THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



15 



United States for the year ending Sept. 30th, 1830; 



" To show the probable amount of woollen goods 

 of foreign production and manufacture, consumed 

 by tlie inhabitants of this State ; 



"That if all the wool which was shorn from 

 1,166,^34 sheep, the number stated by the general 

 list in )S37, could have been sold for all it would 

 then have sold for at our dwellings, it would but 

 about pay for that portion of imported woollen 

 goods consumed the past year by the inhabitants of 

 this State. That if the present quantity of wool 

 shorn in this State, could be sold for fifty-cents per 

 pound in cash, a further sum of 1,500,000, would 

 be necessary to furnish the year to come ; 



" That the present quantity of wool in Vermont 

 will but about supply the inhabitants for the com- 

 ing year ; 



"That capital for manufacturing and mechanical 

 purposes can be vested in the interior of a country 

 with a greater prospect of success than on the sea- 

 board ; 



" That it is as necessary that Vermont should pur- 

 sue such a policy in relation to her manufacturing 

 and mechanical interest to render her indepen- 

 dent of the sister States, as is proper for the United 

 States to render themselves independent of foreign 

 governments." 



Mr. Stevens concludes as follows : 



" Can it be possible, that tlie farmers of this State 

 will continue to pursue so ruinous a policy as they 

 have lieretofore pursued — sell their wool and buy 

 the manufactured article.^ I wish that the guardi- 

 an angel of our country would write, in great capi- 

 tal letters, on the outer door of every husbandman — 

 Thp. iromati icho maitufacturcs for Iter own housthold 

 and one piece of goods 'o sell, doth wore to retain 

 the solid coin in our Utatc than all the banks or the 

 greatest financiers. ' ' 



The manufacturing establishments of New Eng- 

 land have nominally reduced the price of many 

 manufactured articles : cotton, wool and fla.x are no 

 longer generally spun and wove in the farmer's 

 families. The young women, tlic da\igliters of our 

 farmers, instead of spinning and weaving at home, 

 are either employed in the large manufacturing es- 

 tablishments, or are more tenderly kept at home. If 

 they can earn at home what would be a sub- 

 stitute for tile original household productions, there 

 would be no harm in the change which has gone 

 over the daughters of New England. 



But the maxim of the farmer should be to raise 

 and produce all his fainili/ consajncs, so far at least 

 as tliat all hands shall be kept employed. It is 

 even better to manufacture cotton and woollen cloth 

 in the family when it maj' seem to cost more than 

 the factory prices, than to do nothing towards earn- 

 ing tlie money to pay for it. And we would think 

 it lietter for the farmers' d.-ughters to be kept at 

 home than tJiat more money than that they earn at 

 the fiictory siiould be paid out for articles which 

 miglit be made at the domestic fireside. The young 

 woman is certainly mucli bettor fitted for the social 

 and domestic duties who is instructed in the whole 

 domestic household economy, than slic wlio acts as 

 the automaton in the mechanical movements of the 

 spinning jennies and the loom. 



Mr. Stevens will perceive from the fact to which 

 he adverts in his address, that the duties paid on 

 the foreign woollen goods imported into the Unit- 

 ed Stales amovn! to the iimnensc ram of fifteen mil- 

 lion of dollars annually, tliat the high tariff instead 

 of protecting the farmer and wool grower is not a 

 less severe ta.\ upon liim than upon every other 

 wearer of foreign woollens. He will, hence, learn 

 that a system o? legislative bounties and proliibi- 

 tions, although they give a momentary spur to any 

 particular manufacture or article of agricultural 

 growth, in the end operate a general public injury. 



spoke to her father in the Spanish language Cher 

 mother is a native of Spain, and the child was born 

 in the island of Minorca) about a deceased brother 

 who died a few months ago. " Eddy (she said) 

 was three ^ars old, and I am five — I see Eddy up 

 there now." The imagination was undoubtedly 

 active and the mind wandered while the destruc- 

 tion of the physical system was going on. 



We mention this unusually melancholy occur- 

 rence in this paper, more particularly for the pur- 

 pose of directinir the community to the danger of fe- 

 males' and children's clothes taking fire, a :iubjectof 

 frequent occurrence. Willi a light dress there is 

 almost a moral certainty, if it take fire so as to burn 

 up, that the wearer must pay the forfeit with life. 

 Frequently, wliere the burning is much less severe 

 than in tiie case v/e have alluded to, the pain and 

 suffering is greatly increased, and tlie life lost in 

 the end. The fire place at which the child was 

 burned, projected from a cast iron frame into the 

 room, and in front there was no fender. Fire fenders 

 are a most excellent article for the protection of 

 young children especially ; and they are a safe- 

 guard even to grown up people. They likewise 

 protect the floor from fallen brands^in the fire place. 

 The cost of a common fire fender is a mere trifle 

 compared with the loss that tiie want of one may 

 produce; and if they did not almost entirely guard 

 young children from accident at the fire place, the 

 safety they give to an insured house would be an 

 inducement for any office in which such house was 

 insured to furnish a fender for each fire place. 



THE FARMER. 



Of all pursuits by man invented. 



The ploughman is the best contented; 



His calling 's good, his profits high. 



And on his labors all rely. 



Mechanics all by him are fed, 



Of him the merchants seek their bread; 



His hand gives meat to everything. 



Up from the beggar to the king. 



The milk and honey, corn and wheat, 



Are by his labors made complet;'. 



Our clothes from him must first arise, 



To deck the fop, to dress the wise ; 



We then by vote may justly state, 



The ploughman's rank among the great — 



More independent tlian them all. 



That dwell upon lliis earthly ball. 



All hail, ye farmers, young and old ! 



Push on your plongli with courage hold; 



Your wealth arises from your clod, 



Your independence from your God. 



If then the plough supports the nation. 



And men of rank in every station. 



Let kings to farmers make a bow. 



And every man procure a jilough. 



AjIKtllC.^.N F.\RMER. 



The recent death of an interesting child of Capt. 

 Ridgeway of the United States navy, the next 

 door neighbor of the editor of the Visitor, has been 

 mentioned in the newspapers as liaving occurred 

 from [icr clothes taking fire. It happened on the 

 first morninn- of tlie new year, when liberty liad 

 been given for the brother and sister to spend the 

 holiday by tarrying fVom school. The dress had 

 been altered by taking' off an outside garment of 

 wool and substituting one of cotton. At the time 

 she took fire, the mother and the attendants were 

 in a room below, and the fire had done its work be- 

 fore they arrived at tiie scene of distress ; so in- 

 tense was tlie fire about the body in the region of 

 the vitals, tliat the sufferer was rendered almost in- 

 sensible of pain. Tlie buoyant spirit, which com- 

 menced the morning of the year all animation and 

 sprightliness continued till tlie candle of llfewent out. 

 Tlie child lived twelve hours; and not one hour 

 before its death, in the simplicity of innocent prat- 

 tle, wished tliose who weejied around its bed, "a 

 merry Christmas and a Ilajipy New Year." She 



From the PfiilaJdphia Farmer's Cabinet. 

 Maiiutp. 



Feeii y^Hir plants anit they will feed you. 

 It is a subject of much regret that more vigilance 

 anil care is not taken by many farmers to increase 

 the quantity of their manure. It is the very base 

 of their prosperity ; without it little can be achiev- 

 cd that is important or valuable ; with it, every 

 tiling can be accomplished that is within Iheir reach. 

 By tlie use of lime applied to grass lands, and great 

 caie in bringing all decomposable articles into the 

 dung heap, the quantity on some farms has been 

 doubled in seven years. After it has been obtained 

 it requires a little skill and judgment to preserve 

 its most valuable parts from being drenched and 

 washed away by frequent rains; for although it is 

 net best to keep it too dry, yet it is much mort^ fre- 

 quently suffered to become so frequently wetted 

 with drenching rains as lo wash away the most nu- 

 tritious portions of it. Dung that has remained 

 under open sheds where it was but partially expos- 

 ed to the elements, has been found to be much 

 richer in quality than tliat whic'i was entirely ex- 

 posal to rain. \\\ some situations, much is lost by 

 water running through b-irn yards during heavy 

 showers, and in some cases they are jierfect quag- 

 mires for half the year, rendering it disagreeable, if 

 not dangerous to apjiroach a stable door. This 

 state of things constitutes an absnhite nuisance, 

 and ought to be provided against by every farmer 

 who has a proper sense of propriety, and a due re- 

 gard for tile female members of his family, who are 

 obliged twice a day to Irudge through wet and filth 

 to milk the cows. A shrewd old gentleman of 

 Montgomery county estimates the importance of a 

 farmer by the number of loads of manure hemnkes 

 annually. A fifty load farmer is rather a small ar- 

 ticle ; one of a hundred loads stands a little stlfTer; 

 one of 150 loads holds up his head pretty well and 

 liegins to be qiiile ri-.:peetalile ; and the''.!00, •^."lO, 



and 300 load farmers are entitled to have the word 

 Mr. as a prefix to their names, and the letters Esq. 

 placed after it. These are the solid yeomanry, in 

 his estimation ; the men of substance and st.nmina, 

 out of which, in his opinion, any useful article can 

 be manufactured, even up to a congressmen or gov- 

 ernor. Wlietlier he is altogether right in his way 

 of estimating farmers I must leave others to judge; 

 but one thing is pretty certain, that it is a good 

 thing for every farmer to have an abundance of 

 manure to furnish nutriment to his crops, and this 

 he won't be likely to obtain unless lie is very in- 

 dustrious and manages well. 



An Jlgricultural and Horticultural Stale Societij 

 has been organized in Michigan, Hon. Joshua 

 Howard, president. Tliey have resolved to petition 

 the legislature to establisli a board of agriculture, 

 to make appropriations for tlic support of a State 

 agricultural paper, and county societies — and to au- 

 thorize school districts to draw their quotas of the 

 school fund in agricultural works and pulilications, 

 to such an amount as tlie finances of the State, and 

 the school fund, will warrant. We are happy to 

 find our young sister thus early engaged in looking 

 to the substantial wants and permanent interests, 

 of her growing family. We hope she v,'ill prove a 

 kind as well as a wise motlier in these matters, and 

 teach her children to earn, that they may know the 

 true luxury of enjoyment. — Cultivator. 



Rohan Potatoes. — Last spring, we sent to Mr. 

 Sheplierd, P. M. Northamjiton, Mass. a peck of Ro- 

 han jiotatoes, to be jiresented to our patrons in tliat 

 town. We see in the account of the October fair, 

 in that county, what we deem to be some of tin' 

 products of tliis seed. W. Clark, Jr. raised from 

 one potatoe, '2 \-2 bushels ; Mr. E. Mitchell, from 

 4 lbs. of seed, raised Ibbushels, weighing 1,173 1-2 

 lbs.— «, 



From Ifie .Tnurpal of Coiiinieice. 

 American Commerce. 



I.MPORTs A."<n Export.".. From the document 

 appended to the Report of the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, as printed by order of Congress, it ap- 

 pears that the value of merchandize imported iiitci 

 the United States during the commercial year end- 

 ing 30th September last, was in round numbers 

 •f 112,000,000; of which, G0,140VXl0 was imported 

 free of duty; jj^22,t)50,0{)0 paid duty ad volorem ; 

 and the remaining §2;i, 204,000 paid specific duties. 

 Hence it appears that more than half the merciian- 

 dize imported into the United States, is duty free. 



The exports during the same year amounted to 

 $103,136,tl00 ; of wliicli .$'JO,G66,000 in value con- 

 sisted of American produce, and the remaining 

 .$12,470,000 of foreign, .«ici,043,000 was exported 

 free of duty ; $2,000,000 paid duty ad rotvrcvt : 

 and the remaining $2,337,000 specific duties. 



The imports have been larger than could liave 

 been anticipated, considering the embarrassments 

 of the country, especially of trade and commerce. 

 In fact, with the exception of the three years next 

 previous and excepting also the years 1807 and 

 1^17, they never have been soffreat in any former 

 year. 



Again, with the exception of the four years next 

 previous, and excepting also 1607, the exports were 

 never so great in any former year. The domestic 

 exports were never so great, except in 1835, 183C, 

 and 1S37. 



It is an interesting fact, (says Mr. Woodbury's 

 report) that during the last three years more than 

 ,'ip8G, 000,000 annually, or an average of nearly nine 

 tenths of our whole domestic experts, have been 

 derived from agriculture. More than seven-tenths 

 of our whole population are probably employed in 

 that useful pursuit. 



The excess of imports over the exports does not 

 always indioBte a balance of trade against the coun- 

 try ; what is earned by our hardy snilors as well as 

 what is g.'iined by exchange of trade may be added 

 to the real productions of the country. From three 

 to five millions of dollars are annually added to the 

 products of tlie country in the sperm and whale oil 

 taken in distant oceans. 



Tlie imports and exports for the last eleven years 

 have been as follows ; 



Erports. 



$72,264,686 



71,3.58,671 



73,849,.508 



81,310,583 



f^7,176,!i43 



!»0,140,433 



104,336,!)73 



121,603,577 



12.s,6(;3,140 



II 7,4 1! 1,376 



10:l, 136,000 



