260 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



O" We fiHd the following beautiful poem making the rouniis 

 of the newspapers, without any author's name attached to it. 

 If wt kn«w the name, we would gladly pay it the tribute w^hich 

 90 hnished lines merit. — i: r. 



FLOWERS. 



I thoy look upward in every place 



Throujh this beautiful world of ours, 

 And dear as a smile on an old friend's face. 



Is the smile of the bright, bright flowers ! 

 They tt-ll us of wanderings by woods and streams ; 



They tell us of lanes and tress ; 

 But the children of showers and sunny beams, 



HaVe lovelier tales than these. 



They tell of a season wljen men were not, 



When earth was by angels trod. 

 And leaves and flowers in every spot 



Burst forth at the call of God ; 

 When spirits singing their hymns at even. 



Wandered by wood and glade, 

 And the Lord looked down from the highest heaven. 



And blessed what He had made. 



That blessing reraaineth upon them still, 



Though often the storm-cloud lowers, 

 And frequent tempests may soil and chill 



The g.iyest of earth's fair flowers. 

 When Sin and Death, with their sister Grief, 



Made a home in the hearts of men, 

 The blessing of God on each tender leaf. 



Preserved their beauty then. 



The lily is lovely as when it slept 



On the waters of Eden's lake ; 

 The woodbine breathes sweetly as when it crept 



In Eden from brake to brake ; 

 They were left as a proof of the loveliness 



Of Adam and Eve's first home ; 

 They are here as types of the joys that bless 



The just in the world to come. 



For the New England Farmer. 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



_ Messrs. Editors :— It striken me that the no- 

 tion of "experimental farms, under the super- 

 intendence of county societies," advanced by sev- 

 eral gentlemen at the closing discussion of the 

 Legislative Agricultural Society, is worthy of 

 more distinct development. It is admitted on all 

 sides that practical experiments are the only sure 

 guides to knowledge in agriculture. Who are 

 80 competent to direct these experiments as those 

 chosen by the peojde to manage these societies 1 

 Suppose a Hxriu to he under their care; their first 

 cfifbrt would be to determine what crops could be 

 grown thereon to best advantage. Will it be 

 said that no farm can be managed, under such 

 guidance, so as to sustain itself and make both 

 ends meet? We will not for a moment indulge 

 this idea. We do not believe the associated wis- 

 dom_ of a number of men is so inferior to that of 

 an individual. We know of many farms, under 

 individual direction, that yield a handsome in- 

 come, quite equal to the best of the stocks in the 

 market. 



We think the legislature, when they required 

 the funds of societies to be invested in dividcnd- 

 Tpayinr/ stocks, tliereby indirectly slurred the busi- 

 ness of farming. The probability is, this clause 

 was inserted in the act by some one who knew no 

 other way of getting nu)ney except by loaning 

 upon interest. Now, if farming is worthy to be 

 pursued as an occupation, then the lands culti- 

 vated are good and suiQcient security for the in- 



vestment, and there can be no hazard in their in- 

 vesting the funds of societies — especially when 

 the condition of the grant is, that the amount 

 granted shall be doubled by the society receiving 

 the grant. We have not time to pursue the de- 

 velopment, but hope it will lie taken up and 

 practically illustrated by those interested therein. 

 April 12, 1855. Essex. 



For the New England Farmer. 



GOING TO THE CITY. 



Billy Gray, in Boston, John Jacob Astor, in 

 New York, and Stephen Gerard, in Philadelphia, 

 are but specimens of what poor ))oys have become 

 in all our large cities, — and what others have 

 done, "Why, with patience, may not 1?" 



Such reasoning influences the minds of multi- 

 tudes of young men. They know, to be sure, 

 that but one of many hundred thousands become 

 tlius rich and distinguished ; yet each feels that 

 there is a chance — a possibiliiy — that he may be 

 that one ; and this is enough to encourage hope, 

 and to keep dissatisfaction with home constantly 

 gnawing at his heart. Now, so far as mere 

 chances are concerned, there are probably several 

 hundred that your lifeless body will be fished out 

 of the docks before you have been in the city a 

 week, to one that you will ever become a Billy 

 Gray. Yet there is a chance ! So there is a 

 chance of becoming a Washington, a Buonaparte, 

 a Ceesar, ])y enlisting and turning soldier ; and 

 there is a chance of drawing the highest prize in 

 a lottery by buying a single ticket. 



But my object at the present time is simply to 

 ask for tlie re-publication of a paragraph that I 

 noticed in the Police reports of the Evening 

 Traveller of Monday, last week. Such state- 

 ments are so common that they are seldom copied 

 by the weekly papers. The news editor of the 

 weekly Farmer, who allows nothing new and 

 rare to escape his scissors, made no note of this 

 report. I ask, therefore, that my country friends 

 will give it a particularly careful reading, not 

 that it is anything rare or wonderful, but be- 

 cause such statements by our police are so com- 

 mon, that thousands who may read it here, 

 would probably never have seen it at all, had it 

 not appeared to me worthy of preservation. It 

 is as follows : — 



"For some time past, workmen from the coun- 

 try have flocked into the city in search of em- 

 ployment. In many cases they are totally desti- 

 tute of funds, and Avhen night arrives are 

 obliged to take refuge in the different Station- 

 houses. Last night there was no less than For- 

 ty-five applications for the lodgings at the difi'er- 

 ent Station-houses, many of whom were of this 

 class A man was found by the sixth Sta- 

 tion Police sound asleep near the Old Colony 

 Railroad Freight Depot, South Boston, lie was 

 taken to the Police Station, and said he had 

 walked in from East Randolph in search of work. 

 He had not a cent of money with him, and 

 seemed very thankful when supplied with food." 



If these forty-five individuals had been fortu- 

 nate enough to secure good situations and great 

 wages, instead of lodgings in the Police-stations, 

 all their friends and acquaintances would have 

 been informed of the flxct without my assistance. 

 A CiTV Mechanic. 



Boston, April 21, 1855. 



