Vol. X.-No. 37. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



293 



EngUind. Go with us to the registry of deeds of 

 any eoiiuty in JMassachusetts, and, we doubt not, 

 we can point to instances, in every volume of its 

 records, of mortgages of estates liiade to secure 

 the paymniit of money, borro' to renew or en- 



large the buildings on those estates, and where the 

 wliole has been forfeited by the borrower, wlio, 

 otherwise, might have been tlie independent ten- 

 ant of th^ acres he luid purchased or inherited.— 

 Of the propensity to wliicli we have referred, 

 thougli it is the besetting weakness of our men of 

 moderate fortunes, it is difiicult to trace tlie origin 

 or tlse cause of tliis general prevalence. We are 

 willing to ascribe it to honorable and praiseworthy 

 considerations, but we think them unfortunate and 

 indiscreet. 



There is a feeling of independence and of re 

 publican equality among our citizens, which, if 

 properly directed, makes them the best citizens in 

 the world ; but which, if misapplied, makes them 

 the verie~st slaves. And this feeling may be traced 

 in the style of our farm houses, as well as in ob- 

 jects of luxury or convenience. No man is will- 

 ing to be outdone, if he can avoid if, by his neigh- 

 bor. In the consciousness of acknowledged 

 equality, he cannot bear, with patience, to be sur- 

 passed in the externals of style or indei)endence. 

 Instead of converting this feeling into an incentive 

 to greater exertions, gradually to attain an actual 

 equality with his more fortunate neighbors in 

 Svealth and the means of display, too many begin 

 with assuming the appearance of this equality 

 which they cannot sustain, and thereby take a 

 load upon themselves that sinks them to the dust. 

 Fashion in this thing is a tyrant, to whom they 

 bliiidly submit, even with all their high notions of 

 independence which spurn every appearance of 

 control. They are dazzled by the hugeness of the 

 idol they worship, and lie down to be crushed by 

 the wheels of his car, the willing victims of their 

 own idolatry. We have,, again and again, seen 

 families of limited means, forego the very neces-. 

 sarics of life in order to keep up the appearance of 

 being able to enjoy its luxuries, and tliis, because 

 they were unwilling to be seen inferior to those 

 with whom they have been accustomed to associ- 

 ate injife. 



The folly of an individual who has blundered 

 into a fortune, or acquired it at the sacrifice of all 

 pretensions to taste and refinement, often operates 

 in this way to the lasting injury of a country vil- 

 lage. His extravagance gives a tone to the fash- 

 ion of the place ; and the dimensions of his 

 Louse, as well as his style of expenditure, become 

 a sort of standard for others ; and many is the vil- 

 lage we could name, where a false style has thus 

 been introduced in the construction of their dwell- 

 ing houses, in which comfort, and fitness, and 

 neatness have been sacrificed to a false and ill- 

 grounded jealousy or pride. The active caj)ital 

 that gives life to business, is hereby absorbed or 

 withdrawn from general use, by being thus con- 

 verted into what cannot be profitably improved ; 

 and how often, where we see the marks of dilap- 

 idation and decay in a village, maybe traced to an 

 injudicious and misapplied expenditure of the 

 wealth of its iidiabitants in idle and useless show. 



We might dwell upon this part of our subject, 

 and show by abundant exatuples, how this foolish 

 fashion of extravagance in building houses, which 

 prevails in New England, tends to private suftVr- 

 ing and to public loss. But enough has been said, 

 and the observation of every one would, of itself, 



be sufficient to illustrate the truth of the proverb, 

 that " fools build houses, and wise men live in 

 thom." 



THE SWEET POTATO. . 



The sweet potato was successfully cultivated 

 perhaps more than thirty years ago, by Sam- 

 uel Falkexburg, of Romulus, Seneca county. — 

 The only difficulty he found, was in preserving the 

 " slips" through the winter; and when these per- 

 ished, in procuring others from the south, in time 

 for planting. Since those days, however, the fa- 

 cilities of intercourse with distant places, have 

 greatly increased. 



I had long wished to cultivate this plant, hut 

 had failed in some attempts to procure the "seed." 

 Most unexpectedly, last spring, G. T. ofOwasco, 

 generously sent me a supply. Without delay, I 

 placed them in a hot-bed ; and by the time the 

 warm season was confirmed, I had sprouts in plen- 

 ty for my purpose. My success has been very 

 encouraging. On opening a hill at the request of 

 a fiiend, he exclaimed, " This sight is worth five 

 dollars ! I am now satisfied that we can raise 

 oiu' own sweet potatoes." One weighed twenty 

 ounces. 



The soil in which these grew is not such as I 

 prefer ; and I have been much gratified with the 

 still better success of my friend, Dr S. Mosher, of 

 Union Springs. In his garden, one slip produced 

 eleven pounds. The largest potato weighed two 

 pounds ten ounces, and another two pounds six 

 ounces. The soil is a sandy loam, which was 

 dressed with well rotted manure in the spring. 



Muck from the woods, mixed with common 

 earth, in equal portions, forms a-very light rich 

 soil ; but in this, the sweet potatoes though nu 

 merous and well shaped, were small. Unques- 

 tionably, a sandy soil is the best. 



The red sweet potato is the kind we have both 

 cultivated ; but I observe that H. G. Spafibrd, in 

 No. G of his Journal, says, " The white are the 

 earliest and best for our climate." Again, in No. 

 18, he adds; " Two years' experience satisfies mo 

 that the white sweet potato is preferable for this 

 climate and my soil. The crop here is double in 

 quantity, .and the potato no way inferior in qual- 

 ity." Dr M'Chesney prefers the red and yelloic to 

 the white ; but the climate of his residence varies 

 considerably from ours. D. T. 



From the Daily Alliany Argus. 



The following, from a correspondent, is a de- 

 served tribute to the character of the respected 

 citizen, recently elected President of the New York 

 State Agricultural Society: — 



LE RAY DE CHAUMONT. 



In noticing the proceedings of the recent con- 

 vention in this city, which has resulted in the for- 

 mation of a State Agricultural Society, I am 

 gratified to observe that a venerable citizen of Jef- 

 ferson county, James Le Ray de Chaumont, has 

 been elected president of the society. This selec- 

 tion is a sure guaranty of the future usefulness of 

 the new Institiuion, for BIr Le Ray may be ex- 

 pected to devote himself to the duties of his station, 

 with a zeal and experience possessed jjcrhaps by 

 no other individual. 



The father of this gentleman, early embraced 

 the cause of the American Revolution, and with 

 his bosom friend, La Fayette, was among those 



who at the French court gave the first impulse to 

 public feeling, which led to the alliance of F;;:u'.;a 

 with the United States in achieving our indepen- 

 dence. His doors were open to r.U Americans ; 

 his house was the home of tiie American ministers, 

 and his fortune was devoted to the cause of Amer- 

 ica, in the purchase of some of the earliest sui)pli9S 

 of the munitions of war which came to our relief. 



The early years of Mr Le Ray were spent in the 

 society of Franklin and Adams. In the year 1785, 

 at the age of twentyfive, he emigrated to the Uni- 

 ted States ; in 1787 he became a naturalized citi- 

 zen, and few have fidfiUed the duties 'of citizen- 

 ship with more fidelity. 



Soon after his arrival in this country, in 1785, 

 in the spirit of enterprise which has distinguished 

 him through life, he conducted the first settlement 

 of the county of Otsego. In 179'J, Jefferson county 

 became the scene of his useful labors, and all his 

 energies have from that time been devoted to the 

 iui|)rovement of the country. To the opening of 

 roads, the construction of bridges, mills, and pub- 

 lic edifices, his time and fortune were devoted with 

 a liberal hand. 0])erating upon a country of 

 great natural capability, his labors were crowned 

 with success, and he was soon surrounded by an 

 active and intelligent population. In 1817, two 

 years before legislative aid was extended to county 

 agricultural societies, the eflbrts of Mr Le Ray 

 were successfully directed towards the formation 

 of Jeflerson County Agricultural Societj', which, 

 under his superintending care, as its president, has 

 sustained itself to this day, smviving the with- 

 drawal of legislative aid seven years. The influ- 

 ence of this society upon the agriculture of the 

 couiUy is obvious to the most casual observer. It 

 has excited emulation among fanners in regard to 

 modes of tillage, in the construction offences and 

 out-buildings, and in the selection of stock ; the 

 finest animals of the finest breeds being universally 

 sought for; and bringing farmers into habitual in- 

 tercoiu-se with each other, it enables them to form 

 a more just estimate of their value in the scale of 

 society. 



Universally beloved and respected by the people 

 among whom he resides, the selection of BJr Le 

 Ray as president of the State Society, will be hail- 

 ed with delight by the county of Jefierson, and 

 will afford an assurance of the practical usefulness 

 of that institution. 



A CITIZEN OF JEFFERSON COUNTY. 



THE FLORIDAS. 



Mr Audubon, the naturalist, who is pursuing his 

 researches in the Floridas, gives a very difterent 

 account of the face of that country, from his pre- 

 decessors. In the Philadelphia Gazette, is an ex- 

 tract of a letter written by him and dated " U. S. 

 schooner Shark, 100 miles up St John's river, 

 bound upwards, Feb. 17, 1832," he says: — 



" I have only time to say we are all well. A 

 dreadlid accident to one of our sailors, (the shoot- 

 ing oft' of his hand,) gives me au opportunity to 

 send this to St Augustine. We have here a con- 

 tinuation of the poorest country on earth, with the 

 exception I supjiose, of the deserts of Arabia. — 

 No birds ; no i)lants that are worthy of attention. 

 Never «as a person so deceived as I have been by 

 the accounts of the Floridas ; not even a view 

 worthy of the pencil, has yet been observed ; no- 

 thing but the pine barrens, poorer and gloomier 

 than those on the Atlantic shore of the soiuheast 

 Jersey. If we shoot ten biids in a day, of the 



