164 



^1)C JHirmcr's iHontl)lij llisitor. 



and lliroHii iiun the rivei »o };et it out of ilie 

 wiiy. Siicli Mill coiiliiilies to lie ihe |iiiiilite in 

 Liiiiivutle, wiiere tbe |>o|iiil!(liun is upwaiils ul 

 3,00(5. 



As a comrni't lo the growth and size of wes- 

 tern hoj;s Mr. Ellsworth intrinlnces the follow- 

 np stuieiiient of a hog raised in New Hanip- 

 sliire: 



''Peleilorov<ih, Febninnj, £0, 1845. 



'•Mr. Ellsworth — iriR: 1 rtreivccl your let- 

 ter rtquestiiiu me to roiiiiiiiiniciite the iiM|i(irtiiiil 

 fuels reliiliiiL' to n pi;; laisi'd l>v me llie |ia.~t year. 

 1 eheerriilly hapten to eumply wiili that request. 

 The pill to which you leli r «as pijL'eil Fehriiary 

 m, 18J4. 1 kilhd it Jaiiiiary :.i, J«45; of roiirse 

 it was 10 nioiillis and 1.5 days old. Its wei^ihl 

 alive, the day il was kdlrd, was CfiU pounds — 

 alter iKiny dies.-eil, .'ij? piiumls; roii;;h lard, 18 

 pounds; ntlal, 57 pounds ; total, 022 pounds. — 

 Girth arouiid the heart, G feet ; width across llie 

 shoulders, 21 inches; across the hip.s, 20 inclie.s. 

 from end of nose to root of tail, 5 feet 8 inches. 

 The hreed I do not know, further tijan that it 

 was of a breed we iiave had in lowti for years; 

 hut slinulj lliiiik lljeie was no l>erUsljire hloo<l 

 in it. Ji was purely wliiie, and the skin very 

 white; hail', iliin ami short; short le;;sai d short 

 liead ; small, looped ears; ami on tiie wliule, a 

 beaiililid specimen of the swine. 



Feed. — lie wns taken from the sow .it five 

 weeks old, (the last week in Rlareli,) and duriii^i 

 the month of April hit was fed on skimmeil milk, 

 Willi a little meal, rnuu 1st of May till 1st of 

 Seplemlier, he w.is ftjd (■niircly on skimmed .sour 

 milk. Seplemher and Ocloher lie was fed on 

 hoili'd potatoes, apples, and pumpkins, nlxiiit e- 

 ipial qiiaiiliiies. Iliickened with liarley meal, and 

 thinned wihsour milk. Novemlier and Deceiii- 

 lier he was fed on corn meal seahled, once a day, 

 and hoilcd corn and milk once. He was always 

 kept under covei,and supplied with sods, weeds, 

 brakes, &c. !n uddiiinn to his carea,-<.s, lie made 

 six or eiyht loads of excellent manure. 

 " Yours respeclfiillv, 



"WILLIAM MOORE. 



"This pi;; was fed llnee limes a day till the 

 last two niunths; and durin<; llie last two nionilis 

 only twiei! a ilay." 



As equalling.', if not exceeding Mr. Moore's 

 liojr, we would point the curious to two iniinense 

 elephant swine now (if liviufrl in the keeping of 

 Mr. William Shepherd at the stables of tlie 

 Manchester House, N. II.; it is believed these 

 animals at the age of sixteen months will weigh 

 alive, at least, 800 lbs. each. 



9 Migratiou of Birds. 



Tlin .•igricidlural department of the Gospel 

 ^^ Banner, published at .Augusta, Me., evinces both 

 in its editorials and selections, undoubted ability 

 and good taste. Its editor commenting upon an 

 article npuii the migratory habits of birds, recent- 

 ly appearing in that excellent agricultural journal 

 the Maine [''ariner, concludes as follows: — 

 "There is somelliing mysierions about this. 

 ^ We wish the Doctor would evplain the m ilier 



^ ,inoie fully. No one is more cimipetent than he 

 lo do this. The hobo lincohis come lo iheiVorlh 

 to hreed, and are a diU'erent bird here, llian they 

 are after returning lo ihe iSoulli. In autumn they 

 appear in immense niimliers on llie Didauare 

 Uiid oilier marshy rivers Soinli, anil there ihcy 

 ■^ are clad in a gray suit and are called the reecf- 

 birds. Tlicy are the liiltest, plumpest lilile things 

 we ever saw. We ate snme at our friend's table 

 in Philadel|)hia this Fall. Tiny are t« birds what 

 Binelts are lo fish — you must eat right through 

 (hem wilhout regard lo hones. The Pennsvlvji- 

 niaiis cannot have a rcspiciahle bob-o-lincubi an 

 Biich. They catch, imprisiui and lame llieui ; hut 

 lievercan they induce them when Ihe next Spring 

 collies to put on such regimenlal coals and black 

 gaiters as Ihey wear in New l'',n;;land, nor can 

 the iiiales be made to sing so .-piilleriiigly. 



What becomes of llie sivallov.s and niarlins? 

 Do Ihey miuraie Soiilii ? If so, why do we in'V- 

 pr see the thicks of them moving over head lo- 

 Warils the Soiklh, as we do other liirds of passage 

 — the pigeons, the ducks, geese, &c.? We can 

 •M tbem go ; but do ou« ever mw flock» of Qiar- 



tiiiR travelling South. Nor are we apprised of 

 any place at the Soiilli «lii re lliey are ever seen 

 in winler. Here ihey gather, as the Doctorsay.«, 

 on church sleephs. A:c. lur a fi'W days, and some 

 afieriiooii ahoiii dusk, a cry is given, they all start 

 — but »vliere, the Lord kiiov\.~. Our o«n opin- 

 ion inclined lo llie doctrine of hypernaiioii. We 

 leciillecl some years ago, some respcciable, sei- 

 eniific men in Washinjilou testified that Ihey saw 

 fliicks of marlins arise Iriiin .-i bog in the spring. 

 Are they nut imbedded in iiind all winier, even 

 amon^'sliis? They come in a day, and that a 

 pleasant day — such a ilay as they could not elect 

 to appear at their old liomes, if ihey had been on 

 a seven daysjnmney liom the Sonili liiiber. 



" .\s lor roliins, v\e are qniie sure they never 

 go away from us. Il is not uncommon to see 

 them in our iMaiiie (iiiestsall winter. Pleasant 

 days bring lliem oiil." 



Indeeil, friend, (says Dr. Moluies, in a sub.se- 

 qiieiit numlier of the Fai mei) how can we explain 

 w hat has hiilierlo been inexplicable ? Simple anil 

 Well know n as is the f;u-l thai many birds cliaime 

 llieir plumage beliue migialing, llie why and llie 

 wherefore has never yei been explained, and 

 probably never will be. Our friend inclines lo 

 the old idea that swallows and mailins — the 

 swiliest of all birds on the wing — and which, 

 while the season of summer lasls, skim the air 

 like a ;;leam of li;:lil, never resting upon, or hav- 

 ing aiiylliing to do wiili ihe water, do neverthe- 

 less plunge into it ami burrow down in the filthy 

 mud, like a base craw lin;; reptile, ami there spend 

 eight monllis of the year in a lifeless state as it 

 were. 'J'fiis is not aeenrding lo the laws of na- 

 ture, any way you can fix if. Because f hey are 

 eminenlly filled Iiv n.'ilure lur birds of passage. 

 In (iirly-i iglil hours time they could waft lliem- 

 S(dv(.>s hdin iVlaiiie lo the very lie:iri of lln.- tropics. 

 Be(;aiise ihcy are in no sense aiiipliihlons animals, 

 as lliey niiisl be if ihey plimj:e(l llieniselves into 

 llie mud wiili all their life and aclivily and liiciil- 

 ties at the time, if they went there at all. Be- 

 cause such is their specific- gravity that »Jiey 

 couldn'i sink in water. Because they have been 

 and may he seen in tnqiical regions dming our 

 wiiiler nionlhs. Because lliey have never been 

 seen going into the mud — remaining in the mud 

 — or coming out of the mud. If any as>ert the 

 same, they must either tell what ihey know lobe 

 fiil>e, or be m^'st essf'iilially deceived themselves. 

 No — no! Il is a libel on the v\isilom of Deiiy, 

 whose works, in every paniciilar, manifest the 

 most accurate adaplaliou of means to ends, to 

 suppose any ihing like il. Would il iiol he 

 siran;je indeed, lo rind that, while the brant .•mil 

 the goose and numerous other species of biid.«, 

 whose life is spent in the wafer, and which are 

 seldom or never seen on land, do, at slated peri- 

 ods, leave their place of sojnmn and lake a long 

 and weary fiight lo the soiilli on the approach of 

 winter, the swallow and iiiarlin, which are as 

 perfect in their organization as any oiher bir<l.<, 

 and wiiose habits of life lead lliem so t)ir from 

 the water, that ihey seek the company of man and 

 iiiiild nesis and rear llieir young under roofs of 

 his creeling, where they can be sheliered even 

 from the dews and rains of heaven, sliould .'ill at 

 once, wilhout any change of organization, — any 

 preparation whatever, bury themselves down .■'O 

 deep that neither sunlight nor air can reach 

 lliem, and there lie tvvo-iliirds the year? that they 

 should iliiis become companions lo wailing frogs 

 and niopin<: turtles and toi piil lizards, animals 

 which (lod has expressly filled tor such a slate of 

 Illinois by coldness of blood, slogi'lslincss of cir- 

 co'aiion, and organizalion leipiiring bin lillle 

 c<iiisiiinpliiin of common air ? Siieli a nolion is 

 a lilii'l upon the swallow anil a blasphemy against 

 Nature. 



Friiiii llic- Alliaiiy Ciillivaliir. 

 The Uistrict School House. 

 Mk. TiiCKEii — III one of our recent exi'ursioii.", 

 we chanced to pass through a region, which has 

 lor a long time been more than ordinarily (even 

 lor the present progressive a^ic,) celt-hrated li'i* ils 

 intelligence and agriciiliiiral cnlerpii»e. The 

 broad and beautiful street ihroligli which wr pas- 

 sed, was separaleil from the ailjiiining fields by 

 .~ull^lallllal fences, along whose line, lull trees of 

 rich varieiy were scallered in nnliroken nrilcr as 

 (iir as the eye could trace Hie wiiiilinus of the 

 graceful avenue; and their linn arms gave assiir- 

 anus, M ihey emended tlieuieelves into the iieili- 



er atinosphere, that they would ere long meet 

 their li-lluws and join in an umbrageouB unioii 

 until ihe whole range of their dominion should 

 be transformed into a proud alcove with verd.'.nt 

 canopy. The neighhorin;; fields were in rayed ill 

 rich habiliuienis ; and ihe dwellings ro.-e pleas- 

 antly from well filled parierres where fruit ireea 

 and shrubbery of all varieties beautifully blend- 

 ed. 



There was one object in this parnpli.inalia of 

 beamy and prosperity which in a pailicular inan- 

 neratlracied my ailenlion, inasmuch as il gave 

 more decisive evidence of a provident care for 

 Ihe liilnie than any we have noiiced. This was 

 iliei " dislricl school house." Smile not, ve sons of 

 affluence, who diMlain to haveyoiir cliildren imn- 

 ;;le wiih the crowd around yon, and who niiisl,if 

 they oblain all ediicalion, receive it in a more vo- 

 lupiiious way. 'Ihrow not aside your paper, 

 s-eiitle reader, nor veniiire the unpremedit.n- 

 led remark that yon '■ vyish to hear nothing 

 on the subject of common schools." The 

 topic, however unman.i^ieable and nnmanaged it 

 may be in our hands, is one of vilal interest lo 

 the well-being of siieceeding generations, and 

 the gruwing pids|ieriiy of our whole country. 

 Yes, despise llie liumhle abedes where knowl- 

 edge ill ils most iinpreiending character iitilocks 

 the mind, ami sheds its Immhlest, mildest rays, 

 if yon choose ; ijipy are the liiuntains of knowl- 

 edge after all, where the great mass must come 

 and take their earliest draiiyhls, if they ilrink at 

 all. Annihilate lliem, if you will, and you des-^ 

 troy one of the firuiot pillars that support the 

 loliiest dome of our country's glory — the intelli- 

 gence of the whole people. 



Bill vp have ilieres>ed liom tlie proposed Sllb- 

 jeci — thrit sihool house, located in the midst of ru- 

 ral llirill and lovelintss. It wastlie central slone 

 in a rich infiying of choice diainond.s, Ils exier- 

 nal appearance gave as-iiraiice of comfiMl, and so 

 much nealness levealid by ils freshly painted 

 white walls, erected in true volhic slyle, ii.- large 

 windows adorned and protecled by li^l.t yreen 

 blinds, that we fell an inclinaiion lo view lis in- 

 ternal arrangement. I'ei mission beiiiir granted, 

 we went ill, and found that a principle lieyontl 

 oiii^ide show, had lieen carried out in the com- 

 pletion of the building. The seats and desks 

 were arranged in a manner admirably adapted to 

 the comfiirt and eoti\ enieiice of both teacher and 

 scholars. The walls neatly papereil, ami adorned 

 al inlcrvals with maps and lii>lorical paiiilings, 

 gave a filler semblance of a picture gallery, than 

 of many of our modern schnol houses, with bro- 

 ken and smoky wiills. On one side of the hiiihl- 

 iiig stood the school library, in a neat but simple 

 ca.se, containing books enongli on various topics 

 to (iirnisb the children of any iiei^lilii.rhood with 

 what would once have been termed iijiuishcdvd- 

 iicatinn. aller the arl of reailing was once acquir- 

 ed ; and what was very agreeable, these books 

 eave decidedly more appearance of having' been ■ 

 read, than of having been carelessly handled and 

 llirown aside. Diiecily opposite the library, and 

 in a similar case wiili ;:las.r doors, was a small but 

 choice colleclion of minerals, with which, as 1 

 was infiuuied, ihe leacher was in the habit of 

 talking to the whole school, in explanation of ihe 

 sciences to which ihey relate, for a few miniiles 

 al the close of llie school, iu;ce or twice in the 

 week. What valuable funds of knowledge may 

 thus be galheied up by the w.iy side, as it were, 

 il may he an act of liilly to predict ! 



Bui one ihing in the exti'rnal arriligement of 

 this establisliinent, in our zeal for a view of the 

 internal, has been omillecl, w hid. is worihy of 

 notice. Il was the iieiii and somew hat spacious 

 yard separaling it from ilie public ihoronghltire, 

 and bouiiib d on the iierth and west by a lovely 

 grove of nature's own plaiilirig. This yard was" 

 well laid out in wiHks and adorned by trees, and 

 shrubs, and plants, liiini every cbme which would 

 stand the onl-iloor evposiire of our uorihcrn wiii- 

 li'is, wilh beaiilifiil flower beds, g.iily ioier>pers-^ 

 ed among them. These rich ronlribiiiions of 

 Sylvia and Flora, as Ihey iiilbrmed us, had been 

 liiriii^hed in part fioiii neighboring woods and 

 yards, and some were the rich tiili offiicndly of- 

 teriii;.'s, be-itowcd by I hose w lio, ihoii;;h absent, 

 were Mill dear. Bui " Ihey uere all planted bijju- 

 veuilc luind.i and niiihircd iii/ juvenile laie.'' Aiid 

 there lliey will remain lor years, perhaps lor a;;(S, 

 the prouii meinorials of jinenile hours gone by, 

 and labors well employed, to cLver aud gladden 



^ ^- ""m. 



