VOtj. XI. NO. 40. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



317 



You will pcniiit me to iiicntioii some of these. 



The first to wliich I will refer is an unsettUrl 

 slate of mind. This may be more coiiimou and 

 operative with other classes tlian with agricul- 

 turists; but it prevails to a most hurtful degree 

 with tiiein. The feelings of many are so unsettled 

 tliat tljey may truly be said to be ever on the wing, 

 though iluring life they never in reality move out 

 of their place. This state of mind is destructive 

 of all enjoyment, for it produces a disrelish for 

 what they now possess, and keeps them from all 

 efficient effort to make a better provision for tlie 

 future. Those luider its paralyzing influence will 

 neither erect their buildings, i)lacc their fences, 

 plant their orchards, cultivate their farms, embel- 

 lish their gardens, or manage any of their princi- 

 pal business, as they would were it not for an un- 

 defined peradventiire that at some lime they shall 

 find it for their advantage to sell, and in such case 

 be constrained to sacrifice much of the expense 

 they had been at for improvement. All is done 

 just to answer present exigences, and in the end, 

 as might be expected, the man has neither the 

 profit or comfort which he might easily have 

 secured, had he as he ought, never allowed him- 

 self in this unsettled state of mind, nor made 

 arrangements to sell till he had determined to do 

 it, nor thought of moving till the openings of prov- 

 idence made it his duty so to do. After intemper- 

 ance, and the expensive demands of fashion, there 

 is no one cause which in my apprehension casts 

 such a withering influence over the prosperity of 

 society, as this feeling. All classes in the com- 

 munity are injured by its unhealthful influence. 

 It extends to those who do not give it a resting 

 ;)lace in their own bosoms. Parents who have no 

 intention to change their own residence, are less 

 anxious to improve their possessions because of 

 the uncertainty whether their children will retain 

 the inheritance and occupy the farms which are 

 handed down to them. Children when laboring 

 with their parents, plan with less comprehension, 

 and work with less courage, for in their hearts at 

 least, they say ' of what advantage will our exer- 

 tions to improve the place he, should father sell, 

 as we often hear him intimate that it is probable 

 he may.' It discourages noble effort, enterprise 

 and improvement. 



I could direct you to houses which have already 

 ceased to shelter those who still live in them — 

 and to tiirms with some of the best land un- 

 touched, or with fields which once yielded in rich 

 abundance the glories of the year, now grown 

 over with weeds, and with fences broken down- — 

 the legitimate consequence of a wandering, un- 

 settled mind. And though some of the proprietors 

 of these may be leaning on their staves for very 

 age, they are just as much unsettled as they were 

 a half century since. I am perfectly aware that 

 this feeling has in a degree diminished in this coun- 

 ty, and I hope throughout New England within a 

 few years past. But it still continues with a dread- 

 ful withering operation among us. The causes 

 which induced this state of mind are numerous, 

 and it would not be useless or uninteresting to 

 dwell upon some of them. I shall confine myself 

 to a single one, not perhaps the most prominent, 

 but connected directly with the object which I 

 have before me, and operating though not exclu- 

 sively, upon the yeomanry of the county. The 

 cause to which I allude rises up in connexion 

 with a fact which I suppose all must allow: that 

 farming has been pursued too much as a mere 



mechanical oj)eration, while the reasons of each 

 operation have not been sufficiently understood, 

 nor have those engaged in it been sufficiently in- 

 quisitive whether other and better ways might not 

 be adopted. The mind being left unoccupied be- 

 comes restless, dissatisfied and hungry, consults 

 new things, goes abroad for its enjoyments, and 

 the whole man set afloat, ready, in fact willing, to 

 be driven about by every trifling circumstance. 



I know nothing which promises more efilsctual- 

 ly to i-emove this evil than to diffuse through so- 

 ciety more agricultural science, enterprise and 

 taste, to direct the mind to the reason upon which 

 the operations of farming are founded, to induce 

 men to commence plans of distant yet of certain 

 ultimate advantage, to excite to inquiry and inves- 

 tigation, and thus turn farming into a business of 

 the head as well as of the hands ; — to induce men 

 also to unite in their plans, what is beautiful and 

 attracting with what is useful, and thus make their 

 farms, houses, and other appendages pleasant and 

 attracting to the owners; — and further, by pre- 

 vailing with them to take a part in the public ef- 

 fort^ which are going on for the general advantage, 

 to accustom them to feel that their interest and 

 comfort are nearly comiected with those among 

 whom they dwell, and that it cannot be of little 

 concern whether they continue with them, or for 

 a small or imaginary good break away from all 

 the associations which time and the interchange of 

 kindness and acquaintance have made dear to 

 them. How well suited the plans of your Society 

 are to bring about this desirable change need not 

 be described, nor would it be easy to estimate the 

 advantages which would arise from it could it pro 

 duce that feeling of filial respect and piety exhib 

 ited in the following quotation. " The Lord for- 

 bid it me that I should give the inheritance of my 

 fathers to thee." 



[To be continued.] 



PliAKT MULBERRY TREES. 



We wonder at the remissness of the inhabitants 

 of New England in cultivating the mulberry tree. 

 That it may, and eventually will, be made a source 

 of considerable profit, there can be no doubt. In 

 the course of years, silk will be generally cultiva- 

 ted in New England, and will add very consider- 

 ably to the wealth of her citizens. 



Mulberry trees should be planted by the town 

 authorities in the public streets of every town and 

 village, and thus, while they add to the beauty of 

 a hamlet, they may add also to the wealth of its 

 inhabitants. In the south of France, where silk 

 is a staple commodity, the manufacture of it is 

 more or less the employment of a portion of the 

 family of every farmer. The great canal of Lan- 

 guedoc is lined with Mulberry trees. — The travel- 

 ler passes over highways overhung with the 

 branches of this beautiful tree, the cultivation of 

 which distributes wealth throughout that portion 

 of Europe. 



This climate is known to be favorable to the 

 production of silk- worms ; and every gentleman 

 of taste, who wishes to combine ornament with 

 Jtsefulness — every landholder, who is desirous of 

 increasing the value of his own property, and of 

 adding a stimulus to industry, should have Mul- 

 berry trees surrounding their houses, planted by 

 the road side, and scattered over their grounds. 

 By pursuing this plan, the rearing of the silk-worm 

 will in a few years become a profitable employ- 

 ment and fashionable amusement — certainly a 



harmless one. — Our Yankee girls, by devoting a 

 couple of hours daily lor a few weeks to this inter- 

 esting employment, may thus furnish their pock- 

 ets plentifully with spending money, or find 



wherewithal to alleviate the wants of the poor. 



Exeter JVews Letter. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 GATES vs. BARS. 



In times of defence Bar all Gates ; 

 In times of peace Gate all Bars. 



A FARMER must be rather an awkward man who 

 cannot make a common farm gate, and a dull ma- 

 thematician who cannot calculate the advantages 

 of using them instead of bars, in all places where 

 the business of the farm requires fre(|uent passing 

 and re-passing. Let us suppose the detention of 

 a man and team, passing through a pair of bars, 

 to be five minutes more than through a gate and 

 that he only ]iasses and re-passes once each day 

 for one half of the year, (as bars are generally left 

 down ojie half of the year,) this would amount 

 to one hour each week or three and a quarter days 

 in each year. Valuing the time of a man and 

 team at one dollar and fifty cents per day, the 

 detention would amount to four dollars and 

 eighty-seven and a half cents each year, or at sev- 

 en percent, the interest upon sixty-nine dollars and 

 sixty-five cents. From this sum deduct four dol- 

 lars and sixty-five cents, which will build a first rate 

 gate, and sixty-five dollars remains as the true value 

 of it. It requires but little more time to make a good 

 farm gate than to make a pair of posts and bars, 

 either of which may be prepared during the win- 

 ter. Gates may be hung upon posts set deep in 

 the ground, or framed to a sill ; in the latter case, 

 they may have a brace on the outside of either 

 post, which most efiTectually secures them to their 

 places. Besides being economical, well built gates 

 add much to the general appearance of a well con- 

 ducted farming establishment. It is by strict at- 

 tention to a thousand little nameless things, that a 

 farmer acquires not onl}' property but reputation. 



BREAKING OF STEERS. 



Yoke them carefully, and let them remain quiet 

 until they will eat their food, which generally 

 takes place in the course of one day. Yoke them 

 again the next, and put them behind a pair of old 

 steady cattle and let them stand till they become fa- 

 miliar with them. This generally takes but one day. 

 The day following yoke them again, and put them 

 behind the oxen as before, put theni upon the 

 tongue of a cart or sled. They being now accus- 

 tomed to the oxen before, they will readily follow 

 without whipping or beating. They will soon 

 become kind and gentle. 



To break him never strike, but often lead him 

 by the side of another horse, with a bridle. When 

 he walks well bring him to a trot after him ; then 

 lead him often in the saddle. Then put on a 

 small weight, and gradually increase it. Then let 

 one hold and another mount him, and ride after 

 another horse in a ploughed field, till he learns 

 the use of the bit, and will stop or go at your 

 pleasure. By this easy method you will break 

 your colt without breaking his spirit. 



A D.iNDY with a cigar in his mouth, on board a 

 team-boat, once stept up to a stranger, and said, 

 ' Pray sir, do gentlemen smoke in your country?" 

 ' Gentlemen don't smoke in any country," was the 

 laconic answer. 



