iSl)c iTarmcr's iHontl)!!) biciitor.. 



159 



tiiit of it. Care was taken tliat the seod potato 

 should not enter so deep us to go helow the iip- 

 tuiiied sward. In tldd way the potatoes };revv 

 above the sod wliile the roots (h'ew snfficientsns- 

 tenauoe from the decomposed manure and de- 

 caying turl"at the bottom. Dining the whole 

 season there was no diliicnhy from weeds: the 

 witch-grass in some parts of tlie field whuie it 

 liad l.-dien root did, indi.'ed, late in the vuiiuner, 

 spring through the inverted turf. The whole 

 process of hoeing the six acres twice, cost only 

 twenty-two days work of one man ; the planting 

 was (lone with great expedition. In twice hoe- 

 ing and going over with the cultivator and the 

 snl)Sf;quent digging of the potatoes, neither the 

 bottom turf nor the manure overlaid by it has as 

 yet been disliirbed. The cro|) of Indian corn 

 inteiKled for llie same land next year, according 

 to our present year's experience of a field last 

 year cultivated in the same way, will derive a 

 greater advantage from the maniu'e than the po- 

 toto crop of the present year. 



One advantage of raising potatoes in this man- 

 lier we believe to have been the entire freedom 

 of the crop from the disease and rot which have 

 been so generally complained of. The ground 

 was the orilinary intervale of Merrimack river, 

 which had laid so long to grass as to give not 

 much over half a ton of hay to the acre — it was 

 good land, hut was much In want of stimula- 

 ting marnn-e. 'I"he crop of potatoes was pr<d)a- 

 bly not quite as large as it might liave l>een if the 

 same maniU'e had been mixed in the saiije 

 depth of soil actually pulverized ; neither was 

 the labor of making the crop more than half as 

 much ; but the maiune is left in the ground to 

 do much the most effective service hereafter. — 

 On a diligent inquiry of our potato diggeSi's we 

 have not b(!en able to learn that any of the tiew 

 potatoes were infected with the rot. The ear- 

 liest kind were taken Irom the Held before the 

 warm weather of September, and tliose laid in 

 the conininn cellar have as yet discovered none 

 of those otiensive (pialities which have been so 

 much a matter of complaint One Inmdred and 

 fifty barrels of the first dug were sent and sold 

 in the Boston market, averaging, alter paying 

 the price of transjiort, twenty-five cents the 

 bushel. Of the long-reds we have between 

 five and six hundred bushels in the ground un- 

 der a heiidock cover, which in the market next 

 spring may be worth tilty cents the bushel : at 

 half that price, after paying all ex|)enses of cid- 

 tivation and manure, this crop will give us a 

 clear gain of about twenty dollars to the acre. 



On about oiie acre of the potato ground man- 

 ured with the stable dung, alter the tirst hoeing, 

 was placed some eight hundred poinuls ofgrouud 

 plaster. Where thi>! was applied the tops of the 

 potato were rnoro luxtu'iant — the potatoes .seem- 

 ed to be fewer in number, but all of a larger 

 size. The effect of the plaster was to make the 

 crop at least one fbiuth better. 



MaSSaCHUSE'VTS HoRTICDLTllRAL SociETT. — 

 This society, from small beginnings, has risen to 

 strength and nsefuluess and is beginning to be 

 felt beyond the immediate iieighlK)rhood of its 

 location. Even a\vay up east here, vve have 

 fruits and flowers, the existence and culture of 

 which niay bo tra('ed to the influence which this 

 institution has exerted. We can remember when 

 the fruit department of Boston Market was no- 

 thing extra, and the neighborhood of that city 

 was fiir, very far from exhibiting so nmch of the 

 garden as it now does. Tiie change lor the bet- 

 ter is mainly owing to the exertions of the mem- 

 bers of this society. We see that a large hall is 

 beii}g erected in Boston lor its exhibition and 

 meetings. The corner stone was laid not long 

 ago with ap[)ropriate ceremonies. We wish 

 them uid)OUnded success and prosperity. 



ll is a .society whose labors ami exertions can- 

 not he confined to its own members, but like the 

 rays of the sun, will shine forth and cheer and 

 encourage other.s, and lead them on by progres- 

 sive steps from indifjerence to attention — fiom 

 attention to improvement — from improvement to 

 success, and even [lerliection. — Maine Fanner. 



The llorticultirral H;ill erecting in Boston for 

 the exliihition of the fruits of Massachusetts is 

 located on School street: its eslimated cost of 

 lot and building is )t)40,000, and it is built with 

 Quincy granite, and is among those recently con- 



siructed edifices which adorn the capital of New 

 England. 



The institution of a Horticultural Society and 

 annual exhibition at Worcester, connecteil some- 

 what with its agricultm-al society, has had in the 

 sjiace of four years a grand effect on the produc- 

 tion of fruits and flowers at the "heart of the 

 Commonwealth." Not even in Boston in the ex- 

 hibitions of former years have we seen such 

 samples of s[)leijdid apples as appeared upon the 

 tables at Worcester in the month of October. 

 The institution of this society seems to have had 

 the effect of awakening the emulation of both 

 sexes who had a square rod of laiul to bring U|i 

 something fur exhibition. The skill of the flo- 

 rist or the horticulturist brings flowers into bloom 

 and the young apple-tree shoot to its production 

 in a shorter space of time than some might a[)- 

 preliend. Few people are so old that they may 

 not live to reap fruits from the trees which they 

 now plant. 



A GOOD CHOI' OF Corn. — The eflect of run- 

 ning the subsoil plough after the common sward 

 plough last year by an additional team has been 

 visible in tlie jiroduction the present year of the 

 largest and best filled ears of corn that vve have 

 ever seen in this vicinity. Any man who dotdits 

 this is invited to look at our corn-bin. We 

 have seven hundred bushel baskets of sound corn 

 from six acres. The subsoil itlougliing, vve 

 think was equal in its effect to the application of 

 ten loatls of good manure to the acre. The 

 plough stirred the ground without turning it up, 

 ji-om six to eight inches deeper than any former 

 ploughing. The ground was alluvial without a 

 pan. The soil had been many years cultivated 

 and not well mamned lor probably a buadred 

 years ; it was more of light sand than of clay for- 

 mation — the lighter sort of Concord intervale. 



Horse crawling through a post. — A story 

 is told of Rev. Mr. Spraiiue, of Dublin, N. 11. 

 which sets the remarkalile simplicity of the 

 learned parson in a ludicrous light. Paying a 

 visit to one of his |)arishioners, he tlirew the bri- 

 dle of his horse over the post of a vail fence tiear 

 the house. During his slay the .■mimal contrived 

 to disengage the bridle from the post and get it 

 under his feet, seeing which, a servant girl drew 

 the reins througli one of the iriortises over the lop 

 of the post, in the form of a uouse. The parscm, 

 going to untie his hoi'se, was indesciibahly as- 

 tonished to find the bridle, whiidi he band sim- 

 ply thrown ovei- the post, thus passed through 

 one of the holes. 



"This beats all," ejacidated he to hiujself, " 1 

 never saw the like of it in all my lilt; before ! To 

 he sure we read of a camel going through the 

 eye of a needle, but this was in days of miracles. 

 No, no; I never saw the like before 1" He exam- 

 ined it anew; he tried to get the bridle out hut it 

 surpassed his iiigenifity. "Yes, it must be," sai<l 

 he, "the horse has aiaually cjawled through the 

 post liole ; thi're's no way to account for it!'" — 

 Full ol' this impression, and despairing of making 

 the animal retrace his steps, he whipfied out his 

 knife and was about cnitiug the reins, when the 

 same girl, perceiving liis (luandary, released the 

 horse and explained the mystery. But if the 

 simple parson had lieen astonished before, he 

 was little less so now, to find his own penetraticm 

 surpassed by that of a servant girl. " lleh, girl," 

 said he, " 1 believe you're right, but liuw in the 

 wonder shotdd a girl like you known more tlian 

 a man of my learning. It's astonishing! aston- 

 ishing! miractdous! miraculous!" 



Maxims of Bishop Middletok. — I^ersevere .'ig.ainst 

 Jiscuurit^ements — Iveep your temper — li^inploy leisure in 

 stuilv, and alwaj's iiave some work on liand. Be puncliKil 

 and tnctiiodical in business, and never procrastinate — 

 Never be in a iiurry — f'reserve eell'-posseesion, and do not 

 be talked out of a conviction — I\ise early, and be an 

 economist oi" time — Maintain dii,'uit}' williout the ajiptvir- 

 ance ul' pride ; manner is something with everybody, and 

 pverytliiiii^ with some — Be guarded in discourse, attentive, 

 and slow to apeak— ^Jever acquiesce in immoral or per- 

 nicious opinions — Be not forward to assign reasons to 

 those V. ho have no right to ask — Think nothing in conduct 

 unimportant and indifferent — Ratlicr set than follow ej- 

 anipies — Practise strict temperance ; and in all your trans- 

 actions, remember the final aecount. 



Mi'sic. — How the liingdom of heaven can come on 

 earth without music in it, is more than 1 can imagine. 

 It would make the company of the saints like a spring 

 time without birds, or a year without blossoms, — Mrs 

 Child. 



Tut. PniiLATii's Nir.cE. — I have seen mjs»ir, on the 

 third lloor rjf a woollen factory at 'f\irifiVille in t'oiinecti- 

 cut, the daughter — the orphan ilaughtor of an I'^piseopal 

 clergyman — the own niece ol' the oldest ['.[liscopa I Bisllop 

 in the United States, the late Bishop (Jriswold of Massa- 

 chusotls, so engaged; and the lair Gertrude — and lair i*iie 

 was — her brow as f-'arian marble — her eye dark and bright, 

 and lull like the Gazelle's, and 



'* The mind beamed ibrtli showing a countenance 



l\adiant with pure light ethereal.'" 

 She felt none the less good, or virtuous, or respectable, 

 that with the labor of tier hanils she assisted to give sup- 

 port to a widowed mother in declining health, and two or 

 three young orphan sisters. She was thus at work when 

 I saw her on what was the old mill seat ol her grand- 

 father, who had owned the country (or a circuit of two 

 miles round. 1 may mention here, as exposing that sillf 

 argument oi* the poor against the rich — that 1 liave beard 

 my father say, that when a boy he took a grist to the same 

 old mill, that Mr., afterwards Bishop Griswold, was mow- 

 ing in an adjoining Held; he hung bis scythe upon an ap- 

 ple tree, took the grist off his liorse, ground it, put the 

 bags on, and started him home. fVly father subsetpicntly 

 studied the languages, Greek anti Latin, with Mr, Gris- 

 wold, and came to the bar, while the miller became a 

 Bitliop, and deceased but a lew months since, with the 

 reputation of being one of the most learned and respecta- 

 ble divines in the f^piscr-pal Church, 



As some may be curious to know the subsequent for- 

 tunes of the lair factory girl — f will only adil, th;tt ^bout 

 ten miles farther up the Farniington r^ad, stands a neat 

 and comfortable dwelling surrounded by a shrubbery that 

 Shcnstone 111 mseir might indeed have envied, and thither a 

 good and bonesl farmi,-r has invited her to come :i;id share 

 his cabin, and has sworn to love, honor and pyotect her.. 

 One or two young rose-buds have since opened tbeir pe- 

 tals to tlie sun to grace still farther the parent sleiu. And 

 my fair counlry-womeo, without wishing yo» any thing- 

 bad, and not knowing what I can wish you batter, may. 

 your fate in due time resemble my fair friend's — in tha. 

 husband, rosebuds and all, — Anon. 



Lunatics in Morocco. — !^hortly after we had passed 

 the Sultan's arsenal, we were met by a disgusting, bat not! 

 unlrpquent, spectacle in Morocco ; it was a aamted ma- 

 niac, naked as on the day of his-birth, except a parti-coj- 

 ored sack cloth, which covered his shoulders and back ; 

 bis hair was long and matted, and his beard extended to 

 the middle of his breast; in his hand he carried a short 

 spear, ornamented with plates of brass and bits of red 

 cloib. On approaching him, our attendants dismounted, 

 ami, bowing their bead,^, seized his hand and ki3se<f it. 

 iVfy turn came next, and, as I did not like to come to sucfei 

 close quarters, threw him a small piece of money, upon 

 which the poor creature jabbered some few words of 

 thanks, and then, stalking up to rue with all the dignity of 

 a bashaw, and an air of condescending patronage, seized 

 tlie collar of my coat and sfi.it upon my eves, f knew 

 enough oC the habits of the people to be aware that this 

 was a high compliment, but I could not restrain myself 

 I'lom making a wry fiice upon the occasion, and 1 was 

 pulling out my handkerchief to wipe olf the filth when 

 the Afallem cried out, " O blessed iS'azarene I what God 

 bas given let no man efface. Thou shalt be ha[)py.! 

 Seedy Mornoh. the intlpired has spat upon thee. 'J'hou 

 shalt be happy !'' There is uo use running in the teeth of 

 superstition, S.O the holy spittle dried on my face, 'fho 

 liiadman or idiot is universally looked upon in West Bar- 

 hary as a person to be held in reverence. The iVIoor telja 

 you that t^fod has retained their re.ison in heaven whiLst 

 their body is on earth, and that, when miidmen or idiots, 

 speak, their reason is for the time permitted to turn to 

 them, and that their words should he treasured up as. 

 of inspired persons. These wretched people are al- 

 lowed to parade the streets in ;i state of nudity, and iihe 

 maniacs sometimes prove most dangerous to uiiwarv liu- 

 ropeans. 



A French consul-general, so,nie years ago, was nearly 

 killed by a sainted madman, and, in 18311. 1 had a very 

 narrow escape lor my life from another. I happened to. 

 be walking on the sea shore with my sister, immediately 

 below the wails of the town of 'f'lngier, jvhen IJ espied 

 above us a wild-looking fellow, about seventy or ei"bly 

 yards off, with a chitted head of hair that bespoke a saint- 

 ed madman, aiming at me with his longgun, which be had. 

 rested on the wall. We were near a rock at the time,, 

 behind which we took refuge, and waited there a good 

 while in the hope that the madman's patience would be 

 worn out, but he did not stir, and the passers by, whom [ 

 appealed to for their interference, shook their heads. mut» 

 tered something about Seedy Tayeb, which proved to bo. 

 the name of the saint, and went their way. In the nic.iii- 

 time, the tide was rising rapidly, and we had the unpleas* ■ 

 ant choice of being drowned or shot. We agreed it was 

 better to risk the latter, ao telling my sister to run oQ" in. 

 another direction, 1 stepped forward and gave him the- 

 preference of a standing shot. The maniac took aim and 

 fired, and f heard the ball whiz into the water behind me. 

 f was proceeding to run up to him by a path which led tu 

 that part of the town wall where be was standing, when I 

 observed that he was coolly re-loading his gun, and, as 

 the iie,\t shot at close quarters might have proved niorw. 

 effective, I thought the best thing 1 could do was to follow 

 ny sister, so f fairly took to my heels, — Drummond'sc 

 I Vesteni Barbary. 



Those who indulge in splendor of dress and equipage^ 

 beyond the actual amount of their incomes, are triilv" 

 conijiared to houses, on fire, which shine by that which 

 destroys them. 



FiuiiE AND BIRTH. — Those who depend on the m»rits 

 of their ancestors, may be s.iid to search in the root ot" 

 the tree for those fruits which the branches ouyht to pro- 

 duo*. 



