.NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published hy JOHN B. RUSSFILT,, at th" rormr of Cnnjrpss nivl Linrbll Streets, l!(i=tnn THOMAS G. FFSSF.XnEN. Ehitor! 



VOL. IV. 



FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2«, in2.'-,. 



No. 14. 



ORXaXNAI. COXtfXniVKICATXONS. 



TO THF. EDITOR OF THK NEW EMIJ.AND FARMEU. 



THE SEASON, &r. 

 ^SlocIcpoH, (Pa.) Oct. 21, 1C25 

 Mr. FcssnNnEN, 

 some remarks on uhat i? callei! '"■;» disorder iti j evening- July 8. The 

 potatoes"' — that they arc sprouting in the ground. \ crammnd at half past 

 13einaf a practical and ex|ierimt>nlal gardener, 

 and strict oliservor of new appearances, ! aii) 

 inclined rather to impute it lo the singofar seii- 

 flon, than an^ichange in the nature of the pota- 

 toe. 



I have in my garden potatoes, the fops of 

 which were killed by (he heat or drought in th<' 



beg-inning of July ; and when polatoe lops avejta<!;e Ihat would result to them from pursuing in 

 dead, or eaten off by cattle, they grow no mnre. ' tellectual employments. • In the course of his 

 Such potatoes as have been stationary since lb>_' .address he eulogized those public men ivho have 

 beginning of July are very small, — not worth i stood forth in support of the Meclianics' Inslilu- 

 •ligging. And I have observed Ihat, after re- 1 lion, justly signalizing Sir Vr. Burdett and BIr 

 naming stationary, or i?i statu quo, in the warnij Brougham, to the mighty talents and imwearied 

 ground I'nr full three months, they are now lie- 1 industry of the latter of whom he alluded in 

 ginning to sprout. Such hills of potatoes as (lir | terms which evciled great admiration. The lec- 

 ture being concluded, 



Mr Brougham proceeded to address the as- 

 i^embly. He commenced bv declaring Ihat the 

 mechanics owed their gratitude in an especial 

 ■legree to Dr B?rlil>eck, the founder of the insti- 

 tution, \vho, in addition to all the former benelj 



MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. | he, for his part, wished very much (o see. Upo'rt 



The room in which the lectures have here- "leir heels the superiors sometimes wore spurs' 

 tofore been delivered to the members of this which were of no great use to the community 

 excellent institiilion having been found to be not i I'c would have the mechanics' toe ornamented 

 'Sufficiently convenient, a new one has been con- j with a spur, by means of which they might stim- 

 slructed in Southampton buildings, Hr.lborn, "late their »x;\>er'\o!S. [a tangk and cheers) In 



" ''Vi' "" 



tops remained green, grew to the usual or usel 

 size, and have no appearance of sprouting. 



1 would query if ever the natuie of the pola- 

 toe has been so fully tested before by its lying 

 full three months in the warm grniiud, to maliir'' 

 for sprouting ? 1 do not thini; that such station- 

 ary potatoes' sprouting indicates any dangeioi;s!wliich h« had conferred upon thern, had out of 

 " disorder." or wilchcralt. his own means affordetl the funds for rearing the 



It may be well to consider the singular nature commodious building in which they weroassem- 

 of the season. With us we have had about two bled. It must be most grntilyiv^ lo their learn 

 iTionlhs or six weeks of uncommo[:ly hot we;.;;, j ed lecturer to find that similar institutions were 

 er; but having two refreshing thunder stfirihsl spreading all over the country ; that they were 



I have seen in your paper: which was opened lor the first lime on Friday his little tract he had ventured to inform those 



building was completely j who called themselves the mechanics' superiors, 

 ) o'clock, at which time ; that to deserve the title of their belters, they 

 Dr Birtcbeck made his appearance, accompani- I must educate themselve.s belter. The higher 

 ed by the Duke of Sussex, the Marquis of Lans- classes had no excuse for not cultivating their 

 down, Mr Brougham, Sir I!. Wilson, &c. whoim'n'is- They were not, lil«B those whom he 

 were rrceiveil with fervent applause. | was addressing, obliged lo steal an hour from 



Dr Birkbeck then entered the lectiiringchair hodily labor, or like himself, lo escape for a 

 and delivered a discourse, of which the object short period from occupation almost as unremil- 

 was to convince his hearers of the great advan- ''"."i 't 'hat purpose. They were not, like 



them ^the mechanics), obliged to make a pleas- 

 ure of business — they made a business of pleas- 

 ure. If these persons would only attempt to in- 

 struct their minds, they would find all the pleaa- 

 nre which th->y had previously derived from 

 brute sense and appetite were as nothing com- 

 pared with moral and intellectual enjoyment. — 

 {Great applause.) 3lr Colquhoun had observed, 

 that if the labouring classes received a scientific 

 education, Government could not exist — there 

 would be an end of it. He would an.iwer that 

 by saying, that if there was a Government which 

 could not exist it' its subjects were above the 

 level of brnles, the sooner it censed lo exist the 

 belter. {.Ippkiiu-c.) He was not speakirg sedi- 

 tiously, for so far from sense being inimical to 

 our Government, the more moral and enlighten- 

 ed the people were the safer would the Gov- 

 ernment be I'e thought he might be allowed 

 lo slate a fad which had been mentione.l to him 

 as proving the beneficial efl'ects which Mechan- 

 ics' Institutions pj-oduced on the habit of the 

 people. It had been ascertained by an investi- 

 gation which had recently taken place, Ihat no 

 member of the Mechanic's Institution at Man- 

 chester had taken any part in the disturbances 

 which had [irevailed in that town. He had lo 

 apologize for having so long trespassed on their 

 time, [jlpplause.) The occasion and the place 

 Here somewhat inspiring, and had led him un- 

 wittingly to enter on his Learned Friend's pro- 



in the time, we have no reasonable caufe to 

 complain of our crops, except early plantfd po- 

 tatoes and apples. 



Indian corn has done well for such as .opped 

 their corn and husked it on the stalks (as all good 

 farmers ought to do) ; but such as cut it up by 

 the ground and set it in slacks to dry, complain 

 that in consequence of the warm foggy weather 

 the ears are sprouting, and growing in the husk 

 in a manner never known before. 



Ojiions. — I have not had many years' expe- 

 rience in raising large quantities, but have no 

 ticed that when the top or stalk became dead 

 and dry, they should be pulled — taken and spread 

 on a dry floor. I did so, four and six weeks ago, 

 and latterly many of such whose stalks appear- 

 ed quite dead and dry, are now sending forth 

 fresh sprouts, growing as if planted in May. — 

 That is siimelhing as singular from what I have 

 ever observed before, as undug potatoes sprout- 

 ing in the ground. 



I can remember the seasons for sixty years or 

 more, and never knew such a warm growing 

 autumn as the present. I am near North lati- 

 tude 42", and no frost to mark my garden. On 

 the night of 15th we had a severe shower, with 

 very heavy thunder. And this day appears as 

 warm growing weather as the beginning of May. 



I wish gentlemen in other places would be 



established or in the course of being established 

 in all the great and middling towns, atid even in 

 villages. The desire for scienlilic knowledge 

 was prevalent to an extraordinary degree among 

 Ihe poorer classes. Perhaps he could not give 

 a stronger proof of this fact than by slating, that 

 of the little tract which he lately put forth to 

 recommend the advantages of scientific instruc- 

 tion, not less than 300 copies had been sold in a 

 village on Ihe borders of Scotland, which he 

 knew contained only 600 inhabitants, men, wo- 

 men and children. Since the publication of this j »'ince, by deviating into the giving of a lecture. 



liille tract hardly a day passed without his re- 

 ceiving several communications of the most grat- 

 ifying nature from difl'erent parts of Ihe country 

 relating to the establishmenl of Mechanics' So- 

 cieties. He calculated about two months ago, 

 ihat frcm the 1st of January, up to that time, 

 there had been established 31 institutions of thai 

 nature in various towns. Within these few days, 

 a correspondent had informed him of the estab- 

 lishmenl of Mechanics' Institutions at Liverpool 

 and Minchester, and also at — he would not say 

 an idle place, but at a place not remarkable for 

 its commerce or its industry — he meant the city 

 of B;lh (a laugh), which used to be the resort 

 of Invalids, and the resting place of loungers. — 

 {Imghter.) The Mechanics' Institutions were 

 not without their enemies. It was said by some 



attentive to communicate their observations on jptrsons, that to give the working classes too 



all particular* respecting the season, as such in- ouch scientific knowledge would cause them to 



fonniitioa would he a benefii to (he pjblick. ,'tread on the heels of tiieir superiors in society. 



SAMUEL TRESTON. The sort of treading which these persons feared, 



It was the last opportunity he should ever have 

 of delivering what could be called a lecture. — 

 Whenever his services were required in behalf 

 of the Institution Ihe Commiltee might command 

 them. Whenever he had an hour to spare, he 

 came among his fellow-pupils, as they wefl 

 knew, and he never did so without either ac- 

 quiring new information, or having Ihat which 

 be previously possessed revived and strengthen- 

 ed. The Learned Gentleman concluded amidst 

 enthusiastic applause. 



The Duke of Sussex then stepped forward, 

 and was hailed with lond cheers. He could not, 

 he said, depart from the place without express- 

 ing the gratification which he had experienced 

 from the proceedings of the evening, and his 

 opinion of the great benefits which would result 

 from the Institution. He begged the members 

 would accept his good wishes for the prosperity 

 of the Institution, and he assured them he should 

 ever be ready to afiord them all the support iii 

 his power. — The assetnblj then dispersed. 



%' 



