Ql\)z imrmcr's iUoiUI)li) bieiior. 



3 



uitli. nnil soMii'liint'S uiilioiii siier, with clricd 

 niliiiiss of sWL'ft ii|i|ilcM mixed wi'.li it; .nid 

 wlii'ii fMlfii U'illi liiitirr, it is most dulioioiis Tood. 

 'I'licsr ;i|i|ili's, uIiIrIj iiru pjij-i'd Jis soon lis ilicv 

 nil' liMlliiTcil (rom llie Ii'fc, iiiid heiiijr cut irilo 

 simmII [licccs, iii-e Creed li'om llicii- eoros,!iiid tlini-- 

 oii:;hly iliied in llie sun, iri:iy lie kept irood foi- 

 scvei'id years. Tlie |iioporlioiis of the iriL'i'edi- 

 oiit.s ui'i'.d ill maliiiiu; iliesc; Jippli; fiiiddiii^s lire 

 viiiioiis ; liiit, ill ^'iMieriil, idioiit oiio pound of 

 dried iipples is iiiived wiili throe pounds of iiieid, 

 — thnje (iiiarters of :i pound of mol.isses, — half 

 iin ounce of siill iind live pints of iioilinjr wiiter. 



"In America, viuious kinds of henies, found 

 wild ill the woods, siieh as huekhiheriies, Ik I- 

 heri-ies, wlioriie-lieiTJes, &r. are ■lathered and 

 dried, and alierwnrils used as in^rredieiits in 

 THiliiin pudilin?:s: and dried pliiiiis and cherries 

 may he iiiadi' use of in the same niiiniier. 



"All these Indian puddings have this ailvant- 

 a;;e in common, that they are very -.'ood wanned 

 up. Tliev "ill all keeii frooil several days; and 

 ulieii cut into lliin slices and toasted, are an ex- 

 cellent suhsiitiiie for bread." 



Plaiitntiou cultivation in Alitbama. Mr. Cal- 

 houn as a fanner. 



As !lie ,;.'real man and decided fivorite of the 

 South, and espei'ially of ids ouii 'naiive stale oi' 

 South Carolina, ilie Hon. .Fcdin (X Calhoun has 

 heen receiiily re-plai'cd in the Senate of the 

 United Slates. In the pre; ent state of political 

 parlies ue lielievi^ lliere is no other man of any 

 oilier Stale who would eommand an eleciion 

 with the almost entire unanimity and partlnlliy 

 sliown to the eniinant statcsniaii of the South on 

 the occasion of this election. But as it is not 

 the ohject of this paper to laud any man for his 

 |ioliticul course and opinions, we will say no 

 more of Mr. Calhoun under this head than e.\- 

 pre-ss our helief that «ith reluctance he assented 

 both to liecoine a meiiiher of iVlr. Tyler's cahinet 

 from which he retired on the 4tli of March last, 

 mid suh.se(|uently to hecome a meinlier ol the 

 Senate for uhieh place a vacancy Was made hy 

 resiinalion of a rnemher and a snhsiMjueiu elec- 

 tion was had hy tl.e legislature ol' his state. 



Mr. Calhcuiii, it will he rememhered, was a 

 ineniher of Coniiress thirty-two years ago. His 

 active lite aiirl regular haliits, (ni tlie basis of a 

 fine coiistituiion, have preserved the erect pos- 

 ture and the youns; aspect of the man of forty 

 years; very little chaime seems to have yone 

 over liitn in the last tilieen years. For all the 

 purposes of menial or physical labor lie appears 

 to be now as well ipialltied as at any period of 

 his liii.'. (./'hastened probably hy the disappoint- 

 iiients to which most public men ol' ardent tem- 

 perament are doomed, at this lime of life Mr. 

 Calhoun would seem not to have lost llie henetils 

 of a loiiir experience in public life. 



Many of our public men and men of wealth 

 have "done the slate some service " in their ef- 

 fiirls lo improve the Ai'riciiliure of the eoimiry: 

 \Vashiii;jlon, Liviiiifston, Armstron;.', Lowell and 

 oihers ill by-s;oiie limes, by example and precept, 

 have aided in the work — men of eminence and 

 wealili of ih;; present time, Van Liureii, Clay and 

 Webster, are proud if) be numbered amon?; 

 those who are iiii|iroveis of the soil. Few of 

 these bovvever, are so ((jrtiinate as to i;et hack 

 the money tliijy expend. Mr. Calhoun may be 

 m(;ntioned as an exception. 



We have remarked that individuals of the 

 South, in the re^jioii of slave lalior, have as plan- 

 ters become men of wealth; and this too while 

 the planting' interest L'cnerally in iIk; old slave 

 stales seems not to have succeeded ei|ually as 

 well as the sinalliM- liirminj; of the norlln'rn and 

 midille states where free labor only has been 

 employed. The su;;ar plantations upon the Mis- 

 sippi as wcdl as the cotton plantations in Alabama 

 &c., to which the owners of older worn-out 

 plantations in the Carolinas and Georgia have 

 emi^'rated, have made lor their owners in some 

 instances larf;e fortunes. 



Mr. Calhoun, ahliouirh eiipi5;eil in public life 

 iiiost of the time for thirty years, has, we believe, 

 all the limeiLieen the owner of a |.'lantalioii. 

 The place of his residence in tlie interior of 

 Soiilli Carolina, is a plantation or firm short of 

 two himdred acres. This bad been a subject of 

 his care and attention when at home for several 

 years. VVashinj.'ton when retired lo the shades 

 of Mount Vernon used ilailv to visit his firms of 



several tlionsand acres on horseback. A friend 

 and acqiiainlance of the South Carolina stales- 

 inan iiiforins us, that be has bi-iA in the habit 

 of risiii;; at the early dawn of inornin;; anil trav- 

 crsinj; his smaller plaiitallon, on loot, returiiliifj 

 to breakliist wet up to tbe chin with the dew 

 from the foliaije thron^li which he had made his 

 way. 



Within the last ten years Mr. Calhoun, in con- 

 nexion withal son who pi;rsoiially sn|)ei intends 

 it, lias taken up and made a highly productive 

 plantation in the Slate of Alabama some two or 

 three hundred miles distant from bis Carolina 

 resideiici'. Tliis plantation is situaied in the 

 county of iMiiriMiL'o, a limidred miles or so soiitli- 

 weslcrly of Moni'zomery. The valuable lands in 

 Alab.ima sei'in every wjiere lo be broii;;lit at no 

 very ^reiit dislance from the w.'iKu's ol'some nav- 

 iyalile river; and this plaiitalion of Mr. Calhoun 

 has that ailvantai:;e. It is silu.ited .diove the ex- 

 leiidcd pine re^'ion which runs aloii;; the coast 

 lhroui;li the Carolinas, Genr;.'ia, the Floridas and 

 Alabama nearly lo the iMississippi river: its loca- 

 tion and soil were such as to leave it for several 

 years without a siipposahle value. There were 

 no s[n-iii!;s of water or rinminj; brooks upon it. 

 'J'liere was a rich lilaek soil often, twelve to 

 tiyhteen inches upon the surface. Below this 

 was a layer of loose shell marl of twenty inclie.'? 

 to two or three (eet through which the surface 

 water soaked and ran ol}' instead of findiiiL' its 

 way out upon the surface. Below this loose 

 shelly layer was anoiher compact body of blue 

 subsoil of various depths which may also be 

 denomiiialed marl, beinjj with the loose overlay 

 composed of liom lifiy to seventy per cent, of 

 lime. The land is iiniliilating so tb.it from one 

 Ihiril to one half of llie plaiitalion in the early 

 part of the season, without draining was too wet 

 lor cullivalion. 



Tlie great improvement made upon this plan- 

 tation has been done by ditching and draining. 

 The lower or swampy parts have been made most 

 productive by taking otf the water, which soon 

 retires below the two upper layers. The craw- 

 fi.-;li, which is common in the southern country, 

 has taught the people how lo find water in a 

 country where there are no gushing springs and 

 livulels as in New Kngland. In tbe dry seascm 

 bis hole upon llie snrlaee is perforated to the depth 

 of the retiring water. 



The iMessrs. Calhoiins have been consiantly 

 improving tin ir premises by drainage : we think 

 it was staled that lilieen miles of drain had been 

 made, and thirteen wells or reservoirs lo receive 

 porticnis of the water liafi been sunk at iliflerent 

 points upon il. These wells planked up have at 

 the dryesi seasons furnished the necessary water 

 supply for all the purposes of the plaiitalion. 

 Althiiiigb furnished by no lining spring, yel the 

 supply conlmued to be cold and healthiul, an- 

 swering all the purposes of the best living wa- 

 ter of which the soil thus constiuiled was sup- 

 posed to be destitute. 



Two or more ]iiirchnses of land were made to 

 make this pl.intaiion. About six linmlred acres 

 had been cullivaled beliire the present owners 

 went upon it. They liave now brought about 

 twelve hundred acres under the plough, and 

 much the most valuable of this is that part which 

 was of little or no value before it was drained. 

 The result is, that three hundred thousand pounds 

 of cotton are raised upon the plaiilatinn and a 

 surplus of six tlionsand bushels of corn over and 

 above the eonsiiniption of ilie foice necessary to 

 perlljiiii the labor. 'J'he number of working 

 hands is about eighty : thetuhole colored popn- 

 lalioii, men, women and children is probably 

 nearly double the iiiiniber of out-door workers. 

 So healthy is the population upon ibis ground, 

 and so carefully are the young children nursed, 

 ihiil only a single death of one young child bad 

 taken place for several years upon the planta- 

 tion. A line black boy of eight or ten years, 

 while thawing water troin one of the arlificial 

 wells accidentally (idl in and was drowned. 



('orn and cotton are crops exhausting to the 

 ground; but the sweel potato which is liorne to 

 the amount of about three hundred bushels to 

 the acre in well cullivaterl ground and a kind of 

 peas common to the south, ari! said to be reno- 

 vating crops which will long keep up the fertility 

 of the soil. Underlaid as the whole plantation 

 is with a rich marl which only wants exposure 

 to the atmosphere to become a perfectly ferliliz- 



ing manure, we would suppose a soil like this 

 could never IJiil of the requisite richness. 



From the great product tif corn and cotlon 

 produced by the iiiiiiibi>r of liamfs, ihcro can be 

 no doubt ihat iIk^ expeuditun,' liir draining and 

 sinking of wells is an excellent iiivestiiieiit upon 

 this .'\labama plantation. 



On till' subject of .'\griculture anil llie increased 

 production of the country, Air. Calhoun discovers 

 all the eiilhusiasm we might expect from one 

 who has been completely successful in some new 

 and im|)ortant experiment. That his oiiilav ii])- 

 on the Alabama plantation, reclaiming a porlioil 

 of old land which produced little and aihfliig 

 aiiniially productive new fields lo the old, bus 

 been a provident and well-timi'd expenditure, ue 

 can have no rea.<oii to doiihl. As the pioneer of 

 imprnvement upon a kind of land deemed to he 

 of little value, the great statesman of the south 

 doubtless enjoys more satisliiction as a planter 

 than as a poliiician. His example in cxlcndinij 

 the limits of a cullivalion which enables the 

 Slate of .Mab.-ima to export millions of that arti- 

 cle which liirnislies the means of paying lor the 

 liireign imports which contribute essentially to 

 ihe comforts and the convenience of all classes 

 of people in this country, must have a great ef- 

 f(!ct in his neighborhood. 



The great liiidt of ihe ciilfivatioii in the older 

 Stales of the Union, where tobacco and cotton 

 have been )iroduced from slave labor has been 

 the gradual delerioatioii of the soil until plan- 

 tations have become so worthless as lo oblige 

 their abandonment. Mr. Calhoun is conlident 

 that continued fierlility may he kept up without 

 the general application of manure by a judicious 

 rotation, and the introdnction of legiiminious 

 crops, such as sweet potatoes and peas. The soil 

 of his Alaliaina plaiitalion, charged with a deep 

 underlay of calcareous richness, must be such a.s 

 tbrever to possess within its own bosom the in- 

 gredients which, duly applied inay he made to 

 produce the largest crops so long as "wood 

 grows and water runs." The artful method of 

 securing abundance iinil a perpetual supply of 

 good water ii|)on land regarded as worthli^ss 

 from its destiliiiion of a natni'al supply is among 

 those [deasing iiiiprovemeiits whicli make man- 

 kind proved of llie intellect with which llie .M- 

 mighiy has endowed ilieui above the brute cre- 

 ation. 



First pitch of the United People at Canterbury 

 — the beauty of their location — their inex- 

 haustible muck meadow— the aged veteran 

 who deserves many honors. 



The grouiiil on which stands the beautiful vil- 

 lage of the First Family of Shakers in Canter- 

 bury, N. II., then six miles distant liom any set- 

 tlenienl, was cleared by Benjamin VVIiillier, jiin.. 

 (the father of .lolin Whillier, one of llie present 

 elders, who was born and educated ii|ion this 

 ground,) about the year 1770. He married about 

 tlie year 1775. The (irst lot of one hnnrlred 

 acres he held in his own right; hui he cleared 

 iiirther ground, owned by his father, who did not 

 convey the title to it until the year ll'Ji. The 

 elder Benjamin Whillier lived in Noitinghani 

 near the line <d Fee, and in the year J707 or '8. 

 The farm of Benjamin Whitlier the younger was 

 selected as the residence of the first Shaker 

 fanfily in New Hampshire soinewhere about the 

 year 17f)0. The church, whicli now stands and 

 looks as new as il did in the year 180;t, at Ihe 

 lime we first visited it — having been shingled, 

 we believe, only once anew, ami kept in constant 

 repair hy renewed paini, was built in 1792. Ills 

 a wooden structure, and what we considiM' a 

 specimen of true and beautiful arehitectnre, be- 

 ing a hipped roof from which the water is car- 

 ried with least injury to the building. Il may 

 slaiid a hundred years more, and at the end of 

 that time, under Shaker care, be as good as it 

 now is. 



The a|)proach to the Canterbury finiilies from 

 Concord presi-nls in thai of ilic first fimily one 

 of the most heanfiliil of the many handsome 

 New England villages. The old buildings, origi- 

 nally of the true harmonious architecture, stand 

 as lliey were. To these have been added from 

 year lo year other buildings, some of them of 

 enhirged dimensions. The building with the 

 cupola and bell, in which is a hall for weekiy 

 social religious meetings, has been added within 

 a few years. Further on, at the distance of one- 



