures are 

 not in the club-room or ostentatious 

 show, so I will tell you now in what they 

 do consist. First, and primary, in the 

 successful prosecution of that business 

 by which we live. Though this belongs 

 to the physical, its success is equally 

 important for the soul's well-being — in- 

 deed, for the whole man. Then, next iu 

 importance, I deem a polite, kindly 

 courteousness of demeanor and manner 

 when I come into the house, making a 

 special effort to leave trouble and vexa- 

 tion behind, till an opportune time ar- 

 rives to give expression to these things. 

 The cultivation of a taste for certain 

 things I deem important, not physical 

 tastes, but intellectual, soul tastes; and 

 what a vast range for its exercise! In 

 the book department, a taste for history, 

 biography, science, religion, theology, 

 and the general knowledge to be attained 

 only through re.ading. Oh! how I won- 

 der at the young finding time to spend 

 over a billiard table. Then, again, I do 

 love to have and cultivate a taste for 

 those beauties of nature we often see 

 surroundiug the porch and g.arden; also, 

 those other beauties of art that are made 

 to decorate the interior. Why, in some 

 houses we go into, beauty covers the 

 walls, and nothing but beauty emanates 

 from the lips in the shape of polite, cour- 

 teous language, in having something to 

 say, for these tastes and their cultivation 

 promote our conversational powers. 

 They give us something to think and 

 talk about. But what food does an eve- 

 ning spent over a billiard or card table 

 give us for thought and conversation? 

 Vet our very nature has a craving for 

 society, from earliest childhood to old 

 age, and if denied or restrained from that 

 which is ennobling and elevating, it is 

 apt to have recourse to the contrary — 

 that which is debasing. And why can- 

 not we have more houses and families of 

 the higher type upon which my mind's 

 eye now rests? We could, I think, by 

 timely care and cultivation. For such I 

 am an advocate. Who will come to my 

 assistance? Will the darling Angle? 



Such, de.ir Aunt Mary, are my soul's 

 cravings and desires. This and the 

 words of a former letter will include the 

 physical, the intellectual, moral and 

 spiritual. Congenial, suitable exercise 

 iu all these departments of our nature, 

 and in congenial, suitaijle companion- 

 ship; and who will not say there is a 

 possibility o( a little heaven here below. 

 One word of that masculine supremacy 

 to which your letter refers. It is to the 

 husband's home and business, style and 

 mode of life the wife always comes,heuee 

 he rnly is competent to judge how far he 

 may deviate from that course. But 

 never fear, .\uiit Mary, as long as the 

 love principle is kept all right on both 

 sides; that is the great compensating 

 regulator in domesticity. 



!'■ S. — Dear Aunt Mary, you perceive 

 the contideuco I place in you. May I 

 hope, through your mediumship, to 

 make a favoriUile impression on the heart 

 of ck'ar ma and the beloved Augie? 

 Vour true friend, Inglewood, 



LETTER FROM MOUNTAIN HOME 



DV AUST PEGGY. 



Twenty ndlcs iu the mountains, one 

 thousand feet above the ocean, moun- 

 tains of the north, south, east and west 

 sides, in the liasin, is one of the finest 

 and loveliest little mouutaiu-valley 

 homes that can be found in the State -a 

 place that literally Hows with milk and 



honey. Here lives your friend. 



Many have asked the question, "How 

 do you content yourself, and pass .away 

 the time, so far away from neighbors 

 and society? I should die with the hor- 

 rors." I answer them, that I have my 

 children to care for, my household 

 duties, my family sewing, honey bees, 

 home dairy, fruits of all kinds, plants 

 and flowers, and my little chickens, and 

 little kids that are orphans, and a great 

 many things that are too numerous to 

 mention, and hist of all, "there is no 

 place like home!" 



This is Saturday afternoon. The 

 week's work is finished, children dressed, 

 faces washed, etc., and as I feel that I 

 would like to sit down and rest until time 

 for tea, I take up the last numlier of the 

 C.iLiFOKNiA Agkicultueist, read over the 

 communications, familiar talks, letters 

 from boys and girls, and it almost seems 

 as though I was reading letters from far 

 awaj' friends. I am glad to see our boys 

 and girls take so much interest in trying 

 to make the paper more interesting. I 

 think the Editor very generous in giving 

 you a "Corner" for your little mite. And 

 I think when we have such a sociable 

 and valuable paper within our grasp, it is 

 the duty of every subscriber to do all 

 they can to keep it up and make it in- 

 teresting tor both old and young. 



I have been pressing ferns and flowers, 

 and so successfully that I really feel 

 proud, and will tell you how I dry them 

 so that they will retain their natural 

 colors. I take a box, any size (not too 

 large, of course), cover the bottom with 

 fine, dry sand, put in a Layer of flowers 

 and a layer of sand, alternately, until the 

 box is full ; then let them remain until I 

 think they are dry enough; then take 

 them out and spread before putting them 

 in books. I hope whoever may try this 

 will be as successful as I have been. 



PASSIONS. 



A SCHOOL COJiroSITION, EV MAMIE. 



To subdue the p.assions of creatures 

 who are all p.assion is impossible. And 

 what are these passions which make such 

 havoc? If you permit j-our jiassions to 

 govern you, instead of your governing 

 them, you destroy your vital powers. A 

 Wiseman govenrns his passions; but a 

 fool permits his passions to govern him. 

 The passions are modifications of self- 

 love. The preservation of man is the 

 center toward which all his afl'ectious 

 and all his actions converge; he inclines 

 stronglj' toward jileasure, and he avoids 

 everything that can injure him. I'leas- 

 urc and pain are the elements of all the 

 passions, which may be reduced to love 

 and hatred. Pleasure is only momen- 

 tary. We judge of it by its intensity. 

 Its duration establishes happiness. The 

 greater the pleasure a i^ersou experiences, 

 the greater the ajiprehensions which he 

 has of being deprived of it. The njind 

 is immortal, and full of undying 

 thoughts aud conceptions. The stream, 

 when it descends slowly with a hoarse 

 murmur from the mountain, ripples 

 through the plains and adorns and en- 

 riches the scene; but when it rushes 

 dow'u in a roaring, impetucnis torrent, 

 overflowing its banks, it carries devasta- 

 tion and ruin in its course. So, when 

 the passions, appetites and desires are 

 kept under due restraint, they are useful 

 and fulfill the intentions of a wise and 

 overruling Providence iu iierformiiig a 

 part of our nature; but when they are 

 allowed to r.age with unbridled fury, they 

 commit fearful ravages on the character 

 which they wi're lifted to adorn and ex- 

 alt. If we wish the stream of life to be 

 pure, wo must preserve the fountain 

 Irom whence it flows unpolluted. And 



to enjoy health and long life, the pas- 

 sions should be kept under due control; 

 for they may l)e considered the moral 

 thermometer that regulates the system 

 and holds the most powerful influence 

 over the general health and welfare. 

 Our passions, when controlled, are the 

 genial warmth that cheers us along the 

 w.ay of life; ungoverncd, they are con- 

 suming fires. 



San Jose Institute, April, 18G7. 



IMPROVE THE COUNTRY HOME. 



BY A FABMER's wife. 



Why are our young people so ready to 

 leave the country home and seek a live- 

 lihood in the city or town? Is it not 

 because science and art and civilization 

 are there most rapidly developing, and 

 amusements and entertainments are more 

 enticing? Those of our young people 

 who can be spared from the farm to 

 enter these marts of education are sel- 

 dom induced to come back and lead that 

 blind, dull, monotonous life in which we 

 country people are plodding. Then I 

 say we must educate for the farm. We 

 must bring more science, art and litera- 

 ture into our homes — take and read more 

 good books and papers. Let the genius 

 of intelligence shine in the kitchen and 

 embellish our lives. 



The little country girl of eight or ten 

 summers, by a simplified form of botany, 

 can be made to see much more beauty in 

 the lovely wild boquet she gathers than 

 she does to-day; and the middle-aged, or 

 hoary-headed man need not plod along 

 in uncertainty from ten to twenty years 

 on his farm before he knows to what 

 kind of growth his soil is adapted, but 

 he m.ay, by the science of chemisti-j' and 

 practical experimenting, unfold the na- 

 ture of the soil and plant and cultivate 

 rightly that which is adapted to its con- 

 ditions. Then will there be inducements 

 on the farm for the young man and for 

 the young woman. Harvest will yield 

 more abundantly with. less labor. We 

 will not hear the continued cry, "it don't 

 pay," when knowledge takes the place of 

 ignorance in our labors. There will be 

 more recreation for all, more home em- 

 bellishments, and our young people will 

 not look like old men and women before 

 they are mature. 



There are many helpers at work to 

 bring about this result for the laboring 

 agriculturists, aud the best thing the far- 

 mer can do is to resolve to progress and 

 make his farm home more attractive and 

 himself more intelligent. Keniaiu or- 

 ganized as you are in the Grange, I 

 would say to every farmer, and by co- 

 operation help to "paddle your own 

 canoe." You cannot reach a more ready 

 road to mind improvement than to pat- 

 ronize the best periodicals, and jot down 

 your daily thoughts upon the many, 

 many subjects about you. It may come 

 a little hard at first, but it will grow- 

 easier each time, and will be greatly to 

 your benefit. 



EVENINGS AT HOME. 



DY HODSE-KEEI'Eit. 



It is one duty of parents to devise 

 means for making the evenings in our 

 country homes jileasant and profitable 

 for our children. If they find enjoy- 

 ment at homo they will not lie so much 

 inclined to seek it elsewhere. Of course, 

 when we live several miles from town, 

 we have not the opportunity of attend- 

 ing lectures and other entertainments 

 wliich wo lis well as our children could 

 enjoy. Therefore we must look for other 

 means of entertainment. 



One very pleasant way of spending an 

 evening is by reading aloud. Let each 

 person present read a short article. The 

 children can select from books suited to 

 their age and capacity. This practice 

 will be found of great assistance in mak- 

 ing the reading enjoyable as well as 

 beneficial to the entire household. 



There are many games which are verj- 

 pleasant, among them, chess, checkers, 

 and backgammon; also, many games of 

 cards, among them the popular game of 

 authors, which is very interesting and 

 instructive as it makes us familiar with 

 some of the names and works of promi- 

 nent authors. All of these games are 

 not only harmless, if properly indulged 

 iu at home, but are useful in cultivating 

 the memory and disciplining the mind, 

 but principally in affording such amuse- 

 ment at home as will keep the young 

 folks from wanting to go elsewhere. 



There are very many ways in which 

 instruction and amusement may bo com- 

 bined in spending our evenings at home 

 in the country . 



A MID-NIGHT HIDE. 



I was iu a very new mining district. 

 The reputed richness of the mines had 

 attracted a large number of prospectors, 

 and with the rush came the "slum" of 

 followers that are almost inseparable 

 from such excitements. Our mine was 

 the only one fairly at work, and the only 

 one whose mill was in operation. Other 

 mills were in course of construction, and 

 the reputation of the assays in San 

 Francisco of our rock had made this — 

 the first run of our mill — a subject of 

 universal interest in the district. The 

 clean-up was made on Saturday, and big 

 reports had leaked out of its grand re- 

 sult. It was only a week's run, and the 

 mill was a single battery, with limited 

 conveniences outside of the battery for 

 amalgam.ation, etc., bearing about the 

 same relation to the present style of 

 quartz mill as a jewsharp to a jjiauo. 

 However, It was a big thing for our dis- 

 trict, and the run had been watched find 

 commented upon and the result projihe- 

 sied was one calculated to throw Washoe 

 (which was then the generic term forthe 

 Nevada Territory mines) quite into the 

 shade. 



Of course it was desirable to get the 

 result of this first run to Sau Francisco 

 as soon as possible, aud, as the condi- 

 tion of things was a little shaky as to the 

 security of the road, etc., it was a serious 

 question how to solve the i)roblem. 



A military express was running from a 

 neighboring United States Indian post, 

 and the arrangements were made to 

 have the yellow bullion carried by their 

 "vidette" to the nearest express office: 

 but the post was some twelve miles dis- 

 tant from the mine, aud a dangerous 

 road lay between it and our mill. 



Tempted by tlu; madcap riile, I ofl'ered 

 my services to carry the bullion through 

 by night to the post. The superintend- 

 ent of the company eagerly accepted the 

 offer, and sober second thought found 

 me saddled with an errand which threat- 

 ened a little persinial danger and a good 

 deal of personal discomfort. However, 

 I wouldn't back out, nor show iny mis- 

 givings; so, about midnight, I set out on 

 my lonely ride, mounted on a white 

 horse well known in the district, with 

 saddle-bags carefully secured ami filled 

 with (he bullion, and a Colt's dragoon 

 pistol in the holster. I felt the excite- 

 ment that a spice of danger always gives 

 to such undertakings. 



After crossing a ferrv at the start of 



