154 



®!)e Javmcv's iHoutl)lij iJisitor. 



For the Farmer's Moiitlily \ isiior. 

 House Plants. 



Ill our cold ;ind v;ii'mlilu crmiate llie tender 

 plants of warmer cliinatts are ajJl to lie lilifjlited 

 and destio_\ed even in our lionses : and tlie liurd- 

 ii r spec-iK:5"tlial are more at home rrciinenliy snf- 

 Irr from tin; oliangealile re^iion of our eliniate. — 

 Green lionsi-s, as \\e term thi:iii, prodiiee plants 

 iiiid llower:^ superior in lieanly to tliose raised in 

 llie open air, or in tlie windows ot'onr dwellin!.'?, 

 Oivin^- no ilonlit to tlie mori' iinilbrm tempera- 

 ture kept lip and tlie inoistiire oC tlie atmosphere, 

 .whii-li is retained, and maintained hy the j^lass. 

 Jiiit it is within the leaeli of persons loud of 

 plants to equal if not surpass the green house, 

 liv ylass cases over plants made tij;lit, and placed 

 over them ill their windows. In briek lionses 

 Ihc whole window may he adapted to dowers liy 

 havin;;- a sasli inaile lor llif inside as well as the 

 out, hoili of w liich should he very tijilit or close, 

 so that the space within shall not lis subject to 

 the allerations of temperature, heat and cold — 

 this spare may lie divided by shelves, and these 

 occupied by the ordinary flower pots. In these 

 ]ilaees or i.iiiderti^ht glass cases plants require 

 lint very little water, as the nioislme is slopped 

 by the f;las.s froiii escaping, and thai which evap- 

 oralion carries oif by day from the sun's rays is 

 t.ikeii backasain at iii;;lii. By jjlass cases the 

 Eiiiilish havi: been enabled lo introduce into 

 (iryat Britiaii plants and flowers from India and 

 the rrupics, that perished imiler all previous ef- 

 Ibrls, the ch.iiiL'es ot' teniperatnre ahvays des- 

 troy iiiir them on the passa^'e. Sealed up in a 



ixl.iss can, a I cli of ilowe.rs cut from the stems 



were sent a year or two since from New York 

 across the Ailaiitic ocean as a present to Queen 

 Vicioria, and arrived there in s;ood order. 



Upon the same princi|)le it is that ciiltinj;s can 

 be made to i:rovv under tumblers reversed, and 

 the most difiiciilt, as the Japonica, are thus treat- 

 ed, t.akini,' them ofT at the nijcht season and giv- 

 jii:.' them but liitle snn. 



Tlie quince, the [leach, the pear, and oihor 

 fruit trees may he easily made to strike root from 

 ciininffs taken off in February as for engraftiiij;, 

 and when the root has taken, it is easy lo preserve 

 llicrn. 



For these purposes a small flower jiot with 

 lifiht sandy earth should be used, .'Uid one scion 

 or ciiiiinjr placed in each, over which a tumbler 

 may be revfrsed. 



It i.s needless to say that all the varieties of ro- 

 ses will readil (• firow from slips in this way, and 

 will do best in a window, as the temperature is 

 there more steady than out of doors. 



A LOVP.R OF PLANTS. 



10xP£:Ri:tr;.NT:i AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE 



Pi'.onucTiON OK Butter. — We fiiirl in the tians- 

 iictioiis of the Highland Al'. Soc. of Scotland, an 

 interesting arcunnt, by Professor Trail, of eiylit 

 series of experiments in the prodnciion of but- 

 ter. Tlicfy occupy ten piijres, but we have room 

 only for the principal results. 



I. That the addition of some cold water diir- 

 inir cliiirninj; facilitates the process, or the sepii- 

 ralion of the iiiitler, especially when tln^ cream is 

 thick and tile weather hot. 



'.}. That cream alone is more easily churned 

 tliaii .-i mixliire of cream and milk. 



'■). That bmii-r produced from sweet cream has 

 the finest flavor when fresh, and appears to keep 

 loii;;est withoiu acquiring rancidity: hut that the 

 Inittermilk so obtained, is poor, and small in 

 quantity. 



4. That scaldinjr of the cream, according to 

 the Devoiishire method, yields the largest quanti- 

 ty of butler; whieh, if intended for immediate 

 use, is agreeable to tlie palate and readily salea- 

 ble ; but if intended to be salted, is most liable 

 to acquire, by kee|iing, a rancid flavor. The [no- 

 cess of scalding is troublesome : and the milk, 

 alter the removal of the cream, is poor, and ofien 

 would be unsaleable from the taste it has acquir- 

 ed troni the heating. 



5. That churning the milk and cream together 

 sifter they have become slightly aciil, seems to he 

 the most economical process on the whole, lie- 

 eause it yields a large qiiauiity of excellent but- 

 ter, anil the bmiermilk is of a good quality. 



G. That the keeping of biilter in a sound state, 

 appears lo depend on its being obtained as fipe 

 from niicombined albumen, or casein, and water, 

 ;i3 it can lie, by means of washing and working 

 the Lmlter when taken from the churn. 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 Swamp Land. 



No portion of a tiirm js more profliiclive, or is 

 sustained in fertility at so little cost as that wliiidi 

 has originally been a swamp. These low situations 

 having for a long course of time received the 

 benelils derived ti'oiii the high grounds that sur- 

 round tliiMii in the washing down by the rains of 

 the vegetable matter, from the leaves and decayed 

 timber w liich being sioj^ped, or strained in the 

 passage of the water through the swamps, accu- 

 mulated into Ji deep strata ot' vegetable earili ; 

 and when ibis is opened to the snn and drained 

 by art, it forms the best and generally the deep- 

 est soil. VVilhin the last twenty or thirty years 

 the attention of our farmers has been atlracleil to 

 these [irevioiis waste spots, the long unmolested 

 homes of the frogs and niiiskrals; and every suc- 

 cessful effort, as all have been, has attracted iit- 

 lention, and kindled new desires of imitation and 

 profit in their respeciive neighliorhoods. And 

 these, since agricultural journals have beoonie 

 common, have taken a wider range, and the suc- 

 cessful efforts, on the wings of the welcome 

 sheet, have been spread coextensive with the 

 country. But after all of what has been done, is 

 there not yet mncli to be accomplished? No 

 one cm ride forty miles in onr State, and not 

 witness many sjiots still soaked with water, in a 

 state of unprodnetiveness. How few were the 

 Indians in number, compared lo onr present pop- 

 nlalion ; and yet this disparity, great as it is, is 

 not surpassed by what we arc capable of, com- 

 p uvd wilh the present. 



When all our lauds shall he rendered prodnc- 

 live that now are waste, and those we now till 

 shall be improved to their capacity, then and not 

 until then will New England be full ; and then 

 the overflow of its population may seek new 

 abodes wherever the prospect niriv open before 

 them. Efiorts have been and will doubtless con- 

 tinue to be made to hold out indncements for 

 the virgin soil of the west ami sonihwest; these 

 efforts have drawn iiiany, and will draw more to 

 these regions, led liy the spirit of adventure 

 and hope of gain, so fiiscinaiiiig to youth, and as 

 we, are all of one country it should pain no indi- 

 vidual that such is the case. But ask the travel- 

 ler of the whole globe, inquire of the sojourner 

 of the west or soiitii if he ever saw a people with 

 a larger portion of the elements of happiness, or 

 a sweeter home than is here in fair New Eng- 

 land. 



Before we go deeper upon this point, it may 

 be well to return to the spot whence we started, 

 a .sentiment that many an emigrant has painfully 

 felt when sickness or nnfiiUilled hopes have been 

 his, and the poetry and romance of youth have 

 been supplanted by sober reality. 



In the draining of low lands we have nothins 

 in Ibis coimtry that can compare widi the eftorts 

 in England made upon the (ens and peat bogs of 

 Lincohisliire. Whai we have done has been ac- 

 complished more quickly, for this great under- 

 taking there commenced even heldre this coun- 

 try H'as colonized, and has gone on, and is going 

 on still. Vast sums of money have been expen- 

 ded, and large ipiantities of land equal to any in 

 the Island, liaVH been rendered produciive.' A 

 nnniber of rivers falling into this level, which is 

 as low as the adjacent ocean in many parts, has 

 presented great diflicnlties ; but most of these 

 by drains, dykes, and Anally by steam, have been 

 overcome. This last contrivance is an cnormons 

 wheel with capacious buckets; this is tinned by 

 means of a steam engine, and elevates the water 

 of a vast tract of cuiiiilry, which is conducted to 

 this point by drains, overa dyke, whence it runs 

 off leaving the fertile laud in a stale for cultiva- 

 tion. 



Onr connlry is not yet so thickly settled as to 

 justify such an undertaking even if we had a 

 similar tract of bog land. But sncli success is 

 calculated to animate us to accomplish what we 

 may have to do. We have very many swamps 

 and wet meadows which could be easily laid dry, 

 at a small expense of labor, which could be a|i- 

 plied when we could do hardly any thing else. 

 Too often wp are prone to look far a\\'ay lor ben- 

 efits that could be equalled or surpassed by others 

 found at our doors, and it is worth the attention 

 of each of us who has slid witliiii bis fences a 

 piece of low wet land, whether in bushes or clear- 

 ed, to try if it cannot be rendered more produc- 

 tive, and if money conid not be better iip[ilied in 



draininu- it than by the purchase of addiliona 

 acres. " HOME IMPKOVEMENT. 



Harvest Hymn. 



God of the rolling yenr! to tliee 



Our song shnll rise — whose beauty pours 

 In nnny a goodly gilt wilh free 



And libcr.Tl hand our Autumn stores j 

 No firstling of our flocks we slay — 



fVo soaring clouds of incense rise — 

 But on thy hallowed shrine we lay 



Our grateful heart in s.icrifiwe. 



Born of thy breath, the lap of spring 



Was heaped wilh many a blooming flower; 

 And smiling summer joyed to bring, 



The sunshine and the gentle shower ; 

 And .Autumn's rich luxuriance now, 



The ripening seeds, the bursting shell, 

 And golden sheaf, and liulen bough, 



The fulness of thy bounty tell. 



r^o menial throng, in princely dome, 



Here wait a titled lord's behest, 

 But many a fair and peaceful home 



Hath won tliy peaceful dove a guest j 

 INo groves of palm our fields adorn — 



No myrtle shades or orange bowers — 

 Cut rustling meads of golden corn, 



And fields of wavaig grain arc ours. 



Safe in thy care, the landscape o'er, 



Our flocks and herds securely stray ; 

 JNo tyrant master claims our store — 



No ruthless robber rends away — 

 No fierce volcano's withering siiower — 



No fell simoon with poisonous br«atli — 

 Nor burning suns with baleful power. 



Awake the fiery plagues of death. 



And here .shall rise our songs to thee, 



Where lengthened vales and pastures lie, 

 And streams go singing wild and free, 



Beneath a iilue New Fngland sUy j 

 Where ne'er was rear'd a mortal throne. 



Where crowned oppressor never trod, 

 Here — at the throne of heaven alone, 



.Shall man in reverence bow to God. 



Female Dress. — The following remarks .".re 

 from one who oiiglit lo be good authority on 

 such subjects — the Countess of Blessington :— 



What a multiplicity of pretty things we wo- 

 men require to render us what we consider pre- 

 sentable ! Biid how few of us, however good 

 looking we nitiy chance to be, would agree with 

 the poet, that "loveliness needs not the foreign 

 aid of ornament, but is, when unadorned, adorn- 

 ed the most." Even the fairest of the sex like 

 to enhance the charms of nature by the aid of 

 dress, and the plainest hope to become less so 

 by its assistance. 



Men are never sufficiently sensible of onr lui- 

 mility, in considering so necessary to increase 

 our attractions in order to please them, nor 

 grateful encigh for the pains we bestow in the 

 attempts, liusbands and fathers are particular- 

 ly insensible to this amiable desire on the parts 

 of their wives and daughters, and when asked lo 

 p.-iy the heavy bills incurred in consequence of 

 this praiseworthy hnmility.and desire to please, 

 evince any feeling rather than that of satisfaction. 

 It is only admirers, not called upon lo pay these 

 said hills, who duly appreciate the cause and ef- 

 fect and w ho can hear of women passing whole 

 hours in tempting shops, without that elongation 

 of countenance peculiar to husbands and flilh- 

 ers. 



1 could not help thinking with the philosopher, 

 how many things I saw lo-d.ay that could bi^ done 

 wiihout. If women cculd be made lo under- 

 stand that costliness of attire seldom adds beauty, 

 and often deteriorates it, a great amelioration in 

 expense could lie accomplished. 



Transparent muslin, the cheajiest of all ma- 

 terials, is one of the prettiest, loo, for summer's 

 wear, and, with the addition of some bows of 

 delicate colored riband, or h bouquet of fresh 

 flow ei s, forms a most becoming dress. The low- 

 iic.ss of the price of such a robe enables the pur- 

 chaser to have so frequent a change of it, that 

 even those who are far from rich may have lialf 

 a dozen, while one single robe of a more expen- 

 sive material will cost more ; and having done 

 so, the owner will think it right to wear it more 

 freqnentlv than is consistent with the freshness 

 and purity that sliiuild ever be the dislingnishing 

 cliaraeteristics in female dress, in order to indem- 

 nify herself for the expense. 



I was nevermore struck witb this fact than a 

 short time ago, when I saw two ladies seated 

 next each other, both young and handsome, hut 

 one, owing to the freshness of her robe, whicli 



