FARMERS' REGISTER— THE TANNIER. 



S5 



poses. Man was born to have domuiion over the 

 earth, and to subdue it, but it is fay the intellect 

 alone that he can do so. His unassisted strength 

 what is it? To conquer Nature he must imder- 

 stand her. Look in here, and you will see the la- 

 boratory of the chemist, and the lever and the pul- 

 ley of the mechanic. 



"In these two buildings are my poor school for 

 boys, who are boarded and clothed by the estab- 

 lishment. And well they earn their maintenance, 

 lor the little lellows work ten hours a day in the 

 summer; and the expense that I incur in their be- 

 lialf is nearly repaid by their exertions. They 

 study for two houre each day, and this I consider 

 sulficient. The case here is the reverse of the In- 

 stitute, for bodily exertion is the labor, and study 

 the recreation. The habits I bring them up with 

 are those which I desire should continue with them 

 through life; they consequently have reference to 

 their probable position in societj-. The habit of 

 continued study woulil ill-become a person destin- 

 ed to gain his Uvelihood by his hands. Although 

 there are now one hundred boys assembled here, 

 mine were but small beginnings. I had but one 

 ])upil at first. It was long betbre I could find a 

 master in whom I could confide. Do you observe 

 Ihose litde patches of garden-ground? Each poor 

 lad has one to himself; and the produce belongs 

 exclusively to him. They usually dispose of it to 

 the establishment, which either pays them the 

 money at the time, or lodges it for them in a little 

 bank I have founded. Many of them have very 

 considerable sums there. It is here that they 

 obtain a habit of passing the greater portion of 

 their time in continued and patient labor; — they 

 become acquainted with the value of labor by the 



nrnrliipp nt' thpli" littlp (rnrilpns! T'lio >'nafT-n<^+ir>n 



produce of their little gardens. The instruction 

 that I give them, although somewhat more eleva- 

 ted than what is generally obtained by persons of 

 their rank in life, is directed to the rendering per- 

 fect the senses and reflection, — to make them bet- 

 ter practical men; drawing, the sciences of arith- 

 metic and geometry, a uselul selection from the 

 other sciences, all taught in the most unostenta- 

 tious manner: the history of their native country, 

 and an acquaintance with the different natural 

 objects around them, together with music, form 

 the extent of their literary instruction. 



"Religion is inculcated in every way. Public 

 prayer, both at church and at school, is regularly 

 performed in common with the schools of other 

 countries. Besides this, these poor lads are taught 

 to see the Creator in his works. When their ad- 

 miration is roused by a natural object, they are 

 accustomed to direct their thoughts to its Maker. 



"But here," said my venerable companion, "is 

 the engine upon which I rely for affecting the 

 moral regeneration of my country (and my atten- 

 tion was directed to the men whom I had before 

 seen in the morning;) these are the masters of 

 village schools, come here to imbibe my principles 

 and to perfect themselves in their duty. These 

 men have six thousand pupils under them; and if, 

 by the blessing of God. I can continue the direc- 

 tion of them, success is certain." 



To insure success M. de Fellenberg spares no 

 pains, — no expense. There are no less than thirty- 

 two professors solely devoted to his establishment, 

 who inhabit a house to themselves upon the pre- 

 mises. 

 In all, there ai-e about three hundred and fifly 

 Vol. II.— 4 



mdividuals in this little colony. Despite of his 

 enemies, the sj)iritof De Fellenberg is spreading 

 throughout Switzerland; and after having seen the 

 parent institution, 1 visited several of his cstabhsh- 

 ments in some of the remotest cmitons. 



A week closed my short sojourn at Hofwyl. I 

 quitted it ^vith a heavy heart; and the recollection 

 of the moral beauty of what I there \vitncssed will 

 remain riveted on niy memory for ever. 



THE TANNIER. 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 



The tannier is a delicate and excellent substi- 

 tute Ibr the potato, possessing some advantages 

 over the sweet and Irish. It can be eaten with 

 impunity by those who dare not touch potatoes; 

 they will keep better also, and are good through- 

 out the sunmicr. This plant was known and 

 valued by the ancients, who used both the leaves 

 and roots. There is little doubt of its having been 

 introduced into the West Indies, at their early 

 settlement by the Portuguese and Spaniards, and 

 into South Carolina from Jamaica. 



It was classetl by the early botanists among the 

 Arums, as ^vill appear by a reference to Linna?ua 

 and Miller; but the moderns, (as I am informed,) 

 place it among the Caladiums. Sloan, in his His- 

 tory of Jamaica, mentions it as j^rum Maximum 

 Egyptiacam, and says, it was brought into Portu- 

 gal from Africa, where it gro^vs wild — that the 

 slaves love it very much — that the hippo])Otamu3 

 lives on its roots, in Egypt — and the people feed 

 on it as we do on turnips. Tayas or eddoes are 

 eaten m Jamaica, and cause a heat in the throat, 

 called scratching of the throat, and therefore only 

 eaten by negroes. Sloan gives a very interesting 

 account of this plant. 



At the early settlement of Carolina, many ne- 

 groes were brought into it from Jamaica, and no 

 doubt by them it was introduced. The name tan- 

 nier is derived from Tayas, (tor in the course of my 

 researches on the subject, I can find the word only 

 in Dr. Willich's Domestic Encyclopaedia, and Mr. 

 Webster's new Dictionarj^;) the former under the 

 word eddoes, says, "another variety of the tan- 

 nier, both these resemble each other, except that 

 eddoes, are smaller, more acid, and require longer 

 boiling than tanniers — they are planted in South 

 Carolina" — and goes onto give some account of 

 the mode of culture, &c. 



I would beg leave fo refer the reader for his 

 amusement, to 1st vol. Sloan's Jamaica, p. 166, 

 and 2d vol. p. 367 — also Willich's Domestic En- 

 cyclopcedia, (read eddoes,) — Rees' Cyclopajdia, 

 (title Arum.) Webster must have got the word 

 tannier from Willich. See also Curtis's Botani- 

 cal Magazine, vol. 21, No. 832, read Calla iEtheo- 

 pica, a colored representation of leaf and blossom, 

 from the production of an English hot-house. It 

 is a perfect dwarf, compared to the production of 

 our fields, which are magnificent and beautiful, 

 the leaves often measuring three feet in length 

 and two feet in width, of a perfect green color and 

 velvet softness, and a leaf stalk three feet long 

 and an inch in thickness. 



Catesby in his 2d vol. p. 45, gives also a colored 

 representation, in miniature, and says, "A little 

 before I left Carolina (100 years ago,) tliere was 

 introduced a new kind, wholly without that bad 

 quality (scratching the throat) and requiring no 



