64 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



AUG. a*, 184a 



MISCELLANEOUS 



Remarkable Case nf Instinct in a Bird. — One of 

 the njnst remarkable casor; of instinctive linowl- 

 eiige in birds, was often related by my grandfather, 

 who witnessed the fact with his own eves. He 

 was attracted to the door, one summer day, by a 

 trembled twitterinr;-, indicating distress and terror. 

 A bird, who had bniit licr nest in a tree near the 

 door, was flying; back and forth with the utmost 

 speed, uttering wailing cries, as she went. He 

 was at first at a loss to account for her strange 

 movements; but they were soon explained, by the 

 sight of a snake, slowly winding up the tree. 



Animal magnetism was then unheard of; and 

 whosoever had dared to mention it, would doubt- 

 less have been hung on Witch's Hill, without bene- 

 fit of clergy. Neverthele.ss, marvellous and alto- 

 gether unaccountable stories have been told of the 

 snake's power to charm birds. My grandfather, 

 having a mind to test the truth of such stories, 

 thought he would watch the progress of things, 

 but, being a humane man, he resolved to kill the 

 snake before he despoiled the nest. The distress- 

 ed mother, meanwhile, continued her rapid move- 

 ments and troubled cries ; and he soon discovered 

 that she went and came continually, with some- 

 thing in her bill, from one particular tree — a white 

 ash. 'J he snake wound his way up ; but the in- 

 stant his head came near the nest, his folds relaxed, 

 and he fell to the ground rigid, and apparently 

 lifeless. My grandfather made sure of his death 

 by cutting off his head, and then mounted the tree 

 to examine into the mystery. The snug little 

 nest was filled with eggs, and covered with lenves 

 of the white ash ! . 



That little bird knew, if my readers do not, that 

 contact with the white ash is deadly to a snake. 

 This is no idle superstition; but a veritable fact in 

 natural history. I'he Indians are aware of it, and 

 twist g.irlands of white ash leaves about their an- 

 cles, as a protection against rattlesnakes. Slaves 

 often take the same precaution, when they travel 

 through swamps and forests, guided by the North 

 Star; or to the cabin of some poor white man, who 

 teaches them to read and write by the light of pine 

 splinters, and receives his pay in niassa's corn or 

 tobacco. 



I have never heard any explanation of the effect 

 produced by the white ash ; but I know that set- 

 tlers in the wilderness like to have these trees 

 around their log-houses, being convinced that no 

 snake will voluntarily come near them. When 

 touched with the boughs, they are said to grow 

 suddenly rigid, with strong convulsions; after a 

 while they slowly recover, but seem sickly for 

 some time. — Mrs. L. M. Child. 



Industry and Economi/. — There is nothing pos- 

 sible to man which industry and integrity will not 

 accomplish. The poor boy of yesterday, so poor 

 that a dollar was a. miracle in his vision — house- 

 Jess, shoeless, and breadless — compelled to wander 

 on foot from village to village, with his bundle on 

 his back, in order to procure labor and the means 

 of subsistence, lias become the talented and hono- 

 rable young man of today, by the power of his 

 good right arm, and the potent influence of his pure 

 principles, firmly held and perpetually maintained. 

 When poverty and what the world calls disgrace 

 stared him in the face, he shuddered not, but pressed 

 onward, and exulted most in high and great exer- 

 tion in the midst of accumulating disasters and ca- 



lamities. Let this young man be cherished, for 

 he honors his country and dignifies his race. High 

 blood — what matters if this courses not in his veins 

 — he is a freeborn American, and therefore a sov- 

 ereign and a prince. Wealth — what cares he for 

 that, so long as his heart is pure, and his walk up- 

 right? — he knows, and his country knows, that the 

 little finger of an honest and upright young man, 

 though destitute of wealth, is worth more than the 

 whole body of an effeminate and dishonest rich 

 man. These are the men who constitute the pride 

 of the country — who bring to it whatever of iron 

 sinew and unfailing spirit it possesses or desires — 

 who are rapidly rendering it the mightiest, as it is 

 already the freest land beneath the sun. — Selected. 



Jlnecdole of Dr. Byles. — During the unhappy 

 divisions preceding the American Revolution, the 

 Rev. Dr. Byles, who was favorable to the mother 

 country, was sentenced to be confined to his own 

 house in Boston, with a guard placed over him. 

 On one occasion he exhibited his love of ridicule, 

 by persuading his sentinel to go on an errand for 

 him, promising to take his place. This he did very 

 faithfully, and to the great amusement of all who 

 passed, the Doctor was seen very gravely marching 

 before his door, the musket on his shoulder, keep- 

 ing guard over himself. A short time after, it was 

 tlionght best to relieve him I'roni the presence of a 

 sentinel. On some further complaint, a guard was 

 again placed over him ; but he was soon freed and 

 no further noticed. Speaking of these transactions, 

 he said, '' he had been guarded, regnarded, and dis- 

 reguarded. — Selected. 



Glass Waistcoats. — The very ingenious discove- 

 ry of working glass into a substance resembling 

 the richest silk, is now being brought into very 

 general operation, and in various ways, such as 

 gentlemen's waistcoats and stocks, ladies' dresses, 

 and many other articles of decorations, in the most 

 splendid patterns. It is superior even to silk in 

 flexibility and softness, and the durability of it, (a 

 point, however, of no consideration with the rich, 

 among whom at present it exclusively is,) as a mat- 

 tor of course, vastly superior. In process of time, 

 wlien the manufacture has arrived at a more per- 

 fect state, and all defects remedied, and all its 

 wastings discovered, it will probably come within 

 reach of most classes of society, but at present, its 

 cost is its only drawback. The magnificence of 

 its appearance is quite remarkable, and when used 

 in any considerable quantity, such as window cur- 

 tains, &c., it should be seen before a just apprecia- 

 tion of its richness and elegance can be entertain- 

 ed. — London paper. 



" Shon," said a Dutchman, "yon may say vat 

 yon please 'bout pad neighbors — I hatd te verst 

 neighbors as neffer vas. Mine pigs and mine hens 

 comes home mid dcre ears split — an todder tay 

 two of dein come homa missing!" — Selected. 



Life. — An old writer says — "This life is begun 

 with a cry, and it endeth with a groan. Such be- 

 ing the two e.Nlremes, why should its midway stage 

 be di-^turhed by ihe warring elements of discord 

 and strife !-" 



New wheat is selling at 50 cents a bushel in 

 Ciucinnati. 



Conscience of Head and Heart, — There is _ 

 conscience of the head as well as of the heart, and 

 in old age we feel as much remorse, if we have 

 wasted our natural virtues. The profound and ex- 

 ultant satisfaction with which a man who feels thai 

 he has not lived in vain — that he has entailed or 

 the world an heir-loom of instruction or delights- 

 looks back upon departed struggles, is one of thi 

 happiest emotions of which the conscience can h. 

 capable. — Selected. 



During a discussion on matrimonial rights, 

 man remarked to his better half, "What's your 

 is mine. ''I'm agreed to that," said she, ' 

 just take my tooth-ache, if you please, along wit 

 the rest." — Selected. 



GRBBIV'S PATENT STRAW CUTTER 



JOSEPH BRECK & CO. at Ihe New England A!;nt 

 tural Warehouse and Seed Slore Nos. 61 and62Nonh M 

 kel Street, have for sale, Green's Palcnt Slraw, Hay i 

 Stalk Cutter, operating on a mechanical principle not lief 

 applied to any implement fonliis purpose. Tile mo.st pr( 

 inent effecls of this appiicatinu, and some of the conscqu 

 peculiarilies of the machine are : 



1. So great a reduction of ihe quantum of power reqm 

 to use it, that the strength of a half grown boy is suffici 

 to work it efficiently. 



2. With even ttiis moderate power, iteasilycutstwobV' 

 els a minute, which is full twice as fasl as fias been claii 

 by any oiher machine even when worked by horse or sti 

 power. 



3. The knives, owing to the peculiar manner in which i 

 cut, require sharpening less often than those of any o 

 straw cutler. 



4. The machine is simple in its construction, mode anr 

 together very strongly. It is therefore not so liabie af 

 complicated machines m general use lu get out oford<« 



AGRICULTURAI.. IMPLiEMEXTS, &c. 



The Proprietors of the New England Agricultural W 

 house and Seert Store No. 61 and 62 North Market si 

 would inform their customers and the public generally 

 they have on hand the most extensive assortment of i 

 cultuial and Horticultural Tools to be found in the U 

 States. Part of which are the following : 



1000 Howard's Patent Cast 



Iron Ploughs. 

 300 Common do. do. 

 200 Cultivators. 

 100 Greene's Straw Cutters. 

 50 Willis' do. do. 

 too Common do. do. 

 100 Willis' Patent Corn 



Shelters. 

 50 Common do do. 

 2u0 Willis' Seed Sowers. 

 50 " Vegetable Cutters 

 50 Common do. do. 



200 Hand Corn Mills. 

 200 Grain Cradles. 

 100 Ox Yokes. 

 1500 Doz- Scythe Stones. 

 3000 '■ Austin's Rifles. 

 March 17. 



100 doz. Cast Steel Sho 



Common 

 Spades. 

 Grass Scythes. 

 Patent SnaitliS' 

 Common do. 

 Hay Rakes. 

 Garden do. 

 Manure Forks. 



150 



100 



500 



.300 



200 



500 



200 



200 



300 " Hiiy do. 



500 Pair Trace Chains, 



too " Truck do. 



IMO Draft do. 



500 Tic up do. 



50 doz. Haller do. 

 1000 yards Fence do. 



25 Grind Stones on rolil 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



A WEEKLY PAPER. 



Terms, §2 per y eat in orfuoncc, or$2 5J ifno.l 

 within thirty days. 



N. B. — Postmastnrs arc; permitted by law to frail 

 subscriptions and remittances for newspapers, wl 

 e.xpense to subscribers. 



TUTTLE AND DENNETT, PKI.VTERS. 



pint 

 |lt«[ 

 r*, 



I'tHUi, 



\H 



