NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



59 



jntrv was grey o.its; although the gentlemen 

 their crol't or best land raised rtlso a little 

 *r or bigfir, and snme nhite oats ; yet the soil 

 s by ail men believed incapable of raising 

 leat ; and accordingly it »vas never tried. Our 

 inmon tbod consisted of these grey oats parrli- 

 , or burnt ont of the ear and ground in a hol- 

 V stone by the hand; of milk; of *kail ; of 

 ;; with nevermore than one ewe killed 

 .Alartinmns for the family. The houses were 

 nerally built of mud and covered with thatch; 

 :1 the clo.ithing nas of flaiding — a coarse 

 illed stulf manuf.ir lured at home, from the 

 ick and white wool mixed together. Hats 

 j shoes were only worn by the gentry; ami 

 en they often appeared at court with a coat 

 their wives' making. Potatoes were not in- 

 duced till 17-5, and at lirst were cultivated 

 Ih much care, and in small patches. They 

 re carried to the great towns on horses backs, 

 i retailed at an high price by poimds and 

 iices. It was about the year 1733. when they 

 Tie into common use, and before that period, 

 ;re was oltcn great scarcity of food, some- 

 les bordering on famine in this fine country. 

 lich was then accounted incapable of raising 

 ;ad for its scanty population. Dumfries ;!t 

 jsent contains more inhabitants than were 

 ;n in the whole county : and 20 acres are 

 w more productive than 200 in those days, 

 ch was the low stale of husbandry, that the 

 ncipal supply came from Cumberland, on the 

 ler side of the Esk ; and 1 myself have wit- 

 ■;sed on the Wednesdays, which from time 

 nemorial liave been our market days, s.ui 

 nes of real distress occasioned by the swel- 

 g of the river, which prevented the carriers 

 icn bringing forward the meal ; as the want 

 bridges often interrupted all communication. 

 ( have seen, proceeded the oM man wiih 

 ^ater animation, and pointing with the staff 

 his hand, all that country before us covered 

 d overgrown with twhins and broom, and not 

 ingle vestige of these hedges and stone walls 

 ;ich cross and intersect the whole landscape, 

 few sheep and black cattle picked the scanty 

 rbage ; and they were prevented from eating 

 ! growing corn, either by a herd-boy who 

 ided them, or by a temporary fence erected 

 sry year. The common people very often coi- 

 led nettles in the tield, of which they made 

 :ind of coarse soup thickened with oatraeal, 

 i enriched, on great days, by a piece of bnt- 



as a luxury. The state of Scotland from my 

 th up to 17 5 was miserable in the extreme ; 

 ; lower classes were ill fed, ill clothed, and 



loiiijed ; and there was no revival in iheir 

 cumstances till the introduction of potatoes 

 j lime. 



Df potatoes and lime, repeated I ; 1 can per- 

 ve some reason, why the tirsl should im- 

 ")ve their condition, but what connexion hijd 



• last with it ? 



Lime, continued my instructer, operated with 



icli more success on the prosperity of the 



mtry than potatoes ; and i look upon it as the 



<t Irieud we ever saw. 



Rxplain yourself, said I ; for all this seems 



sterious, and 1 cannot conceive, bow lime 



lid h>\e wrought such enchantment. 



To your satislaction, then, I shall account for 



* A «]>ecic5 of gfrecns used in Scotland for broth, and 

 led Coltworl. I I'urzc, 



it; and mv present views have not been alter- 

 ed for the last 20 years of my life. .Seventy 

 years ago, in ITofi, there was no lime u«od for 

 building in Dumfries, except a little made of 

 cockle sh(dl«, burnt at Cnlvend, and brought on 

 horses backs a disliince of twenty two mile. 

 .\ll the houses were either composed of mud- 

 walls, strengthened by nprinht posts and these 

 bounil and connected tcgelber by wattled twigs; 

 or they were built of stone laid, not in mortar, 

 but in clay or moisl lo;im. The whole town 

 was a collection of dirty, mean, and frail hovels, 

 never exceeding one story ; because the mate- 

 rials had not strength or tirmness to bear more. 

 These buildings were so perishable, and stood 

 in need of such constant propping, that people 

 never thought of exi)endlng time, labor, and 

 money on the comforts of a habitation, which 

 was to fall into ruins during the course of their 

 lifetime. Old Provost Bell's house, which was 

 I'ounded ir. 1710, is the only one now remaining 

 of the ancient town : and although the under 

 stor\' was built with clay, the two upper were 

 laid in lime which is the cause of its longstand- 

 ing. Between the j'ears of 1750 and 1760, the 

 old mud walls gave place to those of stone laid 

 in mortar; and from that period, there has been 

 a visible and rapid improvement. Houses ac- 

 (piired permanence, descended from tather to 

 son, and the labors of one generation were en- 

 jo3ed by the next. To lime, then, we owe 

 these stately edifices, with all the comforts and 

 conveniences they confer: and it hence cootrib- 

 uled, in a remarkable degree, to the refinement 

 and polish of private life. 



If to this fossil, continued the old man, we 

 are indebted for the stability of our towns, we 

 are under jreater obligations for its unprece- 

 dented effects on the powers of the earth. 

 Wheal and clover would not thrive in the couii- 

 t}' of Dumfries, or in the Stewartry of Kirkcud- 

 bright, till lime was plentifully incorporated 

 with the soil : and after its introduction, the far- 

 mers became rich, land advanced in value, the 

 produce was multiplied tenfold, population in- 

 creased, and these counties quickly rose to their 

 present unexamided prosperity. In my young- 

 er days, it cost much toil to raise on my uncle's 

 farm 2 or 2\ bolls of grey oats per acre, and af- 

 ter taking one or two crops, the ground lay for 

 four or five years in natural grass, which was 

 coarse and unpalatable to the cattle. The rent 

 — only 2s. Cd. per acre — we found great diffi- 

 culty in scraping together, and we fell on a 

 thousand shifts to accomplish it. Now, the 

 same farm is rented 'at £3 10 per acre, is kept 

 under constant cropping, rears excellent wheat, 

 is wholly drained and enclosed, supports a gen- 

 teel fimily in all the comforts of life, and one 

 year's rent of it is double the sum, which could 

 have purchased it altogether 65 years ago. — 

 it is lime, that has warmed and meliorated the 

 soil, that has endowed it with produciive pow- 

 ers, and that supports all the plenty and pros- 

 perity you have been admiring, as you trav- 

 elled through the district. He paused ; I look- 

 ed in his face, and a glow of animation had 

 overspread the paleness of age. His right hand 

 was extended in an impressive posture, and his 

 left rested on his staff. The pencil of Titian 

 could not have done him half justice. I rose 

 and bowed ; we came down together, and I re- 

 tired to my apartment in the inn, to note down 

 the particulars of this interesting conversation. 



From the Claremont (N. H.) Ppeclator. 

 J\'ezi) Threshing Mill. — On Friday last a num- 

 ber of gentlemen of this town, and Windsor, Vt. 

 witnessed the operations of a Threshing Mill, 

 invented by Messrs. Tylers and Andrews of thi« 

 town ; and the result of several experimenli* 

 satisfied all present that it would thresh and 

 clean fifteen bushels of wheat in an hour. The 

 labor of threshing and cleaning is performed in 

 the most perfect manner — not a kernel of wheat 

 could be found in the heads, after passing 

 jthrouijh the Mill. Every particle of dust anil 

 chafl is septirated from the grain and blown 

 away, and the straw is cut into pieces about 

 [four inches in length. This Mill has been used 

 I with eipial success, in threshing Clover-seed, 

 Rice, and Cofl'ee. The machine is kept in mo- 

 tion by two horses, and re(iuires a driver and 

 four men to tend it Messrs. Tylers have been 

 engaged for three or four years past^ in perfec- 

 ting their design ; and while we congratulate 

 them on their success, we hope their ingenuity 

 and perseverance will be liberally rewarded, 

 for having made so valuable an acquisition to 

 the useful inventions of our country. 



Since the above was in type, we have learnt 

 that Messr?. Tylers and Andrews made anolher 

 trial of their Threshing Mill, on Monday last ; 

 when they threshed and cleaned four bushels ot 

 wheat in nine minutes ; which is at the rate ol 

 twenty-six bushels and two thirds in an hour, 

 The cause of this diftorence in the two experi- 

 ments, we understand arose from a difference 

 in the horses ; one of those employed in the 

 first instance, being a bad one. VVater or steam 

 power may be applied with increased advantage. 



From the Baltimore Republican. 

 The crops. — In Virginia and Maryland, the re- 

 cent crops have been unusually abundant — and 

 thanks to a beneficent Providence, the growing 

 one promises to be peculiarly so. At Richmond 

 on the 26tli ultimo, corn, which a fortnight pre- 

 vious was selling at three dollars a bari.d, had 

 fallen to 1,90 a 2— meal was 75 cents a bushel, 

 and a strong probability of its being still lower. 

 The rains of the present month have had the 

 happiest efiect, and brightened the prospects of 

 the planter. To the south, finer crops of corn 

 have seldom been seen. In the two Carolinas, 

 Georgia and Alabama, the earth is loaded with 

 her productions.- -Corn sells at 25 and 30 cents 

 a bushel, in Georgia. — In Maryland the crops 

 have been unusually prolific. Rye, Oats, Flax, 

 Hay, Wheat and Corn bid fair to exceed the 

 most sanguine expectations of the farmers in 

 many parts of our state. While contemplating 

 these cheermg agricultural prospects, our hearts 

 dilate with gratitude, to the " Giver of every 

 good and perfect gift." 



Mrs. G.'i Famous Banns. — One pound and a 

 half of flour, (a quarter pound loft to sift in last) 

 and a half pound of butter cut up fine together ; 

 then add four egs' beat to a high froth, four 

 tea cups of milk, half a wine glass of brandy, 

 wine, and rose water each, and one wine glass 

 of yeast ; stir it all together with a knife, and 

 add half a pound of sugar, then sift in the quar- 

 ter of a pound of flour, and when the lumps 

 are all beaten fine, set them to rise in the pans 

 they are to be baked m. This quantity will 

 make four square pans full. 



