70 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



the rest ! and when lie confessed that, It would "set 

 the world all in an uproar." At diflLTont times he 

 would appear nioie and more uneasy, and a:iy, "/ 

 7nust confess, 1 bu!st co.nfk?^." lie requested at 

 different times, that one would go aside with him, 

 for the purpose of hearing liini confess, and when 

 there his courage setMueil to fail, and he would not 

 tell what it was, and finally said he never would 

 confess it until th:- d.iy of his execution ! He often 

 spoke of a dreadl'ul Ijuvning he iiad within him, and 

 when asked wiiat lie n.-tunt by it? "O"' said he, 

 '*m// conscience .'"' 



A short time before he died it seemed n3 though 

 the ALMIGHTY ext'jrted from him a confession 

 of the horrid deed ; he said at a certain time wht^n 

 he was in Cau''da (;d.eu|. i::*^ years ago) near the 

 Three Rivers, he KILLI'.D A MAN. Someone 

 asked him if he rerilly killed'him.' lie said ye.s, "I 

 took up a slake, and struck an awful blow, and kil- 

 led him DEAD." He said he stuck the slake up 

 by the river, and Vruk all his money. 



While he was makincr tliis confession, and acting 

 over the dreadl'ul inotions, liis eves and his v.'liole 

 visage were frighUul in the extreme, so much did 

 he appear like a di'in 'ii 1 



Soon after th's iie beg^in to die, and was dylngoO 

 hours! The olde.st iters^ns pr'^s.-nt, say tiiev nev- 

 er saw such a dyi:rT s-^ene before. He v.'ould e.\- 

 claim, "0, / r(7M/.fJi' r/'e .' I e.^NNOT i>ie ! I I CAN- 

 NOT DIE ! : ! He stni.l:^ riirlit before me staring 

 nie in the face ; liow bi:'.ck iiis f ice looks !" 



He was attended by pious friends and neighbors, 

 but if they proposed to pray with liim he forbid it, 

 and when any one prayed, it kindled him up into 

 a rage that is past description !" 



Whatever opinions others may entertain of this 

 matter, we must confess we have doubts as to the 

 accuracy of the testimony which the unfortunate 

 man left against himself, ll seems that llie whole 

 tenor of his life stands in contradiction to it. Had 

 he been sane and felt impelled by the imperious 

 dictates of a guilty conscience to e.ypose to the 

 world the depth and darkness of his crime, would 

 he not have furnished such particulars as would 

 have enabled the world to trace out and estalilish tlie 

 murderous deed, independent of this confession .' 

 Instead of that, we have no particulars. The name, 

 the residence, the occupation and circumstances of 

 his victim are all omitted. Even the inducement 

 to the commission of the act is left to be inferred 

 from the declaration that he "took all his money" 

 — which, for all that ajipears, might have been an 

 after-thought. In short, it would be well to be 

 fully satisfied that a man was murdered at or about 

 the time, and place, mentioned, before we render a 

 verdict against tlie deceased ; for we pretend to s.ay 

 that the whole narrative bears evidence of insanitv, 

 or monomonia, of the individual. 



Lancaster, May 1S39. 



Hon. I. Hii.L, — Dear Sir : — Believing a knowl- 

 edge of Geology is more important to the practi- 

 cal farmer, tiian has heretofore been urged, I pro- 

 pose to communicate such hints and suggestions, 

 as may occur to my mind, in the hope, "that our 

 SiUimans, Colmans, Jacksons, Comstocks, and otli- 

 er scientific gentlemen will favor the public with 

 more of their revised researches, on a subject so 

 useful and interesting ; not doubting but the can- 

 dor of intelligent men will be extended to a hum- 

 ble inquirer after truth, even should their respect 

 for his opinions be withheld. 



It is to be regretted, tliai the human mind, in all 

 ages of the world, has been so prone to tiie mar- 

 vellous; and although strong minds, science and the 

 arts, have in some measure, substituted trutii for 

 credulity, yet tliere still exists a strong propensity 

 towards what is my.slerious and unaccountable, 

 rather than towards the plain truths exhibited by 

 the laws of Nature's God. 



The great controversy about the means employ- 

 ed by our beneficent Creator, in giving to this earth 

 its present appearance, seems to have been carried 

 on, by some, with an eye to the prejudices of man- 

 kind, and by others, to' sustain preconceived opin- 

 ions, without due regard to the facts scattered eve- 

 ry where before us and p.nrticularly over what is 

 called primitive formations. 



May we not believe, and will it not in the course 

 o" time be demonstrated, that when "the eaith was 

 without form, and void ; and darkness was upon 

 the face of the deep ; and the spirit of God moved 

 upon the face of tlie waters," that all tbe solid 

 matter, now composing the earth, was held (in the 

 language of Werner) in "aqueous solution ?" And 

 by the well known laws ot aptitude, affinity or at- 

 traction, which not only govern animal, vegetable, 

 but inert matter, rocks vvere then formed, and dis- 

 posed, not in strata according to their specific grav- 

 ity, but in accordance with the parts first consoli- 



idated and their kindred liquid matter floating in 

 contact. And that aquatic animals were then form- 

 ed, each after its kind, and probably many, whose 

 species are now extinct. When we consider that 

 law of the Almighty, which gives to fluids their 

 vast power of expansibility and extreme contrac- 

 tion, will it not account, in some degree, for the 

 immense extension of water at the beginning, and 

 its greatly diminished dimensions at the present 

 time .' 



The magnificent and most minute appearances in 

 our country (and I believe the same is true in oth- 

 er parts of the Globe) all corroborate this doctrine, 

 our mountains (exce]>t those of volcanic origin) 

 lakes, rivers, higli and lov.- alluvial land, and even 

 our ponds and rivulets, the Bay of Naples, remov- 

 al of the sea from Ravenna and many other places 

 in the Mediterranean, the Baltic, Red sea, the 

 withering regions of Afr'.;a, progressive sands in 

 Egypt, the desolation of Edoin, diminished fertilit)' 

 of Palestine, of Syria and of Arabia ; all conspire 

 to prove, that the waters on this ball are receding, 

 or in other words, are constantly changing into oth- 

 er substances, such as marble, cluy, coral, and otii- 

 er solid matter; so that without any change in tiie 

 laws of Nature, this Globe will ultimately be fit- 

 ted for the grand catastrophe predicted and be- 

 lieved. 



Anal'i<Ty teaches, that nutriment of every kind 

 must first be solved, before it can pass into the com- 

 i)osition of its kindred matter ; witness the secre- 

 tions in animals, in vegetables, in matter of every 

 kind. The various parts of the animal take up 

 what is necessary to its peculiar sustenence. So 

 with vegetables ; and so, I contend, with all the 

 formations, which are going ahead. But where 

 maturity Is attained, dissolution begins, alike with 

 the earth and the c.nbbage. 



The Ilutton system appears incredible, as we 

 know of no matter, capable of keeping an internal 

 ocean in a state of ebullition for thousands of years, 

 and imparting to it occasionally vast additional 

 powers. At a very remote period, the stars, moon, 

 comets and sun, v.ere believed to be bodies of fire, 

 and even now, when the most conclusive facts 

 prove the contrary, many hold, tiiat tbe sun is an 

 immense body of matter heated beyond the con- 

 ception of man. The single fact out of thousands, 

 that might be adduced, will be here mentioned: 

 tiiat the rays of the sun pass as readily through a 

 piece of transparent lee, as any other substance, 

 without losing their igneous power, or altering the 

 congelation of the ice. 



Yet when globes of fire are extinct in the celes- 

 tial v.'orlds, they are, in the imagination of many ge- 

 ologists, located in the bowels of the earth. And 

 while these gentlemen cannot accetmt for transient 

 exi)losions of combustilile gases, in the subterra- 

 nean caverns of the earth, they can attempt to 

 show, that about one and a half miles from the 

 earth's surface, it is hot as boiling water, and at 

 the centre, an ocean of liquid tire exists, which is 

 not diminished by its own inconceivable action, 

 nor by throwing out, on tlie earth's surface, more 

 than three hundred stupendous mountains. And 

 all this is attempted to be proved by the existence 

 of volcanoes, earthquakes, and the fact that heat 

 increases as we descend from the surface. 



If this heat is radiated from one common ocean 

 of fire, would it not be diffused in every direction 

 to tlie earth's surface, nearly In the same ratio ^ 

 Yet experiments prove a difference of from twentv- 

 four to sixty feet, to one degree of increased heat, 

 and variations at different times at the s.aine place. 

 Do not these facts prove, that the cause of this 

 heat, and of volcanoes, is annlagous to the collec- 

 tions and explosions of electricity, alike isolated, 

 and comparatively transient, and all acting with 

 more force and frequency, in some regions than in 

 others ? Earthquakes are, probably, only tlie dis- 

 tant vibration.< of volcanic action. The igneous 

 theory, thus hastily examined, like all perpetual 

 fTres that have gone before ll, will ere long, give 

 place to the belief, that fire in the interior, like the 

 same element on the surface, must have aliment ; 

 that this aliment will decompose, and that new col- 

 lections will be required, before volcanic eruptions 

 can be renewed. 



I have already exceeded the limits intended : 



Therefore, with great respect, I am, sir, 

 Your friend and servant, 



JOHN W. WEEKS. 



Slaking of Butter. 



There is not a more Important secondary ingredi- 

 ent of sustenance for the family that lives well, 

 than butler. Bread, meat, and milk are articles of 

 primary importance ; and milk and cream may, if 

 always at hand, be a substitute for butter. The ar- 

 ticle of butter is an object of great consequence to 



the farmers of New England; especially is it made 

 by those who manage dair.es well, and who pos- 

 sess pasture grounds upon and among our high ami 

 verdant hills, an object of profit and of high grati- 

 fication to the palate. There can be no risque to 

 the dairyman who makes the best butter, that it 

 will not at all times bring In the market all it is 

 worth : the dairyman's neat wife who makes the 

 best butler is a prize to her husband, because he is 

 sure if she 'i perfect in this business she does not 

 fail in any other department of her household con- 

 cerns. 



Aorinultural premiums have done much to im- 

 prove the quality of butter made in the country. 

 Larii^e premiums liave been offered by a society at 

 Boston, which has an annual exhibition of butter: 

 in one or more instances the farmers of Barnet in 

 Vermont, have taken tlie highest prizes. We know 

 of no better butter or cheese than is annually made 

 from the dairies of Ryegate, Barnet, and Newbury. 

 The farms are better for grazing in Vermont than 

 they are in New Hampshire ; and It might be ex- 

 pected they should have larger dairies and make 

 more ond better butter and cheese than we do. 



Butter, well made and well preserved, is so much 

 more valuable than poor butter, that there ought 

 to be a greater difference in price than has been 

 common. Any thing that can be called butter will 

 generallv sell for all it is worth — much inpure but- 

 ter is made way with by bakers and others who 

 conceal the quality to the person who rats and 

 swallows the article ; and the facility with which 

 the poorer article is used, operates as an inducement 

 to the dairyman or dairy woman to carelessness in 

 the preparation and manufacture. 



Destitute of the excellent hill pastures as we 

 are in and near the villages on our rivers. It will 

 not be expected that butler in quantities for sale 

 sliould be here produced. The town of Concord, 

 although it embraces many farms beyond the vil- 

 lage, does not make perhaps half of the butter con- 

 sumed by its inhabitants. Indeed It has become 

 ditficult to procure in a village of some three thou- 

 sand inhabitants a suHicient quantity of milk at 

 double the price It is worth for making butter, for 

 our own consumption. Fortunate is the family 

 here which can always procure good butter; It is 

 rarely to be had at the stores and groceries where it 

 is taken up, especially in the warm season of the 

 year when the fresli article is most wanted. 



We have been fortunate In procuring three fir- 

 kins of excellent butter since the last season, ei- 

 ther of which would have deserved a premium. 

 The two first were fro.n a farmer at Loudon, and 

 the last v/as from Sullivan cf.unty. A farmer at 

 Washington furnishes annually for the table of a 

 public bouse in this town about a thousand pounds; 

 and of this we were favored with the single firk-n 

 of about fifty pounds. The person who has the 

 art to make such butter has well learned his or her 

 trade. The butter is yellow as gold — It is sohd 

 and perfectly free of all milky or watery particles 

 contributing to make it porous : it is-" sweet as a 

 nut," and its flavor is as grateful as that of butter 

 newly churned from sweet cream. This butter 

 must have been made from seven to nine months 

 ago. By what enchantment it v,'a:< made to pre- 

 serve its original flavor and sweetness, and in what 

 manner it was wrouglit into its substantial shape, 

 free from every deleterious particle that would be 

 calculated either to mar its appearance or injure its 

 taste, we have not the power to divine. 



That great improvement is called for in the man- 

 ufacture of butter is not less evident than that 

 great improvement may be made. Every man and 

 woman engaged in tbe dairy should make it a point 

 to attend to tliis subject. Our climate Is belter for 

 the manufacture and keeping of good butter than 

 the warmer climates. In many of the southern 

 States the best livers know ml the luxury of hav- 

 ing a constint supply of sweet butter : in some 

 portions of the year they are unable to keep sweet 

 butter for a day. With the aid of Ice, a supply of 

 which almost every person can procure and keep 

 for the labor, the people of New England can Inive 

 hard and sweet butter In the warmest of weather. 



The properties requisite in a dairy house (says 

 Fessenden's Complete Farmer) are, that it be eool 

 in summer and moderately warm in winter, so as 

 to preserve nearly the same temperature through- 

 out the year, which, according to Loudon, should 

 be about forty-five degrees. The dairy for the pri- 

 vate use of any farmer or family need not be large, 

 and may very cconi'inically be formed in atliick 

 walled, dry cellar, so situated as to have windows on 

 two sides; the north and east in preference for ven- 

 tilation ; and in order that tliese windows may the 

 better exclude cold in winter and heat in summer, 

 they should 1-e fitted witii double sashes, and on 

 the outside of the outer sash should be a fixed 



