276 



FARMERS' REGISTER— STEAM CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS. 



use a sickle so very small and light, that it seems 

 but little labor to wield it. They begin early in 

 the morning, and with short intervals of rest con- 

 tinue till eleven o'clock, when the various village 

 bells suddenly strike up a merry peal, which is a 

 signal to the laborers to come home to their din- 

 ners. It is a very interesting scene to obser\-e, 

 over the undulating surlace of the whole country, 

 groups of peasants, brothers, sisters, j^arents, &c., 

 all bending to their sickles, to see children playing 

 round infants lying fast asleep on the blue smock- 

 frocks placed under the shade of the corn sheafs. 

 It is pleasing to remark the rapid progress which 

 the severtil jjarties are making; how each little 

 family, attacking its own patch or property, v.'orks 

 its way into the standing corn, leaving the crop 

 prostrate behind them; and then, in the middle of 

 this simple, rural, busy scene, it is delighttul in- 

 deed, to hear trom the bellry of their much revered 

 churches a peal of cheerful notes, which peacefully 

 sound "lullaby" to them all. In a very tew sec- 

 onds the square fields and little oblong plots are 

 deserted, and then the various roads and paths of 

 the country suddenly burst in lines upon the atten- 

 tion, each being delineated by a string of peasants, 

 who are straggling one behind the other, until 

 paths in all directions are seen converging towards 

 the parent village churches, which seem to be at- 

 tracting them all. 



As soon as each field of corn is cut, it is bound 

 into sheaves, about the size they are in England : 

 seven of these are then made to lean towards each 

 other, and upon them all is placed a large sheaf 

 reversed, the ears of which hanging downwards 

 form a sort of thatch, which keeps this little stack 

 dry until its owner has time to carry it to his home. 

 It generally remains many days in this state, and 

 after the harvest has been all cut, the country 

 covered with these stacks resembles a vast en- 

 campment. 



The carts and wagons used for carrying the corn 

 are exceedingly well adapted to the country. Their 

 particular characteristic is excessive lightness, and 

 indeed, were they heavy, it would be quite impos- 

 sible for any cattle to draw them up and down the 

 hills. Occasionally they are drawn by horses — 

 oflcn by small active oxen; but cows more gener- 

 ally perform this duty, and with quite as much 

 patience as their mistresses, at the same moment 

 are laboring before them at the sickle. The yoke, 

 or beam, by which these cows are connected, is 

 placed immediately behind their horns; a little 

 leather pillow is then laid upon their brow, over 

 which passes a strap that firmly lashes their heads 

 to the beam, and it is, therefore, against such soft 

 cusliions that the animals push to advance: and 

 thus linked together for life, by this sort of Siamese 

 band, it is curious to observe them eating together, 

 then by agreement raising their heads to svv^allow, 

 then again standing motionless chewing their cud, 

 which is seen passing and repassing from the sto- 

 mach to the mouth. 



At first, when standing near them, I smelt from 

 their breath their sweet fresh milk, it seemed hard 

 that they should thus be as it were, domestic can- 

 dles, lighted at both ends; however, verily do I 

 believe that all animals prefer exercise, or even 

 hard work, to any sort of confinement, and if so, 

 they are certainlj^ happier than our stall-fed cows, 

 many of which, in certain parts of Britain, may 

 be seen with their lieads fixed economically for 



months between two vertical beams of wood. The 

 Nassau cows certainly do not seem to sufier while 

 working in their light carts; as soon as their mis- 

 tress advances, they follow her, and if she turns 

 and whips them, then they seem to hurry after her 

 more eagerly than ever. 



It is true, hard labor has the effect of impover- 

 ishing their milk, and the calf at home is conse- 

 quently (so far as it is concerned) a loser by the 

 bargain; however, there is no child in the peasant's 

 flirnily who has not had cause to make the same 

 cora[)laint, and therefore, so long as the laborer's 

 wife carries her infant to the harvesf, the milch 

 cow may very fairly be required to draw to the 

 hovel what has been cut by her hands. 



Nothing can be better adapted to the features of 

 the countr}', nothing can better accord with the 

 feeble resources of its inhabitanis, than the equip- 

 ment of these economical wagons and carts: the 

 cows and oxen can ascend any of the hills, or de- 

 scend into any of the valleys; they can, without 

 slipping, go sideways along the face of the hills, 

 and in crossing the green swampy grassy ravines, 

 I particularly remarked the advantage of the light 

 wagon drawn by animals with cloven feet, for had 

 one of our heavy teams attempted the passage, 

 like a set of flies walking across a plate of treacle, 

 they would soon have become unable to extricate 

 even themselves. But in making the comparison 

 between the horse and the cow, (as far as regards 

 Nassau husbandry,) I may observe, that the for- 

 mer has a very expensive appetite, and wears very 

 expensive shoes; as soon as he becomes lame he 

 is useless, and as soon as he is dead, he is carrion. 

 Now a placid, patient Langen-Schwalbach cow, 

 in the bloornof her youth, costs only two or three 

 pounds; she requires neither corn nor shoeing: the 

 leaves of the forest drawni by herself to the village, 

 form her bed, ^vhich in due time she carries out to 

 the field as manure: there is nothing a light cart 

 can carry which she is not ready to fetch, and from 

 her work she cheerfully returns to her home to 

 give milk, cream, butter, and cheese to the estab- 

 lishment; at her death, she is still worth eleven 

 kreuzers a pound as beef; and when her flesh has 

 disappeared, her bones, afier being ground at the 

 mill, once again appear upon her master's fields, 

 to clieer, manure, and enrich them. 



STEAM CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS. 



From the Loudon Morning News. 



These wonderful machines are now constructed 

 with sufficient mechanical skill, amount of power, 

 safet}', and general efficiency, to ensure their euc- 

 cessfiil employment on any good road, and it is 

 certainly time for our capitalists to turn their at- 

 tention to them as legitimate objects of support, and 

 as offering the means of a profitable investment. 

 From the earliest developement of the capabilities 

 of steam, as applicable to purposes of locomotion, 

 on properly constructed roads, we have carefully 

 watched the progress made by ditTerent inventors, 

 and have on many occasions borne testimony to 

 the unceasing efforts of two of the mostjiersever- 

 ing and deserving among them; of two who have 

 fi'om time to time, promised less and performed 

 more than any of their contemporaries — we mean 

 Col. Maceroni and Mr. Hancock. On Saturday 

 we had a trip on the Edgeware road, with the se- 

 cond coach constructed by the gallant Colonel. 



