52 



Russia. — Small Farms. 



Vol. VI. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Russia. 

 S,R,_I am tempted to send for insertion a 

 short extract from i\ letter whicli I have just 

 received from a dear friend, who sailed from 

 this country some time ajro, and has since 

 made two voyatjes to Russia. The descrip- 

 tive scenery, and the contrast between that 

 country of eternal storms and this of almost 

 perpetual sunshine, would, I conceive, be in- 

 teresting to some of your readers. It is in- 

 deed necessary, in such a climate, for the 

 government to provide artificial means to 

 amuse the people, shut out as they are from 

 the " illuminations" of the heavens for so great 

 a portion of the year. Z. 



" My dear Friend, — We have had cold and 

 wet and blowing weather since May, and 

 there is no prospect of change; to-morrow 

 morning we sail again for Russia. While 

 we are buffeting the angry waves of the 

 North Sea and Baltic, they have, 1 find, fine 

 weather across the Atlantic, and with you it 

 must DOW (31st July) be warm. We did not 

 see the sun for the space of six hours, during 

 the whole of our last voyage. 



" On my birth-day (13th July) we made up 

 a party to visit Peterhoff, one of the impe- 

 rial palaces on the banks of the Neva, and it 

 was a trip which I shall never forget I By a 

 ' coincidence,' the Empress has a birth-day on 

 that day, and the illuminations at PeterhoiF 

 to celebrate it, may be ranked amongst the 

 wonders of this world. Tf you should meet 

 with any one who has been there on the oc- 

 casion referred to, you may be able to obtain 

 eome faint picture of the scene, — my pen is 

 too feeble. I heard a lovely song in London, 

 ' Beautiful Venice !' — but oh ! most beautiful 

 Peterhofl^! — its dense woods and magnificent 

 avenues! — the glorious Turkish domes and 

 minarets of burnished ffold rising from the 

 green, copper roofs of the palace ! But 'tis 

 no use to try ; I could make you a mcxlel of 

 it, showing every alley and fountain and re- 

 servoir, but it is impossible to satisfy myself 

 or you by any description of which I am ca- 

 pable. I estimated the length of the frame- 

 work at forty milefi, at the average height 

 of fiftpon feet, and tlie lamps one foot apart: 

 this calculation would give rather more than 

 three millions of lamps, but there are more 

 than four millions used. Each lamp contains 

 at the least four oiinces of tallow, with wax 

 and turpentine, I think — perhaps nearer eight 

 — say four, however, and the consumption of 

 tallow is 45() tons! This helps one to form 

 some idea of the extent of the thing; and al- 

 thoni:li too much cannot be said of the devices 

 of till! framing, the stars, roses, &,c., it is the 

 almost interminable length of the burning 

 wall that impresses the mind with awe as 



well as admiration. Oh! for time and ta- 

 lents, that you might share with me in the 

 sensations I feel, whenever my thoughts re- 

 vert to that night ; some day, if I have the 

 opportunity, you shall have the best descrip- 

 tive plan in my power to make. There were 

 at least 500,001) people parading in the gar- 

 dens and park, chiefly Russians; but amongst 

 them were to be seen the inhabitants of, per- 

 haps, every country that has a place amongst 

 nations. More than twenty bands of music 

 were stationed in different parts of the 

 grounds, and the Emperor and family, with 

 their suite, in open carriages — very low, Irish 

 jaunting cars — promenaded the whole of the 

 gardens for several hours. The Emperor is 

 The most magnificent person 1 ever beheld, 

 the Grand Duke, his brother, being only in- 

 ferior to him. Glorious sight, that! depend 

 upon it. Truly yours, W. P." 



•' London, July 31, 1841." 



Small Farms. 



If it were not for the irrepressible desire 

 of cultivating large fields, a system might be 

 commenced, the benefits of which would soon 

 be acknowledged by every farmer; a small 

 amount of land well cultivated, will make a 

 poor man thrive — a large tract neglected, will 

 bring a wealthy man to poverty. If a man 

 can obtain from one acre more than he usual- 

 ly obtains from five, the renovating system 

 ought not to be delayed a day. When hay 

 turns out less than half a ton to the acre, the 

 labour and expense of getting the same will 

 be double that of getting it when the produce 

 is two tons. Fifty loads of manure to the 

 acre will raise the produce of our hay land — 

 worn out to the half-ton standard — up to the 

 value of two tons for five years; and half that 

 quantity for the succeeding five years, will 

 keep the land up to that point. In the one 

 case, the land produces without manure, five 

 tons of hay; the expense of fencing, taking 

 care of the land, and cutting and curing the 

 hay, will amount to three-fourths of the value 

 of the produce, — so if the hay be worth 812 

 a ton, the annual income of the land will be 

 .$15 only: but in the other case, seventy- 

 five loads of manure will give twenty tons of 

 hay per annum, u^orth $240, on land which 

 on the exhausting system gave ifiGO only! — 

 leaving, at the ond of ten years, more than 

 the difference of the value of the land itself, 

 with the satisfaction to the proprietor — worth 

 as much more — of witnessing good crops, 

 where only wretched ones grew before. — 

 Selected, 



What freights the barks of commerce in 

 their licpiid flight, threading every channel 

 and whitening every port, but the products 

 o( an;ricullure ? 



