88 



S;i)C i^armcr's iUontl)lij Visitor. 



fresh from liis early fields, redolent of ftiine, and 

 with a form on \\ liicli " every god did seem to set 

 Ills seal to give the \'\orld nssuranco of a man." 



The morning passed ]iloafantly away, evening 

 came, with Bishop true to his orders and firm at 

 liis post, holding his favorite chaigerin one hand, 

 while the other was wailing to offer the ready 

 Btirnip. The sun suidt in the horizon, and yet 

 tVie Colonel ap|)eared not. " 'Twas strange, 'twas 

 passing strange ;" surely he was not wont to be 

 a single moment behind his appointments — for 

 he was the most punctual of all men. 



Meantime, the host enjoyed the scene of the 

 veteran at the gate, while the Colonel was so 

 agreeably emijioyed in the parlor; and proclaim- 

 ing that no visiter ever left his home at sunset. 

 Ids ndlitary guest was with lillle difficulty per- 

 suaded to order Bishop to put up the hori^es f<)r 

 the night. The sun rode high in the heavens the 

 ensuing day, when the enamored soldier pressed 

 with his spm' his charger's side, and speeded on 

 his way to the seat of government, where having 

 despatched his public business, he retraced bis 

 steps, and at llie Wliite House the engagement 

 took place, with preparations for marriage. 



And much hath the biographer heard of that 

 marriage, from the gray haired domestics who 

 waited at the board wiiere love made the feast 

 and Washington the guest. And rare and high 

 was ti.e revelry at that balmy period of Virgin- 

 ia's Itfslal age ; for many were gathered to that 

 marriage of the good, the ereat, the gifted, and 

 they with joyous acclamations hailed in Virgin- 

 ia's youthful hero a happy and prosperous bride- 

 groom. 



"And so you remember when Col. Washing- 

 ton came a courting of your young mistress?" 

 said the biographer to old Cully, in bis hundredlh 

 year. " Aye, master, that 1 do," replied the an- 

 cient family servant, who had lived to see five 

 generations; "great times, sir, great times — shall 

 never see the like again!" "And Washington 

 looked something like a man, a proper man — bey. 

 Cully p " Never seed the like, sir — never seed 

 the like of him, though I have seen many in my 

 day^so tall, so straight, and then be sat on a 

 horse and rode with such an air! Ab, sir, be 

 was like no one else. Many of the grandest gen- 

 tlemen, in the gold lace, were at the wedding, 

 but none looked like the man himself." Strong, 

 uideed, must have been the impression which 

 the person and manner of Washington made 

 upon the "rude tmtutored mind" of this poor 

 negro, since the lapse of three quarters of a cen- 

 tury had not sufficed to efface it. 



The precise date of the marriage the biogra- 

 jilier has been unable to discover, having in vain 

 searched among the records of the vestry of Si. 

 Peter's church. New Kent, of which the Rev. 

 Mr. Munson, a Cambridge scholar, was the rec- 

 tor, and performed the ceremony, it is believed, 

 about 175!'. A short time after their marriage 

 Colonel and Mrs. Washington removed to Mount 

 Vernon, on the Potomac, and jiermanently set- 

 tled there. — Life o/ Mrs. Mnrthii jl'ushhii^loii. 



The following ti-om the Lowell Offering of 

 last month, is worthy of Krutnmacher or .lean 

 Paul : 



The Wasted Flowers. — t>n the velvet hank 

 of the riier sat a rosy child. Her lap was filled 

 wiili (lowers, and u garland of rose buds was en- 

 twined round her neck. Her face was .-is raili.int 

 as the Biiusliino that lejl upon it, and her voice 

 was as clear as that of the bird which warbled at 

 her side. 



The little stream went singing on, and with ev- 

 ery gush of its musi(! the child lifted a flower in 

 its (limplcil haiul, and with a merry laugh, threw 

 it upon its surface. In her glee she forgot that 

 her treasures were growing less, and with the 

 swift motions of childhood, she Ihing them to the 

 sparkling tide, unlil every bud and blossom dia- 

 iippearcd. Then, seeing her loss, she; sprang lo 

 her feer, and bursiing into tears, called aloud to 

 the stream, " Bring back my flowers !" But the 

 Btream danced along regardless of her tears, 

 and as it bore the blooming burden away, her 

 words came back in launling echo, along its 

 reedy margin. And long alici, amid the wailing 

 of the breeze, and the fitful bursts of childish 

 grief, was heard the fruitless cry—-" Bring back 

 my flowers !" 



Merry maiden! who art idly wasting the jire- 

 cious moments so bountifully bestowed upon 



thee — see in the thoughtless, im];ulsive child, an 

 emblem of thyself! Each monienl is a perfum- 

 ed flower. Let ils fragrance be dispensed in 

 blessings all around thee, and ascend as sweet 

 incense to ils lieneficent Giver. Else, when thou 

 hast carelessly flung ihem from thee, and seest 

 ihem receding on tlie swift waters of time, thou 

 cry, like the wee[iing child — " Bring me back my 

 (lowers." And tlic only answer will be an echo 

 fiom the past — "Bring me back my flowers." 



feet, plants six' inches apart st;dks. 

 in the drills 29,040 113 11 



5. The same do., two rows in a 

 drill, six inches apart, and 

 the plants nine inches, and 

 three feet nine inches fiom 

 centre of drills, thus: 



t'rotn the Complete Farmer and liural Econoii>!»t. 



Indian Corn. 

 "In han-cstlng the crop, one of three modes is 

 adopted, viz. : L The corn is cut at the surface 

 of the ground when the grain has become glazed 

 or hard upon the outside, put it iinniedialely into 

 stooks, and when sufficiently dried the corn a)ul 

 stalks arc separated, and both secured. 2. 'J"be 

 tops are taken off when the corn has become 

 glazed, and the grain permitted to remain till 

 October or November upon the butts. Or, 3. 

 Both corn and slalks are left standing till the 

 grain has fully ripened and the latter become dry, 

 when both are secured. There are other modes, 

 such as leaving the bulls or entire stalks in the 

 field aller the grain is gathered; but these are so 

 wasteful and slovenly as not to merit considera- 

 tion. The stalks, blades, and tops of corn, if 

 well secured, are an excellent fodder lor neat cat- 

 tle. ]f cut, or cut and steamed, so that they can 

 be readily masticated, they are superior .to bay. 

 Besides, their fertilizing properties as a manure, 

 are greatly augmented by being fi^d out in the 

 cattle yard and imbibing the urine and liquids 

 which always there abound, ami which are lost 

 to the farm in ordinary yards, wilbntit abundance 

 of dry litter to take them up. By the first of 

 these methods, the crop may be secured before 

 the autumnal rains; the value of the I'odiler is 

 increased, and ihe ground is cleared in time for 

 a winter cro|) of wheat or rye. The second mode 

 impairs the value of the forage, re(|uircs more 

 labor, and does not increase the (]uantily or im- 

 [irove the quality of the grain. The third mode 

 requires the same labor as the first, may improve 

 the quality of the grain, but must inevitably de- 

 terior.-ite the quality of the fodder. The corn 

 cannot be husked loo promptly after it is gather- 

 ed from the field. Ifpermiiled to heat, the value 

 of the grain is materially impaired." 



It has often been stated that great advantage 

 was derived from selecting seeil corn fiom stalks 

 which liad borne two or more ears. The Hamp- 

 shire Gazette, published at Northampton, Massa- 

 chusetts, mentions a fanner who " has selected 

 his seed corn in this way for three years past, and 

 the result has exceeded bis expectation. He 

 states that it is not uncommon to find in his corn- 

 field this season, [1831] stalks with three, Amu-, 

 five, and soinelimes six ears, and three of them 

 fiir, full grown, and fit for seed, and that too in 

 hills containing four or five stalks." He says " I 

 think my crop has been increased several bushels 

 this year by the experiment. 1 would suggest a 

 mode (if selecting seed to those who do not cut 

 u|) the corn at the rool.'f. When they are picking 

 cmn, and find a stalk with two or more car.s, let 

 th(un tie the husks together, and the ears will be 

 easily known at husking." 



"'i'he following table," says judge BucI, "ex- 

 hibits the (lin'erence in product of various meth- 

 ods of |il:inting, and serves al.so to explain the 

 manner m wlii(!h large crops of this grain have 

 been obtained. I have assumed in the estimate 

 that each stalk ])roduces one erirof corn, and that 

 the ears average one gill of shelled grain. This 

 is estimating the product low; for while I am 

 pemiing this (October) 1 find that my largest ears 

 give two gills, and one bunilred fair oars half a 

 bushel of shelled corn. The calculation is also 

 |)redicated on the supposition that there is no de- 

 ficiency in the iinniber of stalk-, a contingency 

 sure on my method of phintiiig.* 



hills, bush. qts. 

 L An acre in hills four feet 

 apart each way will pro- 

 iluco 2722 43 Iti 



2. The same, three feet by three 4840 75 20 



3. The same, two by two and a 



half feet 5808 93 28 



4. The same, in drills at three 



'I'laating an extra number or plants and lliinning clieni 

 at the first or •econd hoeing. 



. . . . 30,970 120 31 



6. The same in do., three rows 

 in a drill, as above, three 

 feet from centrea of drills, 

 thus : 



.".'.'.".' 43,5aO 170 5 



"The fifth mode I have tried. The ground 

 was highly manured the crop twice cleaned, and 

 the entire acre gathered and weigbe<l accurately 

 tlie same day. The product in ears was ono 

 hundred and three busliels, each eighty-four 

 [Kuinds net, and sixty-five pounds over. The last 

 bushel was shelled and measured, which sh.owed 

 a product on the earth of one hundred and eigh- 

 teen bushels ten quarts. I gathered at the rate 

 of more than one hundred bushels to the acre 

 from four rods |)lanted in tlie third method, last 

 summer, the result ascertained in tlie most accu- 

 rate manner. Corn shrinks about twenty per 

 cent, after it is cribbed. The sixth moje is the 

 one by which the Messrs. Pratts, of Madi.son 

 county, obtained the prodigious crop of one hun- 

 dred and seventy bushels per acre. These gen- 

 tlemen, 1 am told, are of opinion that the product 

 of an acre may be increase to two hundred 

 buslieks." 



We believe that nearly all the large and pre- 

 minni crops which have been noted in the an- 

 nals of agriculture, were procured by plauiiug 

 the corn in drills, cither single, double or treble. 

 There has, however, been a difference in opinion 

 relative to planting corn in ridges or on a flat 

 surface. This, we think, depends on the nature 

 of the soil. A loamy soil, or such as is proper 

 for coin, ought, in our climate, to be ctdtivated 

 in a flat way, that it may the better retain mois- 

 ture. Dr. Black, of Delaware, advises to plant 

 corn in such a manner that the rows may run di- 

 rectly north end south. General Hull, of Newton, 

 Massachusetts, in cultivating a premium cr(.p of 

 corn, 'drew furrows north and south three and a 

 half feet apart. No ridges were formed. Hills 

 were then made with the hoe in those furrows 

 two feet apart, not fat, but dcscenditis; to tlie south 

 with a small bank on the north side of each hill, for 

 the purpose of giving the young plants a fairer 

 exposure to the sun. 



When corn is phintcd on green sward laud, the 

 lioh'S for the hills or drills should be made quite 

 through the furrows, ;iud dung put into the holes. 

 If this caution be not observed the crop will be 

 uneven, as the roots in some places, where the 

 fiirrows are thickest, will have but little benefit 

 IVoiii the rotting of the sward. But if the hides 

 are mailer through, the roots will be fed with both _ 

 fixed and putrid air, supplied by the ferinenta- I 

 tioii in the grass roots of the turf. I 



Stirring the earth a relief against Drought. 



Some entertain an idea that it is injurious to 

 stir the soil when it is dry and the plants are suf- 

 (ering for want of rain. Thn error of this sup- 

 position is well exposed in an article written by 

 the Hon. J. Lowell, beaded ' Stirring the earth a 

 reliif againttt drought,^ republished Irom the Ahis- 

 sacliusetts Agricultural lleposilory in the New 

 England Farmer, vol. xi. p. 92. The lidlowing is 

 an extract : 



' In this extraordinary [very dry] season, I had 

 a small patch ol' early potatoes, planted in a warm 

 aiul siiudy soil, purposely to procure an early crop; 

 the soil was, at least, three-quarters pure sand, 

 mixed with some food for plants among the sand. 

 The sivere drought ibrealened a total loss of the 

 crop. The potato stalks were lieble, driiwu up, 

 scarcely larger than goose quills, and I expected 

 every ilay to sec them wither; all hopes of acrop 

 were abandoned. 1 thought that they were tlio 

 fair subjects of a desperate experiment. On ono 

 of the hottest and driest days, I gave them a 

 tborougli ploughing, passing the plough four 

 times through each row ; first ploughing two fiir- 

 rows from the bilks "s near the roots as possible 

 without throwing out the seed potatoes, and then 



