94 



THE PARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



and more vigor of mind, than those who are daily 

 engaged in bcdilv lahor; and it is only the iudu.s- 

 IrioHs or laborious who live frugally and temper- 

 alclv, wiio enjoy true comfort and survive to a 

 great age. 



MOTirKK. 



A motliL-r wlio wurks her finijfrs' ends off, in or- 

 der lli.it her daughters may attain and preserve a 

 delicacy of constitution, is more to he blamed f^ir 

 her folly tlian praised for her ciiligcnee, or cvtolled 

 for Iier v/isdom. 



A New England farmer said, that last year he 

 had made 1.500 dollars by minding his own busi- 

 ness, and 500 dollars by letting the business of otli- 

 ers alone, in all 2,t;00 dollars ; a pretty handsome 

 sum this for doing right for one year. Query .' 

 what would this amount to, reckoning it an annu- 

 ity of 2,000 dollars at 6 per cent., compound inter- 

 est, for thirty years. Ans. ,'|l."iS,llG ^7 cents. 



The farmer who hires laborers to perform the 

 work which ought to be executed by his own sons, 

 mav rcasonablv e.xpect to die in debt, and leave a 

 thriftless posterity to inherit a small estate. 



The truly wise, who have acquired much knowl- 

 edge, doubt often, and are modest in opinion ; wliilst 

 the very ignorant, who have not attained knowl- 

 edge enough to form a hvok to hang a doubt on, are 

 hasty and jiresuinptuous. 



Those who say "coine boys," effect much, and do 

 it well ; while those who say *' go boys," accom- 

 lish little, and that badly. 



The best fanners are those who combine the most 

 intelligence with the most practical industry, sound 

 economy and, good taste. . 



The worst agriculturists are the ignorant and 

 conceited, v.-lio niiud every, body's business but 

 their own. 



A fanner who sells ha}-, should buv manure, oth- 

 erwise, he will soon have ins land poor. 



For tlie Funner's Moiitlily t'isitrr. 



"Pray witiiout ceasing." 



When from the portals of the west 



The lingering sun throws r^ently down. 

 Upon the monatam-monarc!i s' crest. 



His parting gifts — a golden crown ; 

 Then calm and clear the Alpine horn 



Rings out up'Ui the cold thin air, 

 And wakes, where clouds and storms are born. 



Its echoing peal "to prayer 1— to prayer !'' 



And there, wliere zephyr neverstirs, — 



And clustering roses never iilow — 

 Where whirlwinds rock the forest firs. 



And loosen'd glaciers rush ijelow; 

 The lowly dwelh-r of the rock 



In meek devotion joys to raise. 

 To Him who guards his humble flock. 



The grateful voice of prayer and praise. 



Dark s^-mbols of tiie Power divine 



Inspire the Bralimin's mj'stick rite ; — 

 The Gheber, at his lire-lit siirine. 



Invokes the source of life and light: — 

 The tuiban'd votary of the mosque. 



At morning's blush, — at evening's ray, 

 In tented Held, or calm kiosk. 



Still minds him of his hour to pra}-. 



Fierce quiver'd chiefs, in western wilds, 



Before the God of Thunders kneel; 

 And dwellers of the far-olf isles 



A dim and shadowy faitli reveal ; — 

 The Hebrew, wandering o'er each zone. 



Where gold hath gleam'd or commerce trod, 

 'Though nain'd as mammon's slave alone. 



Still roars his eye to Abraham's God. 



But thou ! who boasts thy God hath given 



The creed of life and truth alone ; — 

 A lamp, that gilds thy path to Heaven, 



And lights thee to his sparkling tlirone ; — ~ 

 His word — a chart thy bark to steer, — 



His smile, — the pole-star's quenchless ray. 

 Forever shining calm and clear. 



Oh ! Christian ! dost Tiiof "cease to pray.'" 

 Plainfield, i\. H. E. D. 



*Mont Blano. 



Thistles. — It is said that if thistles are cut after 

 they are in full bloom an inch or two above the 

 ground tJiey will lie more easily subdued than those 

 cut at the same time with the hoe below the sur- 

 face. In the tormer case the remaining stub of the 

 thistle gets full of water, which resting on the 

 crown of the plant injures it so far as to occasion a 

 few feeble siioots only to rise, whilst in the latter 

 strong and luxuriant stems were produced. 



For 111',' I'armiT'- .Minillily V:sil,;r. 

 5ird» and Insects. 



To our youth I would say — young gentlemen : 

 Why do you take your guns and issue forth on 

 every public day for the purpose of an indiscrim- 

 inate destruction of the small birds, which a 

 kind Providence has sent to enliven this otherwise 

 sombre world, or to labor according to their 

 degree in the service of man .' You issue forth in 

 parties under the spur of rivalry, to see who will 

 be the most successful destroyers of those harm- 

 less tribes, wiiich flee to the haunts of man for 

 protection. They evidently place confidence in 

 man, being sensible that they are the lords of the 

 earth. But their confidence seems to be unworthi- 

 ly requited and cruelly betrayed. Like the un- 

 happy Protestants of France, they on certain occa- 

 sions become the objects of indiscriminate slaugh- 

 ter ; and of all the world, by our Protestant youth. 

 Like the Jews under the decree of King Ahasue- 

 rus, they are consigned to the wrath of their ene- 

 mies. And have we not tliousands of young la- 

 dies, as lovely, as proiiipt in duty and mere hu- 

 mane., th^ii Qm en Esther, to intercede for their 

 protection.' The merciful ollice of interposing for 

 the lives of these small tribes would seem to be an 

 approjiriate duty of our fair daughters, almost any 

 one of whom is probably quite as competent for 

 the duty of a Queen, as the .Jev/ish Esther or any 

 of the present young female Potentates of Europe. 

 Young men, when you have destroyed bushels 

 of these harmless birds in a day, you neither pluck 

 their down for vour pillows, nor dress their meat 

 for your table. Your avocatii n is a matter of wan- 

 ton sport. And can you not find entertainment 

 short of trifling with the lives of these friendly but 

 friendl.-:'ss tribes.' Is there no way in which you 

 can recreate yourselves, but by acting out the of- 

 fice of executioners of those who harm you not.' 

 Domiti-in the tyrant delighted in daily shedding 

 the best blood of Rome, and (mark itl) when not 

 otherwise employed, he devoted his leisure, or ra- 

 ther his lazy hours in catching flies and empaling 

 them upon needles and pins. The imperial fly 

 catcher in his labors, which historians record, as 

 evidence of his cruel temper, was actually better 

 employed than are our boys in the destruction of 

 insecttverous birds. 



When you have been out in parties from every 

 village in the country on a public day and each 

 killed his five to twenty small birds and come in 

 fatigued at night, what were your reflections.' 

 Have you been satisfieii with your day's work ! Do 

 you not Iccl on such occasions, that j'ou have lost 

 I a day .' Upon reflection at night and during the 

 ' thoughtless hours of the day, when the harmless 

 game is falling thick before your deadly aim, are 

 your consciences quite at ease.' Do you think 

 that vou stand guiltless in the presence of Him, 

 before whose all seeing eye not a sparrow faileth 

 to the ground without h-: knowledge.' 



I would not dis'^aade you from the use of arms. 

 But let your skill be shown with the musket in the 

 drill and well trained evolutions of the militia; 

 and let your marksnranship be perfected with the 

 rifle ami the target. 



The public stand in their own light in this mat- 

 ter. They suffer their sons, indiscreetly to be sure, 

 but eft'ectually, to impair their property and estates. 

 They make war upon their friends, and surfer their 

 enemies to multiply and flourish. \N'ere it not for 

 the numerous tribes of small birds, that are spread 

 over the earth, the human family would iiardly be 

 able to subsist in a state of civilization. This may 

 be new to our 3'outh, whose means of observation 

 are limited to their years. But to the observing 

 and scientific, it is a well known fact. 



Almost all the worms, commonly so called, and 

 which are familiar to the eyes of every one, ore 

 the larvae or the young of insects, and in the per- 

 fect state are provitled with wings. 7^1iey are sub- 

 jectto a wonderful metamorjiiiosis. Beside the eo-g 

 from which they are hatcired, they all pass through 

 those states or conditions, viz. that of the larva, the 

 j chrysalis and then the perfect winged insect. In 

 I the first state they are creeping worms, countless 

 numbers of which are in the ground and on tlie 

 1 ground and in the wood of our trees and on our 

 I trees and plants, feasting and devouring according 

 to their necessities. In the second or chrysalis 

 , state thev eat nothing, being generally encased in 

 a shroud like that of tire silk worm or some other 

 covering of their own formation. In the third and 

 last state, viz. that of tlie perfect insect, they are 

 generally provided witli wings, and become again 

 destroyers of all sorts of vegetation. The whole 

 order of beetles that infest tlie air, some by day and 

 some by night, like most other insects, live upon 

 vegetation, prefering, of course, that which is best. 

 A numtier of the species are what are called the 



borers. They deposite their eggs in the bark of 

 trpcs, which arc there hatched and the young l-ar- 

 Vffl bore the trees through and through. Hence 

 the destruction of our huit trees, oar forest and 

 onr timber trees. 



All the worms, which are go frequently met 

 with :n the ground and whicii are such annoyance 

 to ajrriculture, are but the larva; of iiisects. Such 

 are the muck worm, the cut worm, the yellow or 

 wire worm, and almost an infinite variety. We will 

 hardly stop to name the host of tormentors both of 

 man and beast. Were they not checked in their 

 multiplication and progress by causes beyond the 

 invention or control of man, miserable would be 

 his condition. But a kind Providence, who pro- 

 vides for all his creatures, has appointed guardians 

 tor the human family, to protect tlrem against these 

 tiepredators. These guardians arc to be found ill 

 the class of birds, embracing all those species, 

 which inhabit this countiy, from the crow to the 

 wren; and excepting only the birds of prey. These 

 are in fact our protectors against the silent and in- 

 sidious depredations of the countless legions of in- 

 sects. 



Allow me to quote some judicious and pertinent 

 remarks Irom "the Report of the Commissioners 

 ofthe Zoological survey of Massachusetts" taken 

 and prepared last year. 



" But a more important object of the survey is 

 to ascertain with respect to many birds, which man 

 pursues with unrelenting vengeance, whether they 

 are really as injurious as is supposed. The crow, 

 the grackles and other birds of that description do 

 certainly make havoc of the corn. The cedar birds, 

 robins, cat-birds and others make large demands 

 upon the garden. But it is certain that the grubs 

 which they devour, \vonld, if sufl'ercd to live, des- 

 troy all the promise of the year ; and while we 

 have nothing but the birds to protect us from these 

 destroyers, there are sonie means already known 

 and many others will be discovered, to ]irevent the 

 birds from taking more tlian their share. If any 

 one will consider the subject, he will see, that in- 

 sects are by far the most formidable enemy, that 

 man has to encounter with. The musketo, forex- 

 ample, occasions far more suflering, and is actual- 

 ly more feared, than the lion. Other enemies, 

 equally contemptible, are busy through the sum- 

 mer, 'orturing our beasts to madness and destroy- 

 ing the comfort of man. The birds are the instru- 

 ments commissioned to keep down their numbers ; 

 and if they are exterminated, how is the work to 

 be done .' It may be said, that if the injurious 

 birds are destroyed, harmless ones will still labor 

 in that vocation. But the misfortune is, that all 

 together are not sufficient for this purpose, and if 

 any are exterminated the evil will grow. 



It is well known, that the cultivation of fruit is 

 regarded as hopeless by many, and found discour- 

 aging to all, who attempt it. -And the reason is, 

 not that the birds plunder the trees, but insects 

 destroy them. The insects then and not the birds 

 are the proper subjects of e.xtermination. Means 

 may be found to prevent the birds from taking 

 more than their jiortion of the f>uit. But it is not 

 probable that human agency can contend with the 

 millions of the insect race. If so, we are taking 

 the part of our enemies against our friends; and 

 it may be the persecution of the birds, whicli has 

 caused the insects to increase in numbers 

 and to sucli an extent, that many doubt whe- 

 ther under present circumstances, the more deli- 

 cate kinds of fruit are worth the trouble and ex- 

 pense of cultivation." 



In the report of another of the commissioners. 

 I find the following, too important, not to be laid 

 before your readers. 



"According to Kirby and Spence, the grubs of 

 the Cock-chaft'er' sometimes destroy whole acres 

 of grass by feeding on its roots. Tiiev undeimino 

 the richest meadows and loosen tlie turf, so that it 

 will roll up, as if cut with a turfing spade. Thev 

 do not confine themselves to grass, but eat also the 

 roots of wheat and other grains. About seventy 

 years ago, a farmer, near iXorv.ich in Eu'^laiid, sut- 

 fered much by them, and with his man gathered 

 80 bushels of the beetles. In the year \7'^o many' 

 provinces in France were so ravaged by them, that 

 a premium was offered by government' for the best 

 mode of destroying them. The Society of Arts 

 in London during many years held forth a premi- 

 um for the best account of this insect and the means 

 of checking its ravages, but without having pro- 

 duced one successful claimant. 



In their perfect state, these with several other 

 species act as conspicuous a part in injurinn- the 

 trees, as the grubs do in destroying the herbage. 

 Besides the leaves of fruit trees, they devour those 



Tlie liirvffi of Oie ilotibnti- 



