94 



^l)c iTarmcr'e illontl)lij bisitor. 



pi-oacli the standing grass, let the heel of the 

 scythe move tnilie very point ofconHririireriirnl, 

 ati.l let it stop lliu instant ii lias done its work. — 

 Thus there is ii'itliing lost hy a forward or hack- 

 ward swinj.'. If the grass stands n|i so as to ad- 

 mit of inoving on, nieasore with the eye liie nt- 

 mosl rapacity foruanl of yonr si-ylhe ; lake a 

 qnick, easy i;ail, moving \oiir ri'jht loot well up 

 tnwards tin; standing L'rass, and yonr horly with 

 it, thinigh leaning hack liy hcmling the knees a 

 little liirward, so as to hring jour whole weight 

 to hear npon ihi! sc-ylhe wiihoni t>> isling the liorl\ 

 lioii) right to h It, as many do; thus giving ease 

 to each clip ami aliilily to ri'pcat it in uii advanced 

 position witluMit fatigue. 



The ahove rn'h'S we are salisficd are good. — 

 Many who .are considureil gonil inmver.-t have no 

 method ahont them, and liai.lly know themselves 

 how ihey mow. They "pnl it through" hy main 

 strengih. The operation, hke every other me- 

 chanical hnsiness, is hased on certain natural atid 

 rational principles, which, when loiderstood, will 

 render the hdmr less lahoiiuiis, and ofcour.se 

 more pleasant and efficient. 



The Gheat Western Pie-Eater. — A young 

 friend of ours who has l.itely lUiule a Hying tour tin, ugh 

 the "we.sl," lells the following credilile story .djout a 

 gentlerhua who w;is hk'ssed \\\\h a rcniarkably good 

 appciilo. His narration runs thus wise : — 



On our way horn I'lllsburgh to l\t>w Orleans, we 



stopped at the Hotel, in ."^t. Louis. A party of 



the " b'hoys" were tarrying at the house — and after 

 Ibe customary exchange of western civility, the land- 

 lord {who was one of 'eai) quii-lly informed us thai 

 he was a '* viLlirn" — being at that moment the un- 

 hicUy entertainer of an indiviijaal known about town 

 as the pic-enter, 'i'he cnricsity of our party vv;ts at 

 once excited, and in reply to our inquiries, we learned 

 that the individual referred to was '* some'' in his way, 

 and that our aillicted host would be very grateful for 

 the recoMHncrnlatioa of aay device by which he should 

 he ridden of this most prolitless boarder — who had al- 

 readv well nigh devoured all of his sulistance. 



"Easiest thing in the world," remarked one of the 

 knowin' ones. 



" Hoyv?" eagerly asked the landlord. 



" Leave it to v«e," continued the bright 'an, with 

 an expressive leer — " 1 calciilitle i"ve been round a 

 tride, and them's the kind o' chaps as I like to meet !" 



Our landlord shook his head mournfully, concluding 

 a brief conmicntary upon his guest's qualifications, 

 with — "it's awful, gentlemen — awful — such gorman- 

 dizing !" 



.\fter some further parley between the parties, the 

 following plan was agreed upon. The hotel-keeper 

 very freely consented to the arrangement — and it was 

 agreed that an cuorinoiis pumpkin pie should be imme- 

 diately prepared, whirh should be placed before the 

 ** regular hoarder" that day at dinner. If the hint 

 should be appropri.itcd and tlie " aainail " should be 

 driven out, mine host was to foot expenses and furnish 

 accompaniments; if otherwise, the " hoys" were to 

 p.iy the bill. Ilalf-a-dozen strangers (hy some singu- 

 lar coincidence I) were seated opposite the pie-eater at 

 dinner, and a " nice time" apparently existed in per- 

 spective for their collective and especial gratification. 



I'he man wilh lln^ excellent appetite devoured his 

 cnstomary supitly of soup, tiah, hecf, venison, chops, 

 foyvl, and vegetables — and then looked over liis shoul- 

 der for the pastiy — " Edward I a pie — Edward;" 

 " Comin' sir" — rejoined the waiter promptly — while 

 at the same moment he commenced clearing away the 

 dishes for some i'our feet square in front of the anxious 

 expectant. 



In the midst of the tittering of the strangers who 

 were in the secret, Ildw.ird produced a huge pic, upon 

 an earthen platter some foot and a half in diameter, 

 which ho sat duvvn bid'ore our gourmand, as coolly as 

 tlimigh nothing harl h:ippened. 



The pie-eater gl.inced at the glorious prospect before 

 him — called for n /jig spoon — and to the utter conster- 

 nation of the " boys," he quietly " stowed away" the 

 entire contents of ihe dish ! 



"Edward," said he, turning to the servant, " lirini; 

 mc anollier pic .'" 



In the ubaunee of a big 'un, the waiter produced an 

 ordinary pie. " <;h — look here, Ned," continued the 

 fellow, " give lis a decent sized one — these ain't of no 

 account, no how .'" 



The " boys" bolted — paid the hill — and very short- 

 ly afterwards were on their way down the river. — Sym- 

 bol. 



Immense Natuiial Beiiiiive. — In » cuvcrn, on 

 the right hank of the Colorado, ahont seven miles 

 from Austin, ihere is an immense hive of wild 

 hoes. On n vvarin day ii dark stream of hees may 

 he constantly seen wiinliiig out Irom the cavern 

 like a dark yvrenth of smoke. The streum often 



appears one ornvo feet in diameternear the cliff, 



and gradually .s|)reails not like a fan, growing 

 thinner and thinner at a distance from the cav- 

 ern, until it di.<appear.s. The mmiher of hees in 

 this cavern must he incalculahly gi'eat, prohaldy 

 iireatcr than the nninlier in a ihousand or ten 

 thousand ordinary liiv.s. 'J'he oldest settlers say 

 that the hive w.is there when they first arrived 

 in the coimtiy ; and it is qnile prohahle that it 

 existed in the .same state many years pre\ions to 

 the settlement of this country. It was esiimated 

 that there are inany tons of iioney and wax in 

 this immense hive ; and if its contents conid he 

 extracted readily, they would douhiless he found 

 Ijir more valnahle than the contents of any silver 

 or gold mine that adventurers have heeii seeking 

 fur ye.irs in that section. — Texas Telegraph. 



The Plough-bny's Songt 



'Tis summer now 



On the mountain's brow. 

 And the air is cool and clear; 



.'\nd who would dream 



In the morning's beam. 

 When beautiful Spring is here ? 



I'll hasten yvilh speed 



To the glittering tuead, 

 Where the mists are g.ithered now; 



They will pass ayvay. 



As opens the day. 

 And speeds the glittering plough. 



The lark is high 



In the clear blue sky. 

 And his carols wild and free! 



lie has lefi-Jns nest 



On the"^. .dow's breast. 

 In the sunlight of heaven to be. 



I cannot fiy 



To the clear, blue sky. 

 Or carol so wild and free; 



But I'll whistle so clear. 



That the skies shall hear, 

 As my plough glides o'er the lea. 



.\nd when the day 



thall have passed away. 

 And the sun hath sunk in the sea, 



ril take my team 



From the strong plough beam. 

 And hasten away o'er the lea. 



And then at night. 



When my heart is light 

 And sleep stealeth over my brow, 



I'll lie and dream 



Of my field and team. 

 And of guiding the farmer's plough. 



A Learned Shoemaker. 



The Itochesler .American gives the fnlloyving 

 acconni id' the aci|inremeuts of a journey man 

 shoemaker in Leroy, Genesee county, N. Y. It 

 contains a valnahle lesson to nicidianics, and il- 

 lustrates the power of the human mind in ovei- 



llc had a little knowledge of geography and 

 could re.ad and write very well; hut his knowl- 

 edge of figures did not e.xlenil heyond tl,e funda- 

 mental rules of aritlinietic. He succeeded so 

 yvcll yvitli arithmelii-, that la' dc:tcrniiiual to pnr- 

 siK! the higher hranches of m.'ithematics. Ac- 

 cordingly he look liourdon's .algidna ; after mak- 

 ing himsidf thoroughly ac(|uainled yvilh this yy (irk, 

 he studied jjeoinetrv, tiiiionomolry, and Farrai's 



three books of Tacitus, anti a portion of the odes 

 of Horaee. He then commenced Greek, and 

 can read and traii.-l.ilu it with ficility. lie has 

 le rned the French language. Il<' has read Te- 

 lemaclius, Gifizr)t's History of Civilization, and 

 several oilier French works. The language he 

 reails wilh great fiuency. 



"During the fiv<! years lAIr. .Ames Itas been 

 pursuing these studies he has fbiind time to make 

 himsell famili.ir wilh the hisiorii-;d yyoiks id' .To- 

 sephu.s, Rollin, Gihhon, and Bancroft. He has 

 just commenced sintljing the Germ.an language, 

 yyitli a full determinalinii lo persevere. Tliongli 

 he has pursued his studies without a teacher, he 

 protiounces the ilift'erent language he has learn- 

 ed with .a good degree of ticcnracy." 



A VALUABLE OLD Cow. — Seeing a statement 

 in the Boston Cultivator of June 6th, of a pro- 

 lific Cow, has induced me to give the fidlowing 

 siiilement of a Cow now on the Town Farm in 

 I'ortsmonth. 



She is twenly-iyvn years oh! and has had one 

 or mure calves every ye.ar since she was three 

 years old, when she was twenty-one she liad 

 twins. She always gives .a good mess of milk 

 tinil good milk. All last yviuier she gave six 

 qnarlsof milk a day, and now L'ives eight quarts; 

 she is of the native breed and h.is wintered well 

 on hay till within the last two winters, since then 

 she has l.'eini letl prnieipally on heels, carrots, and 

 corn-meal br.ni. She has been a noble animal 

 and bids fair by good care and attention paid 10 

 her 10 live some years longer. 11, 



All abont a Bell. 



The following correspondence (from the Lime 

 Rock Gazelle) so honoralde to both parties, also 

 affoials an interesting reminiscence of a distin- 

 guished and worthy individual of Massachusetts. 



Appleton, (.Maine) Oct. :ii, 1845. 

 Samoel .Appleto.n, Ksq: 



Sir. — NVe the nudersigiied, inhabitants of the 

 toyvn of Ajipleton, yvonld r*'specilidlv represent: 

 That we have l.itely erecied a sin.ill rtleeling 

 House at the village of ?dcl,ain's [Mills, in said 

 town, and that yye leid anxious lo obtain a bell 

 snitahle for the same: that our numbers are 

 sintdl, and the expense already incurred falls 

 heavily npon us: and knowing the high rrpiita- 

 tion you every where sustain for liberality, havn 

 been induced to ask yon to |)resent us wilh a bell. 

 The only reasons we have to offer for asking the 

 boon at your hands, r.-iilier than any other per- 

 son, are : 



First. — liecatise the toyvn of .Appleton was 

 named in honor of yonr venerable father, and to 

 commemorate the name of his family: and 



Second, — Thai, il yye Inuu nut been wiongly 

 infbrineil, you can make the gift vvilhontthc least 

 possifile injury or inconvetiience lo yourself or 

 aniily. 



We do not pretend lo have any claim upon 

 yon, except iipim your generosity ; and should 

 you decline cmnplyiug with onr wishes, we shall 

 have no fault to find. Will you please give an 

 answer, and direct to the first signer of this letter. 



Signed : — Belij. IMcLain, No.ali Spragne, C. B. 

 Sunnier, Zebadee Simmou.s, H. K. (Jiishn, Jede- 

 iliali Simmons, Uriah Dyre, George Pease. 



Boston, Nov. 3d, 1845. 

 Be.vj. McTjAi.n, (oik/ /ii.s a.^sociatcn.) 



Sir. — I have received a letter, dateil October94, 

 sinned by yourself and seven others, inhabilanis 

 of the town of .Appleton, requesliug me 10 iiiiike 

 a present of a bell, snilabli! li)r a .Meeting House 

 lately erecied at the village of McL.iin's Mills in 

 .said town. Yon .say the reasons ot your asking 

 the boon from me, rather than any other person, 

 are — "First, tlnil the town of Appleton yvas 

 named in honor <d' my vener.ible farther, imd to 

 coinmemoiale the name of his liimily." — I ihiuk 

 Ihere nmsl be some mistake in ihi.s. My falher, 

 Isaac .AppleliMi, lived and died on a small (arm 

 at .\eyv Ipswich, N. II. 1 do not think he yvas 

 ever in Ihe Slate of Maine, or ever heard of the 

 town of .Appleton. 



I, myself, fiuuierly had some knowledge of 

 your neighborhood. Ahont sixty year.sago, I yvas 

 iunong the first settlers ol the tow n of' Hope (then 

 called Barrellstinvn.) 



I took for myself a lot of land, more than two 

 miles from any other settlement, and for sonio 

 time carried my provisions on my back, going 



