54 



€l)e iTanner'g iUonti)lt3 llisitor. 



name of the love apple. The polatoe took root 

 ill Ireland, and it was observed that the Irish 

 were a very loving people, and had the niost nu- 

 merous as well as robust families of children,--- 

 no " cheese paring" progeny they. About this 

 time and doubtless in reference to this supposed 

 virtue in the potatoe, we find merry Jack Fal- 

 staff, with a Windsor wife upon each arm under 

 the spreading oak, ejaculating "let the sky rain 

 potatoes" and thunder to the tune of "green 

 sleeves." With its own merits, these winning at- 

 tributes and the wants of man, the potatoe at 

 length became a universal favorite in Europe and 

 in this connlry. It has become beyond that of 

 any other root an essential in domestic econouiy. 

 It has no doubt increased greatly the inhabitants 

 of the earth, and mitigated in a large degree the 

 occasional distresses and famines from destroyed 

 crops of corn; for this root thrives best in tliose 

 wet .seasons that blight and mildew the wheat and 

 the corn. The potatoe too is successfully grovvn 

 where Indian corn cannot be matured, and in 

 fact it grows best in moist and cool climates. In 

 this State and in Maine it is a great article, and it 

 comes to greater perfection than in the Southern 

 more sunny ami dryer climates. Ireland is fam- 

 ed also for good potatoes, and her clim.ite, moist 

 and cool, seems extremely well suited for its pro- 

 duction. Maine, to a very considerable extent 

 in common with a portion of this Slate, exports 

 large quantities of this root to southeri; markets, 

 and must, it is believed, continue to do so for 

 years to come. The people of the Atlantic 

 southern cities look to us for their winter supply 

 as a matter of course, but they have a resource 

 in their mountain ranges west of them that may 

 in lime rival this supply. As line potatoes as 

 can be found in this or any other country grow 

 in the upper glades of llie Alleghany range, 

 where even in Penn.sylvaiiia and Virginia it is 

 too cold for the ripening of Indian corn. Here 

 also is found the oat, vieing in weight almost 

 with wheat, and no doubt ecpialling the famed 

 oats of Scotland which grow there also in the 

 mountainous districts. The vast resources and 

 latent wealth of this great mountain range will 

 yet be unfolded. Inexhaustible coal mines, iron 

 mines, as well as fertility of soil, in a climate 

 pronounced by Volney to be the best in our 

 country, yet wait the lievelopement of the hand 

 of man. These resources are however advan- 

 tageously located ; like the torrents they now 

 divide, their productions will pour down upon 

 our eastern and western cities ; the great article 

 of fuel, and all the products of fiom above and 

 below the surfiiceof the earth, the potatoe among 

 them. It is thought by many that it is time that a 

 new variety of this root should be brought forth 

 from the seeds from the ball. This root, like the 

 apple, &c. is believed to have its age, and decline. 

 Old men will recollect when |iotatoes now gone 

 were the preferred kinds for the table. The old 

 fashioned red, the inner skin of which was of 

 a scarlet color, and the old English whites, are 

 now no where seen, or but rarely. They have 

 been succeeded by other kinds: such as the 

 pink eye, the chenango, ficc. This last kind orig- 

 inated from seed in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, 

 on the Chenango creek, and hence its name. It 

 is about twenty-five years since, and is thought 

 to have past its best days. At about from ten to 

 twenty years from the seed is believed to be the 

 most abundant period, and the sign of degenera- 

 cy is manifested by the potatoe ball which is said 

 never to grow upon a new species. By taking 

 these balls when ripe and sowing the seed which 

 is quite small, small plants may be raised with 

 roots not much larger the first year than large 

 peas. These preserved and planted produce fair 

 sized roots, and the third year ijuite good pota- 

 toes. From the seed in this way a very great 

 variety is produced, in form, color and qualities, 

 the best of which can be saved, and the others 

 rejected, and it is said to be a sort of general 

 truth in relation to potatoes that those having the 

 greatest number of eyes are the most productive 

 and least palatable, while those of few eyes are 

 the reverse, less productive and best for the table. 

 The Chenango is among this latter kind, and the 

 Rohan the former. Let then some of our fiirm- 

 ers of leisure, turn their attention to a new spe- 

 cies. They who in this way promote the benefit of 

 society by new and prolific articles of life and 

 comfort, are among those w ho not only have their 

 sure reward, but benefit their day and genera- 



tion. Would it not do well by a sort of general 

 consent to give to the fruits, or grain or roots, 

 produced in this way, the names of the persons, 

 not only to distinguish the production itself; but 

 to stimulate to exertion ? It is 'my own feeling, 

 and common to many of us to feel gratified and 

 rewarded by this notice, this liiiiie which is bet- 

 ter than the' fame of the conqueror over man, he- 

 cause it has no drawback in human sorrow or 

 sufTering, but goes to promote plenty and pros- 

 perity. 



PLANTI.NG. 



A light soil is best for potatoes ; plant in row.s, 

 three or four feet wide, and the potatoes cut; 

 each piece one foot apart. Select from the 

 largest and best shaped, and also of the pure 

 kind. Potatoes will not mix from growing to- 

 gether in the same hill. When dropped, cover 

 first with strawy or long unrotted manure, and 

 cover with the plough one furrow upon each 

 side. All th.it is afterwards necessary is to run 

 the cultivator or plough between the rows, stir 

 the ground around the shoots, but do not raise 

 the dust around, especially at the last hoeing. If 

 the seed is old, that is, such as produces blos- 

 soms for the vines, it will pay belter than hoeing 

 lo go through the field and cut tiieni off as soon 

 as they appear. With these pre|)arations, good 

 grounil well prepared, anil a good soil, you will 

 have nothing fiirther to do, but to harvest and 

 disjiose of an abundant crop of excellent pota- 

 toes. This is my way of raising, but all other 

 ways are sure and good, provided the seed is 

 good, and plenty of any kind of manure. P. 



Chinese Customs. 



A late writer on China says:— "Gaming pre- 

 vails among the lower orilers ; but so much iii- 

 fiiiiiy attaches to gaiiihlers, that the more respec- 

 table classes of the people are free fiom this taint. 

 They have a ^ayiug, that 'gainhling is allied to 

 robbery.' The venders of iVuit somelimes gamble 

 with piirchasers in the following nianiier: A boy 

 wishes a half dozen oranges. The finit, and 

 half the price demanded for it, are laid down 

 together. Recourse is then had to the dice-bo-v 

 If the urchin throws the highest number, he 

 pockets the money again, and gets the fruit for 

 nothing; if the seller, he in like manner sweeps 

 the stakes, and the di.sappoiiited gamester may 

 whistle for his oranges, or try his fortune else- 

 where. Quails are trained for fighting, and also 

 a species of ciickit. Two of these insects are 

 placed in a bowl tog(!ther, and irritated by a 

 straw, when they attaitk each other with great 

 violence; though the combat does not usually 

 end in the death of either, hut in the retreat of 

 one. Hundreds of dollars are staked on the re- 

 sult of these miniature conflicts; ;.nd large sums 

 are often paid lor victorious warriors. The 

 gamesters fight them fiir cakes; but, in their 

 slang dialed, each cake is understood to mean a 

 certain sum of money. They have another game 

 of chance also— a kind of raffle— in which many 

 stake a small part of the value of something, in 

 consideration of a chance to gain it by guessing 

 its weight, he who guesses nearest is enlilleil to 

 it. The butchers often raffle a pound of meat 

 in this way. Dice, cards, and dominoes are all 

 favorite amusements. Their cards are small 

 pieces of pastboard, about three inches long and 

 an inch broad, with red and black characters on 

 their faces. The Chinese chess ditiers in board, 

 men, and moves, from that of India, and cannot, 

 in any way. be identified with it, except as being 

 a game of skill and not of chance. As promo- 

 ters of mirth and conviviality at their merry- 

 meetings, they have the two following auxilia- 

 ries: one of these amusements consists in each 

 one guessing at the number of fingers suddenly 

 held up between himself and his opponent; and 

 the penalty of the loser is each time to drink a 

 cup of wiiie. In still calm evenings, during the 

 cuntmuance of the Chinese evening festivals, the 

 shouts of the common people, engaged at this 

 exciting sport, are sometimes so boisterous as to 

 drown all other sounds. The other festive sport 

 is a handsome boqiiet of flowers, to be circulated 

 rapidly from hand to hand among the guests, 

 while a roll is beaten on a kettle-drum, con spirito, 

 in .III adjoining room. Whoever may chance to 

 hold the flowers at the moment the drum ceases, 

 pays a similar forfeit. Of out-door amusemenls, 

 the most popular is kite-flying. In this the Chi- 

 nese excel. They show their superiority as well 



in the curious construction of their kites, as in 

 the height to which they make them mount. By 

 means of round holes, supplied with vihraiing 

 cords, their kites are made to produce a loud 

 humming noise, like that of a top. The ninth 

 day of the ninth moon is a holiday especially 

 devoted to this national pastime, on which day 

 numbers may be seen repairing to the hills lor 

 the purpose of kite-flying ; and after amusing 

 themselves, they let them fly wherever the wind 

 may carry them, and give their kites and cares at 

 once to the wind. It is said that in ancient limes 

 a kind of foot-ball was introduced into 'the anny 

 of heaven' as an exercise for the soldiers. The 

 game at shuttlecock, in which the feet serve as 

 batlledores, is also a liivorite 'Held sport.' In 

 Pekiii, during the winter, skating, and other 

 amusements on the iee, in which the emperor 

 takes a part, are among the natioii;il exercises. 



"Nothing surprises a Chinese geiilleiMan more 

 than the vohmlary exertion which Europeans 

 impose on themselves for tlie sake of health as 

 well as aniusemeiit. Some Chinese merch.ints 

 were once invited to a ball given by ihe foreisin 

 residents at Mac-iio; and .ifler the dancing was 

 finished, one of the native guests gravely in- 

 quired why they did not employ their servants to 

 act ihis fat"i^niiiig part for them ! In allusion to 

 personal coinlbrt and ease, they say, 'It is belter 

 to sit than to w.ilk; it is better to lie down than 

 to sit; and still better to sleep than to do either.'" 



For the F.irmer's Monthly Vi.sitnr. 

 liBrd Oil, and Lard Candles. 



The readiiie,<s with which our people adapt 

 themselves to a new state of things, or Inrn their 

 exertions into new channels of euiployinent, lias 

 excited the surprise and admiration of the visit- 

 ors from the old setllemeiils of Europe. We 

 are truly a people of all works, and reljing upon 

 resources that liiltil our expectations, we iiiider- 

 lake untried employmenls with confidence, and 

 fiiil not in our expectations. We are called egot- 

 ists, and a vain people by others. Be it so. There 

 is a happiness, a harmless happiness often in vani- 

 ty, and the man or people that think well of 

 themselves are far ))ielt;rable to the timid and 

 those bowed down inspirit. 



Unless our ideas of self-e.stimalion were borne 

 out generally with -some degree of truth, unless 

 experience fVom time to time fortified us in our 

 good opinions of ourselves, we should soon lose 

 That buoyant and confident spirit which marks 

 our people, and which is one of the products of 

 our fVee institutions, our e.xempiion fi-om birth- 

 right honors, and the wihl wave of our ever 

 troubled sea of conflict and exerlion. Where in ■ 

 the annals of any people can be found a parallel 

 to the eft'orts of "the .seamen who went on liiot to 

 the shores of lake Erie, and who wilh their own 

 hands entered the standing forest, li-lled the trees, 

 collected the limber, built the ships, launched 

 them rigiied, and gallantly stood out for the ene- 

 my in ninety diivs? The same men who manned 

 the fleet, aiid triumphed, wer% the axemen, the 

 teamsters, the ship-wiights, Ihe rigger.-, the sail- 

 oiH and the conquerors. This may be deemed 

 perhaps out of place here, but it natmally came_ 

 into my mind as an illustration of the hahils of 

 our people, even our liirming people. 



Encouraged by these considerations we cannot 

 be kept back in "our progress as a people stayed. 

 The barriers will be passed, the difliculties tri- 

 umphed over, and new and productive channels 

 found ("or employment. Among these already, oil 

 and candles tloiii lard is established. Our sur- 

 plus corn if it finds no vent abroad can readily 

 be turned into lard, and our own, and the de- 

 mands of foreign countries siipjilied. 



The number of hogs may be promptly doubled 

 almost in a single year — whole litters of pigs 

 raised instead of being more than half killed 

 when young. Mr. Ellsworth in his report com- 

 putes the value of this new article equal to our 

 cotton crop in ihe South. And although this 

 may, and probahlv does exceed the limit, still it 

 is a cheering prospect. When gas lights were a 

 few years since introduced it was then said that 

 the introduction was fbrtimale, as the whale was 

 becoming scarce ; this monarch of the great deep, 

 this leviathan of the sacred Psalmist has been 

 driven from the frequented oceans into the lati- 

 tudes of the poles, and is scarce even there. The 

 profits of whaliiii: have become very uncertain 

 from the uncertainty of taking them ; and just at 



