110 



A Good Spirit. 



Vol II. 



We clear and beautify the fields; 



We drain tlie miry slough ; 

 We wield the sickle and the flail, 



And guide the sturdy Plough. 



Of all the stations here on earth, ' 



The Farmer ranks the first, 

 Though some may reckon him debas'd 



For toiling in the dust. 

 'Tis Nature's calling he pursues, 



As, with a sweaty brow. 

 He turns the sod all upside down, 



And guides the sturdy Plough. 



When Spring in all its merriment 



O'erspreads the fields with green. 

 And naught save notes of joy, is heard, 



And naught but smiles are seen, 

 The Farmer turns his tillage lands, 



And who's so happy now, 

 As he, while, whistling to his team. 



He guides the shining Plough. 



. Domestic joy full well he knows. 



And, it may hap a care ; 

 For none must think to be exempt 



From common lot and share ; 

 His wife, she deems it her concern 



To milk the bonny cow, 

 And cheer her ruddy husband, as 



He guides the sturdy Plough. 



For love of wealth some get ensnar'd 



In speculation's toils, 

 And others, when disasters come. 



Are scrambling for the spoils; 

 Still does the prudent Farmer pay 



To industry his vov/. 

 Nor heeds the struggle nor the strife ; 



But steady guides the Plough. 



Good rule and order he maintains ; 



He lives in peace with all ; 

 And, to defend his country's rights, 



He's ready for the call ; 

 Now, to be ever thus content, 



Say, wight, would ye know how 1 

 'Tis but to mind your own affairs. 



And steady guide the Plough. 



From the Balti:nore Farmer and Gardener. 



A Good Spirit. 



We publish below a highly interesting let- 

 ter from the Corresponding Secretary of the 

 New Castle County Agricultural Society of 

 Delaware. We rejoice to find from it that 

 a spirit of laudable enterprise has been 

 awakened among the agriculturists of that 

 generous and patriotic state ; and we trust it 

 will be-impelled forward until it shall have 

 infused itself into the bosom of every man 

 who cherishes veneration for the noble call- 

 ing of the husbandman. 



We cannot close this article without re- 

 turning our thanks to Dr. Thompson, for his 

 acceptable present of a loaf of bread made 

 from Spring Wheat, raised by that enter- 

 prising and intelligent farmer, Major Rey- 

 bold, and we will say this much for the Dela- 

 ware loaf, that, with a single exception, we 

 have never eaten of such excellent bread. It 

 was all that bread ought to be, all that good 

 flour and human art could make it. 



Wiliiiingion, Oct. 6lh, 1837. 

 To the Editor of the Farmer and Gardener: 



Sir — Knowing the interest you take in 

 every thing that appertain! to the agricul- 

 tural advancement and prosperity of our coun- 

 try, and how acceptable facts and practical 

 experiments are to the conductors of the 

 "Farmer and Gardener," I take the liberty 

 ofsendingyou, through the politenessofCapt. 

 Frazier, agent of the Wilmington and Sus- 

 quehanna rail road, a loaf of bread made from 

 the Italian spring wheat raised on the farm 

 of my enterprising friend Philip Reybold, 

 esq., of this county, the present season, it be- 

 ing a part of the same bread produced at the 

 agricultural dinner there on the 4th inst. 

 Mr. Reybold, who is known to many of your 

 readers as the president of our agricultural 

 society, and one of the most prominent farm- 

 ers in Delaware, stated to the members at 

 the late quarterly meeting of the society held 

 at Newark in this state, his experience and 

 confidence in the success of the Italian Sprino- 

 Wheat so highly spoken of lately to the 

 North, and commented on in different publi- 

 cations. From eight bushels of the seed pro- 

 cured by him from Rome, New York, he had 

 raised he said about one hundred and twenty 

 bushels, and had heard, and believed from its 

 purity, that it would make good bread. — 

 Some of our old and respectable farmers pre- 

 sent expressed doubts about spring-wheat, 

 the same grain they thought had been tried 

 in this slate many years ago, and that the 

 flour from it was considered little better than 

 rye flour — that it was dark and the bread 

 heavy. It occurred to us to suggest a trial 

 of the bread made from this wheat, and that 

 a lot of it might be sent to a disinterested 



committee of two members of the society: 



the proposition was immediately acceded to 

 by Mr. Reybold, and the wheat was liberally 

 furnished by him. It was taken to mill by 

 one of the committee, unmixed with any 

 other wheat, ground and bolted in his pre- 

 sence, and baked by his cook in the usual 

 manner. The result of the experiment you 

 will see and judge for yourself. At the agri- 

 cultural dinner, I need scarcely add, that it 

 gave universal satisfaction to the large and 

 intelligent company present (among whom 



