NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



375 



FLAX COTTON. 



It is pretty well ascertained that flax can be pre- 

 pared by cheap chemical action, to be spun and 

 woven with as much facility as cotton itself. Eve- 

 ry thin"- in regard to it must have an interest foi 

 all. The following remarks relate to its exhibi- 

 tion at the World's Fair : — 



"The flax is exhibited in all stages, from the 

 full grown plant and stalk to the change into cot- 

 ton, then in yarn, thread, tlien woven and knit, and 

 mixed with wool in white flannel and satinet cloth, 

 also bleached in purest white and dyed of various 

 colors. It is a perfect achievement. There it is 

 in all tliese states. If flax can thus be converted 

 into a material capable of being carded, spun, wo- 

 ven, colored, bleached and used in all the ways that 

 cotton can, and the assurance is given that it can, 

 and be a better fabric, and all this at an expense so 

 as to cost much less thnn cotton — and its estimate 

 is but half of the present price of cotton — it is in- 

 stantly seen that the discovery is of boundless va- 

 lue. Of there being the conversion, there is no 

 doubt. Here it is exhibited both by the French 

 and English. That it can be converted eflfectually, 

 at a cost to make it compete with cotton, is stated 

 with strong vouchers. There is little room to 

 doubt it. 



Bop's Ulcp ivtmcnt. 



THE COUNTRY BOY IN THE CITY. 



A country boy's first visit to the city is a most 

 momentous occasion; one fraught with more of in- 

 terest and vivid impressions than most he has to 

 recur to in after years; an occasion never to be for- 

 gotten. 



Before these days of steam travelling boys not 

 unfrequently attained the age of ten or twelve years 

 before they had beheld the "wonders of the town," 

 and perhaps is the case even now in some instan- 

 ces. 



Everything not common to the country, all arti- 

 cles not lound in the village grocery, and count- 

 less objects which the city lad passes by as haidly 

 worth his notice, he looks upon as wonderful. The 

 noise of wheels upon the pavements, the crowded 

 streets, the gilded signs, and flaming lights in the 

 windows of the druggists, all serve to excite and 

 bewilder him. Objects of interest first noticed af- 

 ter the initiate finds himself witiiin the borders of 

 the city, seem to be most impressive. 



A clergyman of my acquaintance said that when 

 a boy of seven years, on returning home after hav- 

 ing made his debut, in answer to the numerous in- 

 terrogatories from his sisters as to what he had seen, 

 &c., much to his surprise and mortification could 

 think of nothing in the confusion of the moment, 

 out of the vast fund of which he supposed himself 

 possessed, but a huge sign, projecting over the 

 street, painted in large letters, "Cash paid for Tal- 

 low." I knew a lad once to exhaust his entire 

 stock of the needful, amounting, all told, to sixty- 

 two and a half cents, in the purchase of a small 

 brass kettle with which to surpri.se and gratify his 

 mother on his return home. This he saw in the 

 door of the first shop he came to, and carried it 

 about the whole of a hot summer day, perfectly 

 satisfied with his investment until he saw the lich 



display in windows farther up; and then, alas, too 

 late, looking sorrowfully at his kettle, bemoaned 

 the premature disposal of his funds. 



As the rustic youth arrives at a proper age, he 

 is sought by the merchant for his counting-room, 

 for it is well known they always have liie prefer- 

 ence, and 1 think will be conceded on all hands 

 that in a majority of cases they make the most en- 

 terprising and. valuable citizens. And many there 

 are who are yearly metanior|)hosed into city bucks. 

 Various are the causes which may influence him 

 to quit the vocation of his father and seek in the 

 metropolis another, and form new tastes and new 

 associations. He has, perhaps, become tired of 

 the dull routine of country life, and seeks excite- 

 ment. He has heard of wonderful speculations, 

 and wealth accumulations. His cousin from the 

 city has spent a month with him, whose fashiona- 

 ble attire and delicate com[)lexion he contrasts with 

 his own homespun apparel, and sun brown visage. 

 He has observed with jealous watchfulness the par- 

 tiality of the village beauty for his formidable rival 

 and is resolved to stand on an equal footing with 

 him. A situation is obtained, and he enters upon 

 the duties of a clerk. He now finds himself in a 

 different atmosphere. For the pure air of the 

 mountain, and the fragrance wafted from fields rich 

 with clover and honey-suckle were his; now a bil- 

 ious smell of docks, coal gas, and foreign spices, 

 is substituted. The round jacket is exchanged for 

 the premature, long-tailed coat; the open shirt-col- 

 lar for the starched cravat and perpendicular linen, 

 which places his ears in imminent peril. He must 

 be polite when he wishes to love, and smile whec 

 he used to laugh aloud. 



Poor boy ! Long moments of toil are before thee. 

 Weary, homesick and discouraged shall thou lie 

 down to rest at night, to dream perchance of the 

 time long passed, when thy days glided peacefully 

 away under the mild sceptre of an indulgent daddy. 

 The morrow cometh, and as yesterday the same 

 detested routine goes on. To open and close the 

 store — numberless menial offices to be performed — 

 bearing the insults of older clerks, and made the 

 scapegoat of all their blunders. But courage, my 

 boy — nerve thyself up to the work — keep down 

 that something which is rising in thy throat and 

 threatening to choke thee — and thy name shall 

 stand on gilded letters over the door from which 

 thou sweepest ! — Portland Transcript. 



CaiJics' Dfpartnu'ut. 



THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 



BY MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY. 



There is much clamor in these days of progress 

 respecting a grant of new rights, or an extensioa 

 of privileges for our sex. A powerful moralist 

 has said that "In contentions for power, both the 

 philosophy and poetry of life are dropped and 

 trodden down." Would not a still greater loss 

 accrue to domestic happiness, and to the interests 

 of well balanced society, should the innate delica- 

 cy and perogative of woman, as woman, be for- 

 feited or sacrificed ? 



"1 have given her as a helpmate," said the voice 

 that cannot err, when it spake unto Adam, in the 

 cool of the day, amid the trees of P:iradi,se. Not 

 as a toy, a clog, a wrestler, a prize-fighter. No, a 



