60 



]NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Kept, ir., 18»I. 



OF EXERCISE IN INDIGESTION. \ 



The exercise both of mind and body demands 

 particular attention. 



The total want of exercise is not more perni- 

 cious than that which occasions fatigue. 



Of the various modes of exercise, horseback is 

 among the best when the patient is strong enough 

 not to be soon fatigued : but walking is, of all ex- 

 ercises the best. It is that wliich nature intends 

 for us. 



When too much debility attends to bear those 

 exertions, the gentler modes of exorcise, such as 

 riding in a carriage, or sailing, should be substitu- 

 ted. 



Any rough exercise soon after meals disturbs 

 the process of digestion. It is a good rule there- 

 fore, for the patient to avoid exercise of all kinds, 

 for an hour and a half after eating — and here as 

 in ctl'.er instances, we still find the dictates of na- 

 tui'.; pointing out what is best ; ibr all animals are 

 inclined to repose, after eating. 



Those exercises in the open air, in which the 

 bodily exercise is combined with a moderate and 

 pleasurable exercise of the mind, are well adapted 

 to this disease. 



Tlie maxims by which the exercise of the body 

 is regulated are applicable to that of the mind. 



Although it is of consequence for the debilitated 

 to go early to bed, there are few things more hurt- 

 ful than -remaining in it too long. Rising early 

 often gives a degree of vigour which nothing else 

 can procure. Lying late in tlic morning is not on- 

 ly hurtful by the relaxations it occasions, but also 

 by occupying that time of the day in which exer- 

 cise is most beneficial. 



It is seldom proper, all at once, \o attempt the 

 correction of the most injurious habits; the change 

 should be made with caution and judgment. 



[Dr Phillips.] 



CARD-MAKING MACHINE. 

 i\Ir Stephen Steward, a very ingenious mechan- 

 ist, of the Northern Liberties, invited us a few 

 days since to an examination of a machine wliicli 

 he has invented, and made for the manufacturing 

 of cotton and woolen cards, by a single operation, 

 bending and cutting the wire of a suitable size, 

 piercing the leather and setting the teeth, tlius 

 completing a card of any desirable lengtli or 

 width, with no other effort than that of turning a 

 small crank, requiring about as much force as to 

 propel a small grindstone. It is probably' known 

 to most persons, and indeed to all converj:ant with 

 the manufacturing of cotton and woolen fhat Mr. 

 Amos Whittomore, of Cambridge, (Mais,) many 

 yeais since invented a machine for performing a 

 similar operation with this of Mr Steward, and 

 from a hasty examination of the present 'nvention 

 and an indistinct recollection of that of 3Ir VVIiit- 

 temore, we are not prepared to say thatMr Stew- 

 ard's machine will perform more work inthe gross, 

 01 do it better than JMr Whittemorc,the alvantagos 

 claimed by Mr S. for his invention, andthey are 

 certainly worthy consideration, are, greatsimplici- 

 ty of construction, and an immense difference in 

 the cost of construction. If we are cor ectly in- 

 formed, a card machine of Mr Whittemore's inven- 

 tion, costs from $700 to .$1000,(we speak without 

 a personal knowledge) — one of Mr S's hvention 

 may bo finished in the best manner for ajout one 

 hundred dollars. In the present state of th; manu- 

 factures of our country, we cannot doubt tiat Mr 

 S. will find his' card making machijie a usful and 



profitable invention. It is certainly worthy the 

 attention of the ingenious, generally, and of manu- 

 facturers in particular—independently of the val- 

 uable purposes to which it is applied, it deserves 

 notice as a handsome piece of machinery. Mr 

 Steward, we presume, will willingly exhibit the 

 card machine to persons interested in its success, 

 who will apply at his residence in St. John, above 

 Noble street. [U. S. Gaz.] 



AGRICULTURE OF THE SOUTH OF 

 PRANCE. 



" Besides the ' fatness' of tlie olive, Ihcv reckon 

 in this country (the neighborhood cf Aviijnon) 

 four other harvests : ttie hay of the artificial 

 grasses, of which lucerne is the chief: witii tins 

 hay they fatten cattle, and make a great deal of 

 manure ; indeed, I sav.- .at Avigncn a covetoUsness 

 of dung, much to the cre^iit of their a;jriculr.Nral 

 management ; those who tnvecp the- streets bring 

 straw, cut ijito little bits about three inches long, 

 which they throw into the kennels and dirty pud- 

 dles, to suck up the fertili ing moisture. M.imire 

 must be in great demand, nnd an article of the 

 first necessity, in a country where, be:ii os exten- 

 sive gardens, they intcrcule, after the -.vlieat, reap- 

 ed usiially at the end of June, a crop of haricots 

 or French beans — a standing dish during tlie win- 

 ter, at all tables. I remember at how high a price 

 I had bought a few of those beans for seed, that I 

 miglit have this vegetable young and green, as a 

 side-dish, or in pickle ; yet these haricots seed, or 

 the dried grain of the French bean, are tlie cheap- 

 est food at Avignon, cheaper even tJian bread ; 

 and it was with reason that I was alarmed at my 

 own extravagance, when I saw them spread in 

 such abundance on the tabic in my kitchen. Ga- 

 rence or madder, is another rccolte, and a source 

 of great wealth. Add to these harvests their 

 wine ; which by the help of the climate and good 

 manipulation, is, in my opinion, tlie best in the 

 woild, except perhaps that of Xcres and Madeira. 



" Melons and pasties, or water melons, are here 

 delicious, and the food of the common people. — 

 Bread is excellent, light, white and nutritious; 

 many degrees whiter than that which I made of 

 my own wheat in England, though not so white, 

 nor so quickly dry and tastelesjs, as the adulterat- 

 ed bread of London. 



"I consider French agriculture, as far as I was 

 able to observe it in the soiitli, to be in a llourisli- 

 ing condition. They have not the grand cultiva- 

 tion : the subdivision of property, and the nature 

 of the products forbid it. They have no expen- 

 sive plans for deluging their dripping pans. They 

 would regard almost as thrown away, a rich plot 

 of land given up to the fattening of sheep and bul- 

 locks. In the southern moiety of France, indeed, 

 they have no choice ; there are water meadows, 

 where irrigation is possible, but no pastures. — 

 Their cattle are fed on mountains and hills, and 

 poorest lands during summer, and brought home 

 in winter. 



" The end of agriculture is to obtain the great- 

 est value of produce from land at the least ex- 

 pense, and that for ever ; and in this end the 

 French (the spirit of calculation coming in aid of 

 their soil and climate) succeed, in a great degree. 

 The chattels, the stock, both live and dead, be- 

 long to the proprietor ; he superintends ; the land 

 is not worse managed on that' account indeed, as 

 Pythagoras or Plato said, that states would never 

 be well governed till philosophers were kings, or 



ibjeti 

 lelifi 

 iiil I 

 tBtln 

 iK 

 ;mci 



eiely 



S,l 



kings were philosophers ; so it may be saiu thi 

 land will never be well cultivated till proprictoi 

 are farmers, or farmers are proprietors ; tiieir ii 

 terests are opposite, and not to be reconciled 1 

 leases or conditions of obligations ; oij^e desir 

 immediate, the other continued profit ; hut the i 

 terest tliat a French proprietor lias in liis shar« 

 the prc'luce, is not great enough to induce him 

 diiiiinish his capitil by deterior.iting the Ian 

 ■vhich the tenant aLvcys will do if he can ; evi 

 I'.i'j material of the farm, no unimportant part of i 

 v.d'ie, IS bettor cared for by the lan^-ilord than 1 

 K tenant. In short, France, in the southern pi 

 of it, is rapi;ily advancing towards garden cultut j 

 the perfection of all cultivation, since the morei ^j.^ 

 farm is (ftlltivated like a garden, the inore will f' 

 man-..geiv.ent of it be applauded, and the grea 

 will be itr; produce in proportion to its cxtent.4 

 The spa :r: and hoe arc very much used in fielA 

 especially where, as is of^en t!ic case, these fieW 

 are traversed by rows c' mulberry or other treei 

 and the vines trimmed into the form of bushes, al 

 the gnrence and hiricols, and lucurne in rows ai 

 drills, and the slight fences, occupying the leafv 

 possible space, aud set rather as limits than 

 g-.;ards, give to a rich tract as much of theappea« 

 ance .--.s it really has of the nature of a garden 



" The silk worm, though silk is a most valuabi 

 rent'Jp of this country, his no connexion with agr- 

 culture, except that this worm feeds on the leav< 

 of the mulberry tree. These leaves are pluckt 

 as soon as they have attained their full spread, ar 

 before they are at all dried or even hardened t- 

 tlic snn. While nature is preparing the f loJ t 

 the silk worm, art is forcing into existence tii 

 worm itself. The eggs are hatched by artificii 

 heat, and from the time the worm can eat till 

 becomes a cocoon, this savoury food is administe: 

 ed. The mulberry is of tlio wdiite sort; but th 

 fruit is hardly known to the Avignonais ; it is i 

 course destroyed by plucking off tlie leaves. Tlies 

 trees look very miserable Without leaves under j 

 fine a sky : by the end of summer a second crop ( 

 leaves is pUicked off, and given to cattle. 



" It was pleasing to me, as carrying mernor 

 back into former ages, to see tlie threshing dooi 

 of the Avignotiais ; they are on the outside of th 

 building that serves for the granary ; the sheave 

 are laid in a circle, in the centre of which stand 

 a man who drives two or more horses round ove 

 the ears of corn ; another man stands without th' 

 circle to correct any irregularities in the work."*' 



* x- * « « » * 



" They built, while I was at Avignon, a verj 

 good abattoir (public slaughter house), near on( 

 of the gates of the town. I saw here the procesj 

 of skinning an ox ; air is thrown in under tlie skii 

 by a pair of bellows, which air is then forced for- 

 ward by beating the inflated hide with clubs. 



* * * -X- * * # 



" French agriculture has made rapid strides 

 within twenty years ; they procure and disperse 

 improved niacliinery ; in the breed of their sheep 

 they pay .attention to the quality of the fleece. — 

 Tney call the English their masters in the science 

 of agriculture, but entertain confidence, I hope 

 well founded, of soon equalling those masters." 



Four i/ears' residence in France. 



''' This mode of iheshing, if so we may call it, ill 

 accords with the garden culture, and the general 

 eulogiums of our author on the econoirty of French 

 hiisbanilrv. 



