^\)t -farmer's i^Unitl)lij JHsitor. 



51 



Mr. Gibbs :'— It 1ms lii-eiy fimntf difficult to 



Siihivate rem-lifs,Raieii|u;s and ollii'i- stone Finil 

 in tills vioinily, l'}' reason (as most people tinnk) 

 of our cold wintcis. 



Now it niny lie that lids opinion is rrroneous; 

 nrul to test iis truth, 1 would lecoininend to those 

 who Imve such tiees, to ado|it a course laid down 

 l)y VVilliam Kiurirk, Ksq., of Newton, Mass., i>ro- 

 prletor of a " celehrated Nursery" there. 



Ill conversation with hlui a lew days since, I 

 called his atlenlion lo this suliject, and he in- 

 fornied uie, that hy idaeln;; horse-manure, peat- 

 nnid or eel-,i,'rass around the liodv of the tree at 

 the roots, while the i,'rouud is frozen, and lettin;; 

 It renuiin there initil ahoul the last of May, there 

 ts no tronlile in makiuj; trees live and |iroduce an 

 nhundance of fruit. The reason is ol.'vlons. By 

 this process the frost is retained in the ground 

 about the roots, which prevents the sap from 

 flowiti;;, until the weather becomes sufficiently 

 warm, as not to chill it in the branches, as is the 

 case generally w here this process is not followed, 

 which is the cause of the death of the trees. I 

 would recommend to those who cultivate fnilt to 

 try \t.— Dover (.V. H. ) Gazette. N. 



Yeast From Potatoes.— As It is sometimes 

 convenient to know more than one mode of ma- 

 king ail article, wo will give you an old method 

 of making potato yeast, which we have some- 

 where met with. "Roil potatoes, of the best and 

 most mealy sort, (for poor, heavy, waxy potatoes 

 are good for nothing lor this business,) till they 

 are thomnirhly done and their skins begin lo peel 

 off. Strip off'ihe skins, and mash them up very 

 smooth, and luit as much hot water to them as 

 will make the mash of the consistency of com- 

 iiiou thick cream. Then add lo every pound of 

 potatoes two ounces of coarse brown sugar, or 

 molasses will answer, and when blood warm, 

 stir In lor every pound of potatoes two spoonsful 

 of old or common yeast. Let this ferment lor 

 twenty-four hours. A pound of potatoes will 

 make'iu this way very nearly a quart of yeast, 

 and which will keep well for three months— so 

 the cook says. She also says yoti must lay your 

 bread eight hours before you bake it. 



From thfi iS. V. Commercial Advertiser. 

 Blind Deaf Mutes. 



[From the report of Dr. Howe to the trustees 

 of the Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind we 

 extract a variety of most interesting passages, re- 

 lating to the intellectual progress of Laura Bridge- 

 man — the first dumb and blind person on whom 

 the c.vperimeul ol' education was made under 

 fair and favorable circumstances. Julia Brace 

 was too far advanced in years when the attempt 

 was made with her.] 



Lauid Brldgeman is on tlia verge of woinan- 

 bood and has been seven years under instruction ; 

 her mind is quick and Impulsive, her curiosity is 

 ever active, her desire to know is Intense, her ef- 

 forts are unreuiiiting, and her teachers are both 

 skilful and diligent ;" yet Dr. Howe says that her 

 acquaintance with langiKige is less than Is ordi- 

 narily possessed by children of six years— so great 

 are tiie ilifficulties In the w.-iy of a human being 

 who has neither voice, hearing nor sight. She 

 is now entering upon the most critical period of 

 her Intellectual e,vlstence — the hazards of which 

 have been unfortunately increased by injudicious 

 though well-meant endeavors to guide her 

 thoughts into regions beyond their scope. To 

 this the report refers In the following jiassages : 



1 might long ago have taught the Scriptures to 

 Laura ; she might have learned, as other children 

 do, to repeat line upon line, and precept u[)on pre- 

 cept ; she might have been taught to imittite oth- 

 ers in prayer ; but her God must have lieen her 

 own God, and formed out of the materials with 

 which her mind had been stored. It was my 

 *vlsh to give her gradually such ideas of His pow- 

 er and love as would have enabled her to form 

 the highest possible conception of His divine at- 

 tributes. In doing this, It was necessary to guard, 

 as much ss I coidd, agaln.st conveying Impres- 

 BJons which it would he hard to remove after- 

 ward, and to prevent her forming such notions 

 as would seem unworthy to her more developed 

 reason, lest the renouncement of them inlghl im- 

 pair her cotifidenee in her own belief 



But various causes have combined lo prevent 

 what seemed lo me the iiattirai and harmonious 



like other chlldruii, sho must take the consequen- 

 ces of the wlao or unwise Inslruclion given by 

 others. 1 did not long hold the only key to her 

 mind; it woidd have beea unkind and unjust to 

 prevent her using lu'r power of lasgiuige as fast 

 as sho acquired it, in conversation with oiIkms, 

 merely to carry out a theory ol' my own, and she 

 was lell to free communication with many per- 

 sons even before my necessary separation from 

 her of more than a year. 



During my absence, and perhaps before, some 

 persons more zealous than discreet, and more de- 

 sirous lo make a proselyte than to keep (Consci- 

 entiously their implied promise of not touching 

 upon religious topics, some such persons talked 

 to her of the Atonement, the Redeemer, the Lamb 

 of God, and of some very mystical points of mere 

 speculative doctrine. These things were perhaps 

 not farther beyond her comprehension than they 

 were beyond the comprehension of those per- 

 sons who assumed lo talk to her about them ; 

 but they perplexed and troubled her, because, 



unlike such persons, she wished that every word . ... . 



should be the svmbol of some clear and definite her lo her senses ; but no« she answered, "I am 



kinds of coal, and the nmiiiior of iiiukliig char- 

 coal ; we had just comiiienced the latter subject, 

 when I noticed that she liad left her handkerchief 

 upon the desk. I have always objected to this, 

 and told her lo keep it in her desk.' She has nev- 

 er refused to <lo it, though 1 Imve noticed fre- 

 quently that she did it with great reluctance, but 

 have never s[)oken lo her on the subject after- 

 ward. To-day, when I told her to put it in the 

 desk, she hesitated as usual, and put k in her lap, 

 saying, " I prefer to put in my lap," and then held 

 lip her hand for me to go on with the story. I 

 s.ild, " I lolil you lo put it in the desk, and now I 

 want yon to do it." She sat still for about two 

 minutes, and then lifted the lid very high, threw 

 tli(! handkerchief Into the desk, and let it fall 

 with such a noise as to starthv all In the school- 

 room. Her face was growing pal(^ and she was 

 evidently gelling into a passion. This was the 

 moment to cease urging her, and to leave her to 

 her.>elf for a while. 



Whenever I have seen any thing of this kind, 

 the question. Are you angry ? has always recalled 



idea. 



She could not understand metaphorical lan- 

 guage ; hence the Lamb of God was to her a bona 

 fide aiumal, and she could not conceive why it 

 should continue so longa lamb, an'' not grow old 

 like others and be called a sheep. 



I must be supposed lo mention this only as her 

 faithful chronicler, and to do It also In sorrow. — 

 If the poor child spoke Inadverlently on such 

 topics. It was without consciousness of It, and 

 she was made to do so by Indiscreet persons, not 

 by any communications of mine or of her teach- 

 er ; we shall never s|)eak to her of Jesus Christ 

 but in such a way as to Impart a portion at least 

 of our own reverence, gratitude and love. 



During my absence in Eurojie, 1 received from 

 lier several letters, and among others the follow- 

 lm> : 



"My very dear Dr. Howe: What can I first 

 say to God when I am wrong? Would he send 

 me good thoughts and Ibrylve me when I am very 

 sad for doing wrong? Why does he not love 

 wrong |)eople If they love him? Would he be 

 very happy to have me think of Him and Heaven 

 very often ? Do you remember that you said I 

 nuist think of God an<l Heaven ? 1 want you to 

 please to answer mc to please me. 1 have learn- 

 ed about great many things to please you very 

 much. Mrs. [larrlngton has got a new little baby 

 eight days last Saturday. (Jod was very gener- 

 oiis and kind to give babies lo many people. Miss 

 Rogers' mother has got baby two months ago. I 

 want to see yon very much. I send much love 

 to you. Is God ever ashamed ? 1 think of God 

 very often to love Him. Why did you say tliatl 

 must think of God? You nmst answer me all 

 about It, If you do not I shall be sad. Shall we 

 know what to ask God to do ? When will he let 

 us go lo see Him in Heaven? How did God tell 

 people that he lived in Henven ? How could he 

 lake care of folks in Heaven, and why is he our 



Father? When can 



he let us go in Heaven? 



Why can not He let wrong people to go to live 

 with Him and be happy? Why should he not 

 like to have us ask him lo send us good thoughts 

 if we are not very sad for doing wrong ?" 



There is this constant difficulty with her, (and 

 Is It not one too much overlookcci In the religions 

 instruction of other children ?) ihat being unable 

 to form any idea of virtue and goodness in the 

 abstract, she must seek it in the concrete; and 

 her teachers and li iends, frail and imperfect be- 

 ings like herself, furnish the poor impersonations 

 of the peerless attributes of God, 



This difficulty might have been avoided, i 

 think, by the plan which I had marked out for the 

 orderly "developement oi her intellectual liicullies 

 and moral seniiments, and which was simply to 

 follow the natural order; but since that plan has 

 been marred by the well meant officlousness of 

 others, there remains only to leni^y, lis far as WQ 

 can, what we cannot cure entirely, the bad effects 

 of Ill-timed direction of her thoughts to subjects 

 loo far aljove Iter comprehension. 



We have not been so fortunate aa to avoid all 

 explosions of passion, but I am conslrains;!^ to 

 say 1 think it is less her fault than ours. The 

 following record in her teacher's jouruiil 1 ruatl 

 with grief equalled onlv by surprise; 



February 2d, 1844.— At twelve I wbb talking 



developement of her religious untnie ; and now.i with her in the school-room jibont the different 



very cross." I said to her, " I tun very sorry, and 

 I am sorry you shut the desk lid so hard ; I want 

 you to open it again, and take your handkerchief 

 io put it In gently." I'ultingfuia very firm look, 

 she said, "I will take It out to wipe my eyes," 

 meaning, but not to mind you. I told her, I want- 

 ed her fust to put It In gently. After a moment's 

 hesitation, she took it out and let the cover slam 

 as before, and then raised it to wipe her eyes. — 

 [Here she should have been taken to her room, 

 and left to her own reflections.] I said No, de- 

 cidedly, and took her hand down gently. She 

 sal still awhile, aim then uttered the most fright- 

 ful yell that I ever heard. Her face was perfect- 

 ly pale, and she trembled from head to foot. I 

 said, " You must go and sit alone." One second 

 she clung to my dress, [here w-as!Uiolher critical 

 moment, which should liav,<' been improved,] and 

 then went quietly out of the room. 



At dinner time 1 led her to the table, without 

 speaking, and after that gave her a chair to sit 

 by herself, without work. Instead of looking 

 troubled, as she generally does after having done 

 any thing wrong, she assumed an expression of 

 Indifference, and talked to herself a little, and 

 then feigned sleep. When she had taken tea, 1 

 asked her If she thought she could do as 1 told 

 her to do this morning. If I let her goto the school- 

 room. She said she would. 1 led her In, and 

 she did It very quietly. After this 1 talked au 

 hour with her, try lug to. get her to feeling as she 

 ought. She acknowledged the wrong at once, 

 and said she was sorry, but her countenance In- 

 dicated any thing but sorrow. 1 left her during 

 the hour for reading, and when I returned she 

 lookediiHUi;!) more Irotibled, and I told her she 

 might go, to bed, hoping lhat her own thoughts 

 might bring her to a right state of feeling. 



Saturday, Feb. 3d.— This morning have talked 

 with Laura again, and am cc.mpleteiy discour- 

 aged. 1 have tried every argument, and appealed 

 to every motive that lean think of, and with but 

 partial success. The only thing that seemed to 

 move her at all was, lhat 1 did not want to punish 

 her, but lhat I could not let her do many things 

 lo-duy to make her hapjiy i when she went to 

 exhibition I could not let Sophia talk with her, 

 and could not let her go to the party, because only 

 good girls went. But theee were direct appeals 

 To selfishness, and they were all that touched her. 

 I do not know what to do, and never felt the need 

 of counsel more. As 5 had exhausted every ar- 

 giimetU, I thought I would try the effect of a lea- 

 son in geography; so taught her something about 

 the iModuce of different countries of Europe, and 

 of their inauufactures. She was very quiet dur- 

 ing this, and also a writing lesson which follovy 

 ed. 



The regular lesson for the !aet limir's school 

 would liave been the reading of a story, and t 

 ihollght beet to omit it. At dinner «he seemed 

 to be very well jatisfied with herseiC When it 

 was lime" to go into the school-rooin for the eshi- 

 billon, slje said, " 1 think I had better not go." I 

 merely cald, " It i« time," and took her hand to 

 lead her. During the ei:hibition, she said, " Is 

 Sophia here V" 1 told her she was at her desk, in 

 the gchool-rooiii. " I am very Ijappy," was the 

 only reply. This was a spirit of defiance in Lau- 

 ra that J had never seen before. A few motnenU 

 ndef she ,8llje);ipteJ lokifi,"; uie, thinking she couW 



