vol,. XVI. so, 1, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



FRONT YARDS. 



It is liifrli tiinc /Voiit yiu'ds were attciulod to — 

 the fences repaired, the trees and shrubbery prun- 

 ed, and the rubbish vvliich has aocurnuiated dur- 

 ing the winter, removed. Notiiing is more inchi- 

 bitably indicative of the husbandry of tlje farm, 

 and the order of the house, than the condition of 

 the front yard — and whenever and wherever you 

 see one with its fences broken down, gates un- 

 hung, and its interior littered up witli ohi shoes, 

 (lead cats, broken jugs, &c., you may call the 

 man a sloven, and liis wife a slut, without expos- 

 ing yourself to he iniilct in damages in an action 

 for slan<ler — for, if you go over the farm, you will 

 find every thing neglected — buildings and fences 

 out of repair — cattle in mischief — the fields and 

 pastures rooted up by swine, &c. &c. If you 

 enter the house, you will find every thing in 

 chaos — dishes unwashed — bids unmade — rooms 

 unswept, &c. &c. If you take the luadam by 

 surprise, you will fmd her surrounded by a gri up 

 of squallid, ragged and dirty ciiildren — in perfect 

 dishabille — hair unooud)ed — shoos slip-shod — 

 stockings about her feet, &c., and in her flight 

 from your presence, she will blunder over and 

 upset the cradle and dye tub — knock down one 

 child — box anothers ears, and drag a third after 

 her, &e. — and leave you to survey the arrange- 

 ment of her furniture, and see the manner in 

 which she manages the aflairs of her household. 



Many front yards are neglected on account of 

 the unsettled state of the law regarding the title 

 to the " locus in quo." Some contend that the 

 front yard is a part of the farm, and under the 

 supervision and control of the husband ; while 

 others insist that it is a " part and parcel " of the 

 house, and, being such, is within the jurisdicliou- 

 al limits of the wife ; and consequently, subject 

 to her government and entitled to her protection. 

 We confeys our attainments in martial law are not 

 sufiicieHt to enable us to adjudicate this " questio 

 vexata," but we are incline<l to the opinion that 

 the husbanii owns the right of soil, subject, how- 

 ever, to the carement of the wife ; and that for 

 certain purposes, such as building aud rejiairing 

 fences, planting and pruning shrubbery, dressing 

 flower-beds, &c., both have a right of entry and 

 possession. But whatever may be the law, thi:re 

 is no doubt if the time often consumed in moot- 

 ing it, was spent in improving the yard, it would 

 jiresent a very different appearance. There ore, 

 however, certain members of the family to whom 

 the care and management of this matter more es- 

 pecially belongs — we mean the daughters — and 

 tt young gentleman of taste and judgnlent, "in 

 search of a wife," would be about as likely to 

 " fall in love " with a young lady, who neglecteil 

 her front yard, as he would if he first saw her at 

 church with a hole in her stocking. — Silk Cultu- 

 rist. 



Stone Mocntai.v. — This extraordinary eleva- 

 tion may be considered as not only one of the 

 most remarkable mountains in North America, but 

 as one of the greatest, natural curiosities in the 

 known world. Imagine a perpendicular wall of 

 solid marble five or six hundred yards in length, 

 and four hundre<l yards high, rising in grandeur 

 and sublimity, from the plain below. The Macon 

 Messenger gives a full description of the moun- 

 tain, made by a recent traveller, who states the 

 circumference to be six miles, aud the height 

 twentytwo hundred and fifty feet. It rounds off 



at the top, like the dome of some magnificent ed- 

 ifici!, and may have been the lofty temple whence 

 the savage sent up his sacrifices to his strange 

 gods. The stone mountain is situated in DeKalb 

 county, Georgia, an<l i.'s, perhaps, the most stu- 

 pendous of the many iiatural curiosities with which 

 our country abounds, 



PunCtualitv. — A committee of eight gentle- 

 men had appointed to meet at twelve o'clock. 

 Seven of them were punctual ; but the eighth 

 came bustling in with apologies tor being a quar- 

 ter of an hour behind the time. " The lime," 

 said he, " passed away without my being aware 

 of it. 1 had no idea of its being so late," &c. A 

 Quaker present said, " Friend, I am not sure that 

 we .-thould admit thy apology. It were (natter of 

 regrc't that thou shouldst have wasted thine own 

 quarter of an hour; but there are seven besides 

 thyself, whose time thou hast also consumed, 

 amounting in the whole to two hours, and one 

 eighth of it only was thine own property. 



is sometimes untimely nipped, and the experience 

 of a fi'W years has shewn that in orrler to have 

 the crop perfectly secure, it should be sou n ear- 

 lier than has been generally practised. ' Better to 

 sow by the 10th, or the middle of .June, than to 

 put off till the 10th of July, which in some parts 



of the countiy, is considered sufficic'utly early 



The ground should be made fine, and the seed 

 gut in well ; the quantity of seerl from 20 to :24 

 quarts per acre. There is more danger of its suf- 

 fering from drouth, than perhaps any thing else, 

 as th ; plant is hardy and is rarely disturbed by 

 insects. Buckwheat cakes as thousands can tes- 

 tify, are a healthy ;md palatable substitute for 

 wheat bread ; and with the exception of corn is 

 probably equal to any grain for fattening pork. — 

 The yield varies froiu 30 to 50 bushels per acre ; 

 and the stiaw well cured makes excellent fodder 

 for all kinds of cattle. — Gen. Far. 



A writer in the Bangor Conrier in commenting 

 on Dr C. T. Jackson's report on the Geology of 

 Maine — mentions the following fact, which clearly 

 proves the advantages of an acquaintance with the 

 piinriples of Geology : 



" While at Woodstock he was presented with 

 a specimen of red slate covered with black oxide 

 of manganese. An ordinary observer might have 

 passed this by as an ordiiiiiry stone not deserving of 

 notice, hut Or Jackson immediately expressed his 

 opinion, that iron ore would he found at the lo- 

 cality, where the specimen was obtained. On be- 

 ing conducted there, his opinion was confirmed, 

 as he discovered an enormous bed of ore 50 or 60 

 jods in width. The utility of this ore in the 

 neighborhood of an impoitant military post, like 

 Hoiilton must be apparent to all." 



Indian Corn. — .All, or nearly all, the accounts 

 that are published of great i)ro(lucts of Indian 

 corn, agree in two p.irticulars, viz: in not using 

 t'le plough in the after culture, and in not earth- 

 ing, or hut very slighllj', the hills. These results 

 go to demonstrate, thirt the entire roots are essen- 

 tial to the vigurof the crop ; and that roots to en- 

 able them to p!;rform their functions as nature de- 

 signed, must be near the surface. If the roots 

 are severed with the plough, in dressing the i-rop, 

 the plants are deprived of a portion of their nour- 

 ishment; and if they are burred deep by hilling 

 the plant is [lartially exhausted in throwing out a 

 new set near the surface, where alone they can 

 perform all their office. There is another mate- 

 rial advantage in this mode of cultivating the corn 

 crop — it saves a vast deal of manual labor. — ./}l- 

 hnny Cult. 



Flowers. — For the benefit of all who have 

 flowers — and who, from the midnight recollec- 

 tions of childhood and poetry, does not love them ? 

 we will tell them how they will be able to pro- 

 long, for a day, the enjoyment of their short-lived 

 beauty. Most flowers begin to droop and fsds 

 after being kept twentyfour hours in the wafer ; 

 i\ few may be reviveil by substituting fresh water, 

 but all (the most fugacious, such as (he po[)py, 

 excepted) may be completely restored by the use 

 of hot water. For this purpose, pface the flow- 

 ers in scalding water, deep enough to cover about 

 about oive third of the length of the stem ; by the 

 time the water has become cold, the flowers will 

 have become erect and freiih ; then cut of the cod- 

 dled or parboiled end of the st^ms ajid put theni 

 into cold water. — Hamp. Giz. 



BccKWHEAT. — The nearly total failure of the 

 corn crop for the two past years, and the small 

 quantity planted on the ])resent, together with the 

 unfavorable appearance of the growing wheat in 

 many sections of the country, shoidd induce far- 

 mers not to neglect any crop which promises to 

 be in any degree a substitute for these standard 

 articles of cultivation. Of these substitutes for 

 bread, there is none which can be grown to more 

 profit than liuckwheat ; certainly not in those 

 parts where wheat is the poorest, and corn the 

 most liable to suHxr from frost. Buckwheat itself j be purchased for one cent ai)iece, — A". Y, Star, 



New Process for Winding Silk — new silk 

 worm — silk worm ffiit. — Mr Durant at Jersey city,, 

 is making extensive experiments in winding silk 

 from worms of bis own r<?aring. He has six dif- 

 ferent plans for th« worm to wind the cocoon. — 

 Dr D. has likev^iae discovered a native silk worm 

 of our forest; whose cocoon is 50 to 80 per cent, 

 heavier tlitfn'tiiat of the Asiatic. Its silent labors, 

 are often !i5?icountered in the solitary dei,vtha of thi.? 

 forests, on buslies and trees, chiefly the eider, but 

 like many ollaei^ of nature's works prepared to our 

 hand, they have been, passed by unheeded. Mr 

 D. hopes to domesticase. this worm, and direct 

 their habits to the purposes- of useful industry. — 

 One of the great advantages resulting from this^ 

 woidd be the very superior quafey of the silk 

 worm gut, BO much much used by asuateur fish- 

 ermen, anil which this worm furnishes 80 per 

 cent, heavier aixl stronger than those hitherto in 

 use. This glutinous njatter is known to be tlie 

 most tetracious substance of any thing we are ac- 

 quainted with, spun out to the same fineness. In 

 fact, this of Mr D.'s, though not thicker than two 

 horse hairs braided, and therefore scarcely per- 

 ceptible to the fish, in which deception consists 

 its value, is enabled to raise a weight of 100 lbs. 

 ami consequently with ease bold a powerful shark, 

 fiir example, of 40 lbs. struggling with all his ad- 

 ditional muscular force to escape. To give an idea 

 of this article, we may mention, that sagacious 

 fishermen pay for one selected from the Asiatic 

 worms, from 12 1-2 to 25 cts. aud there are thou. 

 .sands in the market of inferior description, be- 

 cause they are from a small worm, and whicli may 



