60 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



The Franklin Farmer lias i\n intorosting article 

 on brini)li)tr bread-stufi'^^ (Voni Karo|)'-- to Aitiorica. 

 Uncle Sam is rcpresenti-il as ltcin<T seated in his ea- 

 sy chair (wiiiclt by the way i^ represented as being 

 a. present sent from England) wlien Judge Bnel an 

 accountant from the Bureau ol' Agriculture, enters 

 and hands liim an abstract of iiis annual account. 



The old gentleman, it \s said, rubbed liis eyes, wip- 

 ed his sj)ectacles, and looking earnestly along the 

 paper, presently began to scratch liis head. He 

 looked again and a^'ain at the items and features ; 

 and each item with evidently renewed wonder and 

 embarrassment. Ascertaining the purport of the 

 paper, he threw it down, lore otl" his spectacles, and 

 rising hastily from his cushioned seat, paced the 

 floor witlia more rapid step than had been his wont 

 for several years. ''Wliat !" he exclaimed, addres- 

 sing the clerk in energetic terms of surprise and 

 mortification — *'bring me in debt nearly a million 

 and a quarter for bread-stuffs I — it can't be possible 

 — there must be some mistake — I own more good, 

 ricli tillable grain-land than any other cultivator on 

 the globe and can't believe my family are eating 

 bread not grown on my own fn Ids — look over the 

 accounts and see, sir, if you have not made some 

 mistake — I won't believe such a disgraceful truth!" 



The following is an extract from the account 

 said to be rendered. 



By a statement from the Treasury Department, 

 it appears, that the importations and e.xportations of 

 grain, flour and meal, during the year 1837, were 

 us understated, estimated in dollars. 



Imported, Exported. 



ia;ia2,Gltl ^•3,i.i88,269 



4,154,225 27,206 



333,505 105,467 



3,<)]8 011,634 



6,837 325,077 



Articles. 

 Flour, 



Wheat, 



Rye and rye-meal, 

 Corn and meal, 

 Otlier grain, bread, &c. 



«f;4,623,466 $3,416,653 



Deduct exports, 3,416,653 



Balance against 



Uncle Sam, $1,206,813 



in the commodities whicb it is his business to raise 

 and sell, and which he never ought to be obliged 

 to buy. If we add to this balance of ;$il,2i)6,813, 

 the amount which the old gentleman paid last year 

 for foreign silks, viz : 14,352,>-23, and for foreign 

 sugar, 12,514,504, it will show an annual balance 

 against him of $28,084,140. 



Twenty-eight millions, in articles which it Is 

 either his protessed business to raise, or which he 

 can produce by his own labor, and from his own 

 soil. This balance would however he reduced by 

 the value of the silk and sugar which he exported 

 in 1837, to about twenty millions of dollars. If 

 these facts were applied to the aflairs of an individ- 

 ual farmer, we should naturally suppose that the 

 boys were either too proud or too lazy to work, and 

 perhaps both. And wherein does the analogy fail 

 between an individual farmer and a nation of farm- 

 ers. A diminution of crops was among the caus- 

 es of the late national embarrassments; and our sur- 

 plus products liave been relied upon to pay the for- 

 eign balances against us. 



What would be the conduct of the individual 

 farmer who should find his aftairs thus going to ru- 

 in .^ Would he not instruct his boys in the sci- 

 ence and practice of his business, and stimulate 

 them to labor, by rewards, that tlie farm might 

 produce enough and to spare, to pay oft' his debts, 

 and keep sometliing on hand for a wet day r And 

 if sucli would be the politic course in the manager 

 of a farm, wiiy would it not be wise in the mana- 

 gers of the State, or of a nation? They give mil- 

 lions annually to aid those who add nothing to our 

 national wealth, and which tend to elevate the 

 idler above the man of industry? Why not give 

 for instructing the farmer and mechanic how to 

 double the profits of their labor? We insist, that 

 the highest branches of learning, when blended 

 with practical instruction in tlie useful arts, and 

 particularly in the business of agriculture, are more 

 profitable to a State, than they are wlien applied to 

 the learned professions. 



Support vouR Mechan'ics. — There is no truth 

 more undeniable than that it is the bounden duty of 

 every cojumunity to support its own mechanics. 

 They are a worthy and indispensable class of men, 

 and we find no town or village flourishing without 

 their aid. Indeed their presence or absence is 

 always a true index of the condition of a place — 

 whether it is advancing hi wealth and importance, 

 or sinking In decay. Whenever we pass through 

 avillaire and hear the frequentsound of the carpen- 

 ter's Jiammer, the clink of the blacksmith's anvil — 

 that villai^e, we say to ourselves, is flourishing. It 

 cannot be otherwise ; for the producers are actively 

 •mployed, and out number the consumera. When- 



ever and wherever th'-s is the case, tJie people are 

 growing weaitiiy, and are at the same time training 

 up the rising generation to habits oi" industry and 

 morality. Wherea3,if acity or village pursue the op- 

 posite oi'this course, neglects its mechanics and sup- 

 ports tliose of some foreign town — those who can, 

 will be compelled by the force of circumstances to 

 remain, will become idle and profligate — they will 

 cease to produce and be consumers — in afew years 

 tiiey will become beggars, and their children ig- 

 norant and vicious. 



If there is any truth in the assertion that we ought 

 as a nation, to give the preference to domestic man- 

 ufacture, the fact is equally true with regard to a 

 community — both are sustained by the same argu- 

 ments. If a merchant would have around him sub- 

 stantial customers, let him by every means in his 

 power, support and foster the mechanics of his vil- 

 iaore, and as they become more wealthy, their cus- 

 tom will increase, especially in those article's on 

 which he makes the greatest profit ; for it is unde- 

 niable, tliat as men become more wealthy, they, al- 

 so become more luxurious; and no merchant will 

 deny that articles of luxury always afl'ird the great- 

 est profit. The habit of importing large quantities of 

 cheap and half made articles to compete with our 

 villatre meciianics, is short sighted and wrong, both 

 as regards the meciianic and consumer; and if the 

 merchant would look further into the operation of 

 things, he would find that he crossed the path of 

 his own interest by doing so. Let the merchant 

 bring the case to his own door, and he, perhaps, 

 may better understand it; suppose tliat every indi- 

 vidual wlio possesses tlie means, and wlio uses in his 

 family, four or five hundred dollars worth of goods 

 per annum, should instead of buying of him at retail 

 go to some city wholesale establishment and pur- 

 chase hisyear's suppl}' — would he not in bitterness 

 condemn such an illiberal course, and would he not 

 say to him with truth that he was warring against 

 his own interest, b}' destroying the business of his 

 town and giving it to another; and tliat his little- 

 ness would re-act upon him in double fold by the 

 decrease of his property and business ! So in the 

 case above instanced, could the mechanic- say the 

 same to the merchant. We say then, let ail class- 

 es support each other, and by the mutual exchang- 

 es, keep that wealth at home, wliicli if necessarily 

 expended abroad, tends to destroy tlie business of 

 your neighbor, and which in turn destroys your 

 own. — Anonymous, i 



AsHFs. — When wood is burned in a position that 

 excludes the air, t!u» product is coal ; ifcombustion 

 is performed in the open air, the produce is ashes. 

 Ashes by being leached, or having warm water 

 passed through them, are deprived of the alkali they 

 contain, and tliis is obtained in the shape of potash 

 or soda, by evaporation. Diflerent wood, and 

 plants, vary much in the quantity oi^ a?hes and al- 

 kali tiiey produce ; tlie fir, beech and poplar, rank- 

 ing the lowest, and the box, willow, elm, w^orni- 

 wood and tumitory the highest. Tlxe leached ash- 

 es of several kinds of grain, were found by Iluck- 

 ert, to be constituted as follows : 



Silica, Lime. Ahiminc. 



Ashes of Wheat, • 48 37 15 



Oats, 68 26 6 



Barley, 6l> 16 15 



Bye, C3 21 16 



" Potatoes, 4 (^6 30 



" Red clover, 37 33 30 



Leaclied ashes are found to be an excellent ma- 

 nure applied to soils that are light, or such as are 

 inclining to be sour; the alkali correcting the acid 

 with wiiich such soils, as the vegetation proves, a- 

 bound. In some instances crops of grain, roots and 

 grass have been nearly doubled by their use; and 

 no skillful agriculturist permits their waste. 



A SPA RAG r?. — A plant cultivated in Gardens, and 

 deservedly esteemed for its value as an article of 

 food, when propcrl}' prepared. Its value is also 

 greatly enha>»t:cd by the early season at which it is 

 produced. It is the young shoots of the plant, as 

 they attain tlie height of some five or six inches a- 

 bove tlie earth, that ar<' used for food, and these are 

 exit slanting upwards, about two inches below tlie 

 surface. Asparagus is usually grown in beds, and 

 requires asoil very rich and deep, and if not so nat- 

 urallv, it must be made so by trencliingand manur- 

 ino" with fine uianure or compost, before the plants, 

 which arc raised from the seed, are put into it. 

 The}' may be s-t in rows eighteen inches distance, 

 and ten inches in the row, or in squares at •ne foot 

 distance. The beds during the winter, are secured 

 from frost, and the plants prepared for an early 

 start, by a covering of straw or litter. The beds 

 must be loosened in the spring, and a coating of 

 mould saturated with liquid manure worked in, has 

 been found a capital drcspln^. A few plants are 



not cut but reserved for seed, to keep a su]iply of 

 young plants for the beds. In a favorable soil, an 

 asparagus bed when established, ami properly at- 

 tended to, will last many years. The plant.^ are 

 usually allowed to stand three years before they 

 are cut; some, however, commence on them the 

 second year. They are boiled and eaten with but- 

 ter, as are green peas, &c. The asi)aragus offers a 

 striking instance of the effect produced on plants 

 by cultivation. In some parts of Europe it is found 

 growing wild on the sea shore, its stem not tliicker 

 than a goose quill, and only a few inches in height. 

 The cultivated plant is sometimes found throe- 

 fourths of an inch in diameter, and grows to six 

 feet in height. In the neighborhood of cities or vil- 

 lages asparagus is cultivated as a source of great 

 profit; and it should find a place in every kitchen 

 garden. — Genesee Farmer. 



Fruit Trees. — The new method of raising fruit 

 trees by planting the scions is a great desideratum 

 in the art of obtaining good fruit. It has many 

 advantages over grafting, because it is more expe- 

 ditious, and requires no stock or tree. They may 

 be planted where they arc required to stand, and 

 the labor for one day will be suflicient to plant out 

 enoutrh for a large orchard after the scions are ob- 

 tained. The method of preparing the plants is as 

 follows : — Take the scion, as for grat\ing,and at a- 

 ny time after the first of February, and until the 

 buds begin to grow considerably, and dip each end 

 of the shoot in melted pitch, wax, or tallow, bury 

 it in the ground, tlie buds uppermost, whilst the 

 body lies in a horizontal position, and at the depth 

 of two or three inches- We are informed that trees 

 obtained in this way will bear in tliree or four years^ 

 from the time of planting. We have no doubt of 

 the practicability of this method of raising fruit. 

 A gentleman in this vicinity the last season, plant- 

 ed about twenty scions of different kinds of pears, 

 which appear to flourisli. The composition he 

 used was melted shoemaker's wax. — Cultivator. 



"Gap" in Chickens. 



The Farmers' Cabinet being a medium through 

 which much useful information has been dissemi- 

 nated, I am induced to send the following remedy 

 for the '^ gap" in chickens. My little son last 

 spring undertook the management of the poultry, 

 and was much troubled by his young chickens dy- 

 ing off witli the above mentioned disease. He ti- 

 nally discovered the cause by dissecting one, and 

 numerous long worms, about the thickness of a 

 common pin, were found in its wind-pipe. He tlien 

 took a feather, and stripped it except a small tuft 

 on the end, dipped it in spirits of turpentine, and 

 inserted it into the wind-pipe of the alfected chick- 

 en, turning it around two or three tunes before 

 withdrawing it. It was attended v\ith the most 

 complete success, and appeared to give almost im- 

 mediate relief. In a few cases it required a repeti- 

 tion. The disease \yas very ^oon eradicated from 

 his flock, and he afterwards raised more than one 

 hundred and forty chickens. The entrance to the 

 wind-pipe is on the top of tlie tongue, and near its 

 root, and may easily be discovered bv holding tlie 

 chicken's bill open a sliort time. — Farmers' Cabi- 

 net. 



TILLING THE i:;ARTH. 



In tilling tiie earth, some people go upon the 

 same principle that regulates their business inter- 

 course with men. They must be sure to get the 

 advantage of the trade ; and if this cannot be se- 

 cured without, they mu-;t clieat and deceive the 

 person with whom they deal. And they think to 

 practice the same artifice upon old mother Earth. 

 Vou will see them on their grounds in tiie spring 

 as sly as dogs, apparently calculating that Earth lias 

 forgotten the exhausted crops that were taken from 

 her the last year — perhaps they will give a sprink- 

 ling of manure, and tlirow it on so as to make the 

 Earth think there is a noble lot of it. Well, they 

 go to work. But the Earth v/on't be cheated. She 

 will r^i ward every man according to liis works, and 

 tell the truth in the autumn. You cannot get the ad- 

 vantage of her, as you can with human customers. 

 Treat her well, and she will reward your expendi- 

 tures and toil; but attempt to cheat her, and slie 

 will make you sorry for it when harvest comes. — 

 Pkilad. Fanners' Cabinet. 



Arms prepared during 183S. — It appears by the 

 report of Col. Bomford, that during tiie year 1838, 

 the United States Goverriinent have caused to be 

 made, 143 cannon for field artillery, 71 cannon for 

 g;!rrison service, 1.526 percussion cannon locks, 52,- 

 700 amall arms, 347 ^gun carriages — and for tlie 

 militia, otiier 80 cannon for field artillery and 16,- 

 600 small arms. ^ 



