(i[|)C JTanncr's iHnutl)ln iUintov. 



57 



liiit to rclriife our way some miles, or tiiko up our 



lodfiinj! in llii« lioiife. 



Weary US' "c were, lliis appeared llje le.ift ob- 

 ji etioiialilo allcriialive, anil we aceepted ihe iiUer 

 wliiili tlie elder woiuan made us. Tlie Mionienl 

 we did ^o, llie poor wuiuaii seeuied s^lruck willi 

 llie rusliiiess of lier aot. " What t<liail 1 do ("or 

 tlie like of you? Wiiat sliati I do for tlie liUe of 

 you .-" We assured lier we should uol he very 

 (iisliilious f;uests, aM<l in wo v\ent. It was sucli 

 a hui as 1 have just dcsorihed. The fire lay on a 

 liearlli of stones, with a li.'W stones Iniill up aj:ainst 

 the innd to pri'veiit llie lunise froiii heitij;' hurnt. 

 'J'lie woman's liiisliand, a liiiiner, was ycnie into 

 Morayshire wiili laiiihs; a hired shepherd set on 

 the side of llie partitioned lied, siieh as I haveal- 

 4eaily desei ilied ; two line sheep do;;s lay he- 

 fore the (ire, and a troop of har<,'-lef,'^ed ninl 

 Uilted hovs eaiue runnin;; in from some distant 

 Echool. They were iMae^'ref;ors, havjiij; eoine 

 liilher from I'uniliartunshiie, and eould, furln- 

 iialely for us, speak ICnglish. We sate on a liench 

 in the ingle, and all these lillle Maegregors, Gri^'or 

 IMacgiegor, I'eler and Diinenn, and Ihe rest, 

 i!(pialleil on the nnid lUior, and alternalely waleh- 

 eil us and llieir elder tister, a line hare-legged 

 Jassie of eighteen, who was busy haUlng oal-eakes 

 for us. It uas a hul post liolh for herself and for 

 lis. She put on peats till the hut was like an oven, 

 and llie sinoki^ made our I'yes smart almost past 

 endiniiiiee. Yet we uatehed the progress of her 

 operation willi great inlerest.us she made a paste 

 of oatmeal and water, rolled it out in cakes, ent 

 it into segmenl.-', and liaked iheni on an iron gri- 

 dle over the ilre, anil then reared them helijre ihe 

 glowing peals to make lli'MU crisp. This done 

 she fiiniid us some lea, and that was our supper. 

 They had tv\o or -1111*0 enws, hut llieir milk was 

 iilready in llie process of lieing ronverleil into 

 <;lieese ; the [lotalnes and tlie oalsoftlie hist crop 

 were e.vliansled, and the wei season had prevent- 

 ed the ripeuiiig of the present. "There was," 

 said our hostess, "a great cry in (Jie country for 

 food !" Our fatigue, and llii.s annnuiicemenl, in- 

 duced us to think we hoed well. They uiade us 

 a eouifurlalile hed in thespence, where we Ibund 

 fiiur Gselie liililes, and llie History of Kohiiison 

 Crusoe! F)arly in the uioi ning we puisiied our 

 way : lint ere we took our leave, the poor woman 

 came in from fetching up her cows, hir clothes 

 wet to the very knees. When we expressed /our 

 surprise — "O," said she, "that is what we are 

 used to every day of our lives. While you li;vve 

 been in j^mr bed, the henl-!)oy has lliree liniiK 

 gone around the corn-lield wilh the dogs to eliase 

 a.way the slags and roes into the woods. 'I'lie 

 lasl thing lie does every night, while Ihe corn is 

 groviiiig ill the field, he goes round — ^^once again 

 at midnight, and theuut ihe earliest dawn of day. 

 Every night it must lie done or a green blade 

 would not be left. If you went ill the gloaming 

 with the man into ll;e wood, sir, you would see 

 .twenty >tags as big as our cows. O, it's an aw- 

 ful place lor wild bejists — fo.ves and badgers and 

 serpentsi did you ever ^ee a serpent, iua'am ? 

 JSomotimes in the moruing they rear themselves 

 •in a narrow path, and hiss at me bilierly." As 

 the poor woman sjiuke, we siood at Ihe door of 

 .her liltle leiienient, and saw the heavy dew glit- 

 iering on tlie grass all around ; and the primitive 

 cheese press consisting of a pole, one end of 

 which -was ihrnsled into a device of a rock, and 

 the other weighed wilh a huge stone; and around 

 jis were the healthy mounnwis and the woods; 

 the misls and clouds clinging to ihe sides of wild 

 hills, (ir rolling away bidbie the breeze of the 

 niorning; and the sound oj" a neigbnrinir torrent 

 alone distill hing the ileep suliiude. We coiihl' 

 uol avoid feeliin; how far was all lliis from the 

 collage-life of England. We gave the poor wo- 

 man what we ihouglit .i fitting celurn for her hos- 

 pitality, ami left her overwhelmed whh u gralu- 

 Ihl asloninhineni, which sItoweU there what was 

 the real value of money. 



4. MA.\LiACTURl.\G LaBORKBS Iti EjiGLANn. 



— -This is a scene in the scale of comfort far be- 

 low the goneral run of laborers' houses in Eii"- 

 land; lint ye< how far, infinitely far lower, do 

 many of our worldng jieoples' abodes sink. 

 What <ieiis lia.ve we in maiiuliieluriiig towns ! 

 What lillle, filthy, dismal, \et high-rented dens! 

 What noisome, ani|Jiibious abodes abound in our 

 fishing villages, siK-h as Crablie has painted ! 

 What places have I seen in difieient parls of 

 England, which every where ohlain the name of 



Rookeries — huge piles liiiilt for some pnr[)ose 

 which has not answered ; or .soii:e deserted hall, 

 let off in little lenemenis; the windows broken, 

 and stopped uiihold rags and huts; the ground 

 all around trodden down, coveri^d with ash- 

 heaps; a fewsloiited hushes, or gooseberry trees, 

 where once had been a garden, di^plnying the 

 ragged ami tattered wash «f the indigeiiee of in- 

 digence: altogether (;.\liibiling such an air of 

 poverty iis impoverishes one's very spirit, and fills 

 it with a nameless leeling of disgust and despon- 

 dence for days after. .Su<:h a plaet^ I ['ariicular- 

 ly recollect seeing somewhere between Neiherby 

 .and Gretna-Greeii ; ;ind observing an old man 

 " daimdering about " as he called it, so wiihont 

 hope and object, 1 asked him how ibis place 

 came to look .so forlorn — "Oh," said be, "we once 

 could run our cows on the waste, and we did 

 very well, but that is taken away. Sir James 

 asked the steward what llie poor people must do; 

 'O, lliey will all hooly*away,' said he : but where 

 are we to liooly to .-" 



Ah! collage life! there is much more hidden 

 niuler that name than ever inspired the wish to 

 build colit(i;e ornees, or in inhabit them. There is 

 a vast mass <il' human inli'rest within its circle, 

 of which the world lakes lillle note. The loves 

 and hopes; the trials and snuggles; the snti^M-- 

 ings, deaths and burials; the li'stivilies and relig- 

 iiius confraternilies ; the indignities that fret, and 

 ihe necessities that compel, to action ;md union 

 our simple hrelhreii and sistiMs. How liilUi is 

 truly known ; how much is conseqiieiiily mis- 

 guided ; how great is the indiflereuce concerning 

 them in those who h.ave the power to work mir- 

 acles of love and happiness amoiigsl ilieui, and 

 must one day sland wilh llieui at the foot-slool 

 of our common Father, who will demand of his 

 children how each has loved his hrelhreii. 



* Slip quietly asvay. A word u^ed ofttn in the Border Biil- 

 livds. 



To make Pear Trees Fruitful. 



,As we proceed with the Frniiist, the snbjecls 

 of which it is destined to ir'al, branch out and ex- 

 hil.'it more and more the im;torlance of increased 

 allention on the p,-irl of ihe fruit grower. Al- 

 tliongh it may he hut a single tree that he has to 

 manage, even llii.s, in proportion to his knowl- 

 etig-e and alteniion, will he made mailer of pleas- 

 ure an<l profit. The tbllo^^illg paper, submilied 

 lo the Horticultural Society by iis late president, 

 T. A. Knight, Esq., indicates principles, of the 

 advjnlages of which the ciillivalor may avail 

 hi-mself in other ways than those to which they 

 are a[)|)lied in tlie experiments delailed. 



" The pe;ir-lree exercises the palieiice of the 

 plainer during a longer period before il affords 

 fruit, than any «lher grulled Iree which finds a 

 place in our garileiis ; ,nnd lliough il is subsequent- 

 ly very long-lived, it generally, when trained lo a 

 wall, becomes in a few years unpioduclive of 

 fruit, except al the exiremiiies of iis lateral bran- 

 ches. 15oth these defects are, however, I have 

 good reason lo believe, the result of improper 

 inanageinent ; (or 1 have lately sncceedeil most 

 perfectly in rendering n>y old trei's very produc- 

 tive ill every part; and my .yuiing trees have nl- 

 iiiiist always alforded (iaiii liie second year after 

 being grafted ; and none Ikh'o rernaincl barren 

 beyond the third \ear. 



"In detailing llie mode of pruning and ciiliure 

 1 have adopted, I shall probably more easily ren- 

 der myself inlelligilile, by o'ei-cril'iiig a(ji;i:ralely 

 ilio inaiiML'emenl of a single tree each. 



" An old St. Germain pear tree, ol ihespuii- 

 oiks kimi, had hepulraiiiedin liie (im form, against 

 a northwest wall in my garden, and llie central 

 branches, as usually h.-tjipens in old trees lliiis 

 trained, ;had long reached the lop of itie v/all, 

 and had become wholly unproductive. The oth- 

 er branches afforded bill very hitle fruit, and lliat 

 never acquiring matni ity, uas conseipieiilly of 

 no value; -so that it was necsssary lo change the 

 variely, as well as h) r-iuuler ihi' Iree prodiieiive. 



"To altain these purposes, every branch which 

 did not want al lea.st twenty degrees of being per- 

 pendicuiar, was taken out al its base ; and the 

 s|uirs upon every other branch, which I intended 

 to retain, were taken oft" closely vvitli the saw and 

 chisel. 2i;lo these branches, at their subdivis- 

 ions, grafts WKi'c inserted at diirerent distances 

 (rom rli-e r4)0t, iind some so near ihe exlremities 

 of the branches, that the tree exiended as widely 

 ill the autumn after it was grafled,as it did in the 



preceding year. The grafts were also bo dispos- 

 ed, thai evi'i-y part of the space the tree previous- 

 ly covered, was cipially well supplied wilh young- 

 wood. 



"As soon ill ihe sncceedins smnmer as the 

 young shoots had allained sulilcient lenglb, they 

 were Irained almost per[ieiidicularly downward.s, 

 between the larger branches and the wall, lo 

 which they were nailed. The most perpendicu- 

 lar remaining hiancli upon eai^li side, was graft- 

 ed abDiit liiur feet below the lop of the wall, 

 which is twelve feet high ; and the young shoots 

 which tlii^ grails upon ihese aftiuded, were Irain- 

 ed inwaids, and bent down lo occupy the space 

 from which llie old central branches had been 

 taken away; anil therefore very lillle vacant space 

 any where remained in the end of the first au- 

 luiiin. A few blossoms, but not any (iuit, were 

 produced by several of the grafts in llie succeed- 

 ing spring; hul in the following year, and siih- 

 se((uenlly, I have had abundant crops, eipially 

 dispersed over every part of the tree ; and I have 

 scarcely ever seen such an exuberance of blos- 

 som as ihis tree presents in the present jipring, 

 (jiafts of eight di(fereiil kinds of pears had been- 

 inserled, and all airorded fruit, ;ind ulirio.>t ill 

 eiiii.'il ahinidancc, |5y this mode of training, tliR 

 beai ing branches bejng small and short, may be 

 chiinged every three or four years, till the tree \s 

 a ceniury old, wiihont the loss of a simile crop; 

 and Ihe central part, which js unproductive in 

 every other mode of training, lieoomes the most 

 (iuitful. 1 proceed lo the inan;|gp|nent of young 

 Irees. 



"A young pear slock, w hieli had Iwo lateral 

 branches upon each side, and was about six feet 

 high, was planted against a wall early in the 

 spring; and it was grafled in each of iis lateral 

 branches, two of which sprang out of llie stem 

 about four li;et from the ground, and llie others 

 at its summit, in the following year. The shoots 

 ihese gr.alis produced, when about a foot long, 

 were trained downwards, as in the preceding ex- 

 periment, the undermost nearly iierpendicularly, 

 and the uppermost just below the horizontal line, 

 placing them al such distances, that the leaves of 

 one shoot did not at all shade those of another. 

 In the next year the same mode of training was 

 continued, and in the following I obtained an 

 abundant crop of fruit, and Ihe tree is again iiefl- 

 vily hiaded wiili blossoms. 



"This mode of training was first applie,d to ;ho 

 Aslon-town pear, which rarely produces fruit till 

 six or seven years after the trees ha,ve been graf- 

 ted ; and from I his variely and the Col mar, I have 

 not obtained fruit till the grafts have been iltree 

 years old. 



"Ju ihe future treatment of my yotuig pear- 

 trees, it is my inlenlion to give them very nearly 

 llie form of ihe old tree I have described, in eve- 

 ry respect, except that these will necessarily i,laiid 

 u|)on larger slems, which I think adc.autageous', 

 and I shall not permil the I'xi^ience of so great a 

 number of large lateral branche.-'. In both^'iises 

 the bearing wood will depend wholly beneaih 

 the large brain lies which feed it ; for it is the 

 influence of gravilalion upon the .»ap wliich .oc- 

 casions llie early and exuberant produce of fr.uil, 



"I scarcely need ;uld, that where, in old trees, 

 it is not meant to change the variety, noiliing 

 ] mure will be necessary than to take ofl' wholly 

 .the spurs and snpernuii erary large branches, 

 leaving every blossom which grows near the end 

 of the remaiuiiig branches, or that the length .of 

 the dependent bearing wood must be dift'event in 

 (Ufferent varieties. The Crassane, the Cohiiar, 

 and .Astoii-iow II, v^ill reijiiire the greatest, iip^l 

 the Si. Germain probably the .lea^l length."™— 

 Maunu's JSulnnic Garden. 



Disease oJ Plain Trees. 



John Owen, of (Jnmhridge, Tilass.. heiioves the 

 has discovered. .■laeinedy llir the wiirl in the Pluiit 

 tree. In a late number of Ihe New England Far- 

 mer, we find « leller from him lo Th. Win. Har- 

 ris, tiom vshich we make ihe following &:urac!is. 

 The editor has found in New .Tersey thodijsiJv'ita 

 of this tree so annoying as almost lo aiBOJ(U;W>!i 

 prohibition lo planting il. ]f Plniin Irees arer 

 planted in bog pastures, anil properly prot«w.?d 

 for three or (i>ur years, till the rnbljing of ifeese 

 animals against iheni will not injure lheni,.it-j»iil 

 lie found advantageous. In phmiiiig i'tiYil necf, 

 farmers should persevere. If disease ovrtakew 

 their trees, let iheiii rcfleot, and search for a rein- 



