1 8391 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



227 



might often afford some very useful information, 

 mixeJupwilh various things wiiich woulil probably 

 prove to many, as they have done to me, exceed- 

 insriy amu-^ing from the very odd and queer siyie 

 in which they are related, as well as from I he sub- 

 ject matter itself Take, as a specimen, the fol- 

 lowing droll cajitions to certain chapters in a work 

 published in England about ninety j'ears ago, in 

 eight octavo volumes, by one William Ellis, who 

 signed iiimself "Farmer," and called his book 

 "the iV'Iodern Husbandman." 

 Captions. 



"A curious case, proving how a farmer lost 

 great part of his wheat crop by his ignorance and 

 covetousness." 



"How one farmer broke, and another had like 

 to do the same, by wrong ploughing the ground." 



"How a yeoman lately living near Chasham, 

 got a considerble estate by managing his land 

 better than most of his nei<rhbors." 



"How some farmers clean and manage the top 

 bushel of a sack of wheat (or the belter sale of 

 the whole quantity they bring to market." 



[By the way, vve have been much scandalized 

 on our side of the Atlantic, if we want much 

 teaching in this art.] 



"How a farmer starved his cow, and thouglit it 

 occasioned by witch-crafi." 



Some of this sagacious fellow's descendants, 1 

 suspect, must have emigrated to and nmltiplied 

 exceedingly in the Ancient Dominion ; Ibr we wit- 

 ness even now, not a few ca.^es of this species of 

 witch-craft in our good old state, especially durmg 

 the two first spring months. 



"How a gentleman run out part of his estate by 

 ill management, and recovered it by his good con- 

 duct." If Farmer Ellis had only added to this 

 information how the recovery was to be effl'ited 

 when the to/io/c estate was run out, instead of o 

 part, his reci()e would have been aljove all price, 

 particularly on the south of '-JNIason and Dixoirs 

 Line." But I have given you lilies of chapter.-- 

 enough to enable you to form a pretiy corrcciidea 

 of the character of the work, alihoiigh I cannot 

 dismiss my notice of" it without a lew more re- 

 marks. As ii book of receipts, I have never seen 

 its match, at least in point of number, except the 

 'Universal Receipt Book," which, as JNIa). Down- 

 ing would say, "beats all nature." Wliat think 

 you of no less than eighteen conspcuiivc oaes lor 

 killing rats!! and most curious things they are. { 

 One is to bell the rat instead of the cat ; another ! 

 is, to singe one of these vermin and inrn liiiri j 

 loose. This struck me as peculiaily ijood, for I i 

 had a distinct reminiscense of an unlucky snuff, ! 

 which I accidently received some years ago, o! ■ 

 this most offensive odor; and I determined to try I 

 the experitnent forthwith. But my operator, wh.o i 

 was a small negro boy, without any ex[)erience in } 

 the business, singed so clos-ely that the iintortunaie i 

 rat gave up the ghost before he had an oppoilu- I 

 nity of funking his former associates out of their | 

 respective hiding-places. I 



You will probably think that if the rest of Far- 

 mer Fills' receipts are like the two (breiioing, they 

 are of very fitile value, but you may take my word 

 for it, that many of them appear wtll worth "trying, 

 and that h s whole work deserves a perusal. 



From this author I have learned what I never 

 knew belbre, \n regard to that excellent grass, the 

 lucerne. He beains his account of it \\\\h the fol- 



lowing words: "I must confess he has hit this, the 

 best of any of the grasses." According to him, 

 it was first known to the English at Aleppo in 

 Syria. In Arabia Felix, he says, "they got vast 

 burthens of it once a month. From Aleppo, it 

 was brought into several parts of the Mediterra- 

 nean, and particularly at Minorca, it grows in 

 such perfection that it is now their chiefest subsis- 

 tence for their cattle. From thence it got more 

 forward into Europe, and is now planted in abun- 

 dance of places, and more like to be, for its many 

 extraordinary beneficial qualities." He proceeds 

 to remark: "I cannot find by what authority late 

 writers call this grass by the names of Medic-clo- 

 ver, snail-trefoil, or Burgundy fodder, otherwise 

 than that they have a mind to give it nominal 

 flourishes, without any warrant from former au- 

 thors," &c. In regard to the quality of the seed, 

 and the proper quantity for an acre, sown broad- 

 cast, he says, that no seed are good but the pur- 

 ple or brown, that ten pounds per acre should he 

 used. By the way, he states the mode which I 

 have seen mentioned elsewhere, and have proved 

 to be good, by which we may ascertain the sound- 

 ness of any seed resembling the lucerne in its na- 

 ture — such .^or instance, as clover, turnip, cabbage, 

 rape, mustard, &e. It is simply to put them into 

 a hot shovel, where they will soon pop, if ihey are 

 sound. 



Were I to give you all that I have found in thia 

 old writer, to amuse and instruct me, I should be 

 obliged to send you a pamphlet, instead of thia 

 rambling letter ; I must tlierelbre "stay my hand," 

 although I cannot prevail on myself to do so with- 

 out adding some excellent advice which he offers 

 both in prose and verse. The first is from a rhj'm- 

 ing farmer of Qneon Elizabeth's day, whom he 

 called "old Tusser," and whose pithy admonitiona 

 he heads with that well known and admirable pre- 

 cept, "Make hay while the sun shines." But let 

 Tusser speak for himself^, and thus he saycth : 

 "If weather be fair, and tidy thy grain. 

 Make speedily caniage for fear of a rain ; 

 For tempest and showers deceiveth a many. 

 And lingering lubbers lose many a penny. 

 Be thankful to God for his benefit sent. 

 And willing to save it with earnest intent." 

 Take tiie following very brief apothegm as s, 

 specimen of Farmer Ellis' own poetical talent, 

 for ii seemeih that he also was a perpetrator of 

 verse. 



"Do not with ignoiance unjustly deal, 

 All secret wrongs to Heaven have appeal." 

 The other article is a part of a letter from one 

 of his numerous correspondents in reply to one of 

 his own; and he thus r]uaintly doles out to ue, 

 what I think you will pronounce well worthy the 

 attention of us all. Here it is, 



"As to your comparison : most men, 'tis true, 

 ol any figure in lile, are too prone to inconstancy 

 and change in all their actions, as well as appe- 

 tites ; and must have the v;b.o!e globe of earth and 

 se;\ ransacked fo gratity their inordinate desires. 

 But this luxurious disposition is not, I hope, so 

 much implanted in or.r natures, as 'tis owing to 

 our induliring ourselves too much to ease and idle- 

 ness; for set a good joint of meat belbre my 

 ploughmen or laborers, every day the same, give 

 thenT but enough, and i will answer for thera, 

 they will behave themi^elves very well in their 

 several at'.arks, and be lu?tv and healthy at the 



