84 



The Mechanic in Straits. — Top-dressing, ^-c. Vol. VIII. 



The Mechanic in Straits. 



BY CHARLKS QUILL. 



Let the mechanic in straits hope stronj^-ly 

 for deliverance. Many are now reduced to 

 great dttiiculties by chang'es in the connncr- 

 cial vvorkl, which they had no hand in i)ro- 

 ducing. In such circumstances, when the 

 father of a fomiiy sees the dearest object of 

 his affections broutrht into want and distress, 

 there is a great temptation to discontent and 

 repining. Tiiis tendency must be resisted ; 

 it never did any good, and it never can. No 

 man ever gained by grumbling. Neither 

 complaint, nor recriminations, serve to make 

 tlie hunger smaller, or tlie loaf lai-ger. Stick 

 a pin there, and consider. Here is a starting 

 point. 



Not many hours ago, I hoard iinrlr Ben- 

 jamin discoursing of this matter to his son, 

 who was complaining of the pressure. "Rely 

 upon it, Sammv," said the old man, as he 

 leaned on his staff, and his grey locks flow- 

 ing in the breeze of a May morning, "mur- 

 muring p.'iys no bills. I have been an ob- 

 server many tiuies these fifteen year-<, and 

 I never saw a man Indped out of a hole by 

 cursing his horses. Be as quiet as you can, 

 for notliing will grow under a moving har- 

 row, and discontent harrows the mind. Mat- 

 ters are bad, I acknowledge, but no ulcer is 

 any the better for fingering. 'J'he more you 

 groan, the poorer you grow. 



" Repining at losses, is only putting pep- 

 per into a sore eye. Crops will fail in all 

 soils, and wo may be thankful tliat we have 

 not a famine. Besides, I always took notice 

 that whenever I felt the rod pretty sharply, 

 it was as much as to say, 'Here is sometiiing 

 you have got to learn.' Sammy, don't for- 

 get that your schooling is not over yet, 

 though you have a wife and two children." 



"Ay," cried Sammy, "you say that, and 

 a mother-in-law and two apprentices into 

 the bargain. And I should like to know 

 what a poor man can learn here, when the 

 greatest scholars and lawyers are at logger- 

 heads, and can't for their lives, tell what has 

 become of the hard money." 



"Softly, Sammy ! I am older than you. I 

 have not got these grey liairs and crooked 

 back without some burdens. I could tell 

 you stories of the days of continental money, 

 when my grandfather used to stuff a sulkey- 

 box with bills, in order to pay for a yearling 

 or a wheat-fan; and when .Jersey women 

 used thorns for pins, and laid their tea-pots 

 in the garret. You wish to know what you 

 may learn \ You may learn these seven 

 thinnf?. 



" First, that r/ou have saved too little, and 

 spent too ?nuch. I never taught you to be a 



miser, but I have seen you giving your dol- 

 lar for a 'notion,' when you might have laid 

 one lialf aside for charity, and another half 

 for a rainy day. 



" Secondly, that yon have gone too much 

 upon credit. I always told you that credit 

 was a shadow; it shows that there is a sub- 

 stance behind, which casts the sliadow ; but 

 a small body may cast a great shadow; and 

 no wise man will follow the shadow any 

 further than he can see the substance. You 

 may now learn that you have followed the 

 opinion and tashion of others, until you have 

 been decoyed in tlio bog. 



"Thirdly, that t/071 have been in too muck 

 haste to Ijccome rich. Slow and easy wins 

 the race. 



" Fourthly, that no course of life can he 

 defended on as ohvaijn prosperous. I am 

 afraid the younger race of working men in 

 America, have had a notion that nobody 

 could go to ruin on tliis side of the water. 

 Providence has greatly blessed us, but we 

 have become presumptuous. 



"Fifthly, that yon have not been thanlfnl 

 enovi^h to your heavenly Father, far his 

 l>lessini>s in limes past. 



" Sixthly, that you ntay he thankful that 

 oar lot is no ivorsc ; we might have famine, 

 or ])estilence, or war, tyranny, or all toge- 

 ther. 



" -And lastly, to end my sermon, you may 

 learn to offer the prayer of your infancy, 

 ' Give us this day our daily bread.'' " 



The old man ceased, and Sammy put on 

 his apron, and told Dick to blow away at the 

 tbrge. — Exchange pajicr. 



Top-dressing with fermenting Manures. 



If so large a waste occur in tlie farm-yard 

 where the manure is left long to ferment — 

 can it be good husbandry to spread ferment- 

 ing manure as a permanent top-dressing over 

 the surface of the fields'? This, also, is a 

 question in regard to which different opin- 

 ions are entertained by practical men. 



That a considerable waste must attend 

 this mode of application, there can be no 

 doubt. Volatile matters will escape into 

 the air, and saline substances may be washed 

 away by the rains, and yet there are many 

 good practical farmers wdio consider this 

 mode of applying such mamire, to be in cer- 

 tain cases, as profitable as any tliat can be 

 adopted. Thus — 



1°. It is common in spring, to apply such 

 a top-dressing to old pasture or meadow 

 lands, and the increased produce of food in 

 the form of grass or hay, is believed to be 

 equal, at least, to what would have been ob- 

 i tained from the same quantity of manure 



