70 



^\)c Iavma'5 iUontl)lij llisitor. 



Ploughing. 



Perhaps no pint oCliiisliaudiy is more fiur.iliiir 

 than ploMghitiff, and no pait, us a general rule, 

 more imperleclly ilone. The fariiiprs ol' this 

 country, anxious to gain poj^session of extensive 

 far.-nsi, f;cnerally occupy more land llinii they can 

 command means to cultivate in a proper manner. 

 The consequence is that the ploii;;liing like eve- 

 ry thing else, is done in a hiury ; and therel'ore 

 only half done. 'JMie best fields are ploii'^lied 

 only once, and the hardest twice ; a'Ml what is 

 not cut up is said to he covered up; and hence, 

 ready for the seed. This is all wrong, .nnd in 

 fact,Vuinoiis to the furmer. The invariable rule 

 should be, to cidtivate no more land than can he 

 done well; and in ploughing, to repeal the pro- 

 cess until the soil, to the depth ol a lull, deep 

 finiow, is reduced to a fine mellow texture, 

 whether it requires the process to be repealed 

 ten times or oidy once. The fmrow shoidd also 

 be cut deep enough to tiuii up and thoroughly 

 expose the lower part of the soil, that mineral in- 

 gredients, capa()le of supplying the inorganic el- 

 ements of plants, may be ex|)osud to the action 

 of the air, moisture, »Vc.; and thus (itted for the 

 action of the roots of living vegetables. Such 

 ploughing, continued for a few years, with due 

 care in the addition of proper substances us iiia- 

 nm-es, will convert almost any soil into a fine 

 mellow loam ; which is the state so desirable to 

 every agriculturist. The advantages of leaving 

 the soil in such ac(Midition are, that it affords the 

 greatest facility for the extension of the young 

 roots, and more re.-idily yields to them its 

 noiirisliing qualities; that it more readily 

 absorbs the water which falls on its surface, 

 and thereby prevents it from injuring the lender 

 plants; and it also becomes fit for cullivution 

 much earlier in the spring than a soil that has 

 been left in a hard and compact state ; atid final- 

 ly, its loose, porous texture prevents it from be- 

 coming baked hard and dry in the season ol 

 drought, and it allows the moisture from thesuh- 

 Boil below to rise through it, to sustain vegeta- 

 tion on its surface. All soils should be plough- 

 ed from six to twelve inches deep, for the roots 

 of iTiany plants natm-ully penetrate even ileeper 

 than this.— /;is. 



warning never lo yiclil up u subject for burial sola breach, he firmly grasped her by the hand. By 

 1 .„ ,1.. /..... ..,.;,•_../.„.. ,.!• i;r. ....;..., .,.,,1 ,||jg |j,||g j^^, ^^^^^ [yeen floated down the river 



nearly out of sight of his comrades. ilowever, 



From the Boaton Courier. 

 Danger of Premature Burials. 



■In New Ipswieh, N. II., a girl about eleven 

 years of age, named Clarissa Fox, who had been 

 for some time in declining health, suddenly he- 

 came worse, anil died, to .-dl appearances. The 

 day following, at about the s;ime hoiu- in which 

 her decease took place, n faint color was .seen to 

 tinge her cheek. This led to efibrts to produce 

 re-animation. Day after day pas.se<l. Every 

 means was used that could be (Ipvi.sed for the 

 purpose — cold baths, warm baths, friction, blood 

 letting, blistering, &-c. Food was administered 

 in enemas, as were also medicines calculated to 

 act powerl'ully upon the sysleiti. Hut not the 

 least apparent efl'ecl was produced. No mani- 

 festation of life niipeared except in the daily re- 

 turn of that lainl tinge of color iqioii the cheek ; 

 und this regularly appeared at acerlain ptriod in 

 every day. My father visited the child on the 

 twtnly-mntlnlw) »t\cr ti\Hi went into this state.— 

 Her appearance was in every respect that of a 

 corpse. Of course there was no deconq)o.<ilion ; I 

 but there was every other demoiislralion of death. 

 Several days laler— my ujother thinks four or 

 five, which" would extenil the time to the thirty- 

 thiril or tbirty-lburtb day— at the usual period of 

 the return of slight color to her cheek, the girl 

 revived, and was restored to consciousness and 

 speech. 'I'lie chain in which she had been so 

 long bound was broken. Hut there was not suf- 

 ficient vigor remaining in the system lor perma- 

 nent recovery. Nature was exhausted. She did 

 not appear to be conscious of the lap.se of lime, 

 or of her late condition, but said she was very 

 sick and should die — that she was willing to die, 

 and then expired. 



I have given names and sources of Information 

 in the above narration, because the seeming in- 

 credibility of the story demamls it. 1 suppose 

 the event occurred in 18U1 or 1802, us my liiiher, 

 1 have been told, removed from tin; town in 180.'!. 

 Much earli<!r than that, my sister woidd not have 

 been old enough to recoiled the circumstance. 



The fact of the great length of time during 

 which this girl lay 8|>|mrenlly dsad, should be a 



ong as Mc least indiailion of life remains, and 

 will stimulate friends to the persevering use of 

 means while such indications exist, however liiint. 

 The restoraliun of Kev. William Tennaut to lile 

 and heallh, after he had been apparently dead 

 three or four days, and his friends liail been more 

 ihaii once convened tor his luiieral, is u well- 

 known liict. Fveii his own brother was so (Con- 

 vinced that he was dead, that he became iuipa- 

 lieut at what he thought the folly of the physi- 

 cian in his pertinacious attempts to restore ani- 

 ujation. 



'J'he following account of a practice which to 

 some extent olitains in Gerruany, may furnish 

 nselid hints in this country : 



" In order to gn.ird against premature inter- 

 ments, there is altached to most of the cemete- 

 teries in Germany, a hull, where the dead leniain 

 some time before being coriimliled to the ground. 

 ]u this hall, the body neatly ullired, is laid upon 

 a couch — before the lips is placed a mirror which 

 the slighlpst breath would cloud, and between 

 the fingers a string, which on the slightest move- 

 ment causes a bell in the department of the keep- 

 er lo ring. This hall is visited night and day, 

 hourly, by vigilant inspectors, a.nd it is stated 



THAT NOT A YEAR PASSES THAT THE BELL IS .NOT 



RUNG BY ONE OF THE SUPPOSED CORPSES. Simi- 

 lar precautions s-hould be adopted in every buri- 

 al place in America, indisputable facts conclu- 

 sively indicate their necessity." 



Incident on the .St. Lawrence. 



In the middle of the great St. Lawrence, there 

 is nearly opposite Montreal, an island called St. 

 Helens, between which and the shore, the stream, 

 about thiee quarters of a mile broad, runs with 

 very great rapidity; and yet, notwilhstand- 

 this current, the intense cold of winter invaria- 

 bly freezes its surliice. The winter I am speak- 

 ing of was unusually severe, and the ice on the 

 St. Lawrence, particularly thick; however, while 

 the river beneath was rushing towards the sea, 

 the ice was waiting in abeyance in the middle of 

 the stream, until the narrow liislness between 

 Montreal and St. Helens, should burst and allow 

 the whole muss to break into pieces, and then in 

 stupendous confusion lo hurry down towards 

 Quebec. On St. Helens there was quartered 

 a small detachment of troops, and while the 

 breaking up of the ice was momentarily expect- 

 ed, many of the soldiers, mnftleil up in their 

 great coats, with thick storm-gloves on their 

 hands, and with a piece of tin- attached lo their 

 caps to protect their ears from beijig frozen, 

 were on the ice employed in attending to the 

 road across it to Montieul. Afler a short sus- 

 pense, which increased ralher than allayed their 

 excilemeni, a deep thundering noise annoimced 

 lo iheiii that the process I have described had 

 connuenced. The ice before them writhed, 

 heaved tip, burst, broke iulo fiagmeiits, and the 

 whole mass, excepting a small portion, which 

 remaining riveted to the shore of St. Helens, 

 formed an artificial pier with deep water beneath 

 it, gradually moved downwards. Just at this 

 iMonient of intense interest, a lillle girl, the 

 daughter of an artillery-nian on the island, was 

 seen on the ice in the middle of the river, in an 

 attitude of agony and alarm. Imprudently und 

 unobserved she had atlenii.tcd to cross over lo 

 Montreal, and was hardly half-way, when the ice 

 botli above, below her, and in all directions, gave 

 way. The child's liite seemed inevitable, and it 

 was exciling various sensations in our minds, and 

 various exclamations from the mouths of the sol- 

 diers, when something within the breast of Thom- 

 as Neill, a young sergeant in the 24lli regiment, 

 who happened lo be much nearer than the rest, 

 distinctly uttered to him the monosyllables 

 " (.iiiick march!" ami in obedience thereto, fixing 

 his eyes on the (diild us on a parade bandarole lu^ 

 steadily proceeded towards lici. Sometimes be- 

 f(>re liiin, somelimes just beliiiul him, and some- 

 times on either side, an immense piece of ice 

 would pause, rear up an end, and roll over so as 

 as occasionally to hide him allogether from view. 

 Sonietimi's be was seen jiiiupiiig from a piece 

 that was beginning to rise, and then, like a while 

 bear, carefully clambering down a piece that was 

 beginning lo sink; however, onwanl he proceeds, 

 niiiil reaching the little island of ice on which 

 the poor child stood, with the feelings of calm 

 triumph with which he would have Bunnouiiled 



some of them having run to their barracks for 

 spy-glasses, dislincily beheld liim about two 

 miles below iheni, somelimes leading the child in 

 his band, sometimes carrying her in his arms, 

 sometimes " hailing," sometimes riuiniug '•double 

 tpiick ;" and in ihis dangerous predicauietil he 

 comimieil for six miles, until, after passing Lon- 

 geiiil, he was given up by his comrades as lost. 

 He remained with the little girl floating down 

 the middle of the river for a considerable time; 

 at last, towards evening, they were discovered 

 by some Freuch Canadians, who, at no small 

 risk, humanely pushed nfl' in u canoe lo their as- 

 sistance, and llius resc-ued them both from their 

 perilous situation. The Canadians took them to 

 their home; at last, in due lime they returned to 

 St. Helens. The child was happily restored to 

 its parenis, and Ser^'eanl Neill quietly returned 

 to his barrack."!. — TTic Emigrant. 



From the N. Y. Journal iiT Ciimmerce. 

 The Loafer's Death. 



A PARODY. 



A loafer roamed (lie •Ireels one night. 



The wind was piping Tree, 

 Now soft, now hard did the rain pour down, 

 The loafer drenchf d from foot to crown, 



VVaa ,1 horrid sight lo see; 

 The sleet was Hying athwart the sky, 

 His cronies all went whistling by, 

 And though wilh mud and rain besplashed, 

 Onward still the loafer dashed. 



The loafer thought, and he thought of the past, 



Of gin-slings loved too well: 

 Down the lighted streets his eye he cast, 

 And he gave a sigli as he hurried past 



The steps of a new hotel ; 

 And wretched (drrns did by him glide. 

 Thty scowled .18 they passed the loafer's side, 

 While filmy eyes, bloodshot and grim. 

 Glared fiercely round, and they glared on him. 



Now freshens the gale, and the loafer goes 



Like a staggering steed along, 

 A sheet of mud in the air he throws, 

 As through the storm his way he plouchs — 



But his boots are thick and strong; 

 His coat is closely around him furled, 

 As he onward sweeps through the watery world ; 

 But the sleet, and the rain, and the gnthenog mud 

 Can bring no chill to the loafer's blood. 



Wildlv he rocks, yet he swingeth at ease. 



When a voice calls out aloud 

 That almost makes Ins blond to freeze, — 

 And horrified the loafersees 



A form through the sleety cloud ! 

 Was that a lace looked up lo him. 

 Willi a large red nose, and its small eyes dim .' 

 Uul It beckon him down ? did it call his name 7 

 Now rolleth the loafer the way whence it came. 



The loafer looked, and saw with dicad, 



A face he knew too well ; 

 And the small eyes glared from its swollen head, 

 Whilf Its lidiiy iiaiKl to him was spread, 



Was there a tale to tell ! 

 Away, away, with reeling sjir-cil, 

 The loafer'hurried, as well he need, 

 But plunging tliroujh the muddy tide, 

 'I'hc form was ever by his side. 



Bethink thee, loafer, well of the past, 



\ voice calls loud for thee — 

 There's a sidled oath, the loafer's last, 

 As into the gutter he is cast 



Oh whi.re shall his burial be ? 

 Bclliink thee of oallis that were liglilly spoken, 

 Bethink thee of tocks that were lighlly broken, 

 Bethink thee of all that to thee was fun — 

 For thou art alone — thy glass is run. 



Remember that all animal and vegetable sub- 

 stances when buried in the soil, decompose and 

 form a rich, unctuous mould, which is the proper 

 food for plants. The cause t>f this is the gasses 

 which are generated or which arise during the 

 process of' feriucntation, arc arrested in their 

 progress and absorbeil by the earth, which re- 

 tains and gives them out us rcipiired by the pro- 

 gressive advancement and developii enl of the 

 growing plant. Hy this economy, they are pre- 

 served and not wasted. 



It is however frciiueiilly lb • case that we no- 

 tice ill aiiluinn lands almost covcr.'d wilh decay- 

 ini: vegi'labve matters, which, if "turneil in," and 

 careliilly covorcil would supply as inni'h active 

 uutriineiit as is ordinarily requisite for the sup- 

 port and maturation of most crop.-, or at least as 

 much as they frcipiciitly receive. This is bad 

 economy, at best.— .l/c Farmer. 



