THE GENESEE FARMEJI, 



255 



and rude, and to engage in pursuits and pleasures fit 

 only for the brute. While one accustomed to the 

 opposite course, moves with ease surrounded by such 

 objects; the relish of his soul has been formed to 

 find enjoyment there; and he exhibits a sensibility, a 

 refinement of manner, not found in those of an oppo- 

 f-ile character. And the mind thus conversant with 

 tlie beauties of nature, will be better prepared to 

 relish moral beauty. AVhile it looks through nature 

 up to nature's Uod, conscience will recognise in virtue 

 that which should command esteem. And the mind 

 will bo better prepared to derive enjoyment from all 

 the works of God. 



The worldling may complain that the time spent 

 in cultivating flowers is wasted, and that it fosters 

 idleness, and leads to the neglect of more important 

 business. But this is false; a cultivated taste is more 

 generally the ally of industry. Seldom do you find 

 Sie tenants of a cottage tastefully adorned with 

 shades, and flowers, and evergreens, among the idle, 

 lounging around taverns or gambhng saloons, or the 

 inmates of the poor-house. The man of taste em- 

 p'oys his leisure moments in these pursuits; while the 

 fault-finder spends his in sleep, in idleness, or in slan- 

 dering his neighbor. And thus, while his business 

 thrives, his cottage and garden assume an air of neat- 

 ness and comfort; and his children, instead of being 

 left to patrol the streets in search of company or mis- 

 chief, are taught to find enjoyment amid the beauties 

 with which they are surrounded, and to engage in 

 the active labor of adorning their homes. The trees 

 and flowers cultivated with their hands, become, as it 

 were, the companions of their childhood; and an at- 

 tiu.bment is thus formed for home, that holds in check 

 the restless, roving disposition often manifest in those 

 brought up without such influences or restraints. 

 Habits of industry are thus cultivated, that are the 

 precursors of success in future. And the influence 

 thus exerted will spread, and become, as it were, con- 

 tagious. As inanimate objects act upon the miud, 

 so one mind will act upon another. The influence 

 will extend from one cottage to another, and each 

 ■will vie with others in their efforts to remove deformi- 

 ties apd cultivate the beautiful. And who will say 

 that society will not be rendered happier ? 



Children are generally fond of flowers, and in the 

 forming period of life it needs but little effort to give 

 a right directiop, in this respect, to their feelings. 

 The exertions of the parent seem only seconding na- 

 ture in her struggles tor development. But, alas ! 

 how many opening germs are crushed by the though t- 

 k'S3 and unfeeling parent ! The love of gain having 

 effaced from his mind the love of the beautiful, and 

 blunted the finer feelings of his soul, he would fain 

 destroy the same in his offspring. He thus not only 

 robs them of their inherent right — a love for the 

 beauties of nature — but he robs society of the influ- 

 ence they might exert in cultivating what is attrac- 

 tive and beautiful. Instead of training them up to 

 become the benefactors of mankind, he would fain 

 wrap them up in selfishness, and inculcate the feeling 

 that the acquisition of wealth is the great end of man's 

 existence. But such is not the part of wisdom. 

 Among other preventives of idleness, vice, and prof- 

 ligate manners, let the parent instil into the mind of 

 his child a love of the beautiful and sublime. "While 

 he trains him up to industrious habits, let him teach 

 him, both by precept and example, to cultivate those 

 little adornmeuts that render home attractive. Flowers 



are the alphabet of nature; from them we may read 

 the glory of the Creator of all things — the wisdom 

 that planned and formed the universe. While their 

 influence tends to soften and refine the feelings, they 

 point us upward to their great original. Who, then, 

 will not love flowers, and learn to admire their beauty? 

 Who will not adorn his cottage, his garden, and his 

 yard with these gems, and thus set an example for 

 others to imitate ? Hubert. 



: APPLE TREE CATEEPILLAES. 



Messrs. Editors : — I have noticed the apple tree 

 worm as being vastly more numerous this season 

 than usual, in this vicinity; and 1 also notice, at this 

 time, there are hundreds of them attached to the 

 underside of rails on the fences near the orchards; 

 they being dead, hanging about half the length 

 loosely, while the other half (the posterior half,) are 

 clinging with considerable tenacity. They are full 

 grown, and their skin is apparently empty, or nearly 

 so. I call your attention to this phenomenon for the 

 purpose of making the inquiry, is it generally so, and 

 what is the cause ? Has this circumstance been 

 noticed previous to this year, or is it confined wholly 

 to this immediate vicinity? D. 



Gates, JY. JY. 



GAKDENIKG AT THE NORTH POLE. 



"WoEN the late Sir E. Parry was wintering in the 

 Arctic circle during 1821, scurvy, the great enemy of 

 the polar voyager, was kept at a distance by the us« 

 of antiscorbutics, liberally supplied to the expedition. 

 To these was added a reguls^r growth of mustard and 

 cress, in boxes filled with mould, which, owing to the 

 superior warmth of the ships, was now carried on a 

 larger scale than before. An amusing incident is cou- 

 nected with the preservation, during the voysge out 

 of the mould in which these vegetables were grown, 

 While the ships were detained at Kirkwall, a boat 

 came off to the " Fury " with some sackfuls of earth, 

 which the ship's carpenter (an Aberdeen man, who had 

 formerly belonged to the merchant service) was ordered 

 to stow away below. At this he yeutvired somewhat 

 to grumble, and to question the utility of the article 

 in question. "Never mind!" says his mate, Johx 



p.^ , from whom the account comes, " never mind ( 



Depend on it the Captain has something in his head, 

 and it '11 be all right !•" The obnoxious sacks were, 

 accordingly, stowed away, but, during the voyago 

 across the Atlajitic, Ihey proved too much for the car- 

 penter's patience, and, at length, he ordered P to 



throw the lumber overboard, as a mere fancy on the 



part of the Captain, no longer remembered. P >• 



shook his head, but his superior was determined, and 

 away went the bags. — not, however, into the sea, but, 

 at ail events, out of sight. Days and months passed, 

 and the affair was forgotten. Winter Island was 

 reached, and the ships were frozen in. One day aa 

 order was given to the carpenter to provide some long, 

 shallow boxes. This done, — "Now, then, my man," 

 says the Captain, " for those sacks of earth! " Down 

 comes the unfortunate carpenter to his mate, in a state 

 of ludicrous perplexity. " Eh ! P— -, but what will 

 we do, man? here's the shipper singing out for the 

 sacks we heaved overboard!" "We, indeed!" says 



P , "but never mind, it's all right; they never 



went overboard at all ! " and, doubtless, many of hia 

 messmates had cause, at Winter IJand, to be grateful 

 to him that it was all right. — Memoirs of Sir W. M, 

 Parry. 



