456 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



experience have been after retiring at night. The 

 whole eye would then seem to be oscillating, and 

 accoinj)anied by severe pain at each motion. 



Since being thus deprived of the use of the eyes, 

 several pei'soiis have stated to us a 

 similar experience in themselves, 

 and arising from the same cause. 

 We are also informed that an ex- 

 pressman, who had for many years 

 been passing back and forth between 

 Boston and one of the neighboring 

 towns, and who was in the constant 

 habit of reading in the cars, has be- 

 come totally blind, and the cause is 

 imputed to that fact. In reading, 

 the eye not only takes in the word, 

 but each letter of the Mord, and their 

 formation upon the retina of the eye 

 must be exceedingly complicated 

 and difficult vmder such conflicting 

 motions as are caused by a rapidly- 

 moving train of cars. Perhaps the 

 communication of these facts may 

 save a good pair of eyes. 



vorite jest of his had been to crow lUve a cock ; and 

 as he lay on the ground he thought of the only way 

 to save himself, and crowed. This had such an ef- 

 fect on his comrades that they rallied, charged again 

 and saved him. 



OUTLINE OF THE MELON APPLE. 



\ 



The Horticultunst for September, 1854, 

 gives a glowing account of this apple, the 

 editor stating that he once carried some of 

 them to Europe and presented Mr. RniiRS, 

 who pronounced them "the most tender and 

 delicious apples he had ever tasted." This 

 apple originated, with the Northern Spy, in 

 the garden of Mr. CllAPlN, of East Bloom- 

 field, Ontario County, N. Y. From what we 



<\l 



DAYS WITHOUT NIGHTS. 



There is nothing that strikes a stranger more 

 forciljly when he visits Sweden at the season of 

 the year when the days are longest, than the ab- 

 sence of the night. We arrived at Stockholm from 

 Gottenburg, 400 miles distant, in the morning, 

 and in the afternoon went to see some friends — 

 had not taken note of time — and returned about 

 midnight ; it was as light as it is here half an hour 

 before sundowai. You could see distinctly. But 

 all was quiet in the street. It seemed as if the in- 

 habitants were gone awaj-, or were dead. No signs 

 of life — stores closed. 



The sun goes down at Stockholm a little before 

 ten o'clock. There is great illumination all night, 

 as the sun passes round the earth towards the north 

 pole, the refraction of its rays is such that you maj' 

 see to read at midnight. Dr. Baird read a letter in 

 the forest near Stockholm at midnight, without ar- 

 tificial hght. There is a mountain at the Bothnia, 

 where, on the 21st of June the sun does not go 

 down at all. Travellers go there to see it. A 

 steamboat goes up from Stockholm for the purpose 

 of carrying those who are curious to witness the 

 phenomenon. It occurs only one night. The sun 

 goes down to the horizon, you can see the whole 

 face of it, and in five minutes it iicgins to rise. 



Birds and animals take their accustomed rest at 

 the usual hours. The hens take to the trees about 

 7 o'clock, P. M., and stay there until the sun is 

 well up in the morning, and the people get into the 

 habit of risino; late, too. 



can learn of it, we judge that it is too tender to 

 bear long carriage or much handling, and the tree 

 scarcely \'igorous enough in its growth to be re- 

 commended for profitable culture, but is worthy a 

 place in every orchard or garden, for family use. 

 The ecUtor of the Prairie Faitncr thinks it excels 

 the Northern Spy, in taste, but says notlung of its 

 qualities as a market fruit. 



Inquiky — What do they do with the Dirt ? 

 — " E. E." contributes the following : — A farmer 

 called the other day. My Httle niece wanted to 

 show liim the kittens, and he told her he had a 

 plenty at home, and went on to tell an incident re- 

 j lating to the necessity of keeping them, which was 

 In-ielly this : A ground squirrel, sciurus stiialus, 

 or " chipmuck," as he called it, had been making 

 depredations upon his corn, when one day he dis- 

 covered, a few feet from his corn-barn, a squirrel's 

 hole, which he dug out about four feet deep, and 

 came to corn, which he threw out to the fowls what 

 he judged to be half a bushel, and then gathered up 

 a half-bushel more, heajjed up. The mystery was, 

 how Sir Hackee could make an excavation to con- 

 tain a bushel or corn, and leave no traces of the 

 dirt. Some suggest that they eat it ; others again 

 that they carry it to a great distance, and scatter it 

 here and there and everywhere. Can the Country 

 Gentleman, or any of his family, give any satisfac- 

 tory explanation of it. — Country Gentleman. 



A Martial Buffoon. — There is often a buffoon 

 attached to each Russian company, who amuses his 

 comrades by his jests and antics, and is generally a 

 great favorite. On one occasion in the Caucasus, 

 when the troops were driven back by the Circassians, 

 the buffoon was wounded and left behind. A fa- 



Agricultural College in Michigan. — ^The 

 land upon which the college is to be erected has 

 been purchased — lying about three miles from the 

 Capitol at Lansing — at $15 per acre. The land is 

 of various quality, and is said to be well adapted to 

 the purposes of the institution, comprising about 

 600 acres. 



