502 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



A GEM. 



With two or three exceptions, we have never 

 read a volume of what is called poetry in course, 

 and probably never shall. Yet we ardently love 

 Poetry ; think we can see it all around us in our 

 daily walks, and constantly feel its force. Many 

 persons have poetic ideas, but He who framed us 

 has seen fit to impart to a few, only, that nice se- 

 lective and discriminating power over language in- 

 dispensable to the true poet. This power must 

 be coupled with an exquisite sense of ryhthm 

 which will move the appropriate language in reg- 

 ular successions, flowing as it were upon the peace- 

 ful currents of the soul, or rousing its energies at 

 will. Johnson and Pope wrote poetry, exact in 

 measure and strong as iron bars ; yet, had they 

 written till this time, they could not have pro- 

 duced anything like the gem we give below. Scott 

 and Byron and Wordsworth wrote beautifully, 

 and passages of surpassing power may be found in 

 them all ; but their great volumes, as a whole, sa- 

 vor too much of the "machine." Mrs. llemans, 

 Tennyson and Motherwell wrote in a different 

 vein — the heart and affections are more apparent. 



We had rather be the author of this nameless, 

 unclaimed effusion, than of many pretending vol- 

 umes. Is n't it a gem ? 



Clear had the day been from the dawn, 



All chequered was ihe sky; 

 Thin clouds, like scarfs of cobweb lawn, 



Filled heaven's most glorious eye. 



The wind had no more strength than this, 



That leisurely it blew, 

 To make one leaf the next to kiss, 



That closely by it grew. 



The flowers, like brave embroidered girls, 



Looked as they most desiied, 

 To see whose head with orient pearls 



Most curiously was tyred. 



The rills that on the pebbles played 



Might now be heard at will; 

 This world the only music made, 



Else everything was still. 



And 10 itself the subtle! air 



Such sovereignty assumes, 

 Tii it it received too large a share 



From Nature's rich perfumes. 



For the JV*w England Farmer. 

 HILL. FARMING. 



Much of the hilly and stony ground of New Eng- 

 land hears in its surface-peculiarities a stron»- re- 

 semblance to the hill country of Syria, which once 

 supp irted a population far greater than we have 

 reason to believe was ever supported by any other 

 land. It therefore becomes an interesting inquiry, 

 how that uneven country was ever made capable 

 of feeding and sustaining such a vast population ; 

 and it is particularly so, when we consider that so 

 much of it remained wilt), even in the day of its 

 greatest prosperity, that wild beasts were very nu- 

 merous, and very dangerous to the property of the 

 shepherds. 



The astonishing fertility of the land of Palestine, 



as an unquestionable fact of history, calls up the 

 inquiry, How was it so? 



The cultivators of our stony hills complain that 

 they cannot raise their lands to great fertility, be- 

 cause they are so washed by the heavy rains. But 

 in this they suffer no difficulty which the people of 

 Palestine were not subject to. The storms were 

 so furious in that land, that the houses, the -ul- 

 lages and cities, were built upon high ground, and, 

 to a good extent upon rocky summits. The storms 

 to which we are exposed, and the washings of our 

 hills, are certainly no worse than those in that 

 celebrated land. 



The peculiarities of their agriculture were, in 

 many respects, the same two thousand years ago, 

 of the other nations of the east. Their implements 

 of husbandry were such as none among us would 

 consent to use. Still, the unquestionable evidences 

 are before us, of the extreme productiveness of the 

 land of Palestine. This we would inquire into. 



Two peculiarities of their management are en- 

 titled to our present attention. The first is, their 

 artificial preservation of their soil from washing 

 down their hill-sides. They did not gather away 

 to a distance the stones that were brought to the 

 surface, and leave the soil to wash off' until anoth- 

 er multitude of the same kind were exposed, and 

 then treat them in the same way. They ridged 

 the stones along the hill-sides, so as to serve as a 

 dam to keep the soil from washing down. Thus 

 they kept the soil from escaping, and -all the de- 

 composition of stones which took place under those 

 circumstances of exposure to air and rain, served 

 directly to enrich the entire soil. This was of far 

 greater consequence than will generally be sup- 

 posed. Every kind of rock is more or less rapidly 

 decomposed by the action of air and rain, and all 

 thus furnish properties which go directly to pro- 

 mote the growth of plants. 



Many of our farmers have been for a long time 

 casting every stone inio some place of imprison- 

 ment, as though it never was to be regarded as 

 anything else than an intruder upon the hill-sides. 

 Their attention will be called to the question of the 

 service which these intruders offer to the soil, 

 when disposed of in the manner described. 



Another of the peculiarities which I wish to no- 

 tice, is that of fuit growing. In no land has the 

 cultivation of fruit been more thoroughly attended 

 to. The kinds of fruit which could be produced 

 there were raised in the greatest abundance, and 

 must have constituted an important item in the 

 dependence of the people. And in tl e cultivation 

 of fruit trees and vines upon their hill sides, they 

 bound the s> il together with millions of minute but 

 efficient stays. The history of ancient days, and 

 of the favor which rested upon Israel, even "Health 

 \.\d peace," is yet with us, and from it we may 

 draw instruction. \\ hen the 1 ill-farmers of New 

 England shall take such measures to pres< rve the 

 soil, and produce the necessary food for the sup- 

 port of man, they will rise to a high rank among ' 

 earth "s teeming millions. c. 



Mason, N. H., March, 1852. 



Carrots. — From exjirience in their growth, 

 and a close observation of tl eir effects, we uie pre- 

 pared to say, that tl is is one of the best roots 

 grown for the food of milch cows — and are justi- 

 fied in affirming, that the carrot is a highh nutri- 

 tive root — that milch cows, fed properly v> ith it, 



