®l)c farmer's ittcmtljli j bisi tor. 



15 



The First Prayer ill Congress. 

 The sii yuiiieii exiiMciot'a characteristic letter 

 hii J.ihn Adams, describing a scene in the first 

 ingress in Puihulelpliia, in September, J774, 

 ,i«s very clearly on what power the mighty 

 en of ohl rested llie-ir cause. Air. Adams thus 

 riles to a friend at lite time: — 

 " When the Congress wet, Mr. dishing made 

 motion that it should be opened with prayer. 

 was opposed by Mr, Jay, of New York, and 

 r. Riitledge, of South Carolina, because we 

 ere so divided in religious sentiments — some 

 piscopaliaus, some Quakers, some Anabaptists, 



h'asin; 



ue Presbyterians, am) some Congregational 



ts— that we could not join in the same act ol 

 orship. Mr. Samuel Adams rose, and said, 

 hat he was *io bigot, and could hear a prayer 

 om any gentleman of piety and virtue, who was 

 : the same time a friend to his country. He was 

 stronger in Philadelphia, but had heard that 

 Ir. Duche (Dushay they pronounced it) deserv- 

 I thai character, and therefore he moved that 

 Ir. Duche, an Episcopal clergyman, might be 

 esired to read prayers before the Congress, to- 

 lorrow morning.' The motion was seconded, 

 nd passed in the affirmative. Mr. Randdph, 

 in- president, wailed on Mr. Duche, and receiv- 

 d for answer, that if his health would permit, 

 e certainly would. Accordingly, next morning, 

 e appeared with his clerk, and in pontificals, 

 nd read several prayers, in the established form, 

 ml then read the Psalter lor the seventh day of 

 leptemher, a part of which was the 35th Psalm, 

 'on must remember this was the next morning 

 fler we hail heard the rumor of the horrible 

 annnnade of Boston. It seemed as if heaven had 

 rdained thai Psalm to be read on that morning. 



"Alter this, Mr. Duche, unexpectedly to every 

 iody, struck out into an extemporary prayer, 

 vhich tilled the bosom of every man present. 



must confess, I never heard a better prayer, or 

 me so well pronounced. Episcopalian as he is, 

 Jr. Cooper himself never prayed with such fer- 

 ror, such ardor, such correctness and pathos, 

 ■ t id in language so elegant and sublime, for 

 Congress, for the Province of the Massachusetts 

 Bay, especially the town of Boston. It had an 

 iXCellent effect upon eveiy body here. I must 

 leg you to read that Psalm. If there is any 

 aith in lhe Sorles Virgilianae, or Sortes Horneri- 

 •a.-, or especially the Sorles Biblic&e, it would 

 ic thought providential." 



Here Was a scene worthy of the painter's art. 

 It was in Carpenter's hall, in Philadelphia, a 

 liiiihliug which (we learn by a recent article) still 

 ■airvives in its original condition, though now 

 sacrilegiously converted, we believe, into an auc- 

 tion mart for lhe sale of chairs and tables — that 

 [he forty-four individuals met before whom this 

 service was read. 



Washington was kneeling there, and Henry, 

 and Randolph, and ftlltledge, and Lee, and Jay ; 

 and by their side [here stood, bowed in rever- 

 ence, ihe Puritan patriots ol New England, who 

 at that moment had reason to believe that all 

 armed soldiery was wasting their humble house- 

 holds. It was believed that Boston had been 

 bombarded and destroyed. They prayed fer- 

 vently "for America, for Congress, for the Prov- 

 ince of Massachusetts Bay, and especially for 

 the [own of Boston;" and who can realize the 

 emotions with which they turned imploringly to 

 heaven for divine interposition and aid! "It 

 was enough," said Mr. Adams, " to meli a heart 

 of stone. I saw the tears gush into lhe eyes of 

 the old, grave, pacific Quakers of Phila- 

 delphia." — jYewark Daily Advrrtistr. 



Western Agriculture— Corn Cobs. 



I made a flying visit In our old friend, Henry 

 L. Ells won h, of Patent Office memory, one day 

 last month. He is now a resident of Lafayette, 

 Indiana, where he is farming pretty largely on the 



Wea Prairie, about seven miles out, on which he 

 has a thousand acres of Indian corn ill one field. 

 The uncommon high price of corn ibis summer 

 has been lhe moving cause of growing many an 

 extra acre of it in the Wabish Valley, when', ii 

 it ripens well, it will tell a pleasing tale, not only 

 to the cultivators, hut to the starving millions ol 

 Europe. 



Mr. Ellsworth is as full of enthusiasm as ever 

 anil no less busy than he was in Ins office ai 

 Washington. He is an owner and manager of a 



vast amount of land, which he is selling, 

 ami improving, and which, together with all the 

 business operations that he is carrying on, keeps 

 Ins office crowded with the multitudes who deal 

 With him. Yd he Buds lime to he continually 



trying sou xperimetit, or studying out some 



improvement for the benefit of the agricultural 

 community. 



I saw six pigs in as many pens, just big enough 

 to hold each occupant without exercise, which 

 he was feeding on corn in the ear, corn ground, 

 hut fed raw, and cornmeal made into mush— two 

 upon each\ind. The pigs were all alike in age, 

 breed, size, and weight, when commenced n ill), 

 and after being led a certain lime with carefully 

 weighed quantities of food, they are re-weighed 

 and weights noted, and then those which had 

 been fed upon one kind are changed to another, 

 and so on; and when the experiment is finished, 

 he assured me he would publish the table. The 

 experiment thus far is very much in favor of the 

 mush bidding fair to produce enough lo pay toll 

 and trouble lor grinding, as well as for cooking, 

 and leave a profit. The number of pounds of 

 good thick mush that one hundred pounds ol 

 meal, well worked, will make, is astonishing to 

 any one who never thought much upon the sub- 

 ject. It will not fall much if any short of six 

 hundred pounds. Mr. Ellsworth's kettle holds 

 just fourteen pounds of meal at a charge, and 

 several accurate weighings give over eighty 

 pounds when well cooked, and 1 saw myself that 

 no more water was used than the meal would 

 absord. But it must be cooked, not merely scald- 

 ed. A litile salt is added, and occasionally a lit- 

 tle sulphur. 



Mr. Ellsworth assured me that he bad proved 

 the mooted point of nutritive food in corn-cobs. 

 He says: "Hogs will live and thrive upon well- 

 ground cob-meal alone! At first they did not 

 take bold. 1 then added a small quantity ol" meal 

 of the grain, principally to make the mass fer- 

 ment quicker, and then they ate the whole, and 

 did well. I had great difficulty in gelling the 

 eotis ground. Millersaresowe.il satisfied in their 

 own minds ihat cohs are good for nothing, that 

 they are not willing to let the experiment be tried, 

 whether they are nourishing or not. 1 am satis- 

 fied that twenty-five pounds of corn meal, added 

 to one hundred pounds of cob meal, is more val- 

 uable for feed for growing slock, than seventy- 

 five pounds of corn meal alone." Such is lhe 

 je of Mr. Ellsworth. Experiments of this 



tomatoes, peppers, and similar plants, In oi.r 

 northern climate, it possesses high value. It is 

 well north being saved uilh care by fanners 

 and gardeners lor every purpose of Cultivation. 

 Care should be used, however, in its application, 

 lor if' given in too large quantities and placed iii 

 too close proximity to the roots of the plant, iis 

 effects are fatal. lis value for all purposes is 

 greatly increased by being mixed with charcoal, 



or when ibis is imi at hand, with plaster. Every 



man who keeps hens, should have his hen-house 



so constructed as to save all the manure, ami 



save it dry as may be, anil he will find it no in- 

 considerable item in his mailers of rural econo- 

 my. — American Agriculturalist. 



A.ntidote to Poisons. — As a general rule all 

 antidotes for poisons should he taken as soon as 

 possible after the poisonous matters have been 

 taken into the system. 



Alcohol or strong grog has been known to 

 cure the bite of a rattle snake. This was first 

 discovered by a man who was thoroughly intox- 

 icated, being bitten by a rattle snake, without 

 being poisoned. The poison that waa already in 

 him was loo strong for any that a raiile snake: 

 could put in. Olive oil. in large quantities, has 

 been given successfully in cases of biles iiom 

 this venomous reptile. Some chemists have 

 pronounced the poisonous matter winch the rai- 

 ile snake injects to be an alkali, and the shi p- 

 herds of the western prairies generally succeed 

 in curing those sheep that have been bitten by 

 the little prairie raiile snake, by giving them a 

 quantity of saleratus water in season. 



For poisons of the vegetable kingdom, such 

 as strychnia, &C, charcoal has been recommen- 

 ded. It is said if strychnia or mix vomica he 

 mixed with ivory black and taken, their poison- 

 ous qualities are neutralized and rendered harm- 

 less. The fresh oxide of iron is .-aid to he an 

 antidote for arsenic. While of eggs, milk or su- 

 gar, for corrosive sublimate. — .Maine Farmer. 



la 



kind should be further tried. One fourth of lhe 

 weight ol a bushel ears of corn nature never in- 

 tended should be thrown away, and cobs upon 



coll 



re lib-rally thrown 



large corn farms in lhe West 



away. They are neither used for food, fuel, feed, 

 nor manure ; for lhe latter is considered a nuis- 

 ance. SOLON ROBLNSON. 

 Crown Point, Indiana, July, 1847. 



Kiso Bird.— His principal food consists of 

 beetles, crickets, grasshoppers and canker worms. 

 He is charged with catching bees. I have seen 

 him fly among thepi and appear to catch some- 

 thing ; and have thereupon shot him. But on 

 examining his crop, 1 have never found any bees 

 in it. 1 think this charge against him is not sub- 

 stantiated. He is the most insulting thief in a 

 mulberry tree, that I am acquainted wiih. But 

 he is a noble spirited bird, as the hanks anil 

 crows can testify. 1 believe we ought lo let him 

 live. — Farmers' Gazette. 



Value of lieu-Manure. 



The complaint of the fly on turnips, ami bugs 

 on cucumbers, and olher similar vines, is one of 

 yearly, and someiimes of long continuance. — 

 The mischief done by ihese bale pests is very 

 provoking, ami frequently results in losses ol la- 

 bor and good crops, which are very discouraging 

 to cultivators. I have lately been informed, by 

 On intelligent and skilful cultivator, that lhe fol- 

 lowing preparation affords an ample ami com- 

 plete remedy : 



Take ben-manure, orin pari, reduce ii as well 

 as you can lo ponder; then, with an equal pari 

 of plaster of Paris, incorporate well together, 

 and sprinkle lhe mixture over the vines, or son 

 it over the drills Of your turnips. 



Hen-manure is bee from lhe seeds of fool 

 weeds, and ill consequence ol ihr great ulitinil 

 ance of ammonia it contains, it possesses a great 

 effect in pushing plants forward. Hence, for 



Improve Wet Lands. — The winter is a con- 

 venient time for removing wood, trees and bush- 

 es from wet lauds, anil for hauling sand, gravel, 

 loam, and manure on to them. Where there is 

 a large quantity of peat or mud, gravel is prefer- 

 able lo sand or loam, ami sand is the next best 

 ingredient. Gravid and sand contain a large 

 portion of silex, which is necessary to yive firm- 

 ness to the stem of grass or grain ; ihey are ne- 

 cessary even if there is an abundance of vegeta- 

 ble mould and manure. Without gravel, sand, 

 or loam containing a large portion of sand, grass 

 and grain will not have sufficient firmness to 

 stand upright, but will fall to lhe ground. 



>If a meadow is rather dry from iis soil or situ- 

 ation, loam may be applied n'uh profit, and if 

 very dry, clay is preferable. In some cases clay 

 has been used with great advantage. In many 

 cases wet lands will not admit of access except- 

 ing when frozen ; therefore farmers should em- 

 brace the favorable opportunity to attend to this 

 business during winter. 



Salt a good Manure for Celery. — A root 

 anil a stalk of celery weighing lourleen pounds 



will I the leaves, and measuring lourleen 



inches in circumference, was exhibited at a re- 

 cent meeting of the Cincinnati Horticultural So- 

 ciety. Il was exhibited lo show the value ol salt 

 as a manure for Ibis plant, lhe gentleman nho 

 raised the article having made lhe expel imenl of 

 treating a portion of his plants in the ordinary 

 way, and manuring a part of them with sail. 

 The former were of ordinary size and quality, 

 the latter being both larger and ol finer flavor, of 

 which ihe specimen exhibited was an exemplifi- 

 cation. 



i Rattle-snake. — Dr. Lee. of Harl- 

 o if has practised extensively at ihe 



Bite or 



ford, Conn.. 



South, slates ihat he has treated five cases of rat- 

 tle-snake bin-, I all of i be m successfully. His 



remedy is alcoholic liquor — either rum, gin or 

 brandy — given in large doses. A hall pintevery 

 fifteen minutes, making a quart in an hour, is 

 not loi ich, lo be given as soon as possible al- 

 ter the bile. This remedy has been used at lhe 

 South lo a -leal extent, iintl has never been 

 known io hut ol' a cine. The liquor .absorbs or 

 deadens the filial virus, and never iiiioxican s so 

 long as the virus of ihe reptile is in ihe system. 



