60 



^\)C iHU'mcr'5 illcint!]!i} Visitor. 



had a liox fiiM ol' |)i-esent:i, cocoti nuts, oranges 

 and llie lilic ; hikI liftiT the fervor of joy luul 

 aliateil, Ijo .-;at dowu !>y ilie side of |jis iiioiher lo 

 tell lici' '.vluit lie liiul tii.'cii. 



It was .siir|irisiii!;' to h«.'ir what lie had witness- 

 ed: his iiiotljer aliiitist uis!ii;d that >ilie had been 

 lliere to have enjoyed the wonders, lint as Joseph 

 had ever been a lad of triiili she never donhted a 

 Bvllalilc. 



"There I saw," s.iid he, " inotintains of siiL'ar, 

 and rivers of nnri." '• And did you pet any .'" 

 "O yes, our shi|) is loaded with it; and after we 

 had put 10 sea ue saw one ninining a flock of 

 fish, and some of tlieni aliyhled npon the di'elc 

 of the vessel, and the captain had Ihini liicd for 

 his hreakfast.-' 



"All Joseph," said his mother, "I fear yon 

 have ncqniied a had lialiit, to which iriueljers 

 lire sa.d to he adiiictcd. 1 eaii heiieve your hav- 

 ing seen monniaiiis of sugar and rivers of ruin, 

 heeanse these things iiinst be where so ninny 

 ships are loaded with them ; Init as to the flying 

 fish, it pains iiie, iriy hoy, lo hear yon thus at- 

 tempt to impose falsehood npon your mother." 



After tliis, what ran 1 expect? this good vvo- 

 inaii would not believe her own son in what he 

 imdonbtfdiy saw, flying (ish: what chance have 

 I llien uiih flying s!rav\ berries? 



l,el me then, lest I should enter upon my sub- 

 ject too abruptly, tell the re.ider that in the spring 

 of the year JoJ5. business took me as liir south 

 as Baltimore, where in the latter jiarl of the 

 month ol' .May I was joined by u favorite si.<ier 

 Susan. We were desirous ol' seeing the tomb 

 of Washington at Mount Vernon, and repaired 

 on our way thither lo tlie city of VV'asliiiigton. 

 Arriving there late in the afiernoon, we rested 

 the following day to sec the place, and make ar- 

 rangements lor going to the desired spot, which 

 is about fourteen miles below the city on the 

 hanks of the Potnm:ic. 



We had on the niornina after our arrival soon 

 seen ali of theciiy that was interesting, and were 

 told by the waiter at the tavern ;i3 he banded a 

 fine dish of stiawberries, that ihey were very 

 i-u[)erior in flavor, as imich so, he remarked, as 

 the pheasant is to the b'lrii-door chickiMi ; for 

 they arc ihe " flying strawberry," and ipiiie rare 

 in our iHarket. We of course look him for an 

 nrrant wa^', that was di-^posed to have some t\in at 

 the expense of onr credulity ; hut not favoring 

 his hnnior, we did not intpiire. " I never lasted 

 better," said Sue. '■ 'J'his flavor (1 ri!marked) is 

 thecfiifcl of clim.'itp — all liiiils ripen here better 

 than with us." "On my word this looks like a 

 wing," said she holding up a leaf draw n from the 

 edge of the plate; '-see, here is the outer joint ; 

 and hoiv ton'.;li it is." "It is imagination," said I 

 its I took it in my liaml, " but I never saw such a 

 wrng-lnoking h'af before." We made an end of 

 the fruit : onr very hands and handkerchiel's were 

 fragrant uith it — it favored the pine apple, [mt 

 was even more agreeable. 



Travellers when arrested are idler.s: we had 

 an afternoon, a long one, for it was the first of 

 June, to (ill up. '• Can I hire a horse anil chaise ?" 

 said I to the host. "A liorse and gig you mean," 

 be replied: '-you arelidui llie Norili." '■Ay,ay, 

 (I replied) the same thing by a dilfereiit name." 

 '■Yon can be iuriiished with an excellent one." 

 " Let me have it, ilieii,'' 1 added, and it was soon 

 iitlMe door. The altunlaiit at llie table had the 

 horse in hand, and as we were about to start in 

 quest of adventures, my sister said, " w hich way 

 «hall we go to meet with some of tlio.se flying 

 strawberries?" "Take .«oiue of the roads that 

 lead over the liiils near Rock Cieek," ho said, 

 "and you may see llieiii possibly; bat it i.s doubt- 

 fjl, tor they are very shv." A'lil we rode away 

 merry nl llie idea, and as incredulous as our 

 readers. Of every snilablo person as we had 

 got out of the city we inquired tin- road to Rock 

 Creek: rough and hilly it was, hut beaiififol: 

 enthusiaslie we were liS Sir Periinav in pursuit 

 of the pictmesqne; and we fomid it. No pl.-ice, 

 no scenery that 1 have ever seen snrp.-isses, or 

 equals the borders of this pure, this constant 

 stream; stream i:i this coimiry, hut it would he 

 called a river in Enghuid, for it equals the 

 Thames in size. 



As we uoiind idonir, one view afler aliolhrr 

 opened. Hero we wound through a dense liiresi 

 of pine; tliero openeil a loii:r pallisade of rocky 

 lianks covered uiih the ever verdant laurel. 



Crossingtlie Liireani wberethe buscv mill uheel 



W!i9 turning and tlirowhig off its spray in the nf- 

 ternoon rays of the sun, we soon attained the 

 open eoimtry npon the other side, and were in 

 the midst of hills and pastures » here the land 

 was cirt.iied of wood. Just as we were coming 

 under the coi-er of a beaiitiiid thorn hedge, 

 .Susan enquired, "what are those children after? 

 See, (pointing to an adjae«;it fleld) how warily 

 ihcy are creeping;" and so they were. I will 

 now insert a copy from my journal. 



"1.5/ /loip, 1825. This afternoou in our ride 

 near Washington city in t!ie IJisIrici of Colum- 

 bia, which was formerly a part of the Slate of 

 Aiaryland, we saw about a dozen children tioiii 

 eight to twelve years of age creeping very care- 

 fully round a little rise of ground. As we were 

 at that moment shut in by a hedge, I stojiped the 

 horse tinil stood up, when the children set up a 

 shout and commenced riimiing towards us. A 

 moment alter we saw something like a swarm of 

 biiiteifiies carrying a fi^hiiig net at least a quarter 

 of a mile long and coming directly towards us. 

 The boys cried out 'cut 'em down !' and as they 

 c.ime over, just clearing the hedge, I cut away 

 with my whip as tiist as i could strike and sepa- 

 rated a large number of flying strawberries from 

 the rest, of the same kind we had eaten for onr 

 desert at dinner. These singular animals or 

 vegetables are about the size of the common 

 sirawheriv, of a deeper red color, and very high- 

 ly flavored. Two berries grow opposite each 

 otiier and are furnished with a pair of wings. 

 They are on a little stem about (our inches long, 

 at each end of which is a tendril, little roots or 

 libellers coming out the whole length. 



They cimiiot, as the boys said, Ay separately, 

 hut on the aoproaidi of danger they unite them- 

 selves and go clean off to another place. We 

 got about a pint of ihem that I cut doun with the 

 coveiing whip, and for which, as the hoys started 

 the flock, I gave the lads two and three pence to 

 diviile among them. They said that if it had 

 not been for the noise made by the carri.ige they 

 would have got quarts (d' them as they would 

 have taken them separate while they were fi^ed- 

 iiig." 



I suppose that many if not most of your read- 

 ers will doubt these particulars, as I have not 

 since heard of this variety of this cvceileiit fruit. 

 Many doubt or will not believe that there is such 

 a bird as the black swan found in New llollanr! 

 because swans are generally white, and the black 

 species have never visited ihis side of the equa- 

 tor. So the excellence of the canvass-baeked 

 duck fiiimd only in the Potmnac and vicinity has 

 almost destroyed the species, from the pursuit 

 for the lii:;h price. The same fine, as we may 

 suppose, has altended the fliiiig strawberry, that 

 got no rest from the piirsiiii. "" 



But it is a conifiirt to knou', and every reader 

 of the Visitor with a little sjiot of ground may 

 av;!il himself of it, that if the flying strawberry 

 is rare, if it is even iinattaiiiable, there are plen- 

 ty of this variety of iVoit, and ih.U liy selling out 

 a btd eveiy two _\eais !lle\ may he had in abiiii- 

 daivec, of a flavor siiificieiilly good for ino.si pal- 

 ales. Indeed it is now so long since I met with 

 the rare kind that is the subject of this article, 

 that I do not know hut on the uliole I would 

 prefer the domestic species, le.-iviiig it for the 

 future researches of the naturalist to determine 

 V, hich is the best. P. 



Improvement withiu the reach of every man. 



Every man in the commui.iiy who occupies a 

 few rods of ground for a garden plat or a fiirin of 

 few or many acres, without any scienliiic knowl- 

 edge not taught by every day experience, will 

 have it in his power to make his ground iind his 

 cnllivHiion among the first and the best. Whoev- 

 er doub:s this position need not go beyond the 

 limits of this county fi>r the proof of its truth. If 

 ii cannot be proved in our own town and neigh- 

 borhood, <:o to the sea shore and examine as haul 

 an original soil as was ever brought to the suh- 

 jertion of the plough : go to the town of Rve, 

 which yields a greater proiluce in proportion to 

 ils size than perhaps any oilier town in the Stale. 

 Here you will find oi'ular demonslraliop that a 

 new system of husbandry would pour into the 

 lap of the New England farmers we.ihh and com- 

 petence, ease and independence, such us may be 

 sought for in vain by any €.iher occnpalion than 

 t!ie (iiriner; such as, comparatively speaking, 

 might make, beside of tliat moral and intellectu- 



al cultivation of which our population is suscept- 

 ble, "a heaven hereon enrt4i." 



Almost as certain of success, of prosperity, of 

 wealth, shall even the present generation be un- 

 der the new system of cultivaiion as the demon- 

 stration of any m.ithenruical |;roblem. By the 

 new cnliiyalion I do not mean the ti>llowin_' strict- 

 ly of any rule laid do>vn in the books of agricul- 

 ture, or any precise theory of an agriculimal pro- 

 f("ssor. The farmers of the town of Rve have 

 studied and practised upon this new system with- 

 out consulting a!)y other bonk than the Book of 

 Nature — their own ex|ieiieiice has demonstrated 

 to them the value of their discoveries. Apart 

 from the discoveries of scieniific men upon a 

 larger scale, they have arrived at the same results ; 

 and the coineidence fiirnishes lucid proof that 

 there can be no mist.ike as to the value of the 

 New Husbandry.— /7i7/'5 Address, 1840. 



Reminiscrnces. — The Revoluiionary Army of 

 the United Stales, fiirni.^hed the following niiiu- 

 ber of soldiers a.s fit for actual service. The 

 account is taken from the records of the period 

 mentioned : — 



New Enaland, 147,441 



Middle Slates, 5G,571 



Southern States, 56,997 



Of lliis nninhor 



Massachuseits furnished 



Connecliciit, " 



" New Hampshire, " 



Rhode Island, " 



South Carolina, " 

 Georgia, 



261,009 



67,007 

 31,939 

 37,000 

 13,000 

 0,4-17 

 2,097 



Boston Evening Gazdtt. 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 Good Remedy. 

 At this time of the year cattle are troubled 

 with worms, and they will not thrive. Cut off 

 their tails, so that they vyill lilecd considerably ; 

 the blood will tun from llieir backs ; the worms 

 in a Itiwdays will all be gone. B. 



Grafting. — .Many begin early in.^pril to graft 

 their apple trees, while others defer till Jiinc 

 We ibiiik May a better mouth than either, and 

 there will he hut liille difKciilty in making the 

 scions live, if iliey are well set. We advise to 

 set scions in nursery trees quite close to iha 

 ground, as the bo.lies of the trees will be more 

 straight and handsome. — Boslon Cultivator. 



EwF.s A.ND Lambs. — A difficulty is sometimes 

 experienced in making ewes own their lambs, and 

 oliener, perhaps, uhen cases of twin lambs occur 

 than at any other times. Those who desire to 

 rear all their lambs may find a benefit in sprink- 

 ling a little fine salt over the disowned ones. 

 This will usually atirsei the mother, and when 

 once the operation of licking has been perform- 

 ed, there is seldom any danger of desertion. A 

 friend assures ns he has practiced this method 

 with decided success, and no injury lo the lambs 

 may be apprehended fi-om tiic application. Sheep, 

 when about to lamb, should be moved and dis- 

 turbed as little as possibte, as all such disturban- 

 ces, especially with young or wild ewe.s, greaily 

 increase the probability of their forsaking their 

 voung. — Ayrshire (Ens.) A<:ricu!lurisl. 



Improvements. — Upon the fiirm of Mr. Poor, 

 near Newboryport, well known by the name of 

 tlio " Indian Hill Farm," impiovements have 

 been made on a broad scale, and with liberal 

 outlay. It has long been noted for its durable 

 and well contrived structure.'", and for the svste- 

 matie culture of its grounds. Mr. Poor has 

 planted a number of acres with forest trees, 

 which have now becoliie a source of income. 

 Some of the oaks which have grown floni acorns 

 plumed by the present owner, when hut a lad, 

 are now more than six feet in circumference. 

 Numerous acres of wet anil unproductive mea- 

 dows have been reclaimed upon the most ap- 

 proved method, and calciihitcd to render lliein 

 permanently productive. His uplands in most 

 respects are sncressfiilly managed, and gener.illy 

 yield abundant crops ; and above all, his plan 

 for making and saving manure, is superior to 

 any we have noticed, and is worthy of tlie atten- 

 tion of all farmers. — Selected. 



