106 



GENESEE FARMER. 



July, 1845 



thoir swords into pl.wshsirc.^ and learn war no more," 

 ■when as good and as brave men as they, have to 

 diivf? th^ plowshare to tho tune of $300 a year, and 

 defend the country besides? 



CHARITIES THAT SWEETEN LIFE. 



Pleasant words! Do yon know, kind reader, how- 

 potent a spell lies in a pleasant word? Have you 

 not often thought of its power to soothe — to charm 

 — to delight, when al! things else fail? As you go 

 on through the journey of life, have you not seen it 

 smoothing many a ruilled brow, and calming many an 

 achino- bosom? Have you not noticed it in the house 

 and by the wav — at the tire-side and in the place of 

 business? And have you not felt that pleasant words 

 are among the " charities that sweeten life?'' Ah! 

 yes, and their influence has come over your own 

 soul. Not long since, when you went bending to 

 the earth, oppressed and weary with life's manifold 



sorrows when dark clouds have hovered over 



you, and tho blackness of darkness covered you 

 —when vou were ready to yield in despondency 

 the pursuit of happiness, and give yourself up to un 

 mitigated gloom — when no object of life seemed de 

 sirable, and even the friendships of earth were wcrth 

 less in vour eves — when you would fain have passed, 

 the comi^anion of your childhood unnoticed, as you 

 met him by the way — oh! can you tell how, in such 

 an hour, the sound of a cheerful voice — one pleasant 

 word has dispelled the gloom, and given you to the 

 world again — a man — hopeful, trusti.ig man. You 

 can tell us how like an angel-v/hisper was the ki -d 

 enquiry of that companion, and how the tone of 

 cheerful sympathy sent the dark clouds rolling from 

 your sky, and, revealing the light of day — showng 

 vou that earth is not a// a wilderness, nor man a be- 

 ing utterly deserted to wretchedness. 



Or, when vou come from the counting-room or 

 work-shop care-worn and weary — when your brow 

 has been furrowed and your thoughts perplexed — 

 when troubles of the present and anxieties for the 

 future have crowded every peaceful feeling from 

 your heart, and when you almost dreaded to return 

 to your own fireside, lest the sight of those dear 

 ones there should increase your distress — tell us 

 Avhat has been tho influence of a pleasant word at 

 Buch a time. Tell us how that, ere you opened 

 your door, the sound of glad voices reached your 

 ear, and as vou entered, how the troubles of your 

 soul were laid at rest: and cares foi- the present and 

 for the future, fled before the pleasant words of your 

 smiling chilJren and the gentle greeting of your 

 wife. 



Or, when the ire of your spirit has been roused, 

 and indignant feelinors have reigned supreme in your 

 breast — when the angry threat was just raisinfj to 

 your lips, or the malignant wish about to burst from 

 your heart — what mighty spell caused the storm so 

 suddenlv to s\!bside, and spoke the turbulent waves 

 EC quietlv to rest? Was it tho whisper of a pleas- 

 ant word that restored calmness to your tempest- 

 tossed soul? Did the soft answer turn away your 

 wrath? 



Oh, learn this art yourselves, all ye who have felt 

 its k'n lly influence from others. Speak pleasant 

 words to all around you, and your path shall ever be 

 I'ghtel by the smiles of those who welcome your 

 coming, and mourn vour departing footsteps. 



Mother, speak pleasantlv, and be assured that an- 

 Bwerinff tones of jov, and dispositions formed to 

 constant kindness, shall be your reward. 



Sister, brother, friend — would you render life one 

 sunny day, would yon gather around you these who 

 will cheer you in the darkest hour? Let the law of 

 kindness rule your tongue, and your words be pleas- 

 ant as the "dew of IIeim:>n," and "as the dew that 

 descended on the mountains of Zion." 



AGRICULTURE— SIXTY-NINE PATENTS 

 GRANTED. 

 The large number of patents granted for applica- 

 tions pertaining to this clas.~, mayj)e taken as fair 

 ground for the deduction that the subject is still 

 one of great growing interest, and is, at present, 

 engrossing a very large share of the inventive talent 

 of our country. In the short space of one year, it 

 could hardly be expected that any important revolu- 

 tion, any signal discovery, or many really useful 

 inventions should be made in a pursuit claiming, 

 above all others, the right of primogeniture. Ad- 

 vances, nevertheless, are constantly being made in 

 this branch of industry. Every year it is acquiring 

 fresh laurels, and a higher reputation for itself. The 

 '• sweat of the brow" is not nov/ the mainspring of 

 its operations, the grand key to its success : nor the 

 open field the sole theatre of experiment. Tho 

 closet, the laboratory of the chemist, are its nurses. 

 The most exalted intellects are becoming farmers, 

 as it were, in tho retiracy of their studies. Science, 

 both chemical and physical, has become the pallad- 

 ium of agriculture. Since the publication of Liebig's 

 valuable work on the chemistry of agriculture, we 

 must date a new era in this science. It has, at 

 least, received a fresh impulse from his labors ; and 

 its publication in this country, in newspaper form, 

 for the low price of 25 cents, (when the ordinary 

 bookstore price has been 3^1,50,) will aid greatly in 

 disseminating knowledge, so essential to farming 

 interests. The use of guano as a manure has long 

 been knovvU in remote parts of the world, and this 

 substance has been employed for many years to fer- 

 tilize the barren soils on the coast of Peru ; but it 

 docs not seem to have elicited attention, other than 

 •is a matter of curiosity, from the most enlightened 

 agricultural portions of the world, until after the 

 appearance of Liebig's work. The announcement 

 that it was only necessary to add a small quantity of 

 guano to a soil which consists of nothing but sand 

 and clay, to procure the richest crop of maize, was 

 sufficient to awalccn an interest in the farmer, and 

 excite the cupidity of the merchant. No writer has 

 du'elt so much on the importancci of nitrogen as a 

 manure, as Liebig : and it is this feature in part, 

 which constitutes the grand novelty and value of 

 his work. In the above quoted assertion, where 

 guano is added to clay and sand, we suppose not a 

 trace of organic matter in the soil ; and yet, by 

 the addition of a manure, consisting chiefly of urate, 

 phosphate, carbonate, and oxalate of ammonia salts, 

 all containing nitrogen, we have the richest crops of 

 maize. The husbanding of substances containing 

 nitrogen, and attention to the proper methods for its 

 fixation, will soon become objects of paramount im- 

 portance with the farmer. 



Plows, — Several important improvements have 

 been made in this instrument during the past year ; 

 hut they are chiefly for modes of fastening and so 

 fitting the points and shares, that in case of wear or 

 injury, they can be easily replaced by the farmer 

 himself. It is a question, perhaps, yet to be decided, 

 whether cast iron plows are more economical to the 

 farmer than the plows with cast iron mould boards 



