1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



525 



of flax, in which many importont facts with reg-ard 

 to this crop were given. 



The address closed with the importance of edu- 

 cating farmers for their profession and making 

 farming attractive to the young. 



During the deHvery of the address the church 

 was crowded, and the close attention of the audience 

 e^^nced the satisfoction with which it was received. 



The highest gratification which we found, was not 

 in the noble horses, fat beeves, milch kine, pigs, 

 poultry, or vegetables, but in the expression of a 

 sentiment fast increasing in the rural population. 

 A great many ])eoj)le have discarded the belief that 

 labor is an evil, and that there is no enjoyment in 

 the occupation that earns the bread we eat and the 

 delightful homes we occupy. After looking at all 

 the departments of the exhibition, we were so for- 

 tunate as to be introduced to several of the women 

 of Hampshire county, and in their expressions of 

 attachment to rural life, and of the happy influences 

 of rural occupations uj)on themselves and their 

 children, we found a source of gratification far ex- 

 ceeding that which any other matter afforded. They 

 feel that in the calm and rational pursuits of agri- 

 culture and its kindred branches, horticulture and 

 arboriculture, there is less excitement of the pas- 

 sions, less temptation to lure from the paths of vir- 

 tue, and a constantly ennobling influence that lifts 

 the soul thi'ough nature up to nature's God. That 

 God is daguerrotyped, as it were, before us all ; 

 that we see his wisdom and love, in the bending 

 grass, the trembling leaf, the sparkling dew, and in 

 a thousand wonderful operations constantly carried 

 on by His superintending care, and which are ever 

 present to him who cultivates the soil. That there 

 are lessons of trust, of confidence, of submission to 

 be found in the garden and field in many difierent 

 forms ; that wisdom may be found in every flower 

 that blooms, or insect that lives ; that there ai'e 



"Tongues in trees, books in tlie running brooks, 

 Sermons in stones, and good in everything." 



Such sentiments are gaining ground, and as they 

 are received, will the farm-house become embellish- 

 ed with books, with shade trees, with climbing 

 plants and flowers, and contented hearts, and the 

 home of the farmer become the happiest of all in 

 our land. 



So the Hampshire Show was a successful one, be- 

 cause it was constructed u])on princi])les which will 

 make men better and hapjiier — a rational Holiday, 

 which should be kept pure from all distracting in- 

 fluences of whatever name. 



Our thanks are due Mr. Dickinson, the Presi- 

 dent, and Mr. Boyden, the Secretary, for kind at- 

 tentions. 



Walking on Red-hot Iron Plati-s. — Prof. 

 Pepper recently delivered a lecture in the Pyrotech- 

 nic Institute, London, before a large audience of 

 mechanics, in Mhich he remarked that the setting 

 of the Thames on fire was no longer a joke, but a 



reality. By dashing a small bottle of sulphuric 

 ether, with a few particles of metal potassium, into 

 a flat cistern, a bright flame was produced, which 

 illuminated the whole place. He then laid down 

 four plates of red-hot u*on on four bricks, and one 

 of his attendants walked over them barefooted, 

 without any injuiy. By wetting his fingers in am- 

 monia, the Professor dipped them into a crucible of 

 melted lead, and let the metal run off in the shape 

 of bullets into a shallow cistern of water. 



THE TILLER OF THE SOIL. 



BY DAVID I. ROATH. 



A hardy, sun-burnt man is he, 



A hardy, sun-burnt man ; 

 No sturdier man you'll ever see, 



Though all the world you scan. 

 In summer's heat, in winter's cold, 



You'll find him at liis toil : 

 O, far above the knights of old, 



Is the tiller of the soil. 



No weighty bars secure his door, 



No ditch is dug around ; 

 His walls no cannon bristle o'er. 



No dead lie on his ground. 

 A peaceful laborer is he, 



Unknown in earth's turmoil : 

 From many crushing sorrows free, 



Is the tiller of the soil. 



His stacks are seen on every side, 



His barns are filled with grain ; 

 Though others hail not fortune's tide, 



He labors not in vain. 

 The land gives up its rich increase, 



The sweet reward of toil. 

 And blest with happiness and peace. 



Is the tiller of the soil. 



He trudges out at break of day. 



And takes his way along. 

 And as he turns the yielding clay. 



He sings a joyjul song. 

 He is no dull, unhappy wight, 



Bound in misfortune's coil ; 

 The smile is bright, the heart is light. 



Of the tiller of the soil. 



And when the orb of day has crowned 



With gold the western sky, 

 Before his dwelling he is found. 



With cheerful faces by — 

 With little laughing dujiUcates, 



Caresses will not spoil ; 

 O, joy at every tide awaits 



The tiller of the soil. 

 A hardy, sun-burnt man is he, 



A hardy, sun-burnt man ; 

 But who can boast a hand so free, 



.•Vs he, the tiller, can? 

 No summer's heat, no winter's cold, 



The power has him to foil ; 

 0, far above the knights of old 



Is the tiller of the soil ! 



ASHES IN AGRICULTURE. 



AVood ashes is one of the most imi)orfant fertil- 

 izers. It is easily obtained in any quantity, and at 

 little or no oxj)ense. Take them carefully from 

 your hearths and save them imtil your corn and po- 

 tatoes have arisen two or three inches from the 

 ground, and then tiike a basket on your arm, and 

 from it take a small handful of ashes, and cast it at 



