^I)C iTarmer's iHontl)!!! bisitor. 



35 



le.iviiij u considerable spnco tiiiorciipied ; and tlie 

 next ninrneiil Qiiesada, in conijilete general's iiiii- 

 forin, and njonnled on a bright liioron^^ljliieil 

 Enylisli horse, with a drawn sword in hand, dash- 

 ed at (nil gallo|) into the area, in much the same 

 maimer as I have seen a Manehegan liiill rush in- 

 to the aniphitlieatre when the gates of his pen 

 ure suddenly flung open. 



He was tlosely followed hy two mounted offi- 

 cers and at a short distance by as many dragoons. 

 In abnost less time than is sufficient to relate it, 

 several individuals were knocked down and lay 

 sprawling upon the ground, beneath the horses 

 of Quesada and his two friends; for as to the 

 dragoons, they halted as soon as they bad entered 

 ibe Puerta del Sol. Jl was a tine sight to see 

 three men by dint of valor and good borseman- 

 fbip strike terror into at least us many thousands : 

 1 saw Quesada spur his horse repeatedly into the 

 dense masses of the crowd, and then extricate 

 himself in the most masterly manner. 'J'he rab- 

 ble were completely awed and gave way, retiring 

 by the Calle de Cnnmiercio, and the street of Al- 

 cala. All at once Quesada singled out two Na- 

 tionals, who werentteiiiptiiig to esca|ie ; and set- 

 ting spurs to bis horse, turned them in a mo- 

 ment, and drove theju in another direction, strik- 

 ing them in a contertiptuons manner with the fiat 

 of his sabre. He was crying out at the lime, 

 "Long live the absolute Queen 1" wlieu just be- 

 neath nie, amidst a portion of the crowd which 

 had still maintained its ground, perhaps IJoni not 

 having the means of escaping, I saw a small gun 

 glittering for a moment, then there was a sharp 

 report, and a bullet bad nearly sent Quesada to 

 his long accoimt, passing so near to the coimte- 

 naiice of the General as to graze bis hat. 1 l)ad 

 nn indistinct view lor a moment of a well known 

 foraging ca[),just about the spot fjoui whence 

 the gun had been discharged; then there was a 

 rush of the crowd ; and the shooter, whoever lie 

 was, escaped discovery amid the confusion which 

 arose. 



As for Quesada, he seemed to treat the danger 

 from which he bad escaped with the utmost con- 

 tempt. He glared about him fiercely lor a mo- 

 ment ; then leaving the two National.s,who sneak- 

 ed away like whipped hounds, he went up to the 

 young officer who commanded the cavalry, and 

 who bad been active in raising the cry yl the con- 

 stitution, and to him he addressed a few words 

 with the air of stern menace: the youth evident- 

 ly ((nailed before him, and probably in obedience 

 to his orders, resigned the conmiand of the partv, 

 and rode slowly away with a discomtilled air; 

 whereupon Quesada dismounted, and walked 

 .slowly backwards and tiirwards before the Casa 

 de Postas, with a mein which .seemed to bid defi- 

 ance to mankind. 



La C;ranja: Revoldtion at Madrid.— The 

 Granja, or Grange, is a royal country seat, situated 

 ainong pine forest.s,on the'otber side of the Guad.i- 

 rama bills, abnut twelve leagues distant from Mail- 

 rid. To this place the Queen Regent Christina bad 

 reined, in order to he aloof hum the discontent 

 of Ibe ca|iilal, and to enjoy rural air and amnse- 

 iiients m Ihis celebrated retreat, a monument of 

 the taste and masniticence of the first IJonrbon 

 who asceniled the th|-one of Sj)ain. She was 

 not, however, permitted to remain long in Iran- 

 quduy; her own guards were disafiected, and 

 inore mclmed to the principles of the consiitn- 

 tion of 182.3 tlian to those of absolute monarchy, 

 winch the iModerados were atlempiin^' to revive 

 again in the goveinuient of Spain. Early one 

 morning, a party of these soldiers, headed" by a 

 certain sergeant G.ircia, entered her aparlnient, 

 and proposed that she should subscribe her hand 

 to this constinnion, and swear solemnly to abide 

 l)y It. Christina, however, who was a woman of 

 consideralile spirit, refused to comply with this 

 proposal, and ordered them to withdraw. A .scene 

 o( violence and tumult ensued ; but the sergeant 

 still coiitmned Hriii the soldiers at leumli led her 

 down to one of the courts of the pahice, where 

 stood her well known paramour. Munos, bound 

 ami bn.dColded. '-Swear to the consiilutioi , 

 you she rogue!" vociferated the sw.-Mihy .ser- 

 geant "Never!" sai<l the spirited daughter of 

 the Neapolitan Bourbons. "Then your corteio 

 shall die," replied the sergeant. "Ho, ho! iny 

 et ready your arms, and send four bullets 



another moment would have consigned the nn- 

 (iirtunate wight tn eternity; when <;hri.-itina, for- 

 getting every iliing but the feelings of her wo- 

 man's heart, siidilenly started forward with a 

 shriek, exclaiming— " Hold, bold! 1 sign! J 

 sign!" 



Premium Crops in New York. 



I.NDiA.\ CoR.N— i'lW Premium— l^i bitshels per 

 acre. 

 On the sad day of May, 1842, I ploughed Uf) 

 one acre of green sward, for the purpose of 

 planting it with corn. After ploughing it once, I 

 harrowed it well, lengthwise of the furrows. I 

 tlien marked out the ground so that the rows and 

 bills should stand precisely two feet apart either 

 way. On the 25th of the same month, I planted 

 it, and was careful to put precisely three kernels 

 in each hill ; when it was large enough, I hoed 

 it, and continued to hoe it three different times. 

 No other tool was used in the process of hoeing 

 and cutting up ihe weeds, but the hoe; being 

 very careful to keep the weeds and grass down 

 as much as possible, and in hoeing, to leave the 

 ground as near level as possible each lime. 



I permitted the com to stand until it was fit for 

 harvesting, wilboiit cutting or topping. 



Between the lOtli and 15tli of November, I be- 

 gan to husk it, and also to weigh the said corn. 

 I found the aggregate weight from the said acre, 

 in the ear, 13,286 lbs., of a good quality. 



About the lirst day of JaiMiary, 1843,"l thrashed 

 out all the sound corn that grew on said acre, 

 and measured it in a sealed half bushel, and 

 weighed it, and found that it fully lield out 00 

 pounds to the bushel, and it prodiiced me one 

 hundred and twenly-two bushels of good mer- 

 chantable corn. My team and man were occu- 

 pied one day in ploughing the said acre, half a 

 day harrowing, 2 days labor, planting, and Gdays 

 labor, hoeing, and 6 days labor, harvesting, thresh- 

 ing, and weighing. 



122 bushels corn, at 37i cents $45 75 



Expenses 14 OO 



Cost of Cultivation. 

 Plotighing, one day 

 llariowiiig, one half day 

 Thirty loads of manure, and drawing 

 Seed cwn, 12 quarts 

 Planting, two days 

 Hoeing, !fe\en days 

 Nine bushels ashes 

 Two bushels plaster 

 Cutting and shocking, two days 

 Husking and weighing, seven days 

 Horse and hand, with ctiltivutor 



89 bushels, at 37i cents 

 Expenses 



$2 00 

 1 00 

 y 50 



374 

 1 50 

 5 25 

 1 12 



25 

 1 50 

 5 25 

 1 00 



$3(j 74iS 



3:3 37i 



26 744 



lads; 



Ibrongbihe lellow's brain." Mniios was forth- 

 Willi le( to the wall, and compelled 10 kneel 

 down; the soldiers levelled their musket.s, and 



S3 1 75 

 SAMUEL PHELPS. 



Ira, Cayuga co., Jan. 1843. 



frj= The soil on which the above was raised 

 is of a much stronger quality than the common 

 corn land of New England. 



Indian Corn— .S'ccotii Premium— 69 bushels per 

 acre. 

 Ldther Tucker, Esq., Secretary of the N. Y. 

 State Agricnitnial Society: — I send yon a slale- 

 ment ot my crop of Indian corn, "the present 

 season. The laud on which it was raised, is a 

 warm gravelly soil, and has not bad any manure 

 applied for six years. It had been paslnred for 

 the last six years, until fitting for the present <-orn 

 crop. The 30tli day of April, caned and spread 

 upon said piece, nine loads of straw manu/e, and 

 ploughed uiuler. May 2d, carted and spread 

 upon the remainder of said acre, eleven loads of 

 straw manni-e, and ploughed under. .May 5lli, 

 carted and spread upon the furrows, ten loads of 

 rotten manure, and harrowed lengthwise of the 

 furrows. May 'Mi, planted said piece; rows 

 three feet apart each way. The 24th of May, 

 plastered and ashed it, at "the rate of ten bushels 

 to the acre — nine of ashes to one of plaster. 

 June Glh, went tliroiigh with the cultivator each 

 way. June 7th, hoed said piei-e, lint not the 

 corn, for the (iost had cut about tlnee-lburths of 

 it level with the ground. Juiie24lb, went through 

 with the cullivator both ways. June 25tli, hoed 

 it again. July 12th, went through with the cul- 

 tivator both ways. July !.-{, hoed it the third 

 lime. July 15th, sowed on it one bushel of 

 plaster, broadcast. September ]7lli, rut it up at 

 the roots, and put it in siooks. Oct. 1st and ."id, 

 husked and weii;bed the entire crop, which 

 amounted to 8..")40 lbs.; then weighed ,".00 lbs. 

 and put it hy itself. Dec. (Jth, weighed it again, 

 and it weighed 391 lbs. making in the whole, 011 

 the tiih of Dec, C,<;78 lbs. According to ihe 

 weight of Dec. (ilh, there would be eighty-nine 

 bushels of com. allowing seventy-five lbs. to the 

 hnsliel. Seveiity-tive lbs. ol e;u-s of corn will 

 make fifly-nine ilis. of shelled corn— or according 

 to the first weight in Oct., allowing seventy-five 

 lbs., there would be one hundred and thirteen 

 hushejs and sixty-five pounds. The amount of 

 corn fodder was four loads on said fiiccp. 



$f!G3 

 WILLLAM INGELL. 



f'olney, Oswego Co., Dec. 28, 1842. 



Statement of Oats raised on one acre of land, hy 

 Wm. A. KrssELL, o/" Me town of SaUm, county 

 of If'ashington, and State of .Yew York. ' 



The soil is what is generally termed a clay 

 ioam; has been in potatoes for the last five years, 

 with the exception of one yeai-, when it was 

 sowntooals; has had a top' dressing of about 

 fifteen loads of nmniire, well rottec , per year, 

 except this season. None the present yeai. — 

 Sowed about the 25lh of .-ipril, two bushels and 

 three pecks seed, common oats. Land ploughed 

 once, and harrowed with a square harrow, and 

 crossed. Grain reaped between the 1st and 10th 

 of August, yielding fil'ty-eight dozen and six 

 sheaves of oats. Threshed "abnut the 20th of 

 September, producing by actual measurement, 

 ninety-seven tmshelsand four quarts; that being 

 the quantity grown upon, anil the product of one 

 acre. The expense of cultivation is ns follows: 

 One day's work ploughing, sowing and 



harrowing 

 Half day harrowing and sowing 

 Seed, 2J bushels 



Reaping, raking and binding, and cart- 

 ing to barn, 4 days 

 Half day for teatn 



S8 03 



The Rocky Klonutain Indians. 



The following inte|■l•.^ting account of a striking 

 custom among the Indians of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, is fiom the volume of "Travels in Oregon, 

 &c." by T. J. Farham, Esq., now in press: — 



" The Blackfeet and other tribes in the moun- 

 tains, and in the upper plains, have a custom, the 

 same in its objects as was the ceremony of the 

 "toga virilis," among the Romans. When ripen- 

 ed into manhood, every young man of the tribe 

 is expecteil to do some act of bravery that will 

 give promise of bis disposition and ability to de- 

 fend the rights ol' his tribe and family. Nor can 

 ihis expectalioii he disregarded. So, in the 

 spring of the year, those of the age alluiled lo, 

 associate themselves 40 or 50 in a b.-md, and de- 

 vote themselves to ihe duties of man's estate in 

 the follow iiig manner : They take leave of their 

 friends, and depart to some secret place near the 

 woodlands; collect poles 20 or 30 feet in length, 

 and raise them in the liirm of a cone; and cover 

 the struciure so thickly with leaves and boughs 

 as to .securi^ the interior liom the gaze of persons 

 wiihout. They then hang a liesli buffiilo head 

 inside — iie.-ir the top of ihe lodge w here the poles 

 meet; and below this, .-iround Ihe sides, siis|ieiid 

 canip-kellles, scalps and blankets, and the .-l,in 

 of a white biitijilo, as ofli-rings to the Gre.-il .--'p:;- 

 it. .Alter Ihe lodge is thus arr.-mged, they enli r it 

 wilh mueb solemiiily, and commence llie cere- 

 monies which are to consecrale ihemselves In 

 w,-ir, and the destriK-tion of their oun enemies, 

 and ihose of the tribe. The first act, is to scat 

 ihemselves in a i-ircle around a fire biiill in the 

 centre of the lodge, ami " make medicine ;" — lliat 

 is — invoke the preseii(-e and aid of |irolec-ting 

 spirits, by sninking the Grejit Mystic Pipe. Ono 

 of their number fills it with tohaei-o and berlis, 

 plai-es upon the bow 1 a bright coal from the fire 

 within Ihe lodge, draws ihe smoke into his lungs, 

 and blows it hence throngb bis nostrils. Ho 

 then seizes the stem with both hands, and lean- 

 ing forward, touches tiic ground belwccn his fiet 



